Oh Audrey Sue

I Love You Because You're You

My most favorite book to read to Audrey is "I Love You Because You're You" by Liza Baker.

Audrey has started reciting it along as I read it...

I love you when you're happy and grinning ear to ear.

I love you when you're sleepy and want to snuggle near.

I love you when you're silly and dancing 'round and 'round.

I love you when you're frightened and hear a scary sound.

I love you when you're bashful and hide behind my knee.

I love you when you're brave and from my arms you flee.

I love you when you're curious and searching here and there.

I love you when you're proud, your head held in the air.

I love you when you're sick and need to rest in bed.

I love you when you're frisky and standing on your head.

I love you when you're sad and need a kiss and hug.

I love you when you're playful and rolling on the rug.

I love you when you're angry and cross your arms and pout.

I love you when you're wild and yell and scream and shout.

I love you any way you feel, no matter what you do.

I love you any way you are.

I love you because you're you!

...it's perfect, right?

Recap of 2011

January 2011: Toe Removal Surgery.

Things to know - Successful - Recovery lasted 3 weeks

February 2011 - Daddy - Daughter Dance

Things to know - Audrey stayed up past her bedtime and danced the night away with her Daddy

March 2011 - Kitchen Update Complete

Things to know - Painted cabinets - new appliances - new hardware - new floors - Update to sell

April 2011 - Mommy turned 3-0!!

Things to know - 30 is the new 20...right? - Audrey is cute!

May 2011 - Audrey had her annual scan

Things to know - Shunt working great - House went on the market Memorial Day

June 2011 - Audrey's First Family Vacation

Things to know - she loves the beach - sand gets everywhere - she asked to go swimming all the time!

July 2011 - Found our Dream House!

Things to know - we found our dream house and a young couple saw our house as theirs on the same day - Contracts signed to sell our house and buy our dream house.

August 2011 - First day of Preschool

Things to know - Audrey looks adorable wearing a backpack - she loves the school bus

September 2011 - Moved!

Things to know - we moved into our new home - Audrey's in a big girl bed - we doubled our square footage and Audrey loves walking around the house screaming our names

October 2011 - Hydro Angels Over Texas Boot Scoot'n Across Texas Walk

Things to know - I'm the Dallas area Hydrocephalus Support Group Leader for Hydro Angels Over Texas - I helped the Bomer's put together Dallas' 1st Hydro Walk - We raised over $12K!!!!

November 2011 - Welcome Baby Owen

Things to know - Owen is our best friend's first baby - My baby fever is at an all time high!!

December 2011 - Daddy turned 30!

Things to know - Audrey came down with croup a week after his birthday - Mommy organized a surprise party at the skating rink that Daddy DJ'd at in high school. It was an after-hours private party with BYOB. SUPER FUN and Daddy deserved it!

Also...

Christmas in the new house was awesome! I'm working on a tour of the house soon!

So, this is our year in a nutshell!

Did you forget about us?

Yes! I got a post in before I hit the 365 day mark! HOLLA!!!!

So... we are still here!

Kicking and Screaming

Growing and Flowing

Shaking and Baking

...you get the idea.

I would like to say that Audrey is doing amazingly well. I do apologize for falling off the face of the Earth... 2011 was probably our busiest and best year yet. I have some posts in mind that I think will probably catch you guys up on our year...as well as, continuing to catch you up on everything that is Audrey Sue.

Snowmaggedon

Don't worry World Wide Web, we've survived Snowmeggedon in Dallas...

FOUR straight days of NO school or work for this family...

Cabin Fever running rampant in this household...

Worrying about next week's forecast that includes more snow and ice...

...but one thing you can't forget in this weather is style. Isn't that right Audrey Sue?

Audrey's feet are healed up beautifully from her toe removal surgery - I will soon post pre-op pics, post-op pics and the challenges that went along with the 2 week journey of going from left-overs to just having piggies with roast beef.

Oh Audrey Sue

Something has happened to my sweet Audrey Sue... Something or someone has replaced my sweet Audrey Sue with a cranky and crabby Audrey.

I don't have any hard evidence but I suspect the culprit is the dreaded two-year molars... Oh Audrey Sue please come back to me. Please return with that sweet, lovable, happy attitude that your Daddy and I love so much.

If I had the authority to take teething down... I would! I would take it down, oh I'd even take it downtown, baby... It'd be on like Donkey Kong!!!!

Watch your back teething... This Momma is on to you...

Funky Funk

So... I'm still in my little funk. I'm not sure what it is. I just don't have the desire to update this as much as I used to. I think it's exhaustion, the cold weather may keep me tired. I'm in bear mode right now and am in hibernation. It's probably not the weather, it's most definitely a rambunctious toddler.

She had her first Christmas program at school last week. Her class dressed up as elves and sang a song about Christmas to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus". She sat in the middle and did such a great job. I don't have video or pictures to post tonight (I know, such a tease) but I promise I will get those up ASAP (Grandma Sue - I promise!). It may be after Christmas, but they'll be up soon after. She did all the hand motions and even at one point stood up on the stage almost like she was trying to steal the show. She may not have stolen the show, but our hearts were done. This Momma smiled proudly the entire time.

I went to her first Christmas party last week as well. The class latched on to me as soon as I walked into the classroom. I like to think it was because I'm awesome, but really it was because I was carrying cupcakes. And, they made it clear to me by screaming at the top of their lungs "CUPCAKES!" All the kids gave me hugs after Audrey hugged me and she was having some issues with all her friends showing affection towards me. The Christmas party was in the cafeteria and I walked Audrey down to partake in the festivities. We started out holding hands and then one of Audrey's friends took my other hand. Audrey wasn't really keen on that and she tried to shove her friend's hand out of mine. Wonder how she's going to feel when there's another baby in the house (not for a while, guys, not for a while).

So, last week was very eventful at school. She even came home with the coolest art work on Friday night. We got about 7 or 8 new ornaments for our tree. I love her artwork. I love seeing the progression she has made this year. We are calling 2010, The Year of Progress. In fact, our Christmas card details the Top 10 Moments of 2010... and guess who won almost every moment of 2010. Well... why don't you check it out for yourself :)

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!!

Music to my Ears!

Audrey doesn't refer to me as Bubba anymore... I have been upgraded to Momma!

I ask her to say Momma over and over and over and over and over again. I never truly felt that warmth of the heart until she pointed to a picture of me and said Momma. My heart instantly felt something I have never experienced before. Her hugs, her kisses, her smiles produce a particular feeling within me but it's nothing like hearing her say Momma. We've been trying to tell her that she doesn't need to cry when she's ready to get up, that she needs to call out our names and we'll come get her right away... this request is proving to be more difficult for her to learn - she knows that crying gets a swift reaction from us. Smart girl.

I think it's also safe to tell you guys that Audrey's hearing has tested the last two months within the normal hearing range. Before October, she was testing with Moderate hearing loss in her left ear and mild-moderate in her right. She has been aided since June 2009. We have no idea why the sudden change but in the last two months that she has not worn her hearing aids, she is imitating more sounds, forming new words and recognizing certain noises like cars driving down the street, dogs barking outside, music playing. Her auditory impairment therapist has been with us for her last two audiograms and she is amazed with the results. She said her colleagues have been calling her the Miracle Worker.

We go back in January for a follow-up audiogram and we have asked the audiologist to recommend that Audrey continue to receive Auditory Impairment services through the school district... I pretty much begged because losing this particular therapist would not benefit Audrey at all. We love Suzi and we still depend on sign language for Audrey's expressive language.