Our Vacation Pics Etc Part 1, a bit late

It seems like since we came home from vacatio things have just been so busy.  Audrey still does not seem to be back on track and I can not say it is from vacation, I just think she is adjusting her sleep pattern.  Naps have been somewhat short and we are still, still, still working on getting her to sleep through the night.  She is tough.  During vacation she woke up as much as 4 or 5 x some nights and at the least 2x.  It was not fun, being at the beach was a blast, being sleep deprived was not so great.

It is a good thing she is so cute!

So here are the highlights.
Celia, Audrey and I arrived at my Mom's house in Virginia on a Wednesday and we enjoyed the pool, a short visit to Lewis Ginter gardens, and just fun times with Mom Mom.  Pete came down Thursday and left early Saturday morning for the beach.  We arrived on Monday.  This works out well for us because Pete gets some groceries, makes beds, and gets some time to himself.  We go down with no traffic!!  So we had a great time the first week.  Celia was a little fish in the pool and had some fun playing with a little girl named Madeline at the beach.  Audrey loved her peapod tent and had some fun in the sand too.  We had amazing weather, not too hot and it never rained that first week.  Pete left on Sunday to go home.  The next day was the worst weather day, but really it was not bad weather.  It was overcast in the morning that is what I mean by bad weather!!  That was not a great day though as Celia was not in a good mood, throw a major fit in the car as my Mom and I were trying to figure out why my check engine light was on.  I later found out after stressing greatly about it that I just need a new gas gap. 

Audrey in her peapod

Celia enjoying the rocking chair on a Mommy and Celia night out.  I took her to get icecream then we picked out a treasure, the treasured little turtles are no where to be found now!

Celia have an attitude? Nah...

Pete with the girls!

In anycase the next day we had the earthquake, I believe that was on Tuesday.  My Mom was at the beach at the time and the two girls were taking a nap.  I was reading on a chair and I felt the house shake a bit but what I really noticed was the deck shifting from side to side.  I called my Mom and asked if there had been a very bad gust of wind.  She indicated that there had been a slight wind but nothing bad.  I then thought that perhaps Celia was jumping from the windows or something insane.  I was surprised to find that her room was very quiet, she was actually asleep.  A few minutes later, Pete called to tell me that they had an earthquake.  Oh...  I was a bit glad to hear that as at the moment I was contemplating grabbing the kids and leaving the house because evidently a slight gust of wind can move the deck. 

I never post pictures of myself, but here I am in all my glory, in my workout gear.  But see how calm the bay was?  Isn't that pretty?

Infant see

I am not sure if I have written about this in the past but today we took advantage of the infantsee program for Audrey.

http://www.infantsee.org/

This program provides a free eye exam to babies under the age of one. It is a full eye exam, they even dilate the pupils. It does not sound like fun but in my opinion it is worth it. I learned about the program years ago when a Mom on baby center who posted about it. Her little girl was diagnosed with a serious eye disease that if not treated could lead to loss of vision. Pete has poor vision and part of his vision issues can be hereditary. So Audrey and Celia need to be followed.

Audrey did very well and actually had fun except for the eye drops part! The doctor was very good with her and had some neat toys. I would suggest taking a baby after 7 or 8 months because they are able to sit up more and pay attention more to the toys used in the exam. I did learn that Audrey's eyes are healthy except that she is nearsighted, so more then likely by the time she goes to school or earlier, she will need glasses. He wants to see her in 2 years. At this time it is not bad enough to correct it but he seemed to think that basically correction would be needed in the next few years. It is something to watch closely as she could need them earlier, he said that the condition in her case will not get better but could stay the same or get worse fast or slowly.

Celia is due for another exam and we are going to get her in soon. We will see how she cooperates with getting the eye drops!

Carrie

The real story

In Celia's parking lot picture, she looks so sweet and so smiley.  Well.... if you can believe it, seconds before the smiley photo she was screaming at me and sobbing.  Celia has been not sleeping during her nap time, which is fine with me as long as she stays in her room.  But the problem is that Celia needs her nap time.  She fell asleep when we got in the car and was not happy to be woken up when we arrived at the birthcenter.

Prior to the picture being taken we had experienced a time out and numerous fits.  We were just about to give up when Celia turned to me and said "Momma, I will let you take a picture of me and I will smile".  What???  But she did it!

Parking Lot

2007

2008

2009

 2010

2011

4 Years Old

 I took this picture of your little legs, look at those muscles!  You are so strong.  They help you swim, which you learned how to do this year.

 You love going to Longwood Gardens, especially the tree houses and the childrens indoor garden

Yes you are cute, very cute but you have an attitude

 A big attitude

 You are a bit silly and crazy.  In this picture, you pulled a bean bag onto Mom Mom's guest bed to take a nap.

 You are so pretty

 You are so smart.  You use words like hydrated and enthusiastic.  You know all your letters and sounds.  You can write all your letters and most numbers now.  You even draw peoples and they are not always stick figures.  You love to read chapter books now, but they do have to have some pictures.  Right now, Mercy Watson is your favorite.

You loved the beach this year, you could not get enough of the pool. 

 

Perhaps, this person is your favorite right now.  The two of you share a mutual love and right now that is great.  I am not expecting it to last, hopefully it will.  But for now you announce proudly that "I am Audrey's favorite" and that is probably the truth.  The two of you laugh and play together.  Of course both of you get a little too rough, one more then the other, but that will work itself out soon, hopefully.

Happy 4th Birthday Baby Girl

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School Days

School Days have begun for Celia and I am going to miss my little second in command while she is in school (just 3, 1/2 days a week).  Audrey and I will have some bonding time, just the two of us and that will be good.  You know, like right now when I am watching Hoda and Kathy Lee and she is talking to the tv...  Don't judge me, this is the first time I have really been able to watch this in a long time and Audrey is having a blast.  I am also exhausted, Audrey has been getting up 2 to 5 times a night for over 3 weeks.  I am done.

So onto Celia.  Today was her first day in Ms. Anna's classroom.  She was a it nervous and we had some rough points this morning as no one slept well in our house.  Celia got up at 11 pm, due to Audrey, and one time on her own around 4 am.  We had picked out her dress the day before however I guess that we should have also picked out her shoes...

So here was little Miss Celia last year

And here was Celia today

She will turn 4 on Monday and I can not believe it.  I am okay with it though.  I enjoyed her cute little three year oldness but I am ready for it to be done and to see what 4 brings.  Ms. Anna's classroom is a center based preschool classroom and Celia will have lots of fun I am sure.  They follow the creative curriculum, I am not a fan of that particular curriculum but I think that the school does not follow it to the T and the activites seem like fun.  I do love centers in a classroom though, personally I think that is the way to go until you hit upper elementary school.  But that is just my teaching style.