Daddy, walk me down the aisle

Playing dressup is my absolute favorite thing to do. I even have a real veil that I wear and pretend to get married in. Aren't I a cute bride?? 

My first "homemade" haircut

My first haircut was at a Cookie Cutters, as you know. From now on, it is haircuts at home by mommy! She is a good haircutter and I trusted her with the scissors. It was fun. She cut daddy's hair first and then it was my turn.

 Didn't turn out too bad!

Valentine's Treats from School

Since I was so sick, I missed the Valentine's Day party at school. Mommy did drop off my cards for my friends though. The great thing was that when I finally returned to school, I had a whole bag full of goodies waiting for me. I got bracelets from my friends, lots of cards and candy!!

Gracie (Grammy's dog), helped me open my Valentine's. She was staying with us for a week while Grammy enjoyed a nice vacation in Florida.

Before her getaway!

Before mommy left for Chicago, we had to snap a few pics for her to show Melanie!!

A weekend getaway for Mommy

After dealing with all of the illness in our household, mommy needed a getaway weekend. She and her friend, Melanie, had planned this trip a long time before so it worked out very well. Mel moved to Madison, Wisconsin last summer from Columbus, Ohio. They hadn't seen each other in almost two years and decided it was time for a get-together in Chicago!! It was a great middle-ground and it is where they first met when they both lived there. They had a blast....stayed a the Omni in the middle of everything, shopped for some surprises for us, ate lots of great food and just enjoyed catching up!

Celebrating Daddy's Birthday some more

Me with my pneumonia, and Vivi with her ear infection, we stayed in but since we weren't contagious....Grandma Cindy came down as originally planned to celebrate Daddy's birthday with us. Aunt Luann and Jackie also stopped by to say hello. It was so nice to see some familiar faces and we got some good cuddling time in with everyone!

A week of bad firsts...

Vivi and I started not feeling well the week before Daddy's birthday. I threw up 10 times in two hours the Thursday before, and then threw up twice more the next night. I acted and said I felt fine the next day so it was weird that at midnight on the dot both nights I was vomiting. Then, I started a terrible cough early in the week that just wouldn't go away and Vivi seemed to pick it up by the end of the week.

Mommy started me on my albuterol and steroid breathing treatments right away. I had just slowed down and stopped my steroid treatments after doing them for a month straight. Guess we should've never stopped! I also had a fever. We went to the doctor on Valentine's Day for my cough and they said to keep doing the treatments but that was really it. They weren't sure what it was but figured it was viral....a very common diagnosis it seems.

Then, we went back two days later for my fever that kept getting higher each night (over 102.4). That is when the first "bad first" happened....it was pneumonia!! The good news was that I didn't have to be hospitalized. I got to go home with a prescription of z-pack (strong antibiotics) and the promise to continue breathing treatments. It was amazing how quickly the medicine started working....within hours my fever was gone and my cough sounded SOOOO much better.

On Friday (the next day), mommy called the doctor again, this time for Vivi. Her cough was worse and she had a slight fever. For the fear of her also having pneumonia or trying to do anything possible to prevent her from getting there, we went back in (for the third time that week). They checked her ears and YUP, the second "bad first" was diagnosed.....Vivi had her first ear infection....one ear was bad and the other one was on it's way. So, she was sent home with a 10-day prescription of a different antibiotic. Thankfully, it made a huge difference as well.

We had a follow-up appointment for my pneumonia the next Tuesday with Dr. Champley (who I just love, by-the-way). He gave me an all-clear after listening to my recent raspy lungs. Whew! He also took a quick peak at Vivi's ears and could tell the meds were helping. We were definitely ready to get out of the house after that visit, since we had shut ourselves in for a week!

Daddy's Birthday!

I am only one "3" and daddy is two "3's"...33!!! For his birthday we surprised him with homemade apple dumplings (Great Grandma Betty's recipe of course), a pork roast, and more of his favorites!!

 We love you, Daddy!! You're the best! Happy Birthday!

First pony and piggies

My little sister's hair is really starting to grow. Here is her first ponytail and pigtails!!

Oh, and here is me!

My first school pictures!

We had pictures taken at school in February and these were mommy and daddy's favorite!

This is the only option from the class picture...I have my tongue out like I was licking my lips, but who cares?

Super Bowl Celebration

We hosted a Super Bowl party at our house this year and Uncle Matt, Aunt Susan, Austin, Uncle Mark, Aunt Kari and Grammy all came! We had lots of yummy munchies and really enjoyed the game, commercials, half-time show and each other's company! Way to go, Giants!

Aunt Susan even brought her crafts box and we made Valentine's. So fun!

Of course we danced with Madonna during the half-time show!

Austin knows how to break-dance!

Uh-Oh!

