Cooking and Super Bowl

Is it really already Wednesday?!? What happened to this week?!?

Here is my post I started on Monday thinking I would get it posted.....

Audrey has started to be very interested in helping me cook! It is not easy to let a 2 year old help cook in the kitchen. It takes 3 times as long to do anything. But, I'm determined to let her help. Some of my best memories are of helping my mom cook in the kitchen.

We started off with a pie crust.  I was making a blueberry pie and had some left over dough from the crust. I let Audrey use the rolling pin and flour to make her own crust.

I just love the hand on her hip....

 

Luke, keeping us entertained while we baked

Helping Mama put M&M's on the cookies (She may have snuck a few in her mouth :) )

Playing with the rolling pin.  I have no idea how she got flower ALL over her. I know flower gets everywhere, but really, even on her back....

After Church on Sunday we went to Ki Ki and James' house to hang out and watch the Super Bowl.

Poor Walton (Ki Ki's dog) I think he hates when we come over. He has to wear his muzzle. He doesn't quite understand that even though chubby hands and feet look delicious, he can't nibble :)

Audrey could not contain herself. She was in HEAVEN, there was oh so many kinds of chips and dips on the table. (Audrey has quite a fascination with dip. She will pretty much eat anything as long as she has "dip" for it.) And they were at the perfect level for her to get it.

Having a serious discussion about the game with Uncle James.

Audrey and Uncle James's relationship has come a long way over the past 2 years.  Just in case you forgot about this picture...

But now we really enjoy him, and even give him hugs!!

Somehow Luke always ends up shirtless....

Our sweet friend Lisa. It took her all night to get Audrey to sit in her lap.  She finally got her by letting her play with her iphone.

Friday's Favorites

Audrey loves helping me cook, so she has been exploring the kitchen and pantry.  We have a fruit basket and I had a few tomatoes in it.  She keeps calling them apples. On Monday, I here mmmmmm and I turn to look and she is taking a bite out of it like an apple.  Then on Wednesday, Jonathan and just gotten home for lunch, I was busy getting lunch together, I then hear Jonathan say "No ma'am Audrey we don't use tomatoes as balls."

Audrey is always asking to hold Luke even though he is almost the size she is.

We are such creatures of habit.  Every time Jonathan leaves the house Audrey takes us through the same routine. 
- Luke kiss
-Mama kiss
-Chloe kiss
-baby kiss (or whatever she is playing with at that moment)
-Audrey kiss
- Kindle
- Umbrella (it has been raining here all week, every day she reminds him to take his umbrella, regardless if it is actually raining.
- La Lu (Love you)
-Bu Bye

Audrey has now learned to open her door. (not sure this is a favorite). This week I was sitting in the kitchen and the next thing I see is her running into the living room. It really startled me because I didn't even hear her try to open the door.

Luke is now pulling up and slowly starting to stand up now.... Look out!

The kids have been sick this week, so needless to say it has been a pajama week. I have a bible study that meets on Wednesday evening and we weren't going to meet, but I got an e-mail last minute about doing coffee. Umm yes please!!! We went to this fun little coffee place and these were some of the fancy drinks we had...

I have such a wonderful husband! I could really write an entire post about what a great husband/father he is (I might have to do that). He is so good about taking the kids for me so I can go out and have fun with some girls!! Which after 3 solid days of pj's and sick babies, this momma needed that!!

Hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!!!

La La La Motorcycle

I know I posed in our Christmas letter that Audrey got tubes put in right before we moved in October.  She only had 1 ear infection, but she had hearing loss in her right ear.  Because of her hearing loss she was delayed in her speech.

You know as a mom it is so easy to compare what other kids do to what your own are doing.  Audrey has always had her own timeline for thins and it doesn't always meet up with mine.  For instance, she didn't start walking until the weekend before her 18 month check-up.

So, when I noticed that she wasn't talking like other kids her age were I really tried not to get to worried about it. My mom, being a speech path, encouraged me to get her tested, just to see if there was anything we needed to start doing.

I called and got us an appt for her to get tested in January. The month of December she took off with her speech. It was like she never had any issues at all! She was finally putting 2 words together. Repeating everything we were saying. It was amazing the progress she made on a daily basis with her words.  I thought many many times to call and cancel her appointment. I didn't want them to think I was just some overly cautious parent, but I decided to keep it just in case. 

She did great at her evaluation. The speech path was awesome.  It was so cute to see her interact with someone other than me. (Which if you have the pleasure of being able to hang around Audrey you know what a treat that is :) ) There was one thing he asked her to do.  She had 4 different objects sitting on the table. He would ask her to pick up the ball and hand him the car.  This was to see if she could handle to tasks at once.  He asked her to do it 2 times and on the 3rd time she just looked at him and said "No".  It wasn't mean, it was just, I'm tired of doing this, lets do something different. They said that she was a little behind, but not enough to enroll her in their program.  Before they left they gave us some great tips on how to help her learn new words, and other things to do to help reinforce her language. 

