Jet Lagged...

You know you are totally jet lagged when you just aren't all there. I've got a ton of laundry to catch up on. Andy's not too comfortable with our appliances over here! :) So, I just realized that I did 2 loads of laundry without any soap. Luckily the second load didn't get in the dryer before I realized this. So, instead of my 2 loads of laundry taking 6 hours, they'll roughly take 10.5 hours. Oh, the days of a speedy washer and dryer that can both run at the same time...

Prague

We had the opportunity to go to Prague for 4 days with some friends. I haven't had a chance to do a post on Prague, but our talented friend Ben has put together a slideshow for us on the pictures he took. Thanks Ben! So, enjoy the slideshow:

http://albums.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?s=1&u=2203279&a_id=4268267&s_id=4654833

8 months old

It's time for Audrey to slow down! She seems to be growing and changing so much lately. I don't have her stats this month - it's one of the few months she doesn't have a check-up. But Audrey is doing well. This past weekend she figured out how to make clicking sounds with her tongue and she thinks that's pretty fun. Audrey still loves playing with her toys and being outside. She still likes to get some one-on-one time with me some time in the middle of the night - usually some time between 3-5 AM. That's not the only time she wakes up though. Recently she's been crying out quite a bit in the night. Don't exactly know why, but we certainly wish she would sleep a bit sounder... Rachel often says, "I don't want Audrey to cry at night" or "I don't want Audrey to wake me up". We all share her sentiments. :) Even though she struggles at night we definitely have a lot of fun with her during the day. She's become quite the busy little girl. She rarely holds still and wants to reach and get into anything she can. She's still not crawling (thank heavens!), so her abilities are limited somewhat. Audrey likes to be held upside down. She likes to gum her food and really enjoys her two teeth being brushed every night. Audrey has started to get really excited when her daddy comes home. We definitely feel blessed to have Audrey as a part of our family.

A New Fav

Andy helped "the singing lady"(a.k.a. chorister), as Rachel affectionately calls her, move out of her apartment the other day. She was going to get rid of this bike and Andy asked her if we could have it. Rachel is definitely enjoying her big girl bike. She's still quite timid on it, even with the training wheels. But that's okay, because personally I think she's a bit young. I didn't get anything this fancy at 3 years old. Rachel is pretty good at riding her bike, but she insists on someone holding on. She has enjoyed going on a few bike rides the past couple of nights.

My Prisoners

I was trying to change the laundry from the washer to the dryer this afternoon and Audrey refused to be out of my sight. So, I plopped her in the laundry basket in my laundry/toilet room. :) She was happy, so happy that Rachel had to come investigate and join her. For the grandparents, if you click on the picture hopefully it will enlarge and you can just barely see Audrey's first two teeth. :)

Silence cannot be trusted...

The other day I was trying to get some things done and Rachel was pestering me for something to eat. I got her a bowl of applesauce and kindly asked her to go eat it by her sister on the floor. Audrey is a lot more content when someone is nearby as she plays on the floor. A few minutes later I realized Rachel had moved to the other end of the house and was browsing through some books. Audrey was being very quiet playing on the floor, so I decided to go investigate. This is what I found:

Rachel had followed my instructions by eating on the floor by her sister, but she failed to finish her applesauce before she chose to do something else. Audrey took advantage of the opportunity by getting applesauce all over herself, the quilt, and a few of her toys. You quickly learn as a mother that silence isn't always a good thing... :)

Gimme, gimme, gimme!

Audrey is a girl who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to let you know. It's been quite the battle recently to keep her from ripping up the hymnal at church. :) When she gets really excited about something her fingers wiggle like crazy. The other day Rachel and Andy were playing Phase 10 Dice and Audrey liked the sound of the dice being shook up. She definitely wanted to join in on the fun!

The Hague Temple

Yesterday after church the girls were in pretty good humor and the weather was decent, so we decided to go see the temple. Rachel loved the bridge that you had to cross to reach the entrance of the temple. She went back and forth, back and forth. We took roughly 40 pictures of the girls by these flowers - thank heavens for digital cameras. Unfortunately Audrey was too interested in the grass and Rachel was done with smiling at the camera. So, this is actually the first picture we took: We kept on trying to get a picture of Audrey by herself, but she wouldn't give us the time of day. Finally, once I tossed her in the air we were able to get a smile:

Nothing like...

...a lazy Saturday morning watching BBC CBeebies and drinking some water and milk! :)

Two down...

Audrey's second tooth has finally, just barely, popped through. The first one popped through a couple weeks ago, but still has a ways to grow. I guess it was hard enough to get through the gums and now it's taking a break. We'll see how long it will take for the teeth to actually be able to be seen in pictures. So, she's got her two bottom teeth over with and quite a few more to go... :) Fun stuff! I am definitely sad she won't take a binky. I would take the days it takes to get a binky away from a toddler over these lovely days of teething. :) I don't know if it was the binky, or if it was just Rachel, but most of the time we wouldn't even know she was teething. One day we would just discover a tooth had come up. I guess I wouldn't be able to truly know what it's like to be parent without this wonderful teething process! I'm hoping the rest are a bit easier for Audrey, but I'm not holding my breath...