Birthday Mania and SNOW

Since Audrey and I went to visit family in Utah a couple days after her birthday, she had three different birthday parties.

The first was here in Michigan with friends:
(cute chubby legs) Staged picture because she wasn't very interested in her cake:
Party #2 with the Nelson clan...cute Tommy in the background with the gourmet cake made by Aunt Sarah.

Party #3 with the Christensens...she finally caught on to the excitement of birthdays. Maybe every girl needs three parties. All the adorable cousins being forced to pose with their cupcakes.

On another note, it snowed like crazy all night and it's now an all out blizzard. This is what our streets look like...
So, WHERE ARE THE SNOW PLOWS? Isn't Michigan familiar with this white fluffy stuff? It's craziness! I love, love, love the snow...but I would love to run some errands and the roads are pure chaos. Interesting....I guess the city administrators could use some tips from some westerners!

In order to push that picture down the page......

We used to live in DC....we loved it. Aren't we cute?

I've never given in to all the "tags" but I'm doing this one out of necessity. I can't look at my mascara face any more.

6 Quirks about Myself:

1. I used to have relationship commitment issues....I'm now happily and thankfully committed to my angel husband for good, but I've moved on to furniture commitment issues. Our house has a revolving furniture door. It's slowed a little since our move....craigslist here isn't as hoppin' as it was in DC, but I still sell stuff at least once a month.

2. I eat at least one bean and cheese burrito per day...just a tortilla, refried beans, cheese and taco sauce. And it has to be scalding hot and melty....yum.

3. Since I grew up with 5 brothers, I think with partial boy mentality. I have an inner struggle because I naturally react to situations like a girl, but then can see that I'm often being emotional and illogical. Nothin' against us girls, guys are just usually more practical. Does this quirk make sense?

4. I hate when people jump out and scare me. Seriously. Don't do it....I don't think it's funny. Todd tries really hard to make me aware of his presence in the house because he knows that I react violently if he accidentally sneaks up on me....I almost broke his wrist once.

5. I love Jeopardy. So nerdy. 7:30 every night (ok not every...but most).

6. I remember people's names for an eerily long time. Once you tell me you're name, it's probably stuck in my head for good. Lots of times I have to pretend that I haven't met someone because they have no memory of meeting me and I don't want to look like a freaky stalker. However, if you take me on a drive/walk somewhere and ask me to remember the way back....I'm up a crick (I know, it's creek. Crick sounds better.) I have NO sense of direction. It's a serious disability.

Amen.

No Pride

This is what I look like after I throw up......reason #1 (of many) to avoid wearing makeup during the first trimester of pregnancy. (The fact that I posted this picture shows that pregnancy brings you down a few notches in your pride.)

Happily, my days of sickness have eased and I am doing much better. Also happily, we found out yesterday that our May 2009 addition is a BOY! We're looking forward to meeting him!

P.S. I'll try to post again soon so any devoted readers don't have to look at this awesome picture for very much longer.

"Enjoy it - it goes so fast!"

One year ago, at this very moment, my heaven sent epidural was in place and I was taking a nap...waiting for this little baby burrito to arrive. Wow. I can't believe our "baby" is one!

Every parent hears, "Enjoy it - it goes so fast!" one zillion times in the first few months of parenthood. I'll be the first to tell you that I felt stressed during those months (I'm not a stresser) and I was wishing that my cute baby could just be a little bit older. But, here we are, and it's crazy to think that she's now a toddler. It went so fast! They were right! We love this lady....needless to say. We feel pretty lucky/blessed we get to be her parents.

Let's just say that breastmilk didn't do it for her - look at those legs! Thanks to the high heavens for formula!

She's scared that she's so skinny.Last week in the amazing Fall leaves (the adorable vest is courtesy of Aunt Lili and Uncle Jason).
The girl LOVES story time with her dad. How cute are they?

Happy Birthday, Baby Audrey!

Here we go!

If anyone feels left out because they didn't get to catch me in all my pregnant glory....these pictures might help appease that feeling.

I'm sorry (I know this is disgusting) but I had to add this pic. Can you believe those beauties?Oh yeah, and maybe you can catch me this time around.....we're expecting another baby!

Voluminous Hair

Audrey could use a little help in the hair department (like some more hair), but this picture shows what magic a little bit of sunscreen can do for a lady's hair.

(Don't we look like we're having so much fun and we just LOVE each other?)

It was Summertime in Southern Michigan

Get it? Did you catch my clever title? If not, it was an allusion to a song by Michigan's most revered rock star - Kid Rock. Ok, maybe Madonna is first, but Kid is hanging right up there.
We have had a great summer with some pretty darn comfortable temperatures. It's definitely not dry air like our lovely Deseret, but it has still been nice.

My parents came into town a couple weekends ago so my dad and his trusty assistant Todd could start building the extra bedroom downstairs. It now has framed walls and the insulation is in. They worked like crazy and my parents are coming back in a few weeks to finish up. I can't wait to post the "after" pictures. Big Al has some serious skills!
(Don't tell Todd that I told you that he's totally posing in this picture so he looked helpful - putting glue in a really useful spot on the frame of the wall).


