Merry Christmas and Happy Anniversary!

I’m writing this early because we’re going to be traveling for a while and I don’t know if I’ll have access or time to write…

First of all, I hope that you all have a very merry Christmas! We’re going to be celebrating with Tyson’s family in Kansas and then we’re heading to Nebraska to help my parents pack up their house and move to Oklahoma!! I know it will be very tough to drive away from their house once everything is packed. I lived in that house my whole life until I went to college. A million childhood memories happened there. I could bore you with a bunch of stories but I would probably start crying. It’s bittersweet. I’m glad we get to go back one last time.

Saturday, the 27th is our 5th anniversary! 5 years already?!? Happy anniversary, hun…it’s crazy to think it’s been that long since we stood at the front of the church and promised forever to whatever was ahead. We were young but we were in love, best friends and we knew we could make it through anything together. Since then we’ve lived in 3 states (Arkansas, Colorado & Oklahoma), 3 apartments, 1 house, we’ve had 1 cat (oh, Molly…what a crazy cat!), 1 dog (Walter…a gentleman and so sweet) and brought one beautiful baby girl into the world. We’ve graduated from college, had multiple jobs, have been a part of some great churches and we’ve always had amazing friends and very supportive families. We’ve laughed and cried and everything in between. Thank you, God, for these first 5 years of marriage together. Tyson, I look forward to the rest of our lives together and whatever they may bring. Thank you for being my best friend and a wonderful dad to Audrey. I love you!

Here’s a few pictures from our wedding. (side note: if I could change one thing about our wedding it would be the photographs. Photojournalism was becoming very popular and I really liked the candid shots instead of having everything posed. Well, since we were getting married 2 days after Christmas, almost all of the photographers that we were interested in were taking their vacations then, so we had to settle for whoever was working the holiday weekend…but, oh, well, right? We got some good pictures, but it just wasn‘t what I had in mind.) and the quality does not look very good because they're scanned in. anyway...here's us:

Merry Christmas, everyone! May Jesus’ birth be the reason you’re celebrating this season! and Happy New Year, too!

night mystery

Audrey was not a very good sleeper until she was about 10 weeks old. Then she started sleeping all night and actually started taking naps regularly during the day. This continued until a few weeks or so ago. First it was a cold that wasn't allowing her to breathe. Add teething onto that and there were some more middle of the night wakings. Those wakings were all for logical reasons. no big deal. But now we have an actual mystery to solve.

The last 2 nights, Audrey has woke up on her belly (she's normally a back sleeper) with only her left elbow in the sleeve of her sleeper and her left hand peeking out of the top of her sleeper, by her neck. she can't roll over and can't move her arm, so she gets frustrated and calls out to us for help.

how does that even happen?!?!?

If only we had video camera set up with night vision...

Baby Survey

I found this survey on babycenter.com. I used to get weekly updates from them during my pregnancy on how big the baby was at each week and now that Audrey is here, I still get emails from them telling me what she's probably doing and going to be doing soon. I like my little weekly emails. anyway, I found this there and thought it looked interesting. enjoy!


MY FIRST BABY
Here you go Moms - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about you and your first baby.

Were you married at the time? yes

How old were you? 25

How did you find out you were pregnant? I almost fainted at school so the school nurse suggested I take a pregnancy test. so I took one the next morning. actually 3 tests, I didn't believe the first 2

What was your reaction when you found out you were pregnant? disbelief, thus the reason for 3 tests, but it was an excited disbelief!

Who did you tell first? Tyson. I had my school's open house that night so I had to mingle with all of my students and their parents for a few hours knowing I was pregnant but not able to talk about it...I don't really remember anything I talked about that night.

Did you want to find out the sex? no, we did not

Due date? May 17

Did you deliver early or late? early, at 38 1/2 weeks

Did you have morning sickness? not at all, I was just really tired

What did you crave? Sara Lee's Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream and Easy Mac

How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? 34

Did you lose all the weight? yes, and then 5 more, thanks to breastfeeding!

Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? I got the PUPPS rash at 37 weeks, that's why I had the baby early...I was so miserable I decided to be induced.

Who drove you to the hospital? Tyson

How long were you in labor? 12 hours once they broke my water

Did you take any medicine for pain? I had an epidural and here's my quote: "you'd have to be a fool not to get one of these." I have a TON of respect for women that do it all natural.

How much did your child weigh? 7 lbs. 10 oz.

What did you name him/her? Audrey Nichole

Was he/she named after anyone/anything special? we just liked the name Audrey. Tyson picked her middle name, so I wanted to spell it like Nichole Nordeman, my favorite singer/songwriter

How old is your firstborn today? 7 months, 11 days :)

Does your firstborn have any siblings? nope

If not, how many siblings do you want your firstborn to have? 2 or 3, we'll see

pictures!

it's time for some new Audrey pictures, so...enjoy!

she looks so sweet and innocent here (or else tired, it's hard to tell.) :)

this is her new thing...leaning over, and it's only to her left side.

Audrey and Brevin fighting over her keys...she won. sorry, Brevin.

another cool hat that she's borrowing from her cousin Malorie. she's already a little ski bunny!

she was making noises with her mouth when I took this picture...I wish I could put the sounds on here...

I LOVE the ruffles on her bottom!! too cute!

I made this one big because this was the first picture I got of her where you can kind of see her first tooth, if you know what you're looking for. it's crazy how fast they grow in!

and now I must go get some things done while Audrey is napping. I can't spend her whole nap blogging...

does ESSENCE magazine know something I don't?

