tooth.

finally got Audrey to show me her first tooth so i could get a picture :)
me: "Audrey say cheeeeeeeese!"
Audrey: "yeah"
me: "no, say cheeeeeeeeese!"
Audrey: "yeah"
me: "Audrey, baby, say cheeeeeeeeeeeeese!"
Audrey:

"eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

behold, THE TOOTH! (the one next to it has broken through but hasn't moved up much yet)

we're having a lazy Saturday here! got the game on, Cliff is visiting with us, and Audrey is playing contently.

still a little sleepy, just woke up from her nap

reviewing mama's note for the babysitter :)

also, as promised, here is the video to show Audrey's progress in getting more steady at walking around :)

AND again, as promised, a video of my very silly husband having a crawling "race" with Audrey. they are so goofy together, i have so loved watching them bond :) hilarious side note: when i uploaded this video to YouTube to share it on here, the site suggested i tag the video as "cute" and "pets" hahahaha! the wizard of YouTube must have mistaken all the crawling action to be puppies instead of a baby and 25-year-old!

i would post a "my saturday" breakdown but honestly we've just been all wrapped up in spending quality time with each other and resting all day so it would be pretty boring to most; however, these are my absolute favorite kinds of days :)

my friday.

7:30 am: alarm goes off, i hit snooze -- it was rainy and gloomy this morning and i didn't feel like getting up!
7:40 am: alarm goes off, snooze!
7:50 am: alarm goes off, snooze!
8:00 am: alarm goes off, then Will calls needing some information for our bank account so i finally get up, pour coffee, take a quick shower
9:00 am: check email, talk to one of my photographer friends in Missouri about possibly using her magical touch with photo editing to see if she has a few minutes to touch up some pictures, reply to a few messages on Facebook
10:00 am: Audrey wakes up, out of jammies, diaper change, breakfast bottle
10:30 am: leave for the store to re-shoot Audrey's pictures with Brooklyn (we used the same outfit and same background trying to re-create her previous photo shoot)
12:00 pm: return home, diaper change and Audrey goes down for a nap
12:15 pm: download the new pictures, crop, and send to my friend to touch up
1:30 pm: make to-do list for when i go back to the store to take pictures of our new arrivals and sale items, read a chapter of my book
2:30 pm: Audrey wakes up, diaper change, lunch bottle
2:45 pm: head back to the store to work!
4:30 pm: arrive home, diaper change, Audrey goes down for a nap
4:45 pm: change clothes, get ready to go to dinner (normally Will and i have date night every Friday but tonight we're going to Jen and Keith's house for family dinner, normally on Sunday, since Cliff is home from school for the weekend)
5:45 pm: Will gets home from work, takes a shower, i get everything ready to go so we can leave as soon as she wakes up
6:15 pm: chat with Will, twiddle thumbs...waaaaake up Audrey!!!
6:45 pm: Audrey wakes up, diaper change, leave for dinner
7:00 pm: arrive at Keith and Jen's house, eat dinner (tonight is steak, baked potato, salad, and spinach casserole -- Audrey LOVED the spinach casserole!) and relax with the family, Audrey chases Benji around the house and makes a commotion in her squeaky shoes
8:30 pm: head home, Will fixes her bottle while i get her ready for bed
8:45 pm: bedtime bottle and snuggles, i am totally in love with this girl!! i could snuggle her FOREVER!
9:00 pm: Cliff comes over to hang out and we play darts, i have a much needed glass of wine, Will and Cliff talk hunting (boring!) so i update my blog and send out a few invoices for work :)

i don't want to give away anything from Audrey's new pictures (you should get one in your invitation -- i'm sending them out to everyone, even my Michigan family even though i know they can't come, because i want them to know that i truly wish they could all be there to help us celebrate our life changing year with our amazing daughter!) but....i will show you this, BLOOPERS! hehehe

my thursday.

