The Joy of Christmas

We didn't take many pictures over Christmas because we wanted to soak up all the fun with the girls this year. Ella really got into Santa and "being nice, not naughty". I love this picture of her as she was running into the living room that morning to see if she got anything. Christmas with kids is so much fun.

Santa Baby

After several hours at Northpark Mall waiting to see Santa, we actually got a great picture on our own camera! Audrey was exhausted and slept through her entire first visit to meet him! On our way out, Santa told me he wished all parents brought their kids that way to see him! I love this time of year and hope that my girls will always enjoy this special season.

Thanksgiving at the Hyatt Hill Country

This Thanksgiving, the Warren Clan headed to the Hyatt Hill Country in San Antonio. My parents flew in from Florida and my sister's family all flew in from Amarillo. We had the BEST time together enjoying the perfect weather and the great features the resort had to offer, going to Sea World, exploring the zoo, riding ponies, going on carriage rides and getting to see Santa. Ella and Wyatt had a blast having slumber parties each night in Mimi and Papa J's room and Audrey and Jessica were troopers as they enjoyed long days in the Baby Bjorns!!

I am so thankful for my husband, my children, my parents, and my sister and her family. Even though we all live apart, we were so blessed to be able to meet up and spend the holiday together! Thanks to Mom and Dad for the great trip!

Happy Halloween!

Our little angel and Tinkerbell....

Happy 3rd Birthday Ella!

It is hard to believe our baby has turned 3! Though not every day is easy with Ella, she is a sweet and spunky little girl. She loves to dance and sing. She loves to cook and she can color a mean picture! She loves her mommy and daddy and absolutely adores her baby sister. She will give you a hug right when you really need one and her smile melts our heart.

We celebrated her birthday with a Princess and Pirates party. She has lots of friends that are boys, but we couldn't have a party without princesses!

Happy Birthday Big Girl!

Baby Dolls, Baby Dolls, and More Baby Dolls

I think it is so amazing that God programs very specific things into boys and girls. My nephew Wyatt loves anything that has a wheel on it. Ella on the other hand is all girl and loves her baby dolls. She has 4 baby dolls. Please don't think we bought all of them, in fact one is mine from when I was little and the other 3 have been gifts for various holidays. She has 2 baby strollers (both gifts) and a little baby crib. She refuses to let us call them a name other than "Purple Baby, Pink Baby, Green Baby and Pink Baby." She spends hours a day feeding them, putting them in the strollers to go shopping and to camp, laying them down on blankets to take their naps, changing their diapers, stealing Audrey's toys to let her babies play with them, and of course, rocking them to sleep. It really is funny and precious. Today I walked in the room and she had arranged them all on the floor to take their nap...she's such a little mommy!

Sisterly Love

One minute Ella can be so sweet and gentle with little Audrey...

The next...well, you can see that little Miss Trouble is out and Audrey has a look of fear on her face!

Our Bathing Beauties

We have a cheap (and I mean cheap) little blow up pool in the back yard that we are using to entertain Ella a bit in this summer heat. We decided to let Audrey take a dip this weekend. It was her first time in the water (other than her bath). She seemed to like it until Ella started doing dolphin kicks and splashed water all over Audrey's face. She was only in for about 10 minutes, but they had fun. Hopefully we'll have a chance to get her into a big pool before the end of the summer!

Olivia's Birthday Party

Today we went to a birthday party for Ella's friend, Olivia. Olivia's parents are in our Sunday School class at church and the girls are only a few months apart. Ella loves Olivia, probably because she is a bundle of girl energy just like herself. The party was at the Wiggles Center in Frisco. This was the first time Ella had been there and she had a blast! Lots of jump houses, mazes and slides. She was exhausted by bed time...thanks to Jeni and Jeremy for that!

Audrey's New Meal

Today Audrey got to try rice cereal for the first time. She seemed to spit more out of her mouth than what she actually took in. Ella really wanted to have some of the cereal, so to stop the whining I gave her a taste and that stopped the begging pretty quickly!

