Back to Reality!

I cannot believe the summer is over! Brance went back for training this week and the kids come on Monday. He is still teaching 5th grade Math and Science in Grand Prairie and we are looking forward to an adventurous year! Sorry for the lack of posts, but we have been BUSY this summer. We went on 3 trips as well as enoying seeing Whitney and Scott get married!!! We visited California and Las Vegas (without Wren :), Austin, and Houston/Galveston. Although we enjoyed the trips so much, some of our sweetest memories were at home with Wren and each other. This is the first time in our relationship that we have had this much uninterrupted time together and it was WONDERFUL!!! Teachers do have a hard job, but those summers sure are nice :)! Wren loved having her daddy home with her so much. She got very attached and has been having a hard time adjusting back to reality. Every morning, she looks and calls for him throughout the house. When she can't find him, she shrugs her shoulders, turns up her hands, and says, "Dunno?" I think she is trying to communicate that she has looks for her daddy and doesn't know where he is. I reassure her that Daddy is only at work and will be home soon. Between 5:30-6:00 we got through it again- looking, calling, shrugging... Its good to see how much she loves her Daddy! I am having to adjust as well. I am used to having another pair of eyes to watch our mischevious little imp and its been hard learning how to "do it all" again, but God is faithful and has used this time to deepen my appreciation and love for my husband even more. We both miss him! Well, enough about all of that, here are some picutures of the fun we have had around the house!

Wren's 1st Year

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Party Time!

Hope you enjoy the birthday pictures! I cannot believe Wren is already one!

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Happy First Birthday Wren!

I cannot believe it! Wren turned one on May 3rd. It just seems like yesterday that we were bringing her home. Just for some perspective, check out pictures from day 1 to year 1...

Fun around the House

Well, we are just loving having a toddler!!! Wren is so much fun and so entertaining! She definitely keeps us on our toes and laughing all the time. Some of the new things she is doing are:
*Babbling ALL THE TIME! She is so emphatic and intense in her babble. We just wish we knew what she was saying.
*Saying some words- she knows mama, daddy, hi, bye bye, thank you, please (which is daaa, but she uses it correctly), woof, moo, tweet (she knows which animals these sounds go with), outside, bath time and that (she uses this a lot :).
*Walking and running everywhere! She loves it when I chase her around the house and hide behind corners to "scare" her.
*Eating great! We are starting to wean off the bottle and moving to a cup so she is really picking up on her eating. She LOVES beans!!! Any kind I throw at her, she loves! She also loves raw veggies- celery, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, bell peppers, etc. I have to really watch her so she doesn't choke, but my healthy eating habits while she was in the womb are paying off. I ate celery every day I was pregnant with her and it is her favorite!
*Eating corn on the cob! It cracks us up. I put the handles into the ends and she just goes to town! She eats a whole mini cob at dinner.
*Throwing fits- these usually happen around nap and bed time. It's really quite hilarious. She will cry, stomp her feet and then sit down and throw her head forward almost to the floor. I have to work really hard not to laugh.
*Discovering EVERYTHING! Our house is a disaster every day. She is just so enthralled with everything. You can really see the wheels turning when she is looking at something for the first time. She is even learning how to put things back somewhat.
*Feeding herself with a spoon. She ate wet cereal with a spoon all by herself a few days ago. We have been practicing it ever since and she is getting pretty good! It still gets messy, but she is learning fast.
*In a forward facing car seat! We love it! She feels like part of the family now when we are in the car. She also loves to look out the windows and "add" to our conversations.
*Being mommy's little helper. Wren loves to help me out around the house. I am teaching her to carry in groceries. You can never start too young, right? I give her a really light bag and let her be in charge of getting it into the house. The first time we tried, it took 30 minutes and a trip in the recycling bin, but she did it. The second time she went right the house and set it inside the back door. She is learning fast. She also helps me by closing the refridgerator door, dishwasher, pantry, and dryer doors. My favorite part is how she claps for herself everytime she helps me. My actions reflected in a one year old- scary!

Rat Baby

Brance is so crazy. To be funny, he stuffed Crash, Wren's stuffed rat (see first family vacation entry) up her pajamas so that she would have a tail. We laughed at her walking around clueless to what her daddy had done to her for 30 minutes . Nothing like free entertainment at the expense of your kid...

Wren's First Easter

We had a good first Easter with Wren. She slept through most of it, but after her nap, she was up and very interested in the colorful balls in the yard. Mimi gave her a basket, but not much, if any, went in. Every time she found an egg, she would pick it up, "discover" it, and then throw it back on the ground. We thought if we gave her a full basket, she might get the idea. Instead she took all of the eggs out of it and carried it around- but no eggs actually went in a basket. I guess there is always next year! She did get us laughing when she got her foot stuck in her little pink basket. She walked around for about 5 minutes trying to figure out how to get it off her foot while we laughed at her- poor thing! We had such a nice time with family and I think Wren had a great time!