7:30 am: alarm goes off, pour coffee, take it in the shower with me (it's supposed to rain all day so i don't know if we'll get to go on our run or not)
8:30 am: ready for the day! check email, annoy Brooklyn (one of my co-workers) with a million texts checking inventory on some online leads, look for local photographers to re-do Audrey's professional pictures*, do dishes, start laundry, clean out fridge
10:45 am: Audrey wakes up, out of jammies, diaper change, breakfast bottle
11:00 am: playtime with Audrey - today we are back to holding different objects (spoon, ball, bow, shoe are the four we've been consistently working on) and me repeating over and over what the object is. she is getting better at repeating back to me the dominant sound which is really good for her age! ball is "ba", shoe is "ooo," bow is "ba-oh," spoon is "ooooon." we'll get there one day! i honestly don't expect her to all of a sudden develop an intricate vocabulary at the age of 10 1/2 months, but i figure a head start won't do any harm and it's better than endless non-structured activity every day :)
12:00 pm: diaper change and Audrey goes down for a nap and it's work, work, work for me :) i do take a 30 minute break to read a couple chapters of my new book
2:45 pm: Audrey wakes up, diaper change, lunch bottle
3:00 pm: saw there was a break in the rain, put my workout clothes on, annnnd it starts raining again! of course! so we head up to the store so Audrey can model some of our new Christmas items that we just got in!

ta-dah!

5:00 pm: diaper change, Audrey takes a nap, Will calls and says he'll be home late and won't have time for dinner before class, i eat a pack of crackers to tide me over haha!
5:15 pm: i upload and edit new pictures and update our Facebook page
6:45 pm: Audrey wakes up, diaper change, and scrounge something up for her to eat for dinner (we were supposed to eat spaghetti together), i make her cheesy scrambled eggs -- she is okay with the change :)
7:30 pm: Audrey and i leave for our run! i feel better every day. my incision site still hurts, but i can feel myself getting stronger. my mile time is slowly creeping down and maybe once i'm not embarrassed at how long it takes me to huff a mile, i'll start posting my times :) running has never been my thing, but in light of recent stress and a certain scenario that has made me mad to no end, running has been therapeutic. i'm glad that i have two working legs to pound the pavement and get it all out. i always feel better afterwards! sore, yes, but better.
8:15 pm: return home, get Audrey ready for bed, get the nursery ready for Audrey to go to bed
8:30 pm: bedtime bottle, and Audrey goes to bed
8:45 pm: SHOWER!!!
9:15 pm: Will gets home from work, says he ate too much beef jerky and snacks in class and isn't hungry (*facepalm*). i fix a bowl of cereal and call it good.
9:30 pm: catch up on the day with Will, he falls asleep promptly after, i chat with some of my mom group friends and work on the exchange album
11:00 pm: go to bed



*i mentioned in my post on Tuesday that i have been trying to get in touch with the photographer who did a photo shoot with Audrey a couple months ago. there were three separate "sessions" that she shot and i've been waiting to get the disc back. after multiple attempts to contact the photographer, pick the disc up myself from Valdosta (an hour and a half away), and arrange other means to get the pictures (i really had my heart set on having them back to send out with Audrey's first birthday invitations) i finally heard back from her when she told me to leave her alone. without going into much more detail that that, i can surely tell you that i was extremely disappointed at the outcome and felt that the entire situation was very unprofessional. this was the first time we were able to have professional pictures done of Audrey. we had set aside money to have newborn pictures done at the hospital but when she ended up being in the NICU for a week, our priorities shifted. even when she got home, her hands were bruised from multiple IV lines, her heels were scabbed over from all of the blood draws, and she had tape burn on her cheek from her feeding tube. professional pictures of our little trooper in that condition wouldn't have been something that i would've looked back at and remembered in a positive light.

my wednesday.

yes, yes i know it's friday but this week has seriously gotten away from me! plus, i had wednesday all typed out and when i went to post it, vamoos! gone! so, here is my wednesday:

