After multiple requests about my absence, I'm going to spend the next few days updating everyone on the last year and a half of the Boatright life!
We had a blast the rest of the summer enjoying goofing off and...h
She gets it honest :)
Lots of reading and movies in the evening when it was too hot to go outside.
Our impromptu trip to Amelia Island when Will was working overtime on Saturday.
Audrey's favorites are Lightning McQueen..
and Nemo! She liked to take Nemo up to the TV and reassure him that his parents were right there, haha!
Audrey on the way to her first sleepover!
Ice cream after swim lessons! This is one of my favorite pictures ever! Girlfriend dives right in! (Below is from Thanksgiving)
First day of PreK-2 & 3 at the YMCA!
School picture day!
Will started restoring a (giant) '85 Chevy in his spare time. He was on second shift at the time so during the day he spent a lot of time working on it. And yes, the tires are taller than our child!
Audrey was very entertained by the repair manual and had a lot of educational moments as Will explained all of the parts to her.
We had to come up with a solution so that I could actually get in "Bocephus" (I named her, haha!)
Audrey turned 3 and had a Lightning McQueen party at school! Aunt Ann tagged along for the fun!
Happy 3rd birthday sweet girl!
Fall was full of fun that year as we all enjoyed..
Trick-or-Treat on the golf cart with mommy and Aunt Ann! (Will was still on second shift and couldn't go with us)
Audrey's first trip to the fair! She shot her first BB gun, went on a ton of rides with her friends, refused to go on some without her daddy, and Will and I spent waaay too much winning her a blue Nemo stuffed animal.
Audrey loved playing on the rock wall on the playground at church!
And of course, there was tons of fishing and riding around the Satilla River. Aud got her first fishing pole and had a blast with it! She got casting down in just a few tries!
Soon it turned into "winter" here, which means the lows were in the 40's :) We all enjoyed...
Our annual date night to see The Hunger Games movie at the theater!
Between the time that Rockin' Robin was sold and starting at my new job with Edward Jones, I started sewing again and made a ton of these reversible place mat and napkin sets for customers wanting to keep or gift for the holidays!
Decorating the house for Christmas! Aunt Lynda sent a box of Christmas ornaments that her, my mom, and my Aunt Debbie made, so we saved space at the top of the tree for them! It was so special to see a little part of their childhood on our tree!
Audrey's PreK-3 Christmas party! She had the best little group of friends there! Her and her best friend Hannah are still in the same class at her new school.
Merry Christmas!
Audrey's favorite thing to do before bed was play Hi-Ho Cherry-O. To date she holds the title for winning the most games of Candy Land ever!
I finally started my job as Branch Office Administrator at Edward Jones!
Baking my famous "Gone in a Day" banana nut muffins
My best friend's son taking after his mom and being the photographer.
Our little Valentine cupcake!
Catching up to this year and our Spring adventures!
Easter egg hunt at Audrey's preschool party!
She spent more time putting her eggs in other people's baskets since "they didn't have as many" as she did, so sweet!
Our best attempt at a family picture after church on Easter
Aunt Ann and her boyfriend, Will (very confusing since there are two Will's in Audrey's life), hid 100 eggs all over Jennifer and Keith's yard!
My best friend and I take our kids to St. Simon's island every year! This was our first trip of the year. The kids always have a blast!
Wave jumping!
Last year and this year!
Audrey also took a trip to St. Simon's with Jen and Aunt Ann! She is lounging poolside at the Ritz Carlton waiting for her lemonade, lucky duck!
Probably the most exciting part of 2015 was buying a house! We bought a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house on 4 acres of land tucked back in the quiet countryside away from neighborhoods and traffic. It has a pool, pond, shop and a huge unfinished room with plumbing for an en suite bathroom that we are going to turn into our master bedroom! We've enjoyed peaceful dinners on our screened in back porch and going for night swims!
Just being a little silly before we went to a birthday party :)
Of course, my first project in our new house was working on this beautiful built-in bookshelf in the living room!
After months and months of denial (and lots of tangles) I took Audrey to get her first haircut! I will miss those little baby curls!
My best friend from high school unexpectedly passed away. I was grateful for old friends reaching out and helping each other remember her and the life she loved.
Nothing melts my heart more than Audrey and Will fishing together each evening. They head out to the pond to fish around 6:30 every night while I'm cooking, the sweetest!
This is where we spent 75% of our summer, can't get a better view than that!
Little fish graduated from her floaties to swimming all by herself!
"My dad really loves to jump in the pool." My two goofballs!
Best friends cheesin' after a day at the pool!
Audrey discovered snap pops....and became obsessed.
Happy 4th of July! Audrey loved the fireworks for all of 20 minutes until they were too loud. We watched the rest of the show from my car.
Speaking of cars, I finally upgraded my mommy mobile to an SUV! I had been trying to find a bigger car that wasn't a minivan style and didnt get 10mpg (what can I say, I've been spoiled getting 38mpg in my VW all these years!). We found a Chevy Trailblazer for an amazing omg-this-can't-be-real price and have been nothing but impressed with it. Our family trip to NC was so much easier having lots of room, comfy seats, and massive trunk space.
I was stung by a yellow fly on my ring finger and (luckily) only had my wedding band on. My finger swelled up in seconds and I panicked trying to get it off. Apparently I'm allergic to yellow flies and had to have my ring cut off in into three pieces. I was, of course, really upset until... My amazing husband re-proposed to me one night in front of our pond and not only gave me a new wedding band, but also had the first ring he ever gave me cleaned and resized. It was so incredibly sweet and romantic, I was speechless. I am so so lucky to have him!