Last weekend was the Univ. of Michigan vs. Utah football game. We had a house full of Utah fans staying with us and we loved every one of them (but we didn't cheer for their team and at the game I wanted to give some of their fellow fans a punch in the nose)! The "Big House" holds more people than live in the city of Ann Arbor....it really is a sight to behold. It wouldn't be the best place for someone with claustrophobia (tight seating arrangements). It's also cool because when you drive passed it you almost wouldn't notice that it's a stadium because it's dug down in so when you walk in you're clear up, almost to the top of the seats. We had a great time at the game....despite the final score. Go Blue!

Audrey is 10 months now (crazy) and, man she's cute. I know everyone thinks their kids are "cute" but ours is SO CUTE.

A few things she loves to do:

There are no sprinkler systems around here, so we use the hose on the lawn every once in a while. She loves the hose....she's always sopping wet by the time we go in.

She loves to EAT. Grandma Janny gave her this nectarine and she went to town on it.

And she loves when Todd comes home from the hospital. Waiting is a lot more fun in the buff ( I stay clothed).

This is her cute little room...
And here's the scene approx. 3 minutes later....

Two Items of Business

FIRST, and foremost, at the end of my last post I said that I would post a real update and some pictures when I found our camera charger. I was being sarcastic when I said it would be worth the wait....I still feel like our life is not so interesting and am not sure how many people want to read about it. Multiple people asked me if I was pregnant after that post - I didn't get it and so I was searching through the pictures to see which one made me look like I am expecting. Then my friend Camille explained to me that I had mislead the masses at the end of my post....saying how the next post would be worth the wait. ANYWAY, not much exciting going on here - just living the good life and I'll add some pictures later ....but really it will be just another regular post.

SECOND, we have put together a special travel package for all of you who have been dying to come visit us. At the beginning of Oct. you can get a four to five night stay at the at Casa Nelson and airfare (from SLC on Delta) for just over $200 - seriously, how can you pass that up? Give in to your urges...come visit!

Raise Your Hand...

......If you've seen this movie.

Todd and I watched it last weekend (thanks to a recommendation from Jen and Lis) and I loved it. Todd is very patient about watching girl movies and this one was actually enjoyable for him because it addresses issues other than the just romantic plot (and a great plot it is.) If you are at all interested in the Jane Austen genre, you better watch this, and then call me because I have to tell you what I love about the kiss at the end.

AND CONGRATULATIONS!!!! to cute Jeff (Todd's wittle bwuther) and Rachel who got engaged last weekend. Heaven knows that one Rachel Nelson is definitely not enough so I'm so relieved that "R2" will be added to the family in December.

PS I can't find the charger for our camera so the real Nelson update will have to wait for a couple more days. But rest assured that it will be well worth the wait.

New Outfit from Aunt Tawnya

I'm so glad my sweet friend Tawnya only has little boys because she got the itch to make this outfit, and Audrey was the beneficiary. Thanks, T! That's some serious creative talent!

LOVING Summer

We just got back from visiting our families ...now the withdrawal is setting in, so I thought posting some pictures might help ease the pain (sniffle). Prepare yourself for plenty of pictures!

First stop:

This is the annual Nelson family summer trip, and we are LOVING it. It's in the Sawtooths in Idaho, and, as you can see, the scenery is incredible.

For anyone who knew our baby in her first 5 months: aren't those thighs impressive?!?

We spent lots of time playing on the beach.

One night we had an "Uncle Dan Unplugged" concert in the cabin:

Cute, pregnant Erin who had her baby THREE days after FLYING home...now that's a woman!

Audrey loving Aunt Lulu...

Todd loving the lake...(apparently this is his "bad side" for skiing...you should have seen my skiing attempts....I'll show you a "bad side").

No Redfish trip would be complete without some death-defying jumps off the jumping rock!
Dinners at the beach. Notice Tait and Tommy in diapers...within minutes they were completely naked for the duration of dinner.

Thanks to this guy (and his lovely wife) for another great year at Redfish!

Next Stop (minus Dr. Nelson who had to come back to work): The Uintas with the Christensen Family.

(Since Todd was gone, the # of pics I could take significantly decreased....don't worry, Mom, I still love our family.)

We spent one beautiful day at Trial Lake....we fished, swam, and canoed.

Steph and Julie.

Audrey and Jaynie.

The water in this river was FREEZING...my feet hurt from standing in it, but if I took Audrey away from it she was mad...

How did the Christensens get so many girls? Here they all are on the 6 wheeler: Becca, Emily Hailey (top row) and Ellie, Audrey, Jayne, Brooklyn, and Ashley. No lack of personality in this group!

I'll add more pictures later ( I know you're dying for more), when the computer will cooperate. But these were two GREAT family trips! We couldn't ask for better families!