8:30 am: alarm goes off (i couldn't fall asleep right away and ended up reading a little and then a lot, so i gave myself an extra hour to sleep. it was fabulous! so thanks, me!!!) get ready for the day, pour coffee, finish book (couldn't help it! i only had one chapter left!)
9:30 am: check email, confirm pest control is coming to spray today, make to-do list
10:30 am: Audrey wakes up, out of jammies, diaper change, breakfast bottle
11:00 am: read books with Audrey, play 3,592 games of pattycake because she seems a little cranky this morning and nothing makes her smile like pattycake over and over and over. she is starting to mimick the rolling and patting hand motions though -- smarty pants!
12:00 pm: Audrey down for a nap, i start the daunting task of putting everything up that i don't want pest spray on, do dishes, wash bottles, vacuum, mop, dust
2:30 pm: Audrey up, diaper change, lunch bottle
3:00 pm: pest control and landlord both come over, Audrey and i go for a walk
3:45 pm: back home, Audrey plays with her activity cube while i work, Audrey "helps" me on the computer, Trey stops by to say hey and play with Audrey for a few minutes
5:30 pm: diaper change and Audrey goes down for a nap, i resume working
5:45 pm: Will gets home from work, hello and goodbye again, showers and leaves for class 20 minutes later
6:45 pm: Audrey starts to stir, pop some green beans in the steamer and cut up a pear, diaper change, and get her settled in her high chair
7:15 pm: clean up from dinner, quick change into workout attire and we are off on our jog!
8:00 pm: back from jog, Audrey gets a bath
8:30 pm: bedtime bottle, snuggles and sleep, shower for me
9:00 pm: Will gets home sometime while i'm in the shower, we catch up, makes dinner (tonight is deer nuggets again! had to use the rest of the back strap while it was still fresh)
10:00 pm: Will falls asleep after dinner, i start a new book
11:00 pm: we both go to bed :)

note: i just noticed that my blog has a total of over TEN THOUSAND views! ohmygosh! i love it! thank you to all my readers out there!! :) i hope this little "day in the life" series has been enlightening and not too boring. we are off to dinner with Will's parents but i'll catch up from thursday (hectic) and today (even more hectic) this evening or tomorrow

my tuesday.

7:30 am: alarm goes off, i push snooze
7:40 am: alarm goes off again, good morning! quick shower (no hair washing since i'm going to the YMCA later)
8:00 am: pour coffee, check email, chat on mom group for a while, follow up on a couple sales from last week
10:00 am: someone tells me there's an Alice in Wonderland sale on Zulily so i get sucked in to shopping on Zulily for an hour haha
11:00 am: Audrey wakes up! change diaper, change out of jammies, breakfast (or brunch, i suppose) bottle (8 oz.)
11:15 am: play time with Audrey -- today we play with her shape sorter house, working on showing her how each shape fits differently and what color they are.
12:00 pm: Audrey goes down for a nap << yes, a nap already! i know it sounds strange but at 12 pm every day, she is ready for a nap. even if she wakes up at 11:30, she will nap at 12. when i put her in her crib at noon today, she was sound asleep in under 2 minutes.
12:15 pm: text one of the girls at the store about shipping the Scotland order, clean the bathroom, do dishes.
1:30 pm: check emails and facebook messages, work on options album, start putting together our Petite Frills order.
3:00 pm: Audrey wakes up, diaper change, lunch bottle (8 oz.)
3:30 pm: leave for the YMCA to use our day (trial) pass, Audrey goes to the childcare center and gets tons of attention from the staff there while i do a light workout (still haven't been cleared but i'm sick of looking like a blob -- my goal is to lose 15 lbs. before Audrey's birthday party, which is roughly 2-3 lbs. a week, very do-able!)
5:00 pm: home from the Y, diaper change, Audrey takes a nap, i take a shower
5:45 pm: Will gets home from work, takes a shower, i start to make dinner (tonight is chicken teriyaki and vegetable stir fry)
6:30 pm: Audrey wakes up, diaper change, Will plays with Audrey for a minute while i finish dinner
6:45 pm: serve dinner, all three of us eat together (hooray!), and Audrey loves stir fry!
7:15 pm: clear dinner, Will leaves for class, Audrey plays while i put everything away and rinse plates
7:30 pm: Audrey plays, i check email and follow up with a couple leads
8:15 pm: get Audrey ready for bed; wipe down her hands and face (tonight is not a full bath night), lotion, jammies, move amber teething necklace from her neck and double wrap it around her ankle and get her room ready for bed (sound machine and fan on, army of pacis assembled in crib and ready to be thrown around throughout the night haha)
8:30 pm: bedtime bottle (8 oz.) and snuggle
8:45 pm: Audrey in bed, read a few chapters of my book, send message to the photographer who did Audrey's pictures a couple months ago to remind her to send the proofs to me so i can send them out with birthday invitations at the end of the week
9:30 pm: Will gets home from class, catch up on the day with him
10:30 pm: watch a show with Will (tonight is Storage Wars on A&E)
11:00 pm: get ready for bed!

