Audrey's First Snow Experience

It was quite a hit! Audrey loves playing in the snow, especially building snow men with daddy.

Casper the Snow Kid and his side kick, Snow Baby.

Update on the Little Monkey

Audrey is such a little stinker these days. Anyone who has seen her lately knows that she is the biggest ham around. She's been getting into everything lately, including Daddy's shoes:


We've been watching Christmas programs together.. you know the really old ones with awesome "clay-mation" type animation from 50 years ago. Here she is snuggling on the couch:

And exhausted from a long day of being cute and hilarious:

We had a doctor's check up recently, during which we got some new stats which I thought I'd share, since it was her last big doctor's check up for awhile. Our doctor said she looks wonderful and is right on the developmental track in every way. Praise the Lord for a beautifully healthy child!

Height: 33.5 inches (80th percentile)
Weight: 24 lbs. 15 oz. (45th percentile)
Head circumference: 17.75 inches (10th percentile). We joke that her head never grows, because it really hasn't grown much at all for a long time! She is perfectly proportionate though, so no harm done.

Let's see, what else... We'll be getting a potty training toilet for her soon. She is NOT ready to start potty training and I refuse to force her to start before she is ready. However, it wouldn't hurt to get her used to sitting on the little toilet so that when she IS ready, she knows what it is and doesn't freak out about having to sit naked on this weird plastic thing.

Audrey has quite a vocabulary these days. She says a lot of new words such as Cookie, Sweet (which sounds like wheat! That is a new one as of this morning), Juice (Joo), Cheese (Chee), Kitty (which sounds a lot like cookie), Bubble (pronounced perfectly), Baloon (boon), Cracker (cwackew), and more. Hilarious. She has me laughing all day long.

She has also taken to throwing tantrums. I'm talking, arching her back, screaming hysterically, kicking, thrashing around. This kid has a strong will underneath that sweet, mellow exterior. I believe we are well on our way to entering the famous Terrible Two stage, albeit a bit early. She freaks out if she doesn't get what she wants, which is normal for her age but frustrating all the same. Eric and I are disciplining her in small ways and discussing when we should start spanking. Yes, we will spank our children. Call us child abusers, but our kids will be disciplined in that way when needed, not out of anger but out of love and care and only when really necessary. Pray for us as we seek the Lord and grow as parents, stumbling along this road called Family Life!

A Virtuous Wife

^{Proverbs 31:10-31}

¹⁰ Who can find a virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
¹¹ The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
¹² She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
¹³ She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
¹⁵ She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
¹⁸ She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
¹⁹ She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
²⁰ She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
²¹ She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
²² She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
²⁵ Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
²⁷ She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

I read this often, praying that the Lord will shape me into this amazing, selfless woman. What a great example and reminder for all wives!

New Banner

In honor of the winter season and upcoming snow, I had to make a new banner. So fun! It's so chilly here today - in the mid 30's, getting into the low 20's tonight. Brrr!

Christmas in November, A Tradition

It has become a tradition for Katie and I to bake Christmas cookies and watch Christmas movies at the end of November, to kind of get in the Christmas spirit, so to speak. We both love Christmastime, so much so that it is probably unhealthy. This year, a bunch of the girls got together at Katie's to bake cookies and watch Elf, one of the bestest Christmas movies ever. It was great. There was a cookie baking FRENZY. I even made the famous Snowman Cookie, who has spent a little too long in the cold and therefore has cold little snowman nipples. (What?!) Unfortunately I forgot to snap some pictures, *sigh*. I did say that I would post pics from the first one we made when we started our tradition a few years ago.

So. In honor of our Annual Christmas Cookie Baking & Movie Watching Tradition, I give you the original famous Snowman Cookie.


Here we are after hours of baking and decorating. I was pregnant with Audrey at the time - aw!


The entire post from our first Christmas in November can be seen HERE. Merry Christmas in November!

Brrrrr

We woke up to find snow on the ground this morning! Folklore suggests that a White Thanksgiving means a Green Christmas and vice versa. Does a White-Day-After-Thanksgiving also mean a Green Christmas? Either way, Audrey is ready for the snow in her pink snow boots. (Yes, the pic is extremely blurry. The combination of Audrey being in constant motion this morning me not being able to hold the phone still to save my life made for a hopelessly blurry pic. I took 5 more and this was the best one.)


