Helmet No. 4

Yes that's right, we are on to helmet number 4. After we got back from doctor's visits in San Antonio for Audrey's third and supposedly last helmet, we learned through three weeks of crabby Audrey that the 3rd helmet did not fit. It was squeezing the back of her neck which was making her miserable as you can imagine. So we put her old helmet back on (luckily it fit) and talked back and forth with the helmet guy in San Antonio as to what our options were. We didn't want to have to go back to San Antonio again if possible. Finally after about a month going back and forth with him, it turned out that the guy who helped develop the helmet for our doctor years ago now lives in Sioux Falls, SD, only 45 minutes away from us!!! We couldn't believe it. God has defininately had us in the right spot through this whole thing. We were able to meet with him right away and a new helmet was ordered. The group in Sioux Falls (Davin, Mark & Annette) were fantastic and so helpful. I was worried that since we were approximately 2 months behind now on her helmet that she would have to wear it longer, but they said her head looked fantastic and she would not have to wear it any longer than originally prescribed. We all can't wait for August 14th to come because that helmet is coming off for good!!!

Now since we are in South Dakota and Clarisse is in San Antonio, we had to enlist someone new to decorate her 4th and last helmet. That someone, Jess Schelske, was Dave's friend from high school who also works at Daktronics. As you can tell from the pictures, she did a fabulous job. Thanks so much Jess for helping us out. The helmet looks terrific!!

Trip to the Zoo

Audrey has been really obsessed with her Sesame At the Zoo book lately so we decided we should take her to the real zoo so she can see the animals up close and personal. So off we headed to Sioux Falls to the Great Plains Zoo Sunday afternoon. Now neither Dave nor I had been to this zoo since we were in elementary school, so we really couldn't remember what it was like. Keep in mind the last zoo we were at was the Wild Animal Park in San Diego, so that was what was going through my mind as we were driving. I don't know what I was thinking...something similar to the San Diego Zoo. We are in South Dakota for goodness sakes!!

Once I got back to reality, I realized it actually wasn't that bad and is perfect for little kids. We got through the entire zoo in 2 hours. There was a petting zoo of farm animals for the kids and Audrey had a good time in there. Both the horse and the goat tried to eat her graham crackers and drink out of her sippy cup, so that was pretty funny. She thought the bears were really neat as well as the birds. Unfortunately the zebra (or bra which is what Audrey calls it) and the giraffe's weren't very close so she didn't get to see them real well. All in all, it was a fun trip and I'm sure we'll be doing it again soon.

We Have Steps!!

That's right! We have officially seen a couple steps out of Miss Audrey. She lets go of the furniture and gets this really excited look on her face as she takes a couple baby steps and then falls down on her butt. Then she gets back up and tries it again a few times until she gets tired of it. It is terribly cute and very exciting! Crawling is still her preferred method of getting around, but I'm sure we'll be chasing her around very soon!

Day at the Park

It was finally a nice weekend so we decided to take Audrey to the park not too far from our house so she could go swing or 'wee wee' like she calls it. We had lots of fun swinging and going down the slide. She was also pretty happy just crawling around and tasting the wood chips too.

Chatterbox

Audrey has become quite the chatterbox lately. When she is reading books, she is talking so it appears that she is reading them to herself. It is sooo cute!! She also will look you straight in they eye and say something. I'm usually so amazed I find myself not saying anything back becuase I am just in shock at how determined she was when to say it. Of course I have no idea what she is saying because it is all gibberish, but she certainly has something to say. All I can think of at this point is that, like her mom, we are going to get a note home from kindergarten from the teacher saying that she is talking too much in class. Something to look forward to I guess.

Easter Egg Hunt

Audrey took part in her very first Easter Egg Hunt this year. Every year the Scotland Good Samaritan Center puts on a hunt for kids of all ages. It was nice because they split the kids into age groups so that it would be fair for all involved. For Audrey's age group, they basically had all the eggs scattered on the lawn and the kids could run around and put them in their baskets. Since Audrey isn't walking yet, this meant I got to carry her around to round up the eggs. We got three of them! Audrey wasn't quite sure what was going on, but by the end of it she wouldn't let one of the eggs go. It was pretty fun. We even made the front page of the Scotland Journal (the weekly newspaper in Dave's hometown)!!

1 year Pictures