a day in the life of a stay at home mom.

oh, the wonderful world of watching your baby work on her walking skills. my heart stops about 20 times a day! she is not afraid to fall, but i'm afraid for her! since her video debut last time, she has gotten a lot better and a lot more controlled with her awesome walking skills -- she goes a lot slower now and takes her time to stay balanced and go the distance. her latest record is all the way from the couch to the pack n play (about 8 feet in distance). i'll try and get a new video soon. she still prefers to crawl most of the time, especially down the long hallway between the living room and the master bathroom. Will and Audrey's most fun activity is having crawling "races" around the house. yes, my husband races our child around the house crawling around on his hands and knees. she thinks this is hysterical! i might have to get that on video as well!

i started planning Audrey's first birthday for realsies this weekend...instead of staring at Pinterest for hours and pinning a ton of random ideas, i actually started making a list of projects and did her invitations! here is the finished product! (for safety purposes, i blacked out the address and my phone number)

i also picked up her smash cake outfit and party outfit on Friday when Melissa, Audrey, and i took a day trip to Valdosta to shop and have lunch. we had such a great time and.... I WENT TO TARGET! as in, went inside the store and looked and touched and oohed and ahhed over everything! i was literally having heart palpitations as we walked in! i haven't stepped foot in a Target since we moved in APRIL! after a lot of debate, here are the two outfits Melissa and i picked out for Audrey's Onederland Tea Party:

we chose the outfit on the left for her cake smash extravaganza and pictures -- an Alice in Wonderland tunic, black Ruffle Butts linen shorts, and red Wee Squeak mary janes. the outfit on the right is for the rest of the party. i love and adore the tutu so much. it's pink and sparkly and super poofy! we also picked out the silver Moo Shu squeak shoes for added fun.

it felt so nice to escape our small town for the day and explore Valdosta! our waitress at lunch was...um, interesting to say the least and Audrey loved how i so willingly shared my meal with her (like i had a choice, ha! the minute my plate was set in front of me, she started whining and making chewing motions)

yes, i would like to look at the menu please!

oh fabulous, i'll take the grilled chicken sandwich please!

love them both!

Audrey's new $6 outfit from our sister store in Valdosta!

no words! hahaha

when we arrived home, i spent the next several hours going on and on and on (AND ON) to Will about all of the funny and exciting things that happened and what a great time i had!

we had a great, relaxing weekend with plenty of football action and outdoors time!

Audrey's game face, rawr! GO BLUE!

