Keepin it Real

Snow Day 2010

It snowed last night, and when it snows here in Raleigh everything shuts down. Our church is even cancelled tomorrow (which worked out rather well due to the fact that me and Travis were supposed to give talks...they are rescheduled for Feb 21st).

Before we went to sleep last night Travis opened the door to find a thin white carpet covering everything. Audrey was literally bouncing off the walls with excitement. She started making plans...snowmen, sledding, eating the snow...I am surprised she went to sleep so easily after that.

Most mornings Audrey and Phoenix tag team. As soon as I get Phoenix back to bed (he wakes up around 7:30 and half the time he will go back to sleep), Audrey will wake up. Not today. Phoenix went right back to sleep, and at almost 10:30 I woke up and realized that our kids had both finally let us sleep in. It was great. We had a delish breakfast and then we had to get all of our winter clothes out of storage (I know what you are thinking...it has been winter for a few months! Well, this irrational side of me was hoping that if I never took my winter stuff out of storage perhaps the harsh weather would never come. Year after year I am proven wrong, but a girl can dream can't she?). 2 hours later we were ready to go outside. As I was getting dressed Travis revealed to me that he was always surprised at how unstylish my outdoor winter clothes are. I laughed. I have had the same snow pants (with elastic at the bottom) since at least 8th grade. Apparently they don't do much for my caboose. Audrey wore a pair of my old cheerleading warm up pants. Travis was worried that the neighbors would see her. Since when does Travis care more about fashion than me?!? Travis must have swallowed his pride because he did go outside with his unstylish wife and daughter. Phoenix looked as cute as a button.

Eating the snow was the first thing Audrey did. She was actually licking it off the ground after we went back inside.

Audrey's 1st Talk

Audrey started Sunbeams (4 yr old class in our church) in January. She was asked to give a talk in primary on January 17th. The topic was "Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ Love Us". I got some pictures out and taped what she was going to say on the back of them, then I printed of smaller copies of the pictures and put them on the back of the big pictures so that she would stop turning the pictures around. It worked like a charm. We practiced her talk a lot, and when it came time to do the real thing, she was perfect. I am so proud of her. Travis even came to watch!

I got her a new skirt and some matching shoes. Audrey has been in a Peter Pan mood lately, so these are her "Tiger-Lily Shoes".

Science Museum

I took Audrey to the science museum in Raleigh last week. The last time we had been there was over a year ago, but Audrey still remembered the Dinosaurs.

We spent at least half the time in the Dinosaur room. Audrey just started at them.

There was a play room for kids with costumes...which Audrey loved. This possum costume came with a few "babies" in the pouch.

There was a butterfly sanctuary...it was really cool. Audrey tried to get one to land on her.

We also attended a "Meet the Animals" class. The museum worker taught us about rodents and she showed us live examples of them. I learned that rats are much smarter than mice. At the end of the class a lady was asking details about the care for a pet rat. I shutter at the thought...

Awakening

I have noticed all of the Valentines Day decorations in the stores for a few weeks now, but I thought it was a bit early to be thinking about V-day. Today I came home from shopping and realized that it has been over a month since Christmas and our naked tree is still standing in our family room, and Valentines Day is only about 2 weeks away. Where does the time go? My goal for tomorrow: get rid of the tree, and set up some pretty decorations.

Rachel...the handy(wo)man?

Travis was in CA this weekend, and while he was gone I have been busy. (Anyone that has a baby is ALWAYS busy). I usually leave the maintenance stuff up to Travis, but every once in a while I have to step in.

We have a big bathtub in our bathroom...and both of us are bath-takers. The last few weeks the drain in our bathtub has been really clogged, so it took a while for the water to drain out. So, I did some research, online, and found this handy tool called zip it . Not only was I able to clean the drain without using harsh chemicals, but this really took less than 5 minutes, and it was so cheap and easy. I am so glad I found it. I was thinking about taking a picture of all the stuff that came up (hair, soap, a polly pocket purse, a hair tie...) but I figured I would spare you the gross image.

Then the sprayer on our kitchen sink has not been working properly for a while, so I used a nifty little trick that my brother-in-law, Jason, taught me a few years ago. I soaked the head of the sprayer in vinegar for a few hours and now it sprays perfectly.

And lastly, I put together a shelving unit for our storage closet (don't get too impressed, it was a wire one and it did not require the use of tools to assemble it).

Diapers

Audrey: Mommy, tell me next time Phoenix has a poopy diaper.

Me: Why, do you want to see it?

Audrey: Yes. (said matter-of-factly)


On another subject, Audrey has been paying so much attention to Phoenix lately, she loves him, and he loves her. It is very cute.

Clean up on aisle 9

Yesterday I went grocery shopping with Audrey and Phoenix. I went to the Food Lion that has the shopping carts with cars attached to the front (for little kids to ride in). Pushing those beasts is a workout, but it is well worth it because Audrey is perfect when she gets to ride in them.

