Audrey’s 1st Christmas

One wonderful thing about moving back to South Dakota is having the opportunity to be able to spend Christmas at home with family. This was especially relevant this year as it was Audrey’s very first Christmas.

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Dave’s family. It was the first time since before we moved to Texas that we were able to spend Christmas with Dave’s brother’s family. They happened to be back in South Dakota for Teresa’s sister’s wedding. It was fun spending the day with our niece Tiana (6) and nephew Tyler (2) and watching them and Audrey all play together. Christmas is always way better when your whole family is there. We were anxious to see how Audrey would take to tearing into her presents. I don’t think she quite understood the whole unwrapping part, but definitely enjoyed the toys underneath. She got busy playing with them right away.

For Christmas day we were off to my parent’s house. It’s nice that our parents’ houses are close together that we can hit both sides of the family easily. After some traditional Wahoo playing and a nap for Audrey, it was present time again. Would Audrey know what to do now? Well not so much, but she took a special liking to the bows. I don’t suspect they really taste good, but she must have thought so. And I couldn’t resist putting a bow on the best present we’ve received this year.

Santa

Today we took the 50 mile drive to Sioux Falls to go see Santa Claus. Now I realize that Audrey doesn't know anything about Santa, but we had to go for the experience and of course the photo opportunity. As we were standing in the never ending line, Audrey had fun watching all the kids play in the play area. The whole thing, including her anticipation of seeing Santa, must have been too exciting because when we were finally second in line, she puts her head down on my shoulder, thumb in her mouth, and wanted to go to sleep. I was like great, all this standing in line for her to sleep right before it's our turn. Luckily it all worked out and she was still awake when our wait ended. Of course the first thing she did when she sat on his lap was pull his beard. It would have been really funny if only it wasn't a real beard!!! She yanked poors Santa's white whiskers so hard, I swear tears were going to come out of his eyes! We'll have to leave him some extra cookies this year.

Surgery #2

That's right...surgery number 2 for our little Audrey. Luckily this one is way less sever than the first. Ever since she was born, Audrey's left eye has always been watery, goopy, and somewhat crusty which is the result of a blocked tear duct. So before the year is up and we start over on insurance deductibles, we thought we'd clear this up as well. On December 23rd, she will have a minor surgery to open up the membrane blocking the tear duct so that her eye will drain properly. Thankfully only a light anesthesia is used and the surgery only takes 10 minutes. The doctor said she should be good to go by the afternoon, so it still should be a Merry Christmas for our family. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers for a successful surgery and fast recovery on the 23rd.

All Bundled Up

As I mentioned, we moved to South Dakota at exactly the wrong time...right at the start of winter. At first the weather was playing a little bit of a game with us. It was freezing the day we moved into our rental house, but then warmed up nicely to the 70s the next week. However, it snowed the second week we were here and really hasn't stopped since. It's snowing right now even!! I don't think Audrey has quite figured out what all the fuss is about in the morning when we get her all bundled up to head out the door. She now gets to wear shoes to help keep her feet warm, which I think she actually thinks are pretty cool...at least she always plays with them once they are on her feet. And then there's the winter coat, but no stocking hat since she already has a built in one. However, I'm not quite sure how to get her ears covered up. We even had to buy her a new car seat because the straps were too tight when her coat was on. She's getting so big!!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Audrey has started to become obsessed with books right now. We have a basket in the living room that has all her toys and books and she likes to sit next to it so she can grab whatever she wants. She used to just take everything out of the basket one right after another and then look at us like “it’s empty, now what am I supposed to do?” However lately she goes straight for the books in there and one in particular, ‘Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See.’ No matter what other books are easier to get to, she always goes directly for that one. I don’t know how she can pick it out amongst all the other books in there, but somehow she does. As we read her that book, which I’ve memorized I’ve read it so much, she bounces up and down each time we turn the page. It is quite hilarious. However, when she is playing with them by herself, she gets frustrated when she can’t open all the pages and starts to whine a little. Dave and I get a chuckle out of it. It’s like she has a love hate relationship with them.