The snow has already melted, but it is still very chilly outside. I look forward to a warmer day tomorrow and Sunday; mid 50's and mostly sunny! Yay for more days to take long walks outdoors!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Eric, Audrey and I had a WONDERFUL time with Kyle and Jen staying with us for most of this week! We love you guys!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, bloggers! I am praising the Lord today for so many things. I won't go into all of them now, but I will list my top 3.

Topping the list is Someone more important than everything in the world to me; Jesus Christ, my God, My Savior, My Friend. Far more important than any earthly thing. He took the sin of the world upon Him, becoming the final and ultimate Sacrifice for sin, therefore we can come to the Father and ask for forgiveness. We can become clean and new, with an eternal citizenship in Heaven. He is a tender, loving God. He is merciful. He loves me. I am so grateful, I am speechless. That doesn't happen often.

Secondly, words cannot express how thankful I am for my wonderful husband. Eric is truly a God send (how could he not be, given our story!), my soul mate. He gets me. Life isn't easy, but with Eric it's an adventure. Special. Exciting. He loves me despite my mile-long list of shortcomings and 6.5 years of marriage so far. I look forward to decades and decades more.


Lastly but certainly not least, my sweet baby girl. I could never have imagined it possible to have such a darling, precious, sweet-tempered little girl. She surprises me every day. To hear her exclaim "Mama!" when she sees me as she did for the first time tonight, breaks my heart. I don't deserve these things. I don't deserve all of this love. Yet I am so thankful for it. I'm blown away - speechless! Again! This doesn't happen often, enjoy it! :)



May you lift your eyes to the hills (Psalm 121), to the Lord, and see all of the people and things He has blessed you with today. "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." Philippians 4:8.

Have a great Thanksgiving with family/friends! BIG HUGS to you all!

Busy Bees

Audrey and I have been busy little bees lately, spending a lot time outdoors during the unseasonably warm weather we've been having this November. We take our usual walks around the neighborhood, sometimes going elsewhere to walk and talk with good friends. We have been visiting various playgrounds around town, which we enjoy immensely. As you can see.

Her sign for "all done"!

Static Slide Head!

Also entertaining are the many autumn leaves that have covered our lawns recently.



Hats are a fun accessory these days, especially Daddy's hats.

(Holding her chicky, a.k.a. Kicky!)

There are many indoor activities we also enjoy, one being playing the piano. Or trying to. I will give her lessons one day when she is a bit older. I think she will be a great musician.... her love of music is evident every day, even at this early age.


Another indoor activity is using Daddy as a jungle gym, ladder, stepping stool, or transportation. (My stupid phone settings weren't right when I took this pic, as you can see. *sigh* Too bad- cute picture.)


Something we look forward to every week is our Thursday morning play group. A few months ago I felt it on my heart to start a play group for young moms (Christian and non-Christian alike) with kids of any age (though most are infant - toddler). A few of us girls from meet together at one of our homes or another location (parks, the zoo, COSI, etc.) to let the kiddies play while we chat about mommy hood and life in general. It's a GREAT time for us all. If you are interested in coming, please feel free to reply to this or send me an email (rice.christy@gmail.com). The Lord has really blessed our times; it doesn't get better than great friendships and chats! This morning, we all met at COSI to visit the toddler/kids area. It was Audrey and my first time there, and I must say it lived up to all the hype! We will be going back, for sure. There was plenty for the average kid with a short attention span to do. There were structures of all kinds for them to crawl around in, over, through, and on top of. There were neat contraptions for foam balls to shoot through all over the place. There were lots of buttons that when pushed, produced all kinds of interesting sounds and lights.






Audrey's favorite part was the water room... I tried to keep her away from it but finally gave up. I decided the satisfaction of seeing her joy overrode my concerns about her getting soaked in her single change of clothes. It was worth it.

Yum. Mommy, don't think about the germs
floating around in this water. Just think about how much fun I'm having.

