Birthday Girl!

I absolutely can not believe that Audrey is one year old already. It sounds like such a cliche, but I just can't figure out where the year has gone. Well, truly, this year has been quite a whirlwind. We bought and sold houses, moved to a new city, started new jobs, and are raising these two beautiful little beings on the side.

For Audrey's birthday, we had a great little party at home. I was a little tempted to throw a huge bash, but finally decided that we would all enjoy it more just to have our families. After all, Audrey isn't really one for crowds. She had a great time. She got just enough nap before the party that she was all smiles. I have been to lots of first birthday parties, and I don't think I've ever been to one when the birthday boy or girl didn't cry or whine. Audrey, though, didn't even so much as frown. She even loved when we sang to her. She loves food, especially pizza, and put on the obligatory show with the cake. Ella was a great big sister and barely showed any jealousy. She loves to have her cousins around and had a great time helping Audrey with everything.

Yeah, for pizza!

This was Ella's obnoxious, perfectly two-year-old party dress. She chose this as the perfect outfit to wear to a birthday party, and I have to give her some props for pushing the fashion limits.

Enjoying the cake

Ella and Noah enjoying some time with Nate.

At one year, Audrey is walking and trying to run. Like her big sister, she is a fearless climber. She loves to laugh and is so easy to get smiles from. She has really become a happy, fun little girl. She still prefers Mommy over anyone else (which is ok with me), and is always happy to be held. She's a great sleeper and a fabulous eater. She's a home body like her daddy and is always the most happy in familiar places and surrounded by familiar people. She has changed our family in such a wonderful way. I am so, so thankful for the blessing that is my sweet Audrey. Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl. I love you.

Why, yes, my girls are wearing matching shirts. Everyone knows that I love a good black and white, and I love to match my girls as long as I can.

Try to ignore the green bean on the chin and the smashed beans in the nose, but otherwise, isn't she just precious?

I can imagine that someday they will both treasure this picture of Ella quilting with her Grandma.

Look who likes peaches!

Who doesn't enjoy a little cereal in a laundry basket?

Fall Fun

No surprise, I've been a little slow on updating the blog. What can I say? We've been busy. The short story is that Nathan and I both love our jobs. We have been blessed with our absolutely wonderful nanny, who Ella and Audrey love. The girls are both getting so big, I just can't believe it. 

Odds and Ends

A few previously-unpublished pictures that I love



Fun at the Farm

As we always have and always will, we spent the Fourth of July weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Hesemann's. This is one of our favorite times of year. All the cousins get together for total chaos. My wonderful mother-in-law is a well-known anarchist, and nothing makes her happier than a house full of rowdy grandkids. There is pretty much only one rule - no whining.

Ella has discovered a love for the creek and all things that live in it. We talk about tadpoles all the time. It's amazing the number of pretend tadpoles we find every night in the bathtub. ;)

Throwing rocks off the bridge wtih Grandpa

The 31 year old mom in me wonders what it would be like to be that flexible again.

The doctor in me wonders whether this is going to result in Giardia or Leptospirosis.

Cousin Daniel enjoying the action and rockin' the fishing hat. Obviously he knows that accessories are the most important part of any outing.

Seriously, how many Grandmas do you know who would bring a lawn chair out into the middle of a creek and play with a baby to make sure ALL the grandkids get to experience the creek together?

And, now we're tired. 



Audrey's Update

This poor little girl, like second children the world over, has only about one tenth as many pictures of her as of her older sister. Somehow, we just don't seem to reach for the camera every time she sneezes like we did for her sister. Nonetheless, let it be known, that we are over the moon for this girl. To be honest, she is not nearly as easy a baby as her sister, but that's ok. She's just her own little girl. Her wants and needs are completely different from Ella as a baby, and I'm fine with that. I look forward to seeing her little personality developing. So far, she is much more into routine and familiarity than Ella. The up side of that is that she lets it be known how much she loves her Mommy and Daddy. She got off to a slow start, but now has quite the appetite. She loves most all baby foods, especially veggies. She is on the move. She started a very mobile army crawl around 7 1/2 months, and by 8 1/2 months was truly crawling and is already pulling up. I've even caught her letting go and standing on her own a few times. She loves to go for stroller or wagon rides. Walking the trail behind our house, she is very quiet and takes in everything. I like to think that she is my deep thinker. Most of all, she loves her big sister. If she gets so much as a smile from her sister, she lets loose with a big, deep laugh. There is nothing so wonderful to a mother's heart as the sound of her babies giggling together and the sight of them snuggling.



Ella's Birthday

I can not believe that my Ella is 2 already! 
Like every other mother in the history of the world, I feel like it was just yesterday. Even though it was a long day, I swear I remember every detail of that day - the nervous excitement, wondering what she would look like, and hoping and praying for her health. She's growing so quickly and perfectly, it's hard to believe how much we worried about our little monkey before she got here. Truly, we thank our Heavenly Father every day for His gift in her. She is such a blessing to us and has honestly helped Nathan and I to become the people we were meant to be.

My pretty girl dressed up on her birthday.

A little unsure about all the people at her house when she woke up from her nap. I didn't take her long to realize that since it was her party, it was going to be a good day.

Enjoying the spoils of the Easter Egg hunt. Yes, we did an egg hunt for her party. She enjoyed it so much at Easter that we decided to keep the fun going. What other activity occupies a bunch of 2 and 3 year olds for 30 minutes? A few stickers and some candy, and you're good to go.

 No birthday party is complete without a Dora cake almost as tall as the birthday girl.

We love this sweet, happy girl.

Spring with the Hesemanns

I'm determined to catch up on this blog, so here goes.

As always, we've been busy living.

Audrey at 3 1/2 months doin' a little tummy time. The calm face lasted approximately 7 more seconds.

One of the approximately 9,000 picture I have of Ella making this face. I love it. This silly face perfectly embodies this crazy girl.

This was during Ella's brief interest in potty training. That little booty is just too stinkin' cute. We're going to be trying again soon. Hopefully some new Dora undies will help this time.

Snuggle time with Daddy.

Luckily, we had a relatively slow spring. Nathan and I both finished our residencies (finally!) and stayed busy preparing for our move to St. Louis. Most of our outings revolved around walks to "the park," aka, the playground of Blue Ridge Elementary School. We have all adjusted well to being a family of four. It feels so natural to me to have four of us. It seems so cliche, but it's true that we are so blessed. I often have a hard time praying for anything else because I am so thankful for these three people already.