Sip & See

Audrey at bath time - she takes a bath with her big brother

Lori and Elmo's birthday

Matthew at the park on the slide

Friends holding Audrey at the Sip & See

Sip & See shower

Aunt Lori feeding Audrey

The hostess with the mostest - Lori & Shanon

Mimi with Audrey

On Saturday, we had a baby shower called a Sip & See where friends were able to sip mimosas and see Audrey. She was the belle of the ball! She did so well and gave everyone lots of smiles. Mimi, Lori, and Bryan came into town. The weather was beautiful around 70 degrees and everyone ventured outside on our deck around the pool. Andy took Matthew to the YMCA to go for a swim and then on to the park where he played with Arden.

Smiley Audrey

Happy Birthday Andy

A cupcake with "39" candles

Matthew enjoying his cupcake

Matthew holding Audrey

Matthew likes to sing the turtle song.

Audrey is 1 month old

Matthew pulls up a chair to stand on so he can see baby Audrey in the stroller

Matthew helped with the bottle feeding

Matthew pulled up a chair to get water out of the fridge - check out his new snow boots

It is hard to believe that Audrey is 1 month old already. She has been an easy baby and rarely cries. She sleeps quite a bit but she is starting to be more alert. I give her a bath every day around 6pm and she seems to enjoy it. Most babies cry during bath time. I feed her every 2.5 hours and sometimes 4 hours on rare occasions during the night. She doesn't over eat so she doesn't spit up much. On Sunday, Andy gave her 2nd bottle feeding and she took it well. The church has been bringing us dinners every other day so that has been a BIG help.

The weather has been sunny in the 60's. On Saturday, I went to the park with Audrey in the baby bjorn on my chest, Matthew in the stroller, and Rusty on the leash. It was quite a sight! But it was a good way to get Matthew and Rusty out of the house for some exercise. Andy went to workout that morning for a couple of hours. When he came home, he took Matthew for a swim at the YMCA. Matthew took a good nap that afternoon. On Sunday, the temperature dropped in the 30's and it snowed 1 inch. Andy took Matthew to buy some boots so that he was prepared. They stuck out their tongues to catch the snow. Matthew had so much fun with Daddy and he LOVED his new boots. He normally takes his shoes off as soon as he enters the house but he kept them on to show them off.

Happy New Year!

Andy calls her "Audrey Bear"

Audrey at 2 weeks old

The babysitters, Lori and Bryan, with baby Audrey

Audrey's first bottle at 3 weeks old- Way to go, Aunt Lori!

The last week of December went fairly smoothly now that everyone is well. Matthew is adjusting to having a baby sister around and he is doing much better when I nurse the baby. He is playing more on his own or going to Daddy for help with things. Lori and Bryan came into town and Matthew was so excited to have them around to play with. One night, Lori and Bryan babysat for us so that Andy and I could get out and go see a movie. That was a nice Christmas present! We enjoyed getting a night out without the kiddos and saw 'True Grit' at the movie theatre.

Matthew has been busy playing with all his new toys. He received a DVD from Santa for Dora the Explorer and he loves to watch it in his toy room. One morning, Andy went to work out and I went upstairs to do some things. When I came down, Matthew had a popsicle in his hand. He opened the freezer on his own, pulled up a chair, and took out a popsicle. We didn't really discipline him because Andy and I were so impressed that he had the smarts to do it! Matthew likes to push around his step ladder so that he can see over the counter and reach light switches among other things.

Audrey has been sleeping well and nursing every 2 - 3 hours. She is a dream compared to Matthew at this age. He was so fussy. It's nice to have a baby that doesn't cry very much at all. I am surprised that even a bath doesn't make her cry. We are scared to take Audrey outside the house because of the risk of germs and flu season. Although, we realize that Matthew probably brings home a good amount of viruses. We are so thankful that Audrey has remained healthy. We took her to the 2 week old doctor visit on Dec 29th and she already gained a pound from her birth weight! Her stats are:

Weight: 8 lbs 12 oz 70%

Height: 19 7/8 inches 50%

Head Circumference: 14 1/4 inches 70%

Audrey received Hep B vaccine in her leg and they pricked her heel for a newborn screen test. She cried at both of these pokes but I nursed her quickly afterwards and she went right off to sleep. Her next appointment is scheduled at 2 months old.

