one TWO buckle my shoe

Happy Birthday Audrey Jane!!  You are my sunshine.  For real.  You make our family brighter.  You sing, you dance, you cuddle, you kiss, you laugh, you love.  You rock.  You are everything a little girl should be and then some. 

You woke up to a room full of purple balloons.  Purple is your most favorite color.  Everything has to be purple.  I personally don't care for purple, but hey, that's just me.  And you're you.  And you love purple.  And so it is.  Please note that yes, you are still wearing Christmas pj's 2 months after Christmas.  I got you adorable cupcake pj's to wear for your birthday but alas, the Christmas light bulb pj's were in the drawer so you picked them.  You think they are "special".  I have no idea why.  I think you're special, so to heck with the cupcakes and we'll let you rock the light bulbs.

Last night Daddy and I had to go to a black tie benefit with a silent auction.  I walked in the room and laid my eyes on this gigantic wardrobe full of costumes and jewelry and shoes and tiaras and more.  Clearly we could not go home to our birthday girl without it and I was the highest bidder!  I'm sure Daddy will be reminding you until you are 30 of the night he and 3 other tuxedo clad physicians loaded that bad boy into Uncle Brad's pick up truck in the valet line of the Ritz Carleton.  Just for you.

Here's you, me and Daddy at your birthday lunch right around 2:32, same time you were born 2 whole years ago.

And just for fun here's you, me and Daddy the first time I held you.  Boy, you and I sure look cuter today, huh?!  We were both a little worn out and drugged out from all the drama of your birthday and night.  Daddy looks the same - he's always cute!  Someday when you're older I'll fill you in on what I went through to bring you here.  Probably when you're a teenager and being mean to me!

And we ended the day with a little pizza, cake and ice cream party.  We've been working on how to blow out candles and you did great.  Next weekend is your real birthday party - this one was just practice :)  TWO parties for one amazing TWO year old.  We love you Lady Jane.

Bubbles

Friday nights are my favorite.  I let the kiddies take their bedtime bath in the jetted tub in our bathroom.  They love it.  I love it.  The whole weekend ahead of us.  No usual weeknight rat race of rushing through dinner and bedtime and clean up and dishes and dog walking and lunch packing for tomorrow and where's your backpack?  what do you mean you can't find your library books?  where did that parent waiver I have to sign for gymnastics go?  how is it possible I have no clean work pants - when's the last time I went to the dry cleaners?  yes, thank you for the seventh phone call, I do know that I still haven't picked up that birthday shirt I ordered.  how am I going to fit their dentist appointment in between 2 meetings in the morning?  you can't be serious, you're going back to the hospital?  Nope.  None of that.  Same level of exhaustion, same faded yoga pants, same list of jobs to do but it's Friday night - they can all wait for tomorrow.  The calming scent of lavendar baby bubbles in my bathroom.  Life is good.

Snow.....finally.

Isaac has been begging and praying for snow ever since he got a new, fast sled for Christmas.  It did accumulate a little bit on New Years Eve, but not really the sledding/snowman building type of snow.  We've had a chance of snow in the forecast a few times since then and he wakes up and runs to the window to be disappointed yet again.  Then out of nowhere we get a few inches of un-forecasted snow on Saturday night.  Bingo.  We were sledding by 8:30am (since in MO is could very well be all melted by noon)!  We even squeezed in a snowman.  While Isaac has my WI blood, Audrey has Daddy's blood.  Her response to being out in the snow "brrrrr, too cold."  And her response to sledding "ok, bye bye.  home now."  

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