New Tricks

We've had a busy couple of weeks. Audrey has tried new foods, played with new toys, and is learning new tricks. Recently, we've added carrots to her meals. At first she did not like them, but now she can't get enough of them. Here she is with her beloved carrots. As you can see, they get everywhere. Oviously, we've had to invest in a lot more spray n'wash and Clorox 2 bleach!

Audrey has also finally figured out how to roll from front to back. She easily figured out the rolling from back to front but would then get stuck. Additionally, she is starting to sit up on her own. It's a little tripod like as you can see below.

Due to her new-found trunk control, Mommy decided it was time to put away some of the infant toys like the bouncy chair and get out the bigger baby toys like the exersaucer. I have a new appreciation for my parents. They always tell the story of having to put together the Barbie Dream House on Christmas Eve after I went to sleep and how awful the experience was. So many parts! Well, after having to put together the exersaucer, I now get it. You would have thought my engineering skills would have come in handy... no, it still took hours. But seeing the way Audrey loves to play in it makes it all worth while. Here she is in her exersaucer. And the best part of it is that the toys are attached and thus cannot be thrown off.

Audrey's Baptism

On the weekend of August 8-10, Audrey was welcomed into our church family at Christ the King Presbyterian Church. Our church believes in infant baptism. While it does not save Audrey, it is a sign of our commitment as parents to raise her in the church. Here are a few pictures of Audrey getting ready on Sunday morning. She's wearing the same baptismal gown I wore as a baby.

For those of you reading who don't know what happens during baptism, I'll explain. During the service, we walked up to the front of the sanctuary. Then our pastor Rev. Robert Cook asked us the baptismal questions. We made promises in front of our church family, committing Audrey to God, acknowledging her need of our savior Jesus, and promising to raise her in the faith. Then they poured water over Audrey symbolizing our need of cleansing from our sins. Finally, Robert introduced Audrey to the congregation. The following pictures are each of these steps.

After the service, we took some pictures to remember this special event. Here she is with various family members that you'll recognize from earlier blog entries.

We were very thankful that all of our friends and family could join us. It was a very special time for our whole family.

Mommy's 29th Birthday

Yes, I'm inching closer to that big milestone of the 3-0. It was a great birthday since my best friends from high school Cari and Lisa were on hand to celebrate. Lisa and her husband Richard are in town visiting for the week which has been super fun. Cari fixed an amazing dinner at my house. It was so special to celebrate with my friends and their husbands. And besides, I'm the second youngest so there are some folks already 30 and some who will soon be 30... you know who you are! Here are Lisa and me before we go for manis and pedis.


Here are the girls toasting to my birthday. Yummy daquaris! Of course, Audrey was included. And no, despite the second picture, we did not actually give Audrey a daquari... again, not that bad of a mother :)

Audrey didn't make it to dinner or cake. She was just too tuckered out. Here she is catching some ZZZs on Daddy's shoulder.

Good Lord, people! Let's not cause a fire hazard! I did say I wanted a cake with candles but this is ridiculous!

I'm 5-Months Old

Audrey is now 5-months old. She is rolling over all the time and she has been gumming toys and my fingers to death. And all that gumming is for a good cause. I see two little teeth starting to poke through on the bottom gum. Soon my little girl will have teeth! It's so hard to believe. She continues to enjoy her rice cereal. I'm looking forward to trying some new foods in the future. Hope you enjoy these 5-month pictures.

Pretty in Pink

Eating my toes... even through my dress

Not too modest... showing our tummy

Notice the white trash quality of this picture; just a bib and diaper. But as you can tell from her face, she gets cereal everywhere. Therefore, why wear clothes if you're just going to get food on them :) Besides, it's bath time next.

Yum, Mommy. Keep it coming!

First Cereal

While we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa in Maryland, we tried rice cereal for the first time. Audrey actually ate quite a bit of it on her first try. And since then, we've enjoyed rice cereal everyday for at least one meal. This first picture was after the first bite. She's not sure what to think of it.


Of course, by the end of it, she had more on her face than in her mouth. She's learned that she likes the feel of putting her hands or her feet in her mouth with the cereal. We're trying to discourage those bad table manners!

It looks like she's signalling for "More, please" in this picture! That or she's amazed by her own finger... who knows what's going on in that mind!

Vacation to Maryland - Part 2

After spending a week in Potomac, Maryland with all the family, we drove to the shore to vacation in Ocean City, MD. Wes, Audrey and I had a few days at the beach alone and then Grandma and Grandpa came down. Audrey didn't last too long at the beach most days. She still naps alot and did not want to nap on the hard sand. I think she'll enjoy it more next year when she can run around. Here's Audrey soaking it in on the beach.


When Wes's parents joined us, they babysat for us one night and then we all went to dinner on the second night. Here's a few pictures of us all dressed up to go to dinner.

All in all, it was a great vacation. As you can see from the next picture, Daddy passed along a few bad habits to Audrey. She liked the cold can to teeth... seriously, we didn't let her drink the beer. We're not that terrible of parents!

Vacation to Maryland - Part 1

We recently just returned from a 2-week trip to Maryland to visit Wes's parents and go to the beach. Audrey and I set out by ourselves on Tuesday, July 22. I was a little nervous about the flight but Audrey was a great little traveller. It was nice because the flight was pretty empty so we got a whole row to ourselves and Audrey could sleep in her car seat. Here's Audrey waiting in the boarding area at Intercontinental Airport.


We spent alot of time just hanging out with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Marianne, and Cousins Noel and Chloe. Grandma invited some of her good friends over for lunch one day to meet the newest additions to the Hinton family, Chloe and Audrey. Here's Audrey with Grandma before all the ladies arrived for lunch.

It was interesting to see Chloe and Audrey interact. They are 1-month apart in age. They are both rolling around on the floor and love to eat their feet. I guess some pasttimes are universally fun! Here are the girls with Aunt Marianne and Daddy.

On Saturday, Wes's Aunt Nancy and Uncle David came over to meet the girls. We had to dress Chloe and Audrey in yet another set of matching outfits from Grandma. When the girls are older, I'm sure they'll rebel from being dressed alike. But for now, we just enjoy it. Here are the two littlest girls and then the next picture is all the cousins, Aunt Marianne, and me.


It was really fun to see all the family. I think Thanksgiving promises to be crazy with all the little girls scooting around!