5 months and a new year...

Audrey is 5 months old today and I can't believe it. I don't know where the time has gone, honestly. I am sitting here while she takes her morning nap just taking it all in....thinking about all that we have been through in the last year. It is almost 2009...and a year ago I found out that I was pregnant. Since then the year has had many ups and downs for sure...

It started with getting pregnant and then finding out Nate would be deployed for the last part of my pregnancy and the beginning of Audrey's little life. I moved back to California 7 months preggers and began living with my family again, while Nate lived alone on his deployment. There were some complications in the last months of my pregnancy that gave us all a scare, but then Audrey was born healthy and beautiful! =) Nate had to get to know Audrey through only photos for so long. Then finally he returned home safely to us and we moved back to Colorado....and I had to say goodbye to my family again.

This year we also lost some loved ones....they will be missed greatly.

We are certainly still in the adjustment period but we are loving our life in Colorado again and we are certainly loving being back together as a family. =)

As the new year approaches I feel compelled to say something. I want to thank all of our family and friends for being so unconditionally supportive of all the new changes in our lives. We have never felt so loved. Without your love and encouragement, this year would have been even more difficult and challenging. You helped to give us extra strength to be able to keep going. Thank you!

Happy New Year and we love you all! xoxo

Video...

Here is a cute video Nathan shot recently. Audrey is so funny...she is really distracted by the camera!

Audrey's First Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Nathan, Audrey, and I had a great little Christmas at home. Earlier this week we started our Christmas movie marathon. We watched Home Alone, A Christmas Story, and Love Actually...we still need to watch It's a Wonderful Life though. We didn't decorate the house this year because we are still unpacking boxes but we did decorate Audrey! hahaha. We dressed her in a little Santa suit...she can thank us later. =) We were blessed with many presents from family under our fake little tree too!

Audrey's first Christmas ornament...handmade with love from Uncle Donny. =)

Christmas Eve.
Our little tree and all our goodies...Audrey got lots of really cute things!

...posed in her Santa suit.

...so excited!

She was all smiles for us. =)

What in the world is this?

I think she was distracted by a movie on TV. haha.

The goody pile from the grammas...thank you guys!

She always gives us these goofy smiles when she gets up from a nap or when she is milk drunk after a feeding...this is classic goofy Audrey.

Big smiles for mommy.

Such a pretty girl...we wonder how we got so lucky.

Daddy and Audrey watching UFC after our Christmas dinner.

Santa from the back...she just rolled over. =)

Latest happenings...

Nathan has been off from work this last week and we have just been hanging around...it has been wonderful! We did some shopping and got Audrey a few new toys...she gets bored with her old toys now. Here are some new pictures.

Audrey's new thing...the baby blanket. She is so cute, when she gets tired she rubs the blanket on her face and makes these little grunting noises until she falls asleep.
...and she would much rather suck on daddy's fingers than her pacifier. =)

We picked up this new bath for Audrey. It is a whale and she loves to splash around in it. Nathan has mastered the art of giving her baths!

So sweet.

This is the jumper that we got for her...she loves it. She kicks off from the ground and plays with all the toys. There is a mirror on it and every time she sees her reflection she starts talking and laughing so loud! So cute! =)

...exploring.

She got this teething toy from Grammy Deb and she loves it...I am sure she loves the way the cold feels in her mouth. She is getting pretty good at holding things up too.

Back in Colorado!

We are officially back home in Colorado now. Nate was home with us last week and we had a great time. Audrey and I will miss daddy when he goes back to work!

Here are some great new pictures of the latest happenings....by the way....Audrey is rolling over now!!! We are so excited and also a little scared because she is on the move! =) Make sure that you watch the latest video with your volume up. Audrey is talking to her daddy and it is very sweet.

I sat with Audrey a little on the drive back from California. She started getting hard to please until she discovered my Sunny D bottle...she loved this!
This is what happens when we don't strap her into her bouncer...
...needless to say, she gets strapped into everything now! haha.

Don't let her fool you...she loves her hat!It has been very cold here so we had to purchase a few new winter items for Audrey...this one is the cutest.

Do you think she likes her new swing? We aren't sure.

This is her crib...we will post pictures of her room when we are finished with it.

...ravenous.

Daddy and Audrey enjoying some TV...I think they are watching a UFC fight.

Audrey was happy to be all bundled up to go outside...it was -7 degrees!

Turn up your volume.

Thanksgiving week...

For Thanksgiving this year we were all over. We spent a week in Southern California visiting with as much family as we could, and we spent some time with Nate's family in Northern California too!

Here are some great pictures we took along the way. Unfortunately the pictures that I do have don't capture all of our visits with our friends and family.

Tim got the whole family together for us to visit with. This was a great night...every one got to meet Audrey and welcome Nathan home from his deployment. =) This is a picture with Tim and Audrey's great-grandparents Bardwell.
Auntie Sarah and Audrey hanging out...such a cute picture.

The whole gang....so fun. =)

He is such a proud daddy.

Grandpa Tim, me, Audrey, Nate, and Great-grandpa Bardwell.

This is the first picture I have of Nate and Audrey sleeping together....finally after four months!

Audrey loved Scott and Sharon's guest bed so much! We laid her in the middle so she wouldn't roll off and she slept great on it every time!
Breakfast with Audrey...all over the table. =)
She loves to kiss and get stuff in her mouth...here she is trying to fit grandpa Scott's nose in there!

...just a cute pic.

In Sacramento...Aunt Nancy brought this jumper over to cousin Kim's house and it was a success...like everything else though, it didn't last forever. =)

She was really into it.

Audrey and Rian. Rian loved helping and holding Audrey...she is so sweet.

Nate's Homecoming!

I know, I know...it has been a long time since anything new was put on the blog. Bear with me, there are a lot of new pictures coming! =) When Nate finally got home it was like all was right with the world...at least our little piece of it anyway. It was a great day!

We are at the airport anxiously waiting for Nate's plane to land...so excited!
The first daddy and daughter picture. =)

She just looked him over...she was probably thinking, hey I think I know you!

You get it...this is the sweetest thing ever. =)

Audrey's first time in the daddy Bjorn...she liked it for a few minutes at least. haha.