Below is the 3rd letter I've received from ESSENCE magazine:

ESSENCE

Where Black Women Come First

Especially for: Lisa

We know you. You're the kind of woman who embraces every joyous moment that come your way.

Whether you're building your career, embarking on a new relationship, or stepping out in the latest styles, you do it all with confidence and flair that is purely ESSENCE.

Because you're an ESSENCE kind of woman, we want to extend this special $1.00 rate as our way of welcoming you to the magazine written by black women for black women. Let us celebrate, inspire, empower and entertain YOU. We promise to go beyond skin deep to take on the issues of heart and soul--issues all about, and all for, YOU.

In every issue, we give YOU beauty tips to play up your beautiful brown skin tone, and fashion tips to flatter your figure. We unlock the secrets to financial security, and provide the insight and inspiration to be your best YOU. ESSENCE is where YOU come first.

and then it's signed by the editor-in-chief.

WHAT?!?!?!?!?

I wonder why they would think I'm black...

this vacuum really sucks

forgive me for the title...I couldn't resist.

Tyson asked me a few weeks ago what I wanted for Christmas. really, I couldn't think of much. it's not like I have everything I could ever want, but since money is tight these days, I didn't really expect much for Christmas, so I hadn't given it much thought. Tyson then asked me if I would want a Dyson vacuum.

dumb question.

We got our first vacuum (a Hoover) shortly after we were married, which was almost 5 years ago. We had registered for a different one for our wedding, and since we didn't get it, we decided to buy a cheaper one to save some money since we were still in college and neither of us had a job. and we've been paying for it ever since. it worked fine as long as the filter was new, but that meant we had to buy replacement filters and more replacement filters and those things add up! To make a long story short, we didn't realize how much money we would eventually spend on stupid filters, so it ended up being a very expensive vacuum! so when Tyson asked if I wanted a new, amazing, no-filter-required Dyson vacuum, I said "YES, of course, I do!" Apparently he had found a great deal (how does he always do that?) and some of the money even goes toward Breast Cancer Research and then we also get a Target gift card (which is basically money that is burning a hole in my pocket right now!) so here it is:
Isn't it so cute?!? I didn't even know vacuums could be cute! gray and PINK (thus the breast cancer awareness.) and on top of being cute, it really does suck! and to show you how amazing my new vacuum really is, I decided to do a little experiment in my living room. this kind of grosses me out, but it makes me really glad I'm no longer vacuuming with our old one anymore...

Here's what I did. I vacuumed our living room with our old vacuum one last time. And then immediately vacuumed the living room with the Dyson...and this is what it sucked up:
see what I mean by being grossed out? our old vacuum was HORRIBLE!!! and I thought I was cleaning our carpets! how nasty. so, in my opinion, the Dyson is definitely worth the money...

Our one-toothed, runny-nosed 7 month old

Happy 7 months, Audrey! And what better way to turn 7 months old than with a very runny nose and a new tooth?!? That’s right…her first tooth came in yesterday! It’s very hard to see but you can definitely feel it! And you can tell she’s trying to figure out what is happening in her mouth. Her tongue is constantly rubbing over her tooth and of course, she’s still chewing on everything. Now I’ll just have to watch out for biting…

The past few nights have been kind of hit or miss as far as sleep goes for me and Audrey. She’s having a hard time breathing with her snot-filled nose and with her gums hurting, she’s wanting a little extra love and cuddle time. Poor thing. I'm enjoying her loving on me more but it's sad that it's because she's hurting. She wakes up a couple of times in the night so I go in with the good 'ol nasal aspirator. Imagine a dark room and a very tired mommy trying to stick the small end of the aspirator into the nostril of a squirmy, tired, frustrated, teething 7 month old. To my amazement, she doesn't cry in the middle of the night. (she hates it during the day.) It must bring such relief that she doesn't think it's worth all the effort to get upset about.

ok...now it's time for the 7 month pictures. I took them this morning and the older she gets, the more entertaining these pictures are going to be. Once again, I couldn't pick only one, she put on quite a little show! notice all the shots of her trying to eat something (her toes, the giraffe's toes, the giraffe's head, etc.)

We love you, sweet pea!

lame or smart?

Now that it's officially Christmas season and the house is decorated and there is Christmas music playing, I started thinking about what to get Audrey for Christmas. This being her first Christmas I want it to be something special, something she'll remember. And then I remembered that she'll be 7 1/2 months at Christmas and she won't remember anything! When we were in Nebraska before Thanksgiving, she opened some presents. acutally, Tyson opened them for her as she tried to eat the wrapping paper:

Of course, she has no idea what is happening and doesn't understand that someone thought very carefully about what to get her and that they spent money on the gift. she's in awe of the pretty paper!

My mind immediately jumps to that old Sears commercial where the mom and dad are busily unwrapping 2 huge boxes while they're asking their baby "I wonder what you got for Christmas, (any name here)!?!? Oh! Look! You got a new washer and dryer!! how exciting!" and the baby smiles because mom and dad are excited and using a happy voice.

We're not going to get her a new washer and dryer, don't worry. but really, she doesn't care what she opens up, as long as she can crinkle up the paper and try to eat it.

So...I think we're going to get her a new carseat for Christmas! she's almost outgrown her first one and we're going to have to buy a new one within a few months anyway (and car seats are not cheap!), so why not let her open it up for Christmas? and I'll probably wrap up some clothes that we've bought her that don't fit her yet. and I did get her some little hair clips so we'll put those in her stocking. and we'll start some traditions with her that will mean more than presents anyway, right?

so...what I want to know is if you think we're being completely lame by not getting her lots of toys and such or if we're simply being smart by taking advantage of the one Christmas when we can do this...what do you think?