Easter

Disclaimer: Easter was soon after Audrey's surgery, so you might notice that her eyes are red in some of our Easter pictures.

Nana came up from Austin (Buda) to spend Easter with us.  The Easter Bunny brought the kids some new fun outdoor toys and some candy in their Easter baskets.  We went to a wonderful church service, and then James and Audrey hunted for Easter eggs in the backyard.  Next year, the Easter Bunny needs to do a better job of hiding the eggs; these kids are good!  We finished the day with a delicious lamb dinner.

Audrey's surgery

At the end of March, Audrey had to have surgery on her eyes.  They weren't staying aligned properly, and vision correction with glasses and patching weren't improving the problem, so surgery was the next step.  Audrey handled it all like a champ!  Her biggest issue before surgery was that she didn't want to take her shoes off.  So, the nurses took back to the OR in her shoes.
Here's a couple pictures of our sweet girl before surgery holding the lamb that a friend of mine (Laura Rea) gave her as a gift...

 

 

We have had several follow-ups with the surgeon since surgery, and Audrey's eyes are doing great!  So far, surgery was a success.  We were told that since Audrey is so young, there's a higher probability that she could have a recurrence and require surgery again.  We'll just keep praying that's not the case!

Winnie the Pooh

We took the kids to see a live performance of Winnie the Pooh.  James loved every second of it, and he sat at the edge of his seat the entire show.  Audrey was really into the first act, but decided she was scared during the second act and snuggled up on mama until the end.  Overall, the kids enjoyed the show, and we decided we definitely want to take them to more live performances.

Goofing around with a new friend before the show

 

Some one's excited!

 



 

 Waiting for the show to start

 

Audrey's rainbow birthday party

We held Audrey's birthday party in the Fellowship Hall of our church. I had a lot of fun getting the decorations together and planning the food and activities. There was a play mat for the kids to build with Lego's, a coloring table, and a small bounce house. I made a rainbow assortment of fruit and veggies to snack on, and the cupcakes were topped with rainbow candy. Audrey looked adorable in her rainbow tutu, and we could tell she knew it was a special day for her. She was a little shy at the party, but we were so humbled by the big turn out. Thank you to everyone who came to celebrate our sweet girl turning 2!

The decorations and food

 

The birthday girl all ready for her party 

 

The fun...

Audrey is 2!

Today, our sweet girl turned 2 years old! 

I couldn't help but try to remember what we were doing at certain times of the day two years ago... in the morning, I was at the doctor being told that there were no signs of baby yet (it was still a week before my due date).  At lunch time, we had no idea how much our lives would change in just a few hours.  At 4:45 that afternoon, my contractions started, and it was a whirlwind deciding to go to the hospital and getting to the hospital to find I was 9 cm dilated.  And then we met our baby girl at 6:31 in the evening.

Audrey is very silly, very independent, and very loving and cuddly.  Our family is so blessed to have her as a part of it.  We love her so much!

Pictures are coming... today we spent some time at Pump It Up with cousins and a couple friends for open jump, and then we headed over to Central Market to play on the playground and eat cake.  Audrey is having her official birthday party this weekend.  Stay tuned!

Christmas

I need to get caught up and write about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day before Audrey's birthday tomorrow...

Christmas Eve

For the past few years, we've met The Gonzalez's (Aunt Karyn, Uncle David, Tristan and Bella) for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Fortuna.  The restaurant is never crowded, and it's a nice place to visit and exchange gifts.  James and Audrey love their cousins!

It is a bit of a challenge to get a "good" picture of the 4 of them together, but we love that they're silly.

 

In the evening, we went to the family Christmas Eve service at our church. The service has been the same for several years, and we get to watch a re-enactment of the Nativity Story. They have real animals and a real baby. The service always ends with the lights out, candles in everyone's hands (flameless ones for the kids), and everyone singing Silent Night. It's really beautiful, and most importantly, the kids love it.

 

Christmas Day

This is the 1st Christmas that James has had any concept of Santa.  We didn't talk to him much about Santa because we know he hears lots of stories from school and other kids.  We didn't want to make things confusing by telling him a story that might contradict something he's heard, and then we have to explain why there's a difference, and then we have to be tricky, and then the whole thing spirals out of control.  So, we let James decide for himself.  When he asks us about Santa, we always respond with, "What do you think?"  So, according to James, Santa lives in the sky; he come down our chimney and eats cookies; every present under the tree is from Santa.  Needless to say, some of James' ideas are funny and original and some are the usual.  The funniest idea he has about Santa comes from Mama not being very good at being sneaky.  James asked Santa for a pinata (who knows why).  So, I bought one when he wasn't with me, and put it in the back of our SUV.  A couple days later, James was climbing into his car seat, and saw a Buzz Lightyear pinata in the back.  Of course he got excited, and told me all about it (oh no, why didn't I take that out of the car?).  I tried to convince him he was seeing things.  He's too smart for that.  So, after a confusing, awkward and vague conversation, James decided that Santa is so tricky that he put the pinata James asked for in the back of our car (I did not tell him that; I kept trying to convince him that he was seeing things).

Anyways, we had a wonderful Christmas morning. The kids loved seeing all the presents under the tree when they first woke up. We tried to alternate between Audrey and James, and have only one present at a time be opened, but their excitement took over and resulted in a little chaos. Happy chaos, though.  We all had a fun day playing with new toys and watching it snow outside.  And, we finished the day with a Greek Christmas meal.  So yummy!

North Pole Express

The weekend before Christmas, we took a trip to the North Pole on the North Pole Express in Grapevine.  We didn't tell James and Audrey what we were doing (well, maybe we told James earlier that day), and they were very confused why we were changing them into pajamas in the middle of the day.  But, both kids were thrilled to discover that we were going on a train ride, and that Santa might make an appearance.

Waiting to board the train...

 

 

On the train and keeping a lookout for Santa.

 

 

Here he is!

 

 

James is enamoured.

 

 

 

It is getting impossible to get a good picture of these two together!