What We Need...

Is a little more sunshine (ok, a LOT more) and a little less rain (about 3 days per year is good enough for me).
Anyone else get seasonal depression? Perhaps my friends in sunny AZ do not (there in nothing depressing about sunshine and warmth every day). I always do, but especially this year. I think it was because I wasn't prepared for the cold weather during the winter and the massive amounts of rainfall here in Raleigh. Things were really bleak the last two weeks, but this weekends the sun decided to show her face and share some of her warmth with us. All I can say is "Keep it coming!" There is nothing like sunshine to brighten your mood.

In your face

This afternoon it was about time for Audrey to take a nap, and she was definitely showing signs of fatigue (aka, being not so sweet). I told her in a stern voice that she could either eat some lunch or take a nap. She ran off to her room crying, then she yelled "Just leave me alone!" right before she slammed the door. I gave her a minute to calm down and then I tried to open the door but Audrey was pushing against it and she said "Get out!". So laughing to myself, I went to my room. Then I heard Audrey crying to I went in and she hugged me and then we sang a song to make her feel better.

So, we have now officially entered the slamming door stage. I am pretty sure that it lasts through high school. Great.

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Yes, there is a reason that I have started gaining weight in my mid-section. I am pregnant. Due date is July 8th (I am already planning for sooner-positive thinking right?). I was hoping for a baby sister for Audrey, but it is a brother instead. I asked the Dr. to check again during the ultrasound, and it was still a boy. We have already decided on a first name (most people that I have told don't like it, but I do), and the middle name is not picked out yet. I will let Travis handle that.

Here are a few things I have learned in the last little bit. There are about 1/4 as many boy clothes in stores as there are girl clothes. When I am shopping for boy clothes I lose interest in about...2 minutes and I start looking at baby girl clothes. And although I appreciated the Dr. printing out about 10 ultrasound pictures... I can't make any sense of the pictures (am I alone here?). Needless to say, I am pretty sure I will not be doing a scrapbook page with them (despite the fact that the Dr. suggested it).

Terrible Two's

Please note Travis in the background (he is frustrated), and the tear going down Audrey's cheek.

Doing anything with Audrey has become increasingly difficult lately. If we play outside, she tries to run away (come on, I know for a fact that her parents are cool!), and she screams when we go inside. If we play her computer game for half an hour, she screams when I am done helping her. If we watch one of her movies, she cries when it is over. If we go out shopping...let's just say I have pretty much decided not to do that with her anymore. I feel like the more fun I try to let her have, the more it blows up in my face (in the form of tears and screams).

So, now you know the negatives about this current stage she is going through. Let's go over the positives.

She tells me that I am pretty about 100 times per day (today we were shopping and she said to the checkout lady "My Mom is pretty"). She tells me she loves me about 100 times per day. She likes to cuddle with me. She loves planning for her birthday party (I love it to). She has started to hold onto my leg and pretend that she is a monkey. If I am sad, she will comfort me. She loves to wear red lipstick (and she is really good at putting it on herself!). She constantly compliments people ("I like your shirt, I like your earrings..."). She picks out what shoes I should wear. She loves dancing to songs...and she also loves the same music as me. And lately, she has been eating spaghetti and meatballs every day, at least once a day.

Biking Babe

Recently, whenever we take Audrey some place public (church, shopping, parks...) she will slowly walk in a direction that is away from us, and when she thinks we aren't looking she will run as fast as she can. With the warmer weather, she has some wheels to help her in her attempts to escape.

The rule is that she can't ride her bike on the road. So naturally she will stay on the sidewalk, and slowly move towards the grass (closest to the road). Luckily, she cannot go fast on the grass so I can catch up to her.

Audrey: Future Jazz Musician

This pumpkin hat is from a baby pumpkin costume. Audrey never wore the costume itself, but she has definately gotten her use out of the hat!Travis thought that Audrey looked like a jazz musician with her pumpkin hat and her keyboard. I had to agree with him!

In between tunes Audrey stopped to give "Travis" a hug.

Travis has been working on his smile for the camera lately. I think he is getting better!

a walk in the park

The weather has been...heavenly since last weekend. On Sunday we took Audrey to a park to let her enjoy the warm, sunny day.

She spent most of her time on the swings. I can't blame her!

Kitchen Helper

I am no longer alone in the kitchen. I cannot do the dishes, or make a meal without Audrey's "help". She immediately pulls up her chair to the sink and starts splashing water and suds all over. I can't wait till she can actually clean the dishes!

Busy

The last two weeks have been dedicated to making our house more of a home. Now, I know we are only renting...but that doesn't mean we have to shout it to the world. I decided that we should try to make the most of our current circumstances.

Nothing says "Temporary Living Space" like white walls, with white trim, and about 3 pieces of furniture in the whole downstairs (and yes, I am including the kitchen table). The white walls have been eating away at me since we moved in. So after months of talking about it, and months of convincing Travis to help me, we painted two of the rooms downstairs. Now even though we don't have any more furniture, the downstairs looks a lot less empty. We chose a tan for the family room (safe, but it makes a big difference). The fireplace looks 1000x better with the tan wall.

Green for the Dining room. In this picture the shade looks a bit odd. The screen on our camera is broken so I don't know how the pictures turn out until I upload them to the computer...and I am too lazy to go downstairs again to try a better shot. Anyway, in a few months (hopefully before July) we will get a Dining Room table of some sort. I am hoping for a beautiful, dark, really thick and heavy one. But both me and Trav agree that our first big purchase will be a TV that is larger than our computer screen.