Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Was It Worth It?

I first must apologize for putting that article on this site- I meant to put it on the Political Moms site, which is much more appropriate a setting- so I moved it there. If you want to comment on it, you can go there to discuss.


Now on to fun stuff. Yesterday was Audra's Birthday. She turned two- and she looks very cute telling you how old she is! Awhile ago a friend of mine asked if having a kid was worth it- all the tantrums, the messes, the lack of sleep, etc. If she had asked me that a year ago, I don't know what I would have said. That first year was really hard- and if you've never had a colicky baby with GERD then you really can't understand how hard it is. When I try to explain it, people ask, "Oh, did you have post-partem depression?" and I'm like, "no- I had a horrible baby." Anyway, that's a year I don't ever want to repeat. But, this past year, we have learned some fun things about Audra.
She LOVES shoes- mom's shoes, grandma's shoes, babies shoes- shoes, shoes shoes!

She is a total narcissist. In a desperate attempt to try and get dinner ready a couple of weeks ago, I put Cinderella into the VCR. Audra never watches TV, so I thought this would work wonderfully. WRONG! The cartoon wouldn't keep her attention for more then 5 minutes. So, I popped in a video of her- and voila! She was captivated. In fact, when the video stops, she cries. So the only princess being shown at this house is Princess Audra!

She loves climbing on people and large stuffed animals:

And, she is always the cutest thing in the world:

We've learned lots of other things as well. She is very shy and empathetic. When other kids cry, she wants to make them feel better and give them kisses. She loves playing with her Dolly- rocking it, putting it to sleep (and making her snore- so cute!), covering it with a blanket. If I am lying on the couch, she always goes and gets me a pillow and blanket. She is very good at cleaning up, and she HATES even a speck of dirt on her bib- as soon as she drops something on it, she says "eww! Yucky!" (two of her favorite words) and drops the bib on the floor. She will share just about any toy, except for Dolly and her stroller- her favorites. Everything is hot- even ice-cream (she can have vanilla ice-cream, that's the extent of her junk food). She is an excellent eater, and really likes this Indian curry I made. Everything has to be done in order- she is a little OCD that way- especially bed time rituals.

Some of my favorite things about her:

-She'll say, "please Mama!" and it melts my heart and she gets pretty much whatever she wants when she says that

-In the morning Ben goes and gets her and brings her into the bedroom while he gets ready so I can sleep a little longer, and she crawls up onto the bed, gives me a big hug and kiss and says, "HI mommy!"

I have to tell this short story. While opening presents yesterday (we just had Ben's parents and sister come over for dinner, had cake and ice-cream, and openend presents- nothing big), I can't even explain the expression on Audra's face. It was the most beautiful thing- I hope I never forget it. She just had this look of pure joy- as if she knew how loved she was by so many people and she was glowing. I can't explain it, but I want to remember it my whole life. I have never seen her look so incredibly happy, which in turn made me so incredibly happy.

So, if I were asked now if having her was worth it, the answer would be a resounding YES! She is the best thing that could have happened to Ben and me, and we just love her so much! And, we know with baby #2 on the way, we just have even better things to look forward to. How did we ever get so blessed?

4 comments:

  1. Cute memories! Happy Birthday Audra!

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  2. Happy Birthday to Audra. Totally worth it!

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  3. oh, look at the bling on your blog!:)

    Glad Audra had a happy birthday! She is a sweet girl and so cute!

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