Around town

Friday night Charles and I went on a spontaneous date (w/ Azure) and it was quite enjoyable. Usually unplanned activities don't go so well for us, but this one sure did. We walked around City Market and looked in some art galleries.It was quite chilly for Savannah, and I actually liked it because it truly felt like the holiday season. We also walked down Broughton St. and looked around some shops and did some honey sampling, yum! Then we had dinner at Panera Bread. I had Clam Chowder in a bread bowl and it was divine! There's nothing like warm soup on a chilly day.

Here we are devouring the remainder of my bread bowl.

I came home feeling nostalgic of past holiday seasons and felt that ever familiar feeling of gratitude that makes you smile and sigh, for all that the Lord has given me.

Update: kissing, singing, acting

We are in need of a general update.

Charles and I were the main characters in a film done by one of our friends who we previously mentioned in the last post. He is getting his masters in film and needed actors. Of course I volunteered. I would never give up a chance for stardom :) We even had a kissing scene in the film! Once it's all done we'll put a few scenes here on the blog.

Charles has had tests this last week and is gearing up for even more after Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to spending time w/ Evelyn again and celebrating Thanksgiving w/ her family in North Carolina. Charles is currently employed at CVS as a Pharmacy Intern.

I have been listening to Christmas music and practicing for a duet performance of O Holy Night for our ward Christmas party. I am keeping busy with the Young Women in our ward and trying to stay sane w/ all that that entails :) Last Saturday marked my 10 year anniversary as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have made it a tradition to do baptisms for the dead every 15th of November. I was indeed grateful to do them this year in the Columbia South Carolina temple. The 2.5 hour drive there was so beautiful and peaceful as I saw colored leaves everywhere and listened to inspired counsel from our beloved prophet and apostles from General Conference.

Azure is a happy little girl. She learned the word, "Ut-oh" today. She is trying hard to say thank you, but signs it well. She also is a singer as evidenced by this video:

Everyone in our ward has heard Azure shout, "Baby" in the middle of sacrament meeting whenever she sees a child 3 or under, including herself in pictures or the mirror. I really appreciate her enthusiasm and passion for life when she says it:

When reading a book to Azure that had racoons in it, I kissed them and she copied me. Now she kisses all kinds of animals in her books and sometimes babies. I especially love it when she gives me kisses :)

We give thanks for such a wonderful life!

Oopps...I did it again!

Last Tuesday, apparently as scheduled, Azure took her pants and diaper off again! We have wised up this time though- no more 2 piece jammies. I am hestiant even to put anything on her besides a onesie! And unfortunately this time, her "boop" was not so self-contained which required more clean up. I did take pics but, will refrain from posting them :)

We've had a few minor temper tantrums the past 2 wks due mainly to some new teeth coming in. But, for the most part we've been having fun. I LOVE teaching Azure new things. It is very fulfilling as a stay at home mom to see her repeat and do the things I've taught her. She recognizes the letter A. Not exclusively yet though.

She's learning to draw...

And to stack rings correctly...

The reason she's upset in this pic is b/c she wanted to see the "baby" (herself) on the camera screen!

We are loving watching the BYU football games every week with our friends the Heimdals. They have so graciously invited us over and let us watch the games since we don't have cable. Not to mention they feed us amazing food every week and babysit Azure for us for 8 hrs + when we take our monthly day trip to the temple. Talk about awesome friends!

Our little Cougar fan cheering

New one piece jammies to further prevent diasters...

hAlloWeEn

Azure was a bear yet again this year. Since I paid full price for that costume I intend to use it for all our kids to get as much use out of it as possible. It's also extremely fitting that Azure's nickname is Cub/Cubby.They had face painting at the trunk or treat we attended. Isn't she adorable? I realized later though that bears don't have whiskers, do they? Oh well.
The cutest thing of all though was that she kept signing bear over and over again saying, "Brr". She knew she was a bear! Getting washed up after a fun night

Charles and I are enjoying eating Azure's candy this year. I am a little sad that we didn't have any trick or treaters though. We live in a complex of condos with a lot of older folks so maybe that deters kids. I'm excited to one day pass out candy to trick or treaters since I haven't done that yet.

Shenanigans

So it finally happened today...we knew this day would come...if you have a weak stomach please skip this post.After a busy morning of touring the city with friends from our ward (our church) both Azure and I were exhausted. Equally exhausted. I had to carry her around from site to site since we didn't have the stroller. She wiggled out of my arms during the entire trolley ride. When I put her down to walk, she ran and I had to chase her around. All this she did because she was fighting sleep, it was past her nap time. And in the process she wore me out and made me want a nap of my own. About 2 minutes after getting into the car to drive home, she was out like a light. I regretted having to wake her up to get her out of the carseat. I hoped she would go right back down. I put her in her crib and took a much needed nap myself. In the meantime Charles got home from school and he woke me up to go to an appointment. Hearing Azure's babbling from her room, we figured she was awake. Charles went in to get her and found her completely NAKED holding her diaper in her hand and pointing to a pile of poop on the floor exclaiming, "Boop!"

Little Miss Azure for some reason took off her shirt, her pants, and her diaper. We have never witnessed her taking off her shirt before and are surprised that she figured it out on her own. There was also a wet spot of urine on her sheets so we're guessing that she had been naked for quite some time. She had been in her crib for about an hour and a half and we suspect that she didn't sleep a wink. Fortunately for us, the consistency of the "boop" was such that it maintained its integrity and was self-contained in a single sphere. (I apologize for the vulgar language of this description).

She was bathed and redressed and the proper disinfecting supplies were used. Suffice it to say, today was truly an Adventure with Azure!

Autumn days in GA

Spring is my favorite season but, autumn is a close second.

Azure has been getting some new molars in and has been pretty whiny and cranky this last week. But, all she has to do is say, "Mommy," and smack her lips together (which is her way of saying she wants a kiss) and all my frustration is gone :) After she saw me and Charles kissing she starting making kissing sounds like she wanted a kiss too and now she does it everyday. Those two are the sunshine in my life.

Our friend Amie was baptized yesterday! We are so happy for her. I sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.

Autumn has been so refreshing...literally. It's nice going outside and not worrying about over heating. Azure and I had some fun today just playing in the leaves outside our apartment.

With the cooler temperatures we've busted out the feetie pajamas.Charles and I bought these for Azure last Thanksgiving b/c they were on sale. Size 18 months looked so big for our current 5 month old, but they fit her perfectly now since she's so long. Our little girl is growing up. I am grateful for these autumn days that I have a feeling I'll look back on fondly.

Evelyn's Visit

We had a fun-filled weekend starting on Thursday evening with Ev's arrival. We saw Paula Deen at our Barnes and Noble doing a book signing. She lives here in Savannah so I'm guessing we'll probably run into her at least once more before we move.

The highlight of the weekend was eating at Mrs. Wilkes Boarding House. Amazing food, voted #1 place to eat in Savannah. I agree. If you ever come here, go. Even though we had to wait about an hour and a half to get in, it was worth it!

Waiting in line

Then off we went to River St. and other historic downtown locales including Tybee Island. To our great shock and amazement it got down to 67 degrees in Savannah on Saturday. It's the first time I've felt cold since leaving Provo. I embrace a "cold" 67 degrees with open arms and shun the below freezing temperatures of our past home.

And this is for Aunt Tally: