Then & Now

Let's play a game of Then & Now.

Then:

 February 2011

 Now:

March 2012

Then:

 

 August 2011

October 2011

Now:

March 2012

Our sea container

This is what arrived at our house Friday, July 22nd.





And we filled the whole thing!



And rumor has it.... it departed the port of Savannah on July 29th, and will arrive in the port of Antwerp on 8/16! Woo hoo!! That means I may have all my worldly belongings by Labor Day, allowing two weeks or so for customs clearance and bureaucracy, etc. etc. etc.

Giggles with a side of Hiccups

You know you miss me!

Woot Woot! We got a check-in from the Cayman Islands! Missy can not live without us! Hope you are having fun in the sun and taking lots of pictures!

2 Month Stats

Audrey did very well at her appointment this morning. Until the shots.....whoa! She let everyone know she was NOT happy about those shots. But she was actually pretty good/pleasant most of the day....which was good, because we did a lot of running around doing things to get ready for our big move.

Here are her stats:

Height: 23 1/4 inches - 75th percentile
Weight: 11lbs. 7oz. - 50-75th percentile
Head: 391/2 cm - 75th percentile

Audrey is Two Months Old!

Again, we're a day late.... but by the time I got a picture of Audrey, this is what she looked like:



And although this is what she looks like a good part of the day, I thought our readers would much rather enjoy a picture of a sweet face girl, like this one:



A much happier young lady in the morning.....even with bed head!



I can't even really call it bed head, because her hair is almost always wild and sticking up. And lately, full of knots in the back from where she lays on it.

Big sister loves her baby!



She is so protective of her, too. Every morning when I drop her off at school, Audrey draws a little crowd of Grace's friends who want to see the baby. One boy in particular is about to become a big brother and he is fascinated by Audrey, and even tells his Mom every day that he can't wait to see baby Audrey. But Grace keeps a close watch on all of Audrey's admirers and anyone who gets too close, gets told to move along, in Grace's own very special way.

Our appointment isn't until Monday, so I'll post stats then. That should be fun - full of shots. I bet I'll hear about that all day long..... that brings to me a few things about Audrey this month.

Audrey continues to be a fusspot. I guess it's colic. I don't know what else it could be at this point. I just always thought that if it was colic she wouldn't sleep well at night, but she does....we'll get to that in a minute..... She is fussy most of the day. Usually starts mid-morning, and gets progressively worse throughout the day. We get a few breaks when she falls asleep and occasionally, she'll forget to fuss, and actually just be content looking around, staring at the fan, or something, but that doesn't last very long. I've started using "Colic Calm" on recommendation from Missy. It's a homeopathic medicine with 9 natural ingredients to help relieve discomfort. I think it does help. I just need to be consistent. It also helps knowing that this should end within the next month or so.

So sleeping.....Audrey is sleeping between 7 and 10 hours at night. She goes down shortly after Grace around 8pm, and sometimes wakes around 3 or 4am. But I've been really lucky and haven't heard from her until 5:30 once and 6:30 another time!! I am hoping for a few more nights like that very soon.

So in addition to being the world's fussiest baby, Audrey is one of the smiliest babies ever. Isn't that weird? She goes from one extreme to the other! I just wish the smiles lasted longer then the fussing...... maybe that will be our big 3 month revelation!

Bath Time for Two

This is what bath time usually looks like with both girls.

Tummy Time

So we had a rare content moment, and what do I decide to do? Tummy time!!! I am a glutton for punishment!

Overdue

I have been so bad about keeping the blog updated, and I promise this is not a sign of things to come. Just way too much going on right now! Things will settle down eventually...

But I did capture this video today of two things.

1. Audrey in the Rainforest....happy. This actually happened twice today. For almost 10 minutes each time. YAY Audrey. Girlfriend is not fond of much. So we are happy to find something other then our arms that she will 'deal' with for at least a few minutes.

