Celebrating the big 2 with Aamirah

This past weekend Audrey attended our friend's daughter's birthday party.  Her name is Aamirah and she turned 2!

Aamirah's parents really laid it out for the kids...

Below, Audrey with the birthday girl Aamirah

They got to build bears...

Eat sweets...
And hang out...
I can't believe Audrey will be turning 2 Feb. 7th!  How time flies.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Don't worry, I'm not becoming a stage mom (although I think I have the propensity to be one)...we were contacted by a woman who needed baby models for her new cookbook.

Audrey really loves hamming it up for the camera, and she takes direction really well, but I was really surprised at how well she did.

At one point she didn't like what was being fed to her, but she kept right along with the shoot, grabbing a big spoonful, opening her mouth, and putting the spoon to her mouth.  She didn't take a bite though, she just looked at the camera like, "Ok, are you getting this, this is what you want right?"  

(I don't know why that above line is bold and underlined...sorry!)  
She even wanted to help clean up.  The book is scheduled to be released in May.  It's called "Alina Cucina: World Cuisine for Babies."  It focuses on tasty recipes from around the world.  The website is alinacucina.com

Ringing in the New Year...Parenthood Style!

Dylan, Anna, and Audrey 
Audrey, looking like she had too much to drink.  

None of the girls were interested in this horse until Anna decided to jump on it.  
Rico lingering around the table, thinking, "Yummy, yummy sushi!"  

We've been parents for almost two years now -- but this New Year's Eve, it really hit me; we have REALLY embraced parenthood.   We were at a New Year's Eve party at a friends house, and there about 4 of us there with children -- all of them the same age.   Throughout the night we all laughed, snapped photos and engaged each other and the kids with full gusto.   But at some point during the night, I realized all the single people without kids were off in another room laughing and drinking it up.  I thought, "That used to be me.  What happened?"  Is there a way to merge the two?  I can never go back to my single party days, nor do I want to -- but I also don't want to become THAT person who can't have a 2 minute conversation without mentioning her kid.   Maybe there is a happy medium?  Anyway, here are the photos from that night.  As you can see the girls had a blast, and we had fun snapping their pictures.

Christmas Day Loungin'

Audrey loves going for a walk, so the moment we leave the house she's off and running.  

Here she is on her new bike!  She can't push the peddles consistently so we have the back attachment in place to push her once she gets tired.

She's loves her new basketball and hoop!  

Slam dunk!

Whoa!

What a nice broom!  Now help mommy sweep.

Nice kicks! Thanks Saara.

footloose!

after a few minutes on the road, i hear a small thud coming from the back seat followed by a tiny giggle. moments later, another thud and a much bigger giggle. 

i don't need to turn around and investigate these sounds - they're all too familiar at this point - but the sight of ten tiny toes waving in the air is too cute to pass up.

no matter what the thermometer says, audrey is quite keen of kicking off her shoes in the car. funny how this behavior comes from the same girl who wants to throw a minor fit when we won't let her wear her shoes to bed.

Snow Dayz

No, this isn't Detroit or Chicago --- it's Seattle!

On this day Audrey kept pointing outside and saying, "Snowman, snowman!!!" so bundled her up...






No eating snow!

Fun times!

A Night With Santa...and No Meltdowns!

It was awesome!  Let the record show, this year the visit with Santa was a success!

We arrived at Nordstrom in downtown Seattle around 5:30pm and there was a line out the door, but fortunately, Audrey was all smiles, laughing, making friends and basically entertaining the crowd.  (No photos of this, I was just happy that my child wasn't having a meltdown.)
Once we got to Santa, get this...Audrey reached for him!  Santa and I looked in each other's eyes and gave each other "the look"...which says "Let's get these cameras rolling while the getting is good!"
Audrey sat patiently as the photographer snapped away.  She wouldn't give a smile though, just a blank look.  
At this point Santa asked, "What do you want for Christmas?" and as you can see, she just gave him a look...better than tears I say!