So, to explain the title of my blog today. Audrey is in a bad habit of calling Luke, Suke.  She can say the "L" sound, but has a hard time with it if it is the first letter.  So, I have been trying to work on it. I will say la la la Luke. Then she will say la la la Suke.

Well, Sunday we were driving home from church and a motorcycle passed us. BTW Audrey LOVES motorcycles. Anytime we see one she yells "Motorcycle!!!".  Back to the story, a motorcycle passes us and I hear her say " La La La Motorcycle".  Sweet sweet Audrey!!! Always keeping us on our toes!!

Sushi anyone?

Last night we had Sushi for supper. Several years ago we had a friend, Jared, teach us how to make our own.  Jared is in the air force and was in Little Rock for a while.  We had him over for supper and he offered to show us how to make our own rolls.  It was so much fun.  (Jared or Aly if you are reading this we still think about y'all often. Especially when we make sushi!!)

This time we decided to let Audrey in on the fun.  She helped with the rice, picked out her own ingredients, and helped roll it up.

So excited....

 Concentrating

When will I be able to eat that?

Placing ingredients

Her first roll,  doesn't she look so excited!! :) "You want me to WHAT with this?!?"

 Jonathan with his roll:  Luke, wishing he could have a bite

Our wonderful meal! California rolls and Spring rolls!! Yum!

 Helping Daddy do the dishes!!!

More pictures of the day:
Audrey helping bubba wake up from his nap

 Audrey kept asking to go outside, I was trying to get an e-mail sent out. I guess she got tired of waiting for me so she tried to get Luke to join her instead.

What gets rid of Vaseline?

Just in case any of you were wondering about the question above I have the answer for you!!!!

But first it begins with a story.....

Last Wednesday Audrey and I were working in the kitchen. She wanted some raisins and I told her to go get them out of her room (she brought them in there earlier and set them on the edge of her changing table).  It had been a while since I had heard from her. Then I hear " MAAAMAAA, MAAAAMAAAA, Down... Down...."  I think to myself what on earth has she done.

I go into her room and she has pulled out her stool from her dresser (which I use as her changing table) and climbed on top.  She was wanting me to help her down.  I just thanked God that she asked for my help instead of trying that by herself. I'm really not wanting to experience head wounds quite yet.

That evening we were going to see Ki Ki and James (Jonathan's sister and her husband) and I was telling Jonathan about our day.  I tell him about how I found little red (Audrey) on top of her changing table. He then says... and I quote " Oh I taught her how to do that".  Really?!? Really?!? you teach our daughter how to climb on things?!? He then said that she wanted to change her baby's diaper so he showed her how to pull out the stool and stand on it to change the diaper, not to actually climb on the table.  (Is there a difference..... I don't think so....)

Okay so how does all this relate to Vaseline....

The next morning we were going to meet Ki Ki and Granna at Ki Ki's school for lunch.  We were going to leave at 10:30.  It was 10 and I still hadn't heard any noise from Audrey's room. I go in there to wake her up and this is what I find

 Everything from her drawers are now on her changing table

 500 Count hairbands all over her bed and floor

She says "Hi Mama" when I walked in. She looked like she had fever. Her hair looked wet and she looked sweaty.  I went to touch her head and when I brought my hand back I had a big glob of VASELINE on it.

Vaseline, yes you read that right!!! She had put Vaseline all over her hair, face, neck, arms.... everywhere!!
This was the best picture I could get of her, you can see how her shirt looks wet around the collar, yeah that's Vaseline... not water :)

Remember where I said we had to be somewhere at 10:30, well yes we now had a lot to do in very little time!! As I was racing around trying to get her ready for a bath these are the thoughts that were running through my head.

- A bath isn't going to do any good, this is greasy
- What gets grease out?
- Dawn gets grease out, but can you use that on a 2 year old?
- They use dawn on ducks during a oil spill... doesn't the commercial say gentle?

and on and on and on my thoughts went... I just kept laughing and laughing as Audrey was screaming in the tub. I tried my best to get as much off as possible (which was none at all). Get her out and try and use a towel to get more off (not so much) and try and get her dressed. Let me tell you this, you just think a baby is slippery when you take them out of a bath, just wait till they are covered in Vaseline.... that makes a very slippery baby!

We make it out of the house, on time I might add, and head to the school.  Her hair was so greasy it looked wet. It was slicked down around her scalp and then a little curl would come out, and her face just shined!!

So, to answer the question that I asked earlier... What gets rid of Vaseline?

T.I.M.E



And just in case you were wondering, there is now NOTHING left in Miss Audrey's drawers to play with, and the Vaseline has been put way way way out of reach :) Mommy learned that lesson, and daddy's teaching privileges have been suspended until further notice.

A Tale of Two Cities

Once again I'm so far behind I don't even know where to begin!! We have had so much change since the last post it was a bit overwhelming to think about where to start.  I decided just to copy our Christmas letter that we sent out this year.  