Recently, I let Vivi take her bath first and I waited to get in when she was done....however, she got back in before I got in the first time. BUT, she was already in her clean jammies and diaper. Silly sister!

She doesn't care if she is all wet and her new diaper weighs a hundred pounds!

What a stinker!

Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis

The Super Bowl was hosted in Indianapolis this year and it was fun to live so close and take part in some of the activities...even search for celebrities which did not disappoint. It was such beautiful weather for early February that we barely needed jackets. Grammy had the day off so on Wednesday we decided to check things out with her. We had lunch at Champps and Vivi and I got a caricature drawing done of both of us....need to take a picture of it and post but daddy thought we looked like scary old ladies in it!! ha! The artist did get a few of our characteristics right but since he used permanent marker to draw us, the many lines on our faces looked like wrinkles.

Next we walked down to Super Bowl Village which was where the zip-line was placed. It was really cool to see people flying overhead. We walked around the NFL shop where there were all kinds of NFL team paraphernalia and looked into the NFL Experience which included about anything you can imagine for football fans...games, autograph signings, samples, photo opps, etc., etc.

Most of all it was lovely to walk around, people watch and see our city at it's best!!

The famous Super Bowl sign located on Monument Circle...our first stop!

  

Posing in front of the sign



Wind Tunnel on the sidewalk....kids were having a ball throwing things into it and watching them fly away. Audrey was a little scared but had fun too!

The ZIP LINE

Where we stood to see the people zip-lining...entrance to the NFL shop and convention center

One exhausted baby....there were two sleepy heads by the time we got home

Mommy got to go back to the Super Bowl events a couple more times that week. On Thursday, she had a luncheon held by Channel 13... one that she advertises with. Since NBC hosted the Super Bowl on their network, they got access to all kinds of cool stuff.

The luncheon started with Tony Dungy speaking and then Jimmy Fallon making an appearance. The owner of the Colts, Jim Irsay was there and presented him with a Colts jersey signed by the last Super Bowl Colts team. The owners of the Pacers were also there and they presented him with a Pacers jersey. John Mellencamp couldn't make it but he still sent a signed guitar to be presented to Jimmy. Jimmy even started playing it. He was in the room for 15 minutes and was just so gracious for the Hoosier Hospitality he had experienced since he was shooting his show "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" in Indy all week. Mommy also got to go to his rehearsal show where he practiced all of his jokes on the audience...SO FUN!

After the rehearsal show she went to the convention center and checked out the NFL Experience with some of her colleagues. Very cool!



Jimmy Fallon playing the guitar presented to him from John Mellencamp!



The owner of the Colts, the new GM and the new Head Coach sat for a Q&A session after lunch.



At the NFL Experience, mommy posed in a Packers uniform for Uncle Jason and Cousin Grant!



What Dwight Freeney's locker looks like

Old Colts memorabilia

Replicas of all of the Super Bowl rings EVER. These were  heavily guarded.

On Friday night, mommy went downtown again....this time with Aunt Susan, Aunt Luann, Jackie and her friend, Taylor. They were all going to dance in a flash mob in Super Bowl Village. SO FUN!! It was VERY crowded that night and you could barely walk (Vivi and I stayed home with Daddy). 

Mommy and Aunt Susan ended up at Harry & Izzy's and met some celebrities. Some that were there were, Adam Levine, Adam Sandler (& his posse that are in lots of his movies), Kasey Kahne (see picture below), Tim Tebow, a few IndyCar drivers, etc. There were celebrities EVERYWHERE!! Mommy even saw Jenna Wolfe from the Today Show. 

The girls met Luann's friend at her apartment downtown before the flash mob....what a great view!

 

Jackie and Taylor...silly girls!





Mommy and Kasey Kahne (for those who don't know who he is...a very popular NASCAR driver)



A few Audrey-isms

We always walk to preschool since it is so close to our house and on the way to school after Christmas break, Audrey looks down at the road and says "This road is cracking up!"

Audrey loves to say "Actually" and "Especially".

She still calls the elevator an "Alligator".

She talks to herself constantly and hums ALL of the time no matter what she is doing.

She is potty-trained for the most part but still has occasional accidents.

She still says "Maz-a-gines" for magazines and insists she has to read one every time she needs to go #2 or when she wants to delay bedtime.

One of her favorite cartoons is "Conse and Jerry" or as you may know it "Tom and Jerry".

She loves pre-school and talks about lots of the kids in her class as well as her teachers.

She also loves to pretend she is a teacher and Vivi and I are her students and she reads to us. All of her books are about "Jesus".

Strawberries and Cream

I love strawberries and I LOVE whipped cream....or just "cream" as I call it. So, the combo is devine!!

Vivi feels exactly the same!