Audra will be 2!

Our sweet first born girlie will be 2 on Saturday and I can't even believe it has been that long since she first came into our lives. Our lives haven't been the same since and we will forever be grateful for that! I know it's been a REALLY long time since I have blogged but I wanted to take this moment to write down a few fun things that she is doing and saying these days so I don't forget!

She loves playing with her Little People and I love watching her imagination make up all kinds of stories for them. Like the other night her princess was in a tower of a castle by herself and a sheep came up and the princess said "No, mine!" so the sheep went in another tower and then Audra told the princess "No, share!" so then the sheep got to go in the same tower as the princess. :) It's so fun to watch her mind work and to listen in on her imagination!
She LOVES playing outside and especially going on runs with her daddy which usually include play time at the beach or playground or running trails. This girl has so much energy that our most peaceful mornings are when she can just play and play and play at a playground.
I remember when I was pregnant and she was so relaxed in my tummy. Well her brother on the other hand kicks ALL THE TIME!! I just know once he becomes mobile my hands are going to be more than full.

She is almost completely potty trained!!! We only do diapers at naps and bedtime and she has woken up dry from both on occasion. She still has had some accidents here and there but is doing sooo well! Ever since I showed her how to do her pants by herself her new thing is to turn around and put her hand out and say "No mommy! No Daddy!" and run to go to the bathroom by herself. Of course we go in to help her finish up but I love that she loves going to the bathroom and wants to be so independent about it. She got so used to me putting paper down when we were in public that when we went to someone's house she reminded me we needed paper and of course I explained to her we don't need to use paper at friend's houses. :)
I love hearing the different things she wants to pray about at night. It always varies but she had so much fun playing in the water at Legoland last week that her prayer the last few nights has been to thank Jesus for Legoland, the water park and the funny girls. (Four of her little girl friends played with her in the water at Legoland.) Gummies are usually on her list too as those are her potty treats!

She used to say "I was crying" every time Andrew and I would come home and so finally I asked her if she was just trying to tell us she missed us because in most cases she really wasn't crying while one of was gone. So now she says "I miss Mommy or Daddy."

She loves calling her dad honey or babe or Andune (Andrew) which I think is sooo cute!

She has gotten so good at saying "Thank you mommy" or "Thank you daddy" and I have to say it melts my heart almost as much as when she says "I love you"

If I ask her where her baby brother is sometimes she points to my stomach and sometimes she points to her own. :)

I don't want her to be bothered by my being pregnant but I guess it is practice for sharing mommy. When I was really sick my first trimester she used to say "You sick too" Sometimes she calls herself "you" so she was referencing herself. I have felt really great since I have been in my second trimester but I am still pretty worn out by the end of some days and so the other night she asked me for more water and I told her Andrew would love help her but to make sure she said please. So she said "Please Daddy more water? Mommy's tired" I didn't tell her I was tired but apparently she could tell!

A few weeks ago she was waking up around 5am EVERYDAY!!! and mind you she stays up until 8pm and naps for about an hour a day. But she would wake up crying so I knew she was still tired in the morning. For a couple days I talked to her about how she needed to sleep until it was light outside and that I wasn't going to come and get her if she was crying because it meant she needed to lay back down and go back to sleep. So the next morning she woke up at 4:30 and I didn't go in there and she fell back asleep until 7! Woke up and said "Mommy mommy! Look! It's light outside!" So then we had a couple blissful weeks of her just sleeping until 7! Now she wakes up closer to 6am but I will take that over 5am any day! I started realizing too that the sleeping until it's light outside would start to work to my disadvantage as it gets lighter a little bit earlier everyday. Only 3.5 more weeks until daylight savings!

She thinks everything can be solved by going to the store. If she asks for a certain snack that I don't have she will just say "Go buy at store mama!" After I check the mail she asked for some so I gave her a piece of junk mail and she asked for more mail and I told her I didn't have more for her and so she asked me to go buy her more at the store!

She LOVES helping me with everything and she loves to say "I'm helping mommy!!" If I can keep her busy feeling like she really is helping me then I can get something done. Like with laundry she loves just pulling it all out of the basket but if I ask her to say find all of Daddy's clothes for me she will bring me Andrew's clothes individually and I hurry to fold them before she hands me the next piece.
I feel so privileged to be her mommy and to get to watch her grow and discover life! I love watching each new stage she goes through and it just amazes me everyday how she is just her own little person!