The Things Some People Say

I honestly question why some people say the things they do. I really noticed it towards the end of my pregnancy with Audrey when I would get complete strangers coming up to me saying "Are you having twins?" and "You are REALLY big." Okay, never in your life could this be construed as a compliment, especially when you are 8 months pregnant, feel miserable and even your maternity clothes don't fit anymore. My poor sister had it so much worse with all of her fluid issues and the combination of these rude comments plus the pregnancy hormones can really take a girl over the edge.



I've seen it a lot lately too with Audrey. Audrey is definitely a good eater and has the most precious little rolls. As her mommy, I can say that she's my little chubby baby, but it really bothers me when other people tell me how "Fat" she is--and yes, they use the word fat - and how there is no way she is only 4 months old because she is so big. I know it is the one time in your life that chubby cheeks and thunder thighs are thought of as cute, but it drives me crazy when people say it every where we go. I pray that she will inherit my mom's metabolism and that we will be able to teach both of our kids about being healthy.

Happy 4 Months Audrey

It is hard to believe Audrey is already a third through her first year of life. Life is hectic around our house, but we love having our two girls and the craziness of day to day life seems very "normal" to us now. Audrey's four month stats are:

• Weight - 15 pounds, 14 ounces (87%)


• Height - 24 3/8 inches (49%)


• Head - 17 inches (92%) - this must mean she's going to be REALLY smart

Our little one is definitely growing and is very healthy!

At 4 months, Audrey...

• Has completed grown out of all the 0-3 months clothes and even some of the 3-6 month stuff is tight around her thighs!


• Loves to sit in her Jumperoo and enjoys playing under her activity mat.


• Can sit in the Bumbo seat and look around unassisted.


• Will reach out and pick up toys and put them in her mouth.


• Loves to chew on her fist


• Loves to play patty cake!


• Really loves to interact with Ella and is all smiles when her big sister is around (even though most of the time Ella is picking on her).


• Still likes to get up by 6:30 and is ready for her first nap by 8:00!


• Trying to twist from side to side.

We feel so blessed to have such a sweet precious little princess and can not wait to see her grow!

Grumpy Daddy

Today we were driving to go shopping and Ella was doing her standard whining for a snack and her cup in the back. We had told her several times that she didn't need a snack and she needed to stop asking. John finally got a little stern and said "Ella, that is enough." Just as quick, she responded, "Daddy, you are grumpy." We aren't sure where she got that from, but we both couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Fun Fourth of July

The Carlisles invited us over for a fun 4th of July! Beth was my college roommate and our families now live just about 10 minutes from each other. Ella is in love with Will who is just about a year older than her and loves to see him at Mothers Day Out and at church on Sunday.

They had the best time dancing around with each other!!

Visiting Cousin Jessica

We went to Amarillo this weekend to meet the newest addition to our family - Miss Jessica Kate! She is absolutely precious and it is so hard to believe that only 3 months ago Audrey was that little. They grow up so fast. It was a fast weekend trip, but plenty of time for my sister to have a bunch of company in her house with a 2 week old! Thank you so much Melissa for letting us come and see our first little niece!!

Ella and Wyatt had a ball as usual. They spent most of their time running wild through the house and swimming in the pool outside. Mimi and Papa J brought them to the zoo on Saturday. Naptime was always forced because they were just having too much fun, even though Papa J went right to sleep during the bedtime stories.

Our Little Jumper!

John put together the Jumperoo for Audrey this week. It was one of the few toys that is not a hand-me-down from Ella. We weren't sure if she was ready for it, but she really has loved it and it is nice to have a place to set her down where she isn't just flat on her back looking at the ceiling. Our main issue is Ella either trying to spin her around in it and tell Audrey to "Look at this" or Ella wanting Audrey out of it so that her baby dolls can use it. Everytime I walk by it, one of her 4 babies is sitting in it.

