Audree turns 2!

Audree had a fun birthday at the Riverfront Carousel this year. She loves to "wide the wheesees" (ride the horsies). We did a candy land theme and kept is simple for this prego mom. She brings such a joy to our lives and I cannot believe we have known her for two years already.

Audree @ 2

***Very busy for a girl.

  Loves
     ~ dancing

     ~ swimming

     ~ playing ring around the rosie
     ~ all animals and moving creatures

     ~ Toy Story 3, Melmo and B-Cake (Strawberry Shortcake)

   Fun Words

     ~ Peepin : Sleeping

     ~ Pun : Fun

     ~ I yub yuuu

     ~ Beedees: Birdies

Man Hair

This may be boring to some, but the purpose of this post is not to entertain, but to help me remember...

We had a monumental occasion at our house last night....Karalee had her first hair cut. She was born with precious chocolate curls which turned into adorable golden curls over time. With all of that pretty hair came tears and struggles to tame that mane! Nolan has been wanting to cut it for a long time now and last night, after a 25 minutes combing fest, I agreed. Karalee didn't want even the slightest trim. She said that only men cut their hair, and she didn't want "man hair."

Nolan is a genius and thought of a wonderful treat to reward this daring leap of faith...He would buy her the DVD Tangled. They went on a date to see this Rapunzel movie in the theatres and it now has a special meaning to them both. This pushed her over the edge and she said we could make one cut. ;)  I cut the first several curls before she noticed. She then bent down and picked up a curl with a gasp..... She became very sentimental, tearing up, and asked how we were going to put in back on. This only lasted for a minute or so and then she embraced the idea of shorter hair.  After we were finished she twirled and giggled. I'm pretty sure that every girl likes a make-over.

Nana and Mimi, no worries....Her hair is still beautiful and curly. A ringlet formed instantly as it dried. She does look a little older, but part of that is due to the fact that she is as tall as some first graders. Not much we can do about that!

This is the Day that the LORD has made!

Nice weather means the camera is coming out.... Karalee and Audree were having fun playing in the front yard today and even made some friends with the neighbor girls. My heart overflows when I see their little personalities emerging and their daddy beaming with delight as he watches. Here are a few captures from the afternoon.


                               

MY FAVORITE...Delighted daddy!

Nesting in the Nursery

I have had so much fun putting this room together. I am not quite done. I have 4 or so finishing touches left and then I will feel it is complete. I tried to find things I liked in magazines and adds and then attempted to recreate a version of them. This is what we have so far...

I am planning to put a cornice box over the top of the curtains here.

 

Some of my inspiration and good deals...

The Lamp I had and wanted to re-purpose...

The Lamp I like from Pottery Barn Kids ~ $148

My less frilly version embellished with cloth rosettes made from scrap fabric ~ $0

The Tree with shelves that I found here. The tree is $88 + $12 shipping.

This is my version painted with free paint! I will be cutting white birds out on the cricut on Friday. 

I also plan to use the cricut to write the baby's name like this, over the changing table.

I found these inexpensive shelves at Goodwill for $5 total and painted them to match.

~

I found this bird picture online at this address. It is $120 for this small canvas.

I used an old frame and two pieces of leftover scrapbook paper to create this. $0 

The little bird to the left is something I found at the Dollar Store and spray painted white.

Here are a few of the accessories I found at the Dollar Store.

I learned how to make this tissue paper pom-pom here, at Martha Stewart.com. $1

So far I have spent...

Paint $12

Tissue $1

Accessories $3

Lamp $9

 ( I stole the one from the living room, so I needed to replace it.)

I still need to get...

 A vase with hydrangeas for the space next to the clock.

Birds and name on the wall (free)

A pillow for the chair. (I already have fabric, just need time.)



Well Hello!

Wow, it has been quite a long time since I have posted an update. Our life has been changing and developing so much over the last few months. I decided that a new post would not only keep you all updated, but it will help me remember this crazy busy time, later on. So, here are a few of the happenings in our life right now.

theBREAK
Nolan is still leading the college group at our church. We are having a blast serving in this way, and daily feel a confirmation that we are right where the Lord wants us. Nolan would love to move into full-time ministry at some point, but for now he continues to run his residential construction business.

Karalee
Karalee is growing like a weed. She really enjoys praying with Audree lately. When we listen at their bedroom door, it sounds something like this.
Karalee: Thank you for the rain.
Audree: AMEN!
Karalee: Thank you for the sun.
Audree: AMEN!
Karalee: Thank you for the trees.
Audree: AMEN!
You get the picture...We recently enrolled her for 4's preschool, next year. She is ecstatic about the idea and wants to make sure and bring a pen. =) She has really enjoyed writing her name lately so I thought I would share a few pics...

Audree

Audree is a pistol, she is always on the go. She has a sweet heart and loves to come up and randomly kiss us. At 18 months old, she decided she was ready to be a big girl and use the toilet like Karalee. I was not as ready as she was so I humored her, but didn't really start any training. Well two months later, here we are. We started consistent training on Monday and she is doing great. She is pretty much trained, but it will take several weeks of "practice" before I will really relax.

Baby

The baby continues to grow and is doing great thus far. Everything seems to be going along as expected. This pregnancy feels different in many ways, and the baby is sitting much further back than the girls did. We find out the baby's gender in just a little more than a week. (3/28) We can't wait to find out what this precious little one will be.

I will post ultra sound pics when they come....