"Walking in Memphis"

Ok so we're not in Memphis but we are walking! My little monkey took her first steps this past Saturday night. She is still wobbly but getting better every day!

My First Christmas

Audrey Claire had a very busy and exciting "First Christmas". Let me go ahead and warn you this post will be long. I had to narrow down the 95 pictures I took to just a few for you to see!

Have you seen the movie "Four Christmases"? Well, in a way, I completely relate with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn because that's exactly how many Christmases we went to. In a time span of about 36 hours! So that explains the 95 pictures. Take a deep breath and let's get started...

We started in Jackson at Mawmaw June's house. Audrey Claire enjoyed visiting with some of Seth's family and opening gifts, which she really got in to. Most importantly though, she enjoyed playing with Georgie (the dog). And she has started saying "dog" now. Well, her version of "dog". I put a video at the end of the post of her saying "dog" and calling the dog. Some of Audrey Claire's gifts in Jackson were baby dolls, a stroller, a ball, and a cute little monkey!

Here are a few of the pics from Christmas Eve-

Let the unwrapping begin...

(FYI- Seth was in a tie because he was a pallbearer in a funeral earlier that day. Our family get-togethers are not that formal! )

We spent the night in Jackson and actually slept late Christmas morning. (If you call 8:00 late!) Once we were up we headed to Crystal Springs to visit my family and open gifts with them. Here, Audrey Claire got a new movie, some barrettes, clothes, a sippy cup, and more! We had a big lunch there then headed to Brookhaven!

Here are some pictures from CS-

The kids opened gifts before we got there so AC had lots of helpers...

Trying to get her pants on!

Somebody finally helped her get them on!

Showing Pawpaw how to drive...

All of the Lang grandchildren

While in Brookhaven, we visited with more of Seth's family and opened more gifts. Audrey Claire got a new piggy bank, more baby dolls, and a Dippin' Dot maker. Seth joked and said he was quiting his job and opening a Dippin' Dot booth at the mall! I think he might need to stick to the cell phone business though.

Here are pics from that visit-

Um, GiGi, that baby is crying. Can you make it stop?

Trying to feed the baby

Loving the baby

Trying to "grab" the light coming through the window...

Still trying to catch the light...

Our next stop was Wesson for the last of Seth's family. It was getting late by this point but Audrey Claire did great. She played and opened gifts like a pro!

Memaw is so funny!

Annie and Matthew stopped by on their journey from Brookhaven to CS. Memaw loves her some Matthew and Annie and was very excited when they surprised her! So was Audrey Claire as you can tell by her face in this picture!

Hunter playing Santa and giving everyone their gifts.

Wondering what her favorite gift of the day was?

What could it be?

One of the baby dolls?

No...

Her basketball goal????

Nope....

Clothes??????

Not that either.....

BABY WIPES! YAY!!

Haha... That is by far my favorite picture of the day!

So as you can see, we are blessed with LOTS of family who love us and our precious little girl. My little monkey had an amazing first Christmas. It was so much fun and I feel so blessed to be her Mommy and get to celebrate times like this with her!

Here's the video:

Helping Mommy (by Audrey Claire, vol. 2)

You may or may not remember from a few months ago, I REALLY enjoy helping Mommy clean up around the house. If you don't, you can go here to read about it. Anyway, just so you know, I still like to help Mommy with her cleaning. I have noticed that she has been really busy lately getting ready for Christmas and all so I have really stepped up my game. I do everything I can to help her. Here are some pictures for proof that I actually do some things around the house.

Mommy didn't know I could open this drawer. I emptied it before she even realized I was in it. Man, I am good.

When I am not "helping", I like to catch up on my reading.

Stay tuned for pictures of my first Christmas!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our little monkey!

Hodge Podge

The past few weeks have been full of shopping, eating, and visiting with friends. Audrey Claire has enjoyed getting to visit and play with several people. I really haven't sat down to blog in a while so I've gotten behind. Here are several pictures from the last two weeks, starting with the most recent.

Audrey Claire loves telling Judah a thing or two. She kinda bullies him now. Hope he doesn't remember it when the time comes that he's bigger than her.

Somebody was getting sleepy!
Said it before and I'll say it again, I love this kid! How precious is that smile?
Matthew and Annie came to visit. He was singing to her in this picture.
Here's our best shot at getting a picture where they are both looking at the camera. IMPOSSIBLE.
Playtime with Mrs. Meghan.
And Mr. Donnie
We went to visit Li-Li and Brian in their new house!

She loved grabbing their carpet. I know she was thinking, "Hey this stuff is cool. Why don't we have it at our house?"
Stay tuned for Christmas pictures tomorrow!

Playing in the Wagon

Here is the before promised video of my little monkey playing and humming in her wagon!

11 months

Ok so apparently I haven't been paying attention to the date lately and my little monkey turned 11 months old this past weekend! It happened so fast I didn't even realize it! Where did last month go? Is Christmas really next week?

So what is my little monkey up to these days?

• She is still not walking by herself but she is doing a great job of standing alone! She can go from sitting on the floor to standing without pulling up on anything.

• She is talking alot more! She loves saying "no, no; MaMa; Dada; and night, night" along with several other words that we just can't understand yet.
• She has two new teeth peeking through on the top!
• I think I finally have meal time figured out with her. She has been such a picky eater! I discovered Yo-Baby yogurt and it is her favorite! I have to mix fruits and vegetables with it but as long as she can taste the yogurt and it's right out of the fridge she loves it. (No warmed up baby food for her! She has to have it cold.)
• She can wear shoes! YAY! I have found two pair that will actually fit on her chunky little foot. But no socks and shoes at the same time. We aren't quite there yet. I am hoping when she starts walking her feet will thin out a little. These little brown shoes are my favorite. They squeak each time she steps. I have a feeling once she is walking everywhere, Daddy is going to take out the squeakers.

• She also got to experience how crazy the holidays can be when we went home for Thanksgiving. She got to meet several family members that she had not met yet. We can't wait to see everyone again at Christmas!
• One of her favorite things to do lately has been shopping. This child loves to ride around in a buggy or her stroller holding some clothes on a hanger. She wants something in each hand. She is such a fun shopping buddy!

• She experienced snow for the first time and was amazed!

Christmas came early!

This past weekend when my parents came down, they brought Audrey Claire's Christmas present. They knew when we go to their house for Christmas we wouldn't have room in the car to bring it back so they just had to give it to her early! So what does a little girl like AC ask grandparents to get her for Christmas you ask? A "little red wagon" of course! And let me tell you my child absolutely LOVES her wagon. I think she would have stayed in it the entire weekend if we'd let her. She just sits back in it and holds on while you pull her everywhere. If you stop for any reason, she kicks her feet telling you to GO! Other than that, she is so calm while riding! Seth and I kept saying to one another that we have never seen her so calm and relaxed. The first picture is a great example of how she was most of the time.

You may or may not have noticed the Christmas characters sitting in the wagon with her. They all sing and dance when you turn them on. As annoying as they can get (and trust me, they can get pretty annoying) she LOVES them too. She wants them constantly running. All of them. At the same time. Did I mention how annoying they can be? I videoed her humming with them and will post it soon!

After her nap on Saturday it didn't take her long to find the wagon and she was whining and pointing to it. Which means "I want to ride and I want to ride now!" So I laid the seats down and she laid in it about 15 minutes while we walked around the house. (It was raining outside so we couldn't go out.) It was so funny how still she was!

We can't wait for all this rain to leave so we can get outside and ride!