It was a big week for Audrey with two big milestones. The first major milestone was getting her first tooth. It's located on the bottom - we call it her little nose nipper. She likes biting Mom and Dad's noses whenever we hold her. As always, she handled the milestone with great stride.

Her other major milestone was sitting up in the highchair all by herself. We were so proud. Her first meal in her highchair was blueberry yogurt. Audrey likes to hold her spoon, so it got very messy. Mommy and Josh were in the blueberry splash zone. Mommy got blueberry yogurt splashed all down her shirt and Josh got hit by the blueberry shrapnel on his nose two seats away.

Audrey also is able to sit up in her own swing now on our outings to the local parks. She could spend all morning swinging away. Josh likes swinging next to her but doesn't understand why she doesn't want an underdog, cause they are so much fun for him.

There was a huge storm system that was on track to hit Rochester last Thursday. It started at 11am when all of a sudden the sky began to look really dark and the wind started to pick up. Quickly we put all the toys in the garage and closed up all the windows. Then, the sirens started up. We (including myself) were all concerned with the onset of the sirens. We didn't retrieve to the basement yet, as it appeared ok outside for the most part and the kiddos were getting very hungry. I quickly turned on the weather channel while I made lunch for the kids. The TV emergency alert system kept replaying the weather warnings every couple of minutes. "The National Weather Service....Severe Thunderstorm warning...Olmstead county." You get the point. Joshua peered out the window and gave me play by play updates of what was happening outside (dark sky, mamma, big storm coming, windy). After eating lunch in the basement, we stepped outside to talk to the neighbors to see if they heard anything about the bad weather. Every time a breeze came up, Joshua would say, "com'on inside mamma, storm coming!" Both kids were starting to show signs of weariness, particularly Audrey so; we did our normal naptime routine.

After I got the kids down, the phone rang - it was my daily phone call with Rebecca. We had our usual interesting conversation, and then I asked if she had any ideas for rainy day fun activities. She suggested dumping out a can of Quaker Oats on a cookie sheet, and placing dump trucks, bowls, spoons, etc. that Josh could play with. So, I got everything all ready while the house was quiet. When Josh woke up from his nap, he was elated to play with everything I set out for him. Great idea, Rebecca! To see the mayhem, click here.

Another fun and cheap idea, I heard this week, was getting a few balls of yarn and letting kids unwind it and wrap it all around the house. I will let you know how it goes. I bet it will be another A+ activity.

The storm didn't actually hit Rochester until about 8pm at night. Not a drop of rain fell from the sky until then. I don't know about those weather forecasters... We caught the "big storm" on tape though, with Joshua reporting live from the scene. The rain crashed on the windows and the thunder roared steady from about 1-3am. I thought the kids would be up from all the racket, but I was up instead. It's amazing what they can tune out!

I got this voice message on my cell phone the other day. I was trying to figure out how to get this on my site, and ended up just 'recording' the sound on my camcorder while playing my phone on speaker.

Sorry about the quality of the sound, but it was pretty funny. My heart 'breaks a little' every time I listen too this, but it swells too realizing how much Josh needs and loves me :) Basically Ann and I had dropped Josh off with Sissy while we went to look at Burley's for our bike so we can take family bike rides. Not more than 5 minute after we left I got this message. I thought I should type it out in case some of you can't decipher Joshua 'language' :)

Come and get me...

Where are you???

I want to go home!...I want to go home!!

Love you...

See you later...

Hurry up!!!

I love you! (falls apart)

Click here to listen to the message.

Not only is Josh a back-seat driver, but a front seat driver. One of Joshua's favorite things to do right now is pretending to run errands in the car. Don't worry, I always remove the keys from the ignition.

Today, Joshua decided that we needed to get some more "deuce" (juice), so we hopped in the car, put on our seatbelts and started driving to "Hybee" (Hyvee). On the way, Josh noticed we needed some more gas, so we stopped at the gas station. He immediately hopped out and began to 'fill the car'. Audrey and I waited patiently and Josh opened the door and smiled and said "all filled up." We started driving again. Now Audrey was getting all excited with all the commotion, so I set down the keys (that I had safely put in my hands) so she could jump about. In a split second, Joshua got his hands on the keys and before I knew it, he had pressed the PANIC button on the car remote. In another split second, all hell had broken loose. Both kids were now frantic shrieking from the constant "beeeep...beeeeep...beeeep" from the car alarm. I had never used the panic button before, so I hadn't a clue as to how to turn it off. After about a minute of pure craziness, I discovered how to turn it off. By this time, both kids were hanging onto me for dear life. All I could do at this point was hold my babies and laugh at my stupidity.

My babies, Joshua and Audrey, give me so much joy and happiness. And, they have truly made me a better person. I will admit, being a Mom is the hardest job I've ever done, but it is by far the most satisfying and rewarding job I could have. Joshua is almost 2 ½ now and Audrey is six months. Joshua is becoming more independent everyday and is constantly reassuring me that he can "do it all myself mama." I just sit back in awe watching my little boy become such a big boy. Audrey is also a sweet beautiful baby girl. She has such a soft feminine way about her, even now as a baby. Audrey has been such an even-tempered and happy go-lucky baby, it makes it easy to think about having a third. Don't worry, we're not right now.

Since having Joshua and Audrey, I often feel like a kid again at heart. They love the simple aspects of life, such as playing outside, being held and cuddled, taking baths, being read to, among many wonderful things. I know that soon, Mommy and Daddy won't be their universe, so I am trying to soak up all these fun and special moments as much as possible. Last, but not least, my husband is so very gentle, kind, and loving. He inspires me to be the best I can be.

Thank you all for loving me.