We agreed that I should wear the wedding band on the outside instead of the traditional order to symbolize our renewed promises and the start of the next chapter in our lives. Things have changed a lot in the past six years since he proposed to me in front of the giant Christmas tree in the downtown Greensboro park. One thing that will never change is our unconditional love and commitment to each other and our little family of three.
Audrey mastered writing her first AND last name! (I made this quilt for her last winter!)
My dad brought down my old American Girl Doll from my baby box and she fell in love. She played with the old Felicity doll at my dad's over Thanksgiving as well!
Ann also got Audrey an AG Bitty Baby this summer, naturally they are sisters :)
Poppa's visit this summer!
AKA Audrey wanted nothing to do with us for 3 days :) She loves her Poppa!
We saw the Minions Movie and had dinner out!
I've lost a ton of weight so far this year! From December 1st to August 1st I had lost a total of 40lbs! (the picture on the bottom left was taken 7 months before the one on the right!)
This is the difference between when I first moved down to Georgia 3 years ago and now! I'm guessing probably 50-55lb difference?
I created a workout routine that I called "Sink or Swim" aka FitSwim that I did religiously 3-4 nights a week after Audrey went to bed! Will supported me so much and loved being my coach/drill sargeant. It was rough but I couldn't have gotten as far without him! Everything was going great until....
Whomp whomp! Spiral fracture near my ankle and out for 3 weeks. I'm still in a walking cast but it unfortunately worked against all of the progress I had made! As soon as I'm cleared to, I'll be back in the pool!
Will and I enjoyed target practice on date nights! As it turns out, I'm a pretty good shot :)
Mine is on the left!
Fall and Winter have been busy! We've barely had time to stop like we did lounging around all summer!
Audrey started a brand new school in a classroom geared towards older 3-year-olds and 4-year-olds who barely missed the cutoff for public school PreK. The curriculum is ABC Jesus Loves Me and it's been such a great program for Audrey! Her best friend also moved schools with her so that was an easy transition. Starting in January her teacher will start on sight words, phonics, and basic science. They adapt the official Pre-K curriculum for their age which is awesome for her going into mainstream school next fall!
I went to my very first regional meeting on Sea Island in mid October. We stayed at the Resort Golf Club and had such a great time! After less than a year with the company, I was offered and promoted to a regional leadership role! I love working for such an amazing company and have enjoyed my job so much!
Starting my second year next month!
Audrey Kate turned FOUR last month!
F-O-U-R
Ahhhhh!
She is the sweetest little girl and I just love being her mama! She is so funny, compassionate, and wise beyond her 4 years on this earth. She says the most imaginative things! I'll have to post some of the best conversations we've been having lately.
Princess birthday party!
Aunt Ann got her an Elsa Kareokee doll, love! Buttttt it lives at Jen's house haha!
Audrey and I have started working on math puzzles at night and I'm so proud of her! She is doing so well in school and she is so eager to learn.
Poppa came down the weekend after her birthday! As always, we had such a great time in swampland :)
Will and my dad put together Aud's dollhouse in record time! The directions were horrible! A mechanic and engineer dream team!
This year for Halloween, Audrey was Rapunzel!
Hobby Lobby + the princess hairstyle book my dad got for her birthday = great success
Will took her from house to house while I drove. He was so glad he got to go this year! He was awarded a first shift position he bidded on earlier this year and he has loved picking Audrey up from school and going on daddy daughter date nights :)
The cooler weather has been perfect for mornings at the playground!
My big kid and little kid :)
Duck hunting season started last week and I got to go for the first time!
Gotta love a man in camo :)
October also marked our 5th wedding anniversary! I am still just amazed at how God's grace and love brought us together when we needed Him and each other the most. We have known each other for almost 12 years now!
Audrey/mostly me have become slightly addicted to adult coloring books. It's so relaxing!
Bless this mess! Love her!
At her 4-year-old check up Audrey weighed 35lbs and is 41"/3' 5"
Very tall and skinny for her age!
Audrey loves..
Puzzles - She's working on a 100pc Monsters Inc puzzle right now and is a little over halfway done. She likes to sit at the dining room table and work on it while I cook dinner! (Now that it's hunting season, Will isn't back until he puts her to bed)
Waffles, weird yes, but the child just likes waffles
Puddling - her and Ann came up with the word, which equates to snuggling/cuddling. On the weekends she likes to climb in our bed to puddle and go back to sleep. Yep, girlfriend still sleeps in like a teenager!
Movies - We don't have cable, haven't in 4 years just because we don't need or want it. So, we are an old school DVD family! She has a little book of DVDs to pick from to watch 20-30 minutes before bed time. Her two favorites at the moment are Inside Out (BEST movie ever!) and Mr. Peabody & Sherman aka Mr. Teapotty :)
Books - Her bookshelf in her room and playroom is stuffed full of books. She's read her favorites enough times now that she can recite the entire book from memory.
Stories about her - forget bedtime stories, Audrey likes real life stories about her and life before her. The top three at the moment are when she was born, when Will and I got married, and when she took her first steps. Runner ups are her first year of swim lessons and the first time she saw snow. She loves to talk about her own memories and everything that happened in the past is referred to as "remember yesterday when ____?" Even if it was a year ago, Audrey always references it as it happening yesterday.
Loving - this child is the sweetest most friendly and loving child. Tonight we saw one of her friends from school at the grocery store and she went running towards her and asked her mom if she could give her a hug. It was so sweet! She is just so genuinely....good! I couldn't have asked for a more kind hearted daughter than her.
Next up is Thanksgiving in Greensboro! It was so much fun that it needs it's very own post :)
Hope you enjoyed the recap! This post is dedicated to Grandma Carolyn/GG! We love you!