A Friedmann Tale of Two Cities:

It was the best of times. It was the busiest of times. Jonathan got a new job this year, and we now live in Houston, TX! He started looking for a new job last year in the Little Rock area but without any results. Early this year, he expanded his search to target Houston because of its large engineering industry and its more central location considering both of our families. We went about six months without hearing anything, and then the he got two calls in one week to setup two interviews for the same day! He got to pick from two good positions and has found a really great fit at Stewart & Stevenson in Northwest Houston working on a rail car mover called the Rail King. He has a lot more freedoms and responsibility as well as a great team of bosses to learn from. It was a very busy fall for us all. After Jonathan accepted the job, we packed up the house, found a place to live, put our house on the market, moved down to Houston, and he started two weeks later. However, it was obvious that God was orchestrating the entire ordeal, and it was a smooth transition all around. We are very blessed to have sold our house in Little Rock the first week of December! There are some parts and people in Little Rock we will always miss, but it has clearly been a great move for Jonathan’s career and our family.

Magen obviously had one of the toughest jobs this fall as she was not only supporting wife and mother of two but she also handled the majority of the transition details. She not only handled the stress for herself and the kids, but also packed, found a place to live, listed the house, transferred utilities, and countless other crucial tasks. Jonathan could not have done what she accomplished, and we could not have done it on our own. We are so thankful for how much help we received from friends, family, and strangers in both cities. Even though we are still settling into Houston, Magen has already established a busy weekly routine. She attends a weekly bible study, goes to play dates with other moms, and takes the kids to visit Aunt Karen for lunch dates at her school, while squeezing in girls nights here and there. She has picked up sewing as a hobby and loves it. It’s a great distraction from the mundane details of housework and a wonderful outlet for her creativity and generosity.

Audrey is now two years old.  We found out the same time of the move that one of her ears was completely full of fluid and making it difficult for her to pick up new words. We hadn’t caught the fluid earlier because she didn’t have any ear infections as a result from staying at home during the day. So in the middle of packing up the house, Audrey also got tubes in her ears. Since the tubes, we’ve noticed a dramatic increase in her speech, and it’s fun to hear her use words or phrases that she’s picked up without our coaching. We could really tell that all these transitions were taking a toll during the week of the move. However, as soon as we moved in and setup her room just like it was before, she was back to normal. She could tell that stability was being restored. She still loves her little brother so much. Just tonight Luke cracked up laughing watching Audrey playing. The kept feeding off each other, and we watched them laugh at each other for five minutes.

Luke is now eight months old and has his two bottom teeth.  He can now drag himself around the floor and is rocking on all fours, so we expect crawling to begin soon. He is still much larger than Audrey was at the same age and couldn’t be more laid back and cheerful. Until the last month he’s been a very quiet baby, but we’re starting to hear more and more of his voice as he starts baby-talking and screaming when his sister tickles him. 

Now that we are living in Houston, I figured it is even more important to "try" and keep up with my blog.  Audrey is daily doing something that makes me laugh and I know that friends and family would want to know about them too!

So here's to starting a new year and blogging!!! Wish me luck!!

Wordless Wednesday

I know I'm way behind.... What else is new? So I thought I would catch up with pictures.

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Such a big girl!!!

People tell you your kids grow up fast, but it always surprises me how fast!!!

Since I now have 2 in diapers I have been secretly wishing that is was time to start potty training Audrey.  I looked up online at different sites to see if she was ready.  Needless to say she showed NONE of the signs!! I was so bummed. At this point in my life I feel like all I do is crowd control..... change diapers, nurse, get juice/crackers, change my clothes from spit up, change Luke's clothes... and it goes on and on, and on a good day I get a shower :). So, my wishful thinking of eliminating part of my diapers was a no go.

However, a few weeks ago out of the blue Audrey pointed to her diaper said diaper and took my hand and led me to her room to change it for her.  I was shocked!! I just thought it was a fluke until she did it again. She would point to her diaper and walk to her room.  A few days later we were at my sister's apartment, she took the changing pad out of my diaper bag grabbed her diaper and then laid down and said diaper.  I was amazed at how all of a sudden she showing signs that it might be time to potty train her.

The next day we ordered a potty for Audrey and when it came in we let her open the box and made a big deal about it being her potty. She looked at it took it apart, put it back together, played with it. We then took it to her bathroom.  Jonathan's family was coming in town in a few days so we didn't do much with it.  We would go look at it, maybe sit on it for a bit while they were here, but nothing really big. I in no way wanted to force anything about this!!

Well, tonight I was changing her diaper and she started saying, potty, potty... so I took her, diaper less, to her potty. She sat down and we just sat in the bathroom and played with crayons and read books for about 7-9 minutes.  I couldn't believe that she would sit that long. Well..... all of a sudden she went!! I couldn't believe it.  I made such a big deal about it too! And if you know Audrey and had the pleasure of seeing some of her looks you can only imagine what she looked like :) She looked at me like I was crazy for making such a big deal about her going potty.

It is crazy how exciting "going potty" can be!! I couldn't be anymore proud of her.