My little girl is the cutest, sweetest little stinker ever. Ever. Really. I can't get enough of her smiles and her sweet disposition. She cracks me up all day long. I have a perfect example from tonight, just one of the many hysterically endearing things she does every day. I was reading her a bedtime story called Yummy, Yucky.


On each page there is something yummy, then in contrast there is something yucky.

As I read I would say "Yummy, MMMMMM!" or something similarly fitting, and then "Yucky, EEEEEWWWW", shaking my head in disgust. After three pages, Audrey started giggling. Not just a light giggle. I'm talking bubbling up from the stomach, full throttle giggle. And she didn't stop. With every "Yucky, EEEEEEWWWW" she busted up into a fresh round of giggles, until we were both laughing so hard she couldn't breathe and I couldn't see through the tears. I cry a bit when I am laughing so hard there isn't a gasp of breath left in me... I got that from my Mom. Thanks a lot Mom! (Hahaha) She kept looking up at me like, "oh, you're laughing too!" (or "are you okay Mommy? I can't stop laughing but you look kind of scary with all of those tears running down your bright red face!") which would of course send her into another batch of giggles. We read it three times until finally the giggling diminished a bit. About five minutes after I said goodnight and turned the lights out, I passed her room in the hall and she was STILL giggling, laying in her crib in the dark. So really. My girl is just the cutest, sweetest, and funniest. Ever.

Trick or Treat?

If you know me, you know that I'm not a fan of Halloween. As a matter of fact, I am against supporting the "holiday" because of it's origins and what "All Hallows Eve" is REALLY all about. On the surface, celebrating this day seems innocent enough, however, All Hallows Eve stems from pagan and satanic origins. I won't get into it here, but I greatly encouraged you to do some research. You may find some things that will surprise you. I believe it's good to be educated about these "innocent" things that our culture embraces, and know, if nothing else, what we are allowing our kids to take part in.

That being said, I have mixed feelings about allowing Audrey to trick-or-treat. Eric and I have decided to participate in it for the past two years, but we may not do it in the future. Once Audrey is old enough to understand why we don't want to support the "holiday", we will certainly replace trick-or-treating with something else that is enjoyable and fun, such as a harvest/Fall party or something that will still be fun and special, something that will not make her feel like she is missing out on all the fun.

Audrey was a chicken for a good part of the day yesterday. At first she DETESTED the costume and threw a sad little fit whenever I tried to put it on her. After awhile, she finally got over her frustration, but it took a few minutes! Here is Audrey and her friends at our play group:

Ava and Audrey were terribly upset about having to wear their costumes, and poor Emma was a little taken aback by all the fuss!

My little chicky :)

Yesterday evening, we went trick-or-treating with our friends. It was a BLAST to walk around together and see the kids enjoy getting treats. (Laura & Ava, Katie & Brianna, Audrey & I, Abby & Nolan)

Nolan and Ava riding in style:

Dave & Katie's neighbors had a massive display of carved pumpkins that the entire street had put together. Many of them were really impressive, like this one of Patrick Swayze...

Good times! Also, there is another new post from today, below. Check it out!

PS - A big thanks to Laura and Katie for sharing the above pictures with me as I am still camera-less!

Autumn Allure

Fall is really turning out to be gorgeous this year. I snapped a few more cell pics last week during an enjoyable walk with a friend at one of the nearby metro parks. (Have I ever mentioned that the Columbus area has AMAZING metro parks?! Much love.) Great conversation, great weather, great pictures, it doesn't get much better!

Audrey loves the leaves and acorns that fall on the ground. She usually finds one that is particularly interesting to her and carries it around during the rest of the walk.

We have enjoyed the fall colors in our own neighborhood as well:

Our sweet neighbor Jo makes beautiful bags, and made one just for Audrey this week. She loves it and likes to wear it on her arm:

A few random pictures that I couldn' t help posting:

Audrey is big enough to ride in the neat little car carts at the grocery store, which she thoroughly enjoys! Here she is excited about some stickers that the checkout lady gave her.

Audrey is into bags, shoes, and sunglasses... my kind of girl!!!!!!!!
(Blurry pic I know. She would NOT stop moving! Haha)