Vacation Bible School

This week was Vacation Bible School for us. I debated on whether I wanted to drag both girls up there for the week, but Ella has gone every year since she was born, the first time being when she was 7 months old. I decided to work in the nursery with Audrey who was the youngest participant this year! We had so much fun, especially since the Jaynes family - Stacy, Madelyn and Harper--got to join us. Ella just can't get enough of her BFF Madelyn. The girls got to play a lot, make crafts, have snacks, and sing lots of songs. This is the picture we got of Audrey. The theme was Superheros, and though it may be hard to see, Audrey had her very own cape with an "A" on the back. Of course, Ella has already tried to steal it and thinks it is just a really big bib.

Happy Fathers Day

Ella and Audrey are the two luckiest girls in the world. They have the best daddy who loves them so much and is always the fun parent. If you ask Ella who her boyfriend is, she will say "Daddy." I think it melts John's heart. I don't know what he will do one day when the girls actually bring home real boyfriends. Happy Fathers Day John!

A New Cousin for the Girls

Today we welcome Jessica Kate Purser to the family. Aunt Melissa and Uncle Wes had their little girl this morning at 6:40. Things went a lot smoother than when cousin Wyatt was born, so we are so thankful for her safe arrival! She weighed in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long. She looks EXACTLY like Wyatt did when he was born - simply another one of God's perfect creations.

It has been so much fun to get to experience pregnancy and mommyhood with my sister. Ella and Wyatt were born 2 months apart and now Audrey and Jessica are just 3 months apart. We have had so many laughs, tears, and joy over the past 2 years with Ella and Wyatt and are so excited for the newest additions to get to grow up together too. As my mom says, "My cup runneth over." I don't think there is a better gift to be able to give to your parents than the gift of a grandchild.

We can't wait to go meet her in 2 weeks!

Our Little Fish

Though Ella has taken swim lessons for the past 2 summers, we decided she needed another round of them this year. She loves getting in the water, but still continues to not be too fond of getting water in her eyes. This will be the last summer that Mommy will have to get in the water with her--thank goodness! Daddy meets us at the pool and holds Audrey for the 30 minutes we are in our lesson. Here is Ella and Madelyn before getting in the water the first day and then Ella waving to Daddy watching her from the sidelines.

Bye Bye Tiger

It was a short life for Tiger--only 4 days at the Wedemeyer house -- but we woke up to find Dorothy's boyfriend had gone to fish heaven. Ella didn't notice right away, but she eventually caught on that there was only one fish swimming around. She cried at first, but we told her that Tiger had gone to heaven to live with God. She nodded her head and said "Dorothy stayed home." The fascination with the fish has definitely worn off and now Ella could care less about Dorothy. Mommy and Daddy are stuck cleaning the stinky fish bowl every other day.

As Daddy watched the US Open this weekend, every once in a while we would here him say "Come on Tiger"--of course referring to Tiger Woods. Ella seemed to get a little confused about the two different tigers and continued to question where "Tiger the Fish" went.

Happy 3 Month Birthday Audrey!

Today Audrey turned 3 months old! Though we still aren't sleeping through the night, Audrey continues to get bigger and sweeter.

At 3 months, Audrey:

• Loves to watch her mobile in her bed which allows us some time to get things done!
• Does not fuss as much during the day and has a lot of awake time
• Enjoys watching Ella dance around and actually seems to like her (even though John and I think Audrey is one day just going to punch Ella out)
• Smiles a lot and likes to chuckle
• Is beginning to get into a more regular routine as far as eating and sleeping-- even though her day still begins no later than 6:30.
• Got to walk in the Race for the Cure with Mommy today and stayed awake almost the whole time enjoying the great weather.
• Will reach out and try to grab things like the toy hanging down from her infant seat.
• Loves to blow bubbles
• Has found her fists and likes to suck on them
• Coos and talks to you
  

Big Girl Panties, Makeup and a Fish

I am officially claiming Ella is potty trained. There are no more diapers and we have had no accidents this week. We are still wearing a Pull-up at night, but many mornings Ella wakes up dry and just asks to go to the potty right away.