Audrey and i had play time in the yard and i took some great shots (which also double as her 10-month pictures)

and just for fun...

pigtails! my favorite!

call me maybe ;)

cheeeeeeeeese!

in my struggle to find balance in our lives lately -- did i mention Will is working 50 hours a week AND going to night classes? -- i want to do a week in the life of a work at home mom blog series. Will's cousin did this on her blog a while ago as a stay at home mom, which is where i got the idea from. today can be Day 1, so here is a little snapshot of what my Monday looked like:

7:00 am: Will wakes up for work (therefore i'm awake too -- he tries to be quiet but he's sleepy/groggy and therefore he's noisy grrr)
7:30 am: my alarm officially goes off, receive text from Melissa, start to text back, fall asleep -- oops! sorry Melissa!
7:40 am: my alarm goes off AGAIN, jump in the shower, get ready for the day
9:00 am: pour coffee, check my email, start laundry, vacuum living room and kitchen
10:00 am: Audrey wakes up (yes, she STILL sleeps like a teenager!), change diaper, out of jammies, and breakfast bottle (8 oz.)
10:30 am: play time with Audrey -- lots of patty cake, as it's her favorite at the moment and showing her objects (like ball, bow, sock, spoon) and repeating a bazillion times what the object is. she's starting to pick up, at least with the sounds, a little bit. switch loads of laundry.
12:00 pm: diaper change and Audrey takes a nap, i resume work -- today i made some calls to our sister store to fill an online order, invoice an order going to Scotland, and start an album of some options to offer participating moms in my October/November babies group for a birthday gift exchange. switch loads of laundry again.
3:00 pm: Audrey wakes up from her nap, change diaper, and give lunch bottle - 8 oz. (we'll be working on replacing this bottle with a lunch serving of finger foods next month)
3:30 pm: afternoon walk around the neighborhood, stop at park to swing
4:30 pm: Audrey plays on her play mat while i follow up with a few work things, Trey stops by to say hi, drop off some back strap from the buck he killed on Saturday, and play with Audrey for a little bit
5:15 pm: diaper change and Audrey takes a nap, i pick up around the house (clean up toys, tidy kitchen, fold laundry)
5:45 pm: Will gets home from work, i make him a snack while he takes a shower and gets his school stuff together
6:15 pm: Will leaves for class, i take some "me time" and read a couple chapters of a book
6:45 pm: i hear Audrey stirring and start making her dinner (tonight is scrambled eggs and steamed broccoli)
6:50 pm: get Audrey up from her nap, diaper change, get her settled in her high chair with some puffs to munch on while i finish her dinner
7:00 pm: serve Audrey dinner and sit with her to supervise and reinforce good "manners" (i don't even know if i would call them manners at this point in time, but anything that doesn't involve rubbing food in her hair or throwing it on the ground gets praise haha)
7:30 pm: clean up from dinner, get bath ready
7:45 pm: give Audrey a bath
8:00 pm: Audrey has some time to air dry (aka crawl around her room naked) while i clean up from her bath and get her jammies and overnight diaper out, room ready for bed etc.
8:15 pm: Audrey dry, lotioned, hair combed, in jammies
8:30 pm: quiet play, snuggle time, and bedtime bottle (8 oz.)
8:45 pm: Audrey in bed
9:00 pm: Will comes home from class, i catch up on the day with him and he makes dinner (tonight is 'deer nuggets' made from the fresh back strap, rice, and steamed green beans)
9:45 pm: follow up on any pending work messages on facebook or emails from earlier in the evening
10:00 pm: watch a show with Will (tonight is Pawn Stars on the History channel)
11:00 pm: get ready for bed!

Mondays and Wednesdays are pretty easy, but on Tuesday and Thursdays Will doesn't leave for class until 7:20 so i make all of us dinner (Audrey included) before he leaves. it's a little more hectic depending on when she wakes up from her second nap. looking at it all written out, it seems like every minute is jam packed but i actually find working from home relaxing for the most part. some parts are more difficult than others, but i'm lucky that my little lady loves to take long naps so i can have a good chunk of productive time mid-day! see you tomorrow! :)