2. Twirling. Graces loves this dress from Aunt Jenny. Loves. It may never see a hanger in the closet again. She loves twirling around and around in it. And then falling down dizzy. :)

Audrey's Smiley Face

Contest

We're going to need a new blog name soon!! I don't really have any prizes, but if you have a suggestion, and it 'wins', your prize will be to see it every day at the top of the screen when you log in to see what we're up to in Belgium!!!

Please put all suggestions in comments for consideration!!

Audrey is One Month Old

Day late and a dollar short, but we were busy with doctor appointments, house showings, and oil changes and didn't get a good picture before fussy time set in.

Weight: 9lb. 12 oz.
Height: 22 inches
Head: 38 cm

All in the 75th percentile.

Some things about Audrey...

Has smiled when falling asleep since birth, but lately is smiling more when she's awake. And is awake more often during the day.
Wearing mainly 3 month clothes, and stage 1 diapers.
Really good eater.
Very fussy in the evenings, around dinner, bath and bedtime for Grace. Very fussy. Grace is extremely patient and largely unphased. Thankfully. (Wish I could say the same!)
Trying to start a routine to help with fussy time and give attention to Grace, so the girls are bathing together most nights. Grace is such a good helper, and Audrey enjoys her bath. However, it doesn't do much in the 'calming down' department afterwards.
Still sporting a wild and crazy 'do - almost as long as her sisters! Her hair doesn't look as dark as it did at birth, and her eyes are still blue.
Can sleep 4-5 hours at night, but usually starts her long stretch before I've gone to bed (fussy time wears her out apparently), so I only get a little bit of sleep before she's up every 3 hours or so through the night.

My post from when Grace was one month old - I don't think they look that much alike, but you tell me: Grace One Month Post

Days

We are 8 days into our 20 days without Daddy, and the next 12 days can't go fast enough.... and speaking of days, Audrey is 28 days old today. I can't believe it has been 4 weeks, already. Wednesday will officially be one month, and we have a doctor's appointment, so I'll be sure to do a full post with pictures and stats of the big occasion. Another noteworthy item in terms of days, the house has been on the market for 5 days, and has shown 3 times, twice to the same couple. They may be interested, so an extra prayer or two may be in order!!

My camera and video camera are on a house hunting journey across the pond, and I'm still learning how to use my new fancy camera, so I don't have the best pictures to include.... but here's something to tide our audience over till I get the hang of things.

We see a lot of this face.



Thankfully, it sometimes turn to this face.



New 3D Bubble glasses - who knew you could see bubbles in 3D.



Look at those curls!



On the run, as always.

Nostalgic

So the sign in the front yard has me taking a trip down memory lane and looking back through all my pictures of the renovations we've done to this house over the last 5 years.

We've come a long way. Amazing to me how we could see through all that wallpaper and find the good bones of this house.

Tons of renovation pictures, so unless you're bored...... or skip down to the Virtual Tour.

What we started from: http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=400352969903%3A1731806773&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Kitchen Transformation: http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=999811969903%3A1234021718&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Master Bath Update: http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=300352969903%3A549023290&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Hardwoods, Powder Room, Misc: http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=100911969903%3A2072848303&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee


And the final product: Virtual Tour

Bittersweet

Big Sister, big helper

Audrey: Facts & Figures

Mainly for my own reference, I want to jot down Audrey's stats.

Birth (Sunday):
7lbs. 11oz. - Weight
19.5 inches - Height
13.5 inches - Head

Release from Hospital (Tuesday):
7lbs. 2 oz. - Weight - 7% loss

First Dr. Visit (Friday):
7lbs. 14 oz. - Weight - BOO YA!

2 week Visit:
8lb 10oz. - Weight
21 inches - Height
36.5 cm - Head

We are obviously NOT having a weight gain issue. :)

Sisters

Smiling Baby Sister



Smiling Silly Big Sister



Sisters

Daddy's Girls

Long, skinny legs!