Happy 4th Audrey!

Yesterday was a big day.  One which has been eagerly anticipated for the last few months.  Audrey's 4th Birthday!

She has been counting down for so long, looking forward to her special day.  One of the things we did for her birthday, that actually happened a couple of weeks ago was Disney on Ice.  Audrey saw an advertisement for it a couple of months ago and really seemed interested, so we thought that might be a fun thing to do.  It was on November 10th and it was a really fun night!

It was just Adam, Me, and Audrey for the evening.  (Luke stayed home with Grammy.)  Audrey was pretty excited the whole ride to Salt Lake.

Once we got to our seats, she seemed pretty anxious for the show to start.

To pass the time we took a few pictures:

The show was great.  They did little Cliff Notes-Style presentations of lots of their stories:  Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Incredibles, Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Snow White, and the "MCs" were Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy.  The finale of the show was a dance with all of the Disney Princesses and their Princes.  It was a lot of fun.  And Audrey really enjoyed it!

Yesterday was a great day too!  We spent the morning as usual - playing together.  A few days leading up to her birthday, we'd asked her what kind of cake she wanted, to which she would reply, "all the colors of the rainbow".  I wasn't sure what I'd do for it, but then remembered a rainbow cake I'd seen on someone's blog a few years ago that would work.  So I make her cake in the morning. Then Audrey requested a Happy Meal for lunch (she still calls it a Happy Milk - which we think is adorable).  She took a nap in the afternoon, so I took the opportunity to put up a Happy Birthday sign and hang some pink and purple streamers... and decorate her cake.  Oh, and Audrey had started to change her answer to the cake question - she started saying she'd like a pink cake.  (This was, of course, AFTER the rainbow cake had baked... so I decided to make the frosting pink!)  It turned out pretty good.  I am not, admittedly, a very precise baker.  The food I make tastes good, but does not always win tons of points on presentation!  This was no exception.

I neglected to take a picture of it before we cut into it, but I did manage to snap one of the inside, so you can see "all the colors of the rainbow"!

Audrey really loved it!  It was a big hit.  We shared the night with Grammy, Granny Lynnie, and Aunt Rachel, who all came bearing gifts that Audrey was super excited about!  Among them:  a "Barbie" make-up set, a cute rag doll, and a couple of Barbie dolls with extra clothes.

I realized only this morning when I uploaded the pictures from our camera, that we only took videos last night (except the one picture of the cake!).  Epic Fail!  (I guess there's always next year!)

Happy Birthday to our cute little FOUR year old!

Despite our Differences...

Can I just say, for the record, that I really think I made a terrific choice in my husband?  The best decision I ever made.  Ever.

We are well-suited for each other.  We balance each other out - things that don't come naturally to me, do for him.  And vice versa.  He teaches me, and calms me, and just makes me a better person.  I feel blessed to have such an incredible guy as my partner in this life.  Plus, he's a great dad!  (Big bonus!  Especially when I'm pregnant!  He's always so amazing at helping out and being aware of when I look a little green, and maybe it'd be best if he changed the stinky diaper - and that's just ONE example of his awesomeness.)

(Me and Adam, February 2002.)

We are very alike in so many ways - all of the most important ways we agree and complement each other.

We have so much fun together.

(Adam and me being goofy in a dark and stormy Redwood forest, February 2002.)

But there are some things in which we do not agree.

The biggest and most surprising difference between us concerns music and the radio.

Music has always been very important to me.  Music is powerful and evocative and nothing matches it in it's ability to heal and inspire.  Adam likes music, but I would wager that it's no where near as important to him as it is to me.  This is evidenced by his tendency to choose the AM frequencies to listen to talk radio instead of listening to music on the FM!

A funny thing happened just a couple of hours ago, as we were out running a few errands.  I usually take control of the radio and play DJ while we drive (sometimes to Adam's chagrin).  It frequently happens that I will pause on a song and Adam will look over at me with eyebrows raised, a questioning look in his eye, accompanied by a crooked half-smile (meaning that he will indulge me).  Sometimes he'll make a comment along the lines of: music like this just makes me feel old, or is this really popular, people like this kind of music?

Anyway, tonight we went to a few stores, and at one point I changed the channel and this song came on:



I excitedly exclaimed:  STP!

Adam's reaction?  It was classic.  He goes:  STP?  Like the Motor Oil?

I laughed and hung my head in shame!  And then I said, How in the world did we end up together?!  Then I clarified that many people say STP in place of the band's full name - you know, Stone Temple Pilots?

Luckily, Adam redeemed himself at least a little bit by knowing who the Stone Temple Pilots were.

The next song that came on was one of my more current favorites:



Is there anything cooler than a mix of rock/folk/bluegrass?  I think not!



Another, different musical difference is Adam's love for Christmas music.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I love Christmas music.  I just have one very strict rule:  No Christmas music until after Thanksgiving!  I just can't do it!  I want to enjoy one holiday at a time, and I also don't want to get sick of listening to Christmas music before the month of December even starts!

Adam does not concur.  He wants to start listening to Christmas music on November 1st.  And there is a local radio station that apparently shares this view and that's all they play.  Christmas music all day long.  Starting November 1st.  It's crazy.  So, lately, when usually he lets me take the reins of the radio dial, he will sneakily change the channel back to that particular station.  And, stubborn as I am, I do not let it stay there long, and exclaim, "Not until AFTER Thanksgiving!"  If he had his way, it would be this song, all day long:



Despite our musical differences, I love him and I am so appreciative of the kind of man he is.

(One of the contenders for our wedding announcement picture, April 2002.)

(Adam and I - June 2011.)

On another note:  In writing this post, and choosing the pictures:  I realized we have shockingly few recent pictures of the two of us together - that aren't from almost ten years ago!  The one above is the most recent one and that's 5 months old!  We have literally hundreds of pictures of the kids and very few of the two of us.  We need to turn the camera lens on us a little more frequently! 

The Beats of a Teeny, Tiny Heart

This morning we had our second Doctor's appointment.  This was an exciting one.  We were going to hear the baby's teeny, tiny heart.

As Adam and I got ready to go, Audrey asked where we were going.  We told her and in her unique, Audrey way she said, "I wanna go wif you."  So we decided we would take her along.  Grammy was here and we left Luke with her.

We met with our favorite Doctor - the same Doctor that delivered both Audrey and Lucas.

And...


drum roll...



we heard the distinct and beautiful sound of a teeny, tiny heart beating.


It was exciting!  And fun!




And, if you want to speculate,



and if you believe all of the old wives' tales...




the Doctor said it was measuring about 160 beats per minute...




Which may or may not mean that this baby is a girl.

We'll know for sure in about 8 weeks!

 

Our Halloween!

I have not been the best at blogging lately.

But I have to take off my slacker hat and tell you all about our Halloween... and of course show you a few pictures of the cuties.

Here they are, strapped into their car seats ready to go to the Trunk or Treat activity.

Right before we released the kids to begin the candy collecting fun, I had to snap a few pictures.

Adam was a Scottish football fan.  Luke was Spiderman.  Audrey was Belle.

Don't they look cute?!

Cute.  But not exactly patient with picture-taking.

It was a ton of fun!  There was a really good turnout and both of the kids made an absolute killing with all of the candy they got!

After they made the complete round to all of the trunks, Audrey decided to sit on the edge of our open trunk and help me pass out candy to the other kids.

Do you like our skeleton friend/assistant?

And it was nice to have all of the candy-collecting done before it was even dark outside.  No creepy houses.  No questionable candy.  And the weather was perfect!  It was not cold, but just right for the duration of the activity.

It was a fun and fabulous time!