Yesterday was a more clumsy day on my part...everyone has those days, right? It started with honey roasted peanuts...in a glass jar. One of my many food weaknesses is honey roasted peanuts, and they happened to be on sale. So I picked them up and right before I put them in the cart, the jar slipped out of my hands and smashed on the floor. Audrey immediately said "Mommy, they will be mad at you! Are you worried?" I told her it would be OK and then I went to look for an employee, which I found quickly. I apologized for my clumsiness, and the mess was cleaned up in no time. For the rest of the trip Audrey kept asking if I was worried that they would be mad at me because I broke the peanuts.

Then I went to the ice cream section (another one of my weaknesses). It was buy one get one free...so I had to choose two flavors (of course!). Cookies and cream, that is one of Trav's favorites. And then this caramel praline crunch, which I have been eyeing for months. As I took the caramel crunch out of the freezer, several containers of ice cream fell out after it. So I picked them up, and I started to wonder what was wrong with me.

I had the feeling I should get out of the store before anything else happened, so I made a quick stop at the baking aisle and got a few bags of flour.

Once I got to the register I started to unload the food, only to realize that one of the bags of flour had ripped open and spilled flour on most of my food. I tried to minimize the amount that got on the floor, but when I pushed the bus of a cart up I realized that there was a trail of flour behind my cart...I don't know how long it was, and I didn't want to find out.

After I was done paying I wiped the cart down with the sanitation wipes conveniently located at the front of the store, and got out of there.

Stupify

Audrey is not allowed to say s-t-u-p-i-d. And she always makes sure that no one else gets away with it either (even when it is in movies). When I was home in NY for Halloween, my little sister, Jo, dressed up as a death eater for Halloween. Her costume was really good, and she even had a wand. I, being the cool person that I am, was playing around with her wand and shouting out spells like expelliarmus, and stupify. When Audrey heard me say "stupify" she immediately gasped and said "we don't say that word!" (it does sound a lot like stupid). I told her that we can say stupify. Pretty much every day since then Audrey has asked me "we say stupify right?" just to make sure that it is still OK.

A few weeks after Halloween we had Janae and her family over, and Audrey and Brighton got into a fight (big surprise, I know). Audrey was yelling at him and she finished what she was saying with "STUPIFY!" So, she used the worst word that she knew she was actually allowed to say. Since then I have heard her say it multiple times in situations that she is angry in (usually involving Travis or Brighton). One time I went up to check on Audrey and Brighton (they were supposed to be sleeping in her room) and I heard them talking and all Audrey said was "stupify, stupify, stupify" over and over again.

Audrey definately keeps me laughing.

Showing Off

Audrey loves having a baby brother...because there are so many things she can do that he can't, such as eating a lollipop. This morning she came into our room eating a lollipop. I was holding Phoenix, and he showed some interest in it. Audrey immediately told him that he couldn't have it. Then she told him that it was a formeela (formula) flavored lollipop so that it would sound even more tempting to him. I had to give her credit for that one, not many people would think of making a formula flavored lollipop.

Audrey followed up her lollipop tempations with scary stories of the smoke detector going on at night, her glow worm turning on at night, and one of her letter games turning on at night (she really doesn't like having her toys that make noises being in her room at night time).

I really wonder how their relationship will be as Phoenix gets older, either he will think she is the coolest person in the world, or he will not want to put up with her. Either way, it should be interesting.

Latest Dr Visit

Audrey has absolutely no problem going to the Dr's if it is for Phoenix. I would even go as far to say that she ENJOYS it.



Phoenix @ 6 months...



weight: 15 lbs (about 20th percentile)

height: 27 inches (about 75th percentile)

Exciting news...he started eating rice cereal last week (still isn't perfect, but after 2 months of trying to get him interested in it, I am happy!), and he finally started rolling over, and he can do it both ways. I am so proud of our little guy.

So back to the Doctor's...

Phoenix had to get 4 shots today, and Audrey had to get the flu mist (she already had it twice for the swine flu...and she didnt like it). The Dr. suggested that we do Audrey first because he thought that she might freak out after seeing Phoenix get his shots. I opted to have Phoenix to go first...Audrey was excited to see him get the shots (so cruel), and I knew that for her it didn't matter what order we did things in, she was going to have to be pinned down no matter what. So Phoenix got his shots and he screamed with every one, and Audrey, who had a front row seat, was laughing...loudly. The Dr. was surprised at her reaction, and so was I. Then it was her turn and her laughter quickly turned into crying. But, it was all over before she could say "ah-choo!"

Top 5 Favorite Things I Love About Winter

5. Going to Church. Nothing wakes me up better than basically bare legs in 30 degree air.

4. Static Electricity. I LOVE getting shocked every time I touch a person, a light switch, a shopping cart...the list goes on. (I never noticed before this year, but if you get shocked in the dark you can actually see the spark.)

3. Perma-cold hands. My fingers are like icicles...100% of the time. It's great!

2. Never ever ever getting warm. It is mind boggling how many layers I can put on, and still be cold.

1. Dry Hands. Soft, moisturized hands are soo over rated. I mean, who doesn't want flaky skin that cracks and bleeds? Its awesome!

Oops! Did I say things I love about winter? I think I meant to say hate.