Andy and I rang in the new year by watching tv and relaxing at home with the family. I laid on the couch with Audrey laying on my chest. It is so relaxing to hear her breathe. 2010 was a great year and we wish everyone a fabulous 2011!

Merry Christmas!

Matthew woke up around 9am, which is considered very late compared to his normal schedule. Andy got up early and fixed a hearty breakfast - blueberry pancakes, bacon, and eggs. Matthew opened half of the gifts and then decided he wanted to watch his new Dora DVD from Santa. He enjoyed finding the note from Santa and the stockings filled with goodies. He wanted to check everyone's stockings for them. It was a quiet day at the Bruce household since it was just our family. The weather was rainy and in the 40's so we all enjoyed a long nap after lunch. Matthew opened the rest of the gifts around 4pm when he woke up from his nap. Matthew was definitely spoiled with all of the presents from the grandparents. We moved all the toys into his toy room and Matthew was so happy to play with them all. He was in the best mood, even dancing around the house.

We tried to talk to Matthew about the true meaning of Christmas - to celebrate baby Jesus birthday. But Matthew was so overwhelmed with all the new toys that it was hard to get his attention. We hope to teach Matthew to give during the holiday season and we will incorporate more traditions in the years to come. This Christmas was extra special because of our holiday gift, Audrey. We are truly blessed!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Daddy reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas'

Baking cookies for Santa with Arden

Mike with baby Audrey - it looks like Roxy is curious

Riding in the wagon inside the house because it was too cold outside

Snuggling with Daddy

Matthew likes to help put hats on Audrey

Audrey buckled up for her dr visit

It is Christmas Eve today and the winter weather is here in Dallas, 40's and rainy. It has been a busy week since we brought Audrey home from the hospital 2 weeks ago. She has been a relatively easy baby so far. She started off with the days and nights mixed up but she seems to have that straight now. I feed her every couple of hours during the day and many times I have to wake her to feed her (this never happened with Matthew). At night, she will go 4 hours between feedings sometimes and when she wakes up, I am shocked that she doesn't even cry. The first couple of weeks tend to be easier because babies sleep so much. The challenge will be in the weeks to come when she starts to wake up more. We shall see.

It has been a rough transition for Matthew. He had a cold on the day that Audrey was born and it escalated into 2 ear infections with a high fever. We took Audrey to her first dr appointment on Wed, Dec 15th and we probably should have taken Matthew at the same time. We took him to school and later that afternoon, they called and told us to pick him up because he had a fever. Thankfully, Andy stayed home the entire week because he was a big help with Matthew. Poor Matthew was not feeling well and he wanted Mama all the time but my time was devoted to the baby. It seemed that every time I went to feed the baby, Matthew wanted to be held. It was a long week and by the time Friday came around, Andy says "That's it. No more kids, no more pets. I'm at capacity!" It was funny because Andy was constantly on his toes tending to Matthew and Rusty to a lesser extent. We joked that the baby was the easy one.

On Friday afternoon, my parents and Mike arrived in town. Andy said "Bring in the reinforcements, we need it!" They cooked meals for us, entertained Matthew, and helped with laundry. Matthew did not sleep well at night because his nose was stuffy so he was not his normal self and we had lots of temper tantrums. My parents shared a room with him at night and after several days, my dad started feeling sick. They were supposed to stay through Christmas but they left early on Tuesday so that they could go see a doctor and get some rest. As bad as it sounds, there were some fun events during their stay - Andy, Papa, and Mike went to the Arkansas basketball game on Saturday and on another day Mike and Papa hit some golf balls.

Matthew is finally feeling better. He went to school on Wednesday and Thursday this week. He came home in the best of moods. On Thursday night, Arden came over and they baked cookies for Santa. Matthew is learning about Santa Claus in school but he didn't get a chance to go see him in the mall. Andy read the book, Twas the Night Before Christmas, tonight as a start in our family tradition. I decorated the stairwell with lighted garland earlier in the week and Matthew came home from school and said "it's beautiful!" I bought some stockings and I have not hung them up yet. Matthew tried to put them on his feet. We have lots of gifts under the tree from all the grandparents. Matthew wanted to open them early when we received the boxes in the mail but we made him wait. He hasn't touched the gifts since.

We have so much to be thankful for this year. We are truly blessed with our new addition, Audrey. And we are very grateful that Matthew is feeling well in time for Christmas.