How did we do this you may ask? First, big girl panties were very enticing. She has a wide assortment of Dora, Elmo and Hello Kitty ones that she loves to wear. Second trick was makeup-- Ella really likes to play with my makeup so I bought some little kid stuff for her. It makes a complete mess, but it is worth it.

Next, we promised her if she had no accidents that she would get a fish. She wanted to name it Dorothy, just like Elmo's. We figured this was a cheap pet that could easily be replaced. Since they were only 29 cents, we let her get 2.

Introducing Dorothy (the solid gold) and her boyfriend Tiger...

We Like Ballet

After a little discussion with Ella that if she didn't participate in ballet class this week we would not be going back, we attempted ballet for the 2nd week. Dressed in her leotard and tutu and sporting her brand new ballet shoes, we headed to class again today. The whole way there Ella kept saying "I not be shy at ballet class." When we got there, she did great. She danced, laughed and did "leaps" across the room. Again, her favorite part was sticker time at the end, but Mommy has decided we are officially a ballerina.

Sunday Best

My mom loved to dress my sister and I alike when we were growing up. It seems like when I flip through photo albums (remember when we actually had printed out pictures), all the professional pictures we took had Melissa in the smaller version of something I had on. I guess my mom is continuing the tradition with the girls and has sent us a few dresses in both 2T and 3-6 months. I love having the girls dressed cute for church even if Audrey rarely gets out of her carseat! John wants to make sure we start the girls on the right track with dressing in the appropriate attire for church.

Potty Training 101

Mommy woke up this morning and decided this was going to be the day. No more diapers for Ella and no more excuses on Mommy's part for the delay in potty training. We have been "introducing the potty" for over a year now, but have never gotten serious or taken the leap to actually letting Ella wear big girl panties. When Ella work up this morning, she got into big girl panties and was told we weren't going to be able to go to the park, go shopping (Ella's favorite activity), or get to go in her pool unless we started going to the potty. There was a LOT of whining and begging for her diaper, which was met with a firm "no, but you can get a treat if you go."

Though all the "experts" say you should not use bribes or rewards to get your kids to do things they SHOULD do, we are not following that rule at our house for potty training. Ella loves prizes, so prizes she will get. Mommy and Daddy are very tired of changing two sets of diapers.

We have stocked up on M&M's, both Ella and Mommy's favorite.

Our Little Ballerina

Ella has always loved to dance. Unfortunately, she inherited the rhythm and moves of her mommy and daddy, which aren't too great. We found a Baby Ballet class for 2 and 3 year olds through the city of Murphy which is just a few miles from our house. This is the picture from the first day. Ella did NOT want to leave Mommy's side and only enjoyed the part where she got a sticker at the end of class as Mommy forced her feet into first position while trying to juggle Audrey at the same time. We'll see how the next class goes...

Ella's Last Day of School

Today was Ella's last day of Kids Day Out for this year. They had cupcakes (that Ella made) for their morning snack, had pizza and juice boxes for lunch and got to watch a movie instead of taking a nap. They did every activity possible and played with all the toys! Ella was so worn out that she came home and told me she was ready to go night-night. That has NEVER happened when she has gotten home from school.

She has had such a great time this year and it is really neat to see how much she has changed since September. She loved her teachers - Ms. Connie and Ms. Mary -and all her friends in her class. Needless to say, it has been great having a few hours every Tuesday and Thursday to get some things done with two at home, but we are looking forward to a summer full of fun at the park and the pool!

This is a picture of her class taken last week- I am glad to see that all the other kids smile at the camera just as well as Ella does!

