As long as you are...

changing diapers and wiping spit up you may as well look cute right!?

Yes Kaitlin you did see some Amy Butler! :)

It's all over on etsy now!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7656373

I still have to work on making my shop cute but there it is anyway!

Diving in ...

to something new! I have been playing with making these wipe clutches for a few months now and made some for my girlfriends up in Oregon to give to them while I was there. I had mostly been doing them just for fun but they encouraged me to start selling them! It was not the best of timing with all we have had going on this last month but I have made quite a few now and have a little inventory of 10 to sell! Some of them I have made coordinating burp cloths to go with them as a set! Here are a few of the ones I have made and I will post more tomorrow!

(Can you see seven of them peaking out in this picture??)

This purple bandanna set is for a family friend and this was a bandanna left from her wedding. How sweet is that! Memories from her wedding lovingly carried over into loving her baby.

I will be posting them to my etsy shop tomorrow too! I'm trying to not be too intimidated by that! Yikes an etsy shop! I am still toying with the name. When I was in Oregon back in May my dad suggested the name Audi Lani, one of my dad's nicknames for Audra, but if you just look at it without considering how her name is pronounced it could sound like the car and not her nickname so I had to let that one go. I think I like the name Sweet Peaches since I call her that but would be open to suggestions if anyone has any ideas.
Anyway here is the link: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7656373.
It is empty right now but will have inventory soon so check back!

Some babies start with rice cereal...

Well we aren't really doing food yet but I was holding Audra after dinner and she kept reaching for my watermelon so I let her try it! Of course not a section that had any seeds sticking out.

MMM this is why you like this so much!

Here let me help you hold it in my mouth more.

We love watermelon! Truly a perfect summer time treat!

Got the girl in her suit...

well my old suit and went to the beach!

She is always raising her eyebrows at us! Like mmhmm I'm watching you!

So sweet I can't even stand it!

Kissing on my girl... doesn't your baby have a mullet? :)

4th of July!

It was our first fourth of July with our girl! And actually Andrew and I haven't been together for the fourth of July for the last two years. Last year he was rafting and the year before I was in Oregon picking up Lucy while he stayed in SD!

Of course we had to wear red white and blue!

We went to a friends house to have some yummy bbq and then after that we went to church to watch fireworks!

Having a little fun while we waited for the fireworks to start!

Love her giggles! This morning I laid down next to her on her activity gym and she started laughing it was so cute!

hmmm baby is getting sleepy...
Audra didn't make it for all the fireworks but did wake up after a little nap and caught the end of them!

Lanai makeover

I won't begin to go into all that we have dealt with since moving into our new place but I will say that there were many things that should have been fixed before we moved in and last week we had maintenance people and carpenters in our apartment almost all day everyday which made nap time for Audra difficult to say the least. Deep breath... moving on. Our lanai at our new place is very nice since it is larger than our last place and not next to a busy road but it left much to be desired. Hmm trash and ciarette butts and ivy that was rooting down into the stucco. Yes not exactly what I would call lovely! So yesterday Andrew went and borrowed tools from Uncle Bob and Aunt Kate and picked up some bark chips from Home Depot and we got to work! It was kind of fun working outside together and seeing something made beautiful! Here are some before and after pictures:

Oh and yes that post has to be stuccoed. It was one of the things fixed last week since the one before it had dry rot and was just hanging there.

And the gutter is just sitting there waiting to go back on the post once it gets stucco again! Now how to cover up the ugly air conditioner?

Wow!

I can't believe it has only been two weeks since I last blogged. It feels like it has been two months for all that has happened!

Audra turned 4 months.
My mom and Andrew's parents were in town for a week.
Andrew finished Grad School. Praise the Lord!
We moved cities.
Andrew and I went on a date without Audra for the first time.
And we went to the county fair.

Yes so much has happened!

Here we are presenting the model that dominated a week and a half of Andrew's life. He did all of this while Audra and I were in Oregon. Isn't it amazing!!! I seriously can't believe that he built this! You should have seen him cutting the tiny white strips that became windows and all the tiny little details!

The night before graduation we went to a gallery presentation of all the thesis projects!


Andrew's parents and my mom flew in for the big event! Audra of course slept through part of it.
Where he has spent the last three years!
Finally here we are the day of graduation! He doesn't look happy or anything does he?! :)
It was held at the Salk Institute and was a beautiful location! It would have been even more amazing if it hadn't started to rain part way through!

Audra slept during the whole thing! But she was supporting her dad in her sleep! You can kind of see it but she has a paci that she pulled out for the big event that says "My dad rocks!"

With his thesis instructorAndrew's Uncle Bob and Aunt Kate came out for graduation too!

After graduation we went to a celebration lunch at where else but Piatti!



Audra got to read some books with her Grandma Bachran! She really does love her books! It is crazy!
That night we went to a post graduation party! It was the first time Andrew and I went out anywhere without Audra! I still fed her for the last time and put her to bed but then once she was asleep we were out the door and my mom stayed home to babysit! Thank you mom!!!

It was kind of fun carrying a purse and not a diaper bag! I finally got to break out the Coach bag Andrew's mom got me after I had Audra! :)

The very next day we MOVED!
This was the first trip with the U haul. Truly, truly we could NOT have done this move without the help of our families! Unfortunately this was how Andrew spent his first father's day. :( It was the most stressful move we have ever made I think partially because we were so unprepared and also because of Andrew finishing school and me just trying to take care of Audra and keep up with the normal daily stuff.

Audra was busy working on her fingers.
She was pretty unconcerned with the whole moving thing! :)

She sure loves her fingers even when she is sleeping! Oh and her pink elephant which my mom named Press! Because he has that on his chest like a name tag. hahaha!Of course after we moved we had to have pizza on the beach one night! Andrew's favorite!

Love being silly with my girl!

We are just finishing getting settled in after our move. This time I am sorting and purging! I seriously don't know why I have half the stuff I do! Like clothes I never wear anymore or things I have kept because well someone gave it to me once upon a time and I feel bad getting rid of it. I have been making serious progress though! I have filled six huge lawn and leaf size bags of stuff and three big boxes! Oh and I still have more sorting to do!

On monday our little family went to the county fair and it was the first time for all three of us!
We had to check out the animals even though Audra is young enough that she really could have cared less. :)

We got our pictures taken in a photo booth and do you see the look of awe on my daughter's face? She LOVED the screen that shows you how you will look when the picture is taken!

Really what is a trip to the fair without a bag of cotton candy! Always a staple.

Ok so after we moved into our new apartments we found out that my grandma's friend for years and years lives on our same block! I mean they have known each other since the third grade, were in each others weddings, were pregnant at the same time and have stayed friends all these years and she is my neighbor! I can't tell you how comforting that is just knowing they are so close! Anyway her son has a blues band and they were playing a the fair so we got to meet up with them and their family too! Even though it was outside it was still a little loud I thought so I had to cover her little ears. She wasn't too happy about it.

That night Audra and I went to a baby sign class at church and it was so cool! I took sign in college and so remembered some things but it was really fun to go over some of the signs. We also watched a video of babies signing things like asking for more shampoo in the bath and it was incredible to see them totally communicating before they could talk! I have heard that some babies start signing as early as six months so we are starting to introduce some to her now! We will see how it goes!

July has some fun things coming up and then at the end of the month we will be back in Oregon and we can't wait!