From Left to Right : Ryder, Ella, Katie, Sam, Britton, Cade, Jackson, Erin and Laura

From the Mouth of Babes

It amazes me the things that come out of Ella's mouth some days. It seems like it was overnight that she started really creating her own sentences and ideas and not just repeating everything John and I said. I had to share some of the great things she said today...

She woke up this morning to a little bit of rain outside. Our conversation went like this...

Ella: Storm woke me up mommy.

Mommy: I'm sorry baby, but you still slept like a big girl.

Ella: Yeah, there was thunder and rain. And there was a boat.

Mommy: A boat? Are you talking about Noah's Arc, Ella?

Ella: Mommy, Jesus said "NO, Don't be scared!"

I figured out she was talking about a Bible story she learned a few weeks ago in church. She remembered the one with the disciples on the boat in the storm and Jesus scolding them for being afraid. All those hours of reading her Bible are paying off.

Later today, we were heading home from a lunch date with Daddy and we passed by a big church on Central. Ella announced, "There's a church Mommy. I go to church, Audrey goes to church, Mommy and Daddy go to church, and big kids go to church. Mommy, I love church. I love God. I love Jesus." My heart filled up and I had to smile. How precious it is to hear those simple words.

Happy Mothers Day

One of my goals on Mothers Day was to get a picture of me and both of my girls. In the past 2 months, we have never gotten one and I thought Sunday would be a fitting day to get a good one. This is what the result of the photo session was.

Though the pictures didn't turn out and Audrey gave me my first "Happy Mothers Day" at 2 a.m. today, I feel so blessed to have a chance to be the mom to Ella and Audrey. There are rough days and many times that I am struggling at this mommy thing, but I am so grateful that God has given John and I the opportunity to raise and love these little girls.

I am so thankful to my mom who has to be the greatest example of raising 2 girls!! I don't know what I would do without the constant encouragement you give me to make it through!

Audrey Turns 2 Months!

It is hard to believe that Audrey is already 2 months today! Things have gotten so much better as she has finally gotten her days and nights figured out and has decided that she does like to sleep in her crib (as opposed to us holding her all the time).

Her stats for her 2 month check up are :
Weight - 12 pounds, 3.8 ounces (79%)
Height - 22.75 inches (60%)
Head - 15 7/8 inches (82%)

At 2 months, Audrey is:

• Smiling a lot


• Enjoying bathtime a lot more.


• Will sleep for 3-4 hour periods during the night.


• Likes to lay on the floor and watch Ella dance around her.


• Spits up quite a bit, but it doesn't seem to bother her too much.


• Holds her head up and looks around.


• Has officially decided that 6:15 is her wake up time every day!


• Hates getting into the car seat, but once we are moving in the car, she falls fast asleep.


• Goes to the park, shopping, church and pretty much everywhere else!

Since I did not start this blog until recently, I am including her 1 month stats too.

Her stats for her 1 month check up are :
Weight - 9 pounds, 12.3 ounces (61%)
Height - 21.25 inches (50%)
Head - 15 inches (67%)

Best Friends

How sweet it is to have best friends. Ella met Madelyn last May and decided right away that she would be her best friend. Madelyn has a little sister, Harper who is just 4 months older than Audrey. We are hopeful to two of them will be the best of friends too.
We went to see the butterfly exhibit together. The girls got to hold little pieces of cantelope and the butterflies would come land on them. Ella and Madelyn were much more interested in hugging each other though!

The Choice to Blog

I always thought that "blogging" was for computer geeks and people who had way too much time on their hands. Maybe I now fall into one of these categories, because I have decided to start a blog for our family for a few reasons. First, I am the worst at writing things down about the girls. I can't remember most milestones for Ella, which I am sure she will be upset about when she gets older and finds an empty baby book. Second, I really enjoy reading my friends' blogs, so I thought I might let others get the same pleasure. However, most importantly, I have realized that the girls are just growing up so fast and with all our family out of town, I wanted to make sure no one missed a thing. So, here we go...