GIRLS GONE WILD...in the bath tub

We have been giving Audra "water therapy" and letting her have bubble baths made with Dreft (thanks for the tip PaPa Jim).  Phoebe has been loving them and tonight I took a short video of the two of them egging each other on.   They have such a great time and the floor gets clean as well, I love the two-for-one special!

Knee, part two

Here is the latest picture of Audra's knee.  The cream is working great, all of the first degree burn sites are healed and now we are working on growing new skin over the areas of second degree burn. Audra is still doing great although she had a minor "break down" the other night when Ben had to take off all of the dead skin.  "They" say that bad things happen in three so lets hope we are done for a while with this incident being the third (her chin was number one and the toe was number two).  Everybody cross your fingers.  

I can get there MYSELF!

WARNING: Phoebe attempts a head stand at the end of the video!

So Phoebe has finally figured out how to get around independently, she does the "Phoebe Shuffle".  This fancy move involves kicking her legs out and then scooting forward, multiple times in quick succession. She has gotten it down pretty well this week and can now "escape" to other rooms while I am taking a shower, much to her sister's chagrin.  She is also starting to pull up on things so I have a feeling that we will be posting a walking video soon.  Stay tuned =)

Not for the squeamish - Look away Grandma!

Audra went to play with some friends who were camping outside of Winona, MN and fell into the fire pit, luckily the fire was out at the time but the ashes were still hot (obviously).  Unfortunately, I was not there when it happened.  When I went to pick her up she told me that "falling into the fire is not a very good idea".  Smart Girl!  I called my resident burn expert (thanks Dad) and he told me to give her a bath in Dreft (who knew).  When I took off her bandage and soaked more of the dirt off I realized that it was worse than I originally thought.  After describing the burn to Ben we decided to take her into Onalaska Urgent Care, problem was that Ben was still at work in La Crosse (we all know how well I handle medical situations - need I remind you about passing out at Greta's shots?)  I left Phoebe with our dear neighbors and took Audra in myself, and FYI I was very brave =)  Audra did really well too and only cried when they used the "scissor nails" to cut off some of the dead skin.  (I think it really helped that I had thought to bring along the personal DVD player, it distracted her during our two hour visit.)  Below is a picture of her knee today.  Not much improvement from yesterday but the special cream should help speed the healing and keep it from getting infected.  

In case you were wondering...Audra is doing OK.  Overall, she does not complain about it hurting which worries us a bit.  However, the doctor did say that it was normal for second and third degree burns to not have pain associated with them.  I have a previously scheduled doctor appt. for Audra's well child check-up on Friday so I hope to get some more information about how the knee is doing at that time.  

I am a GREAT big sister!

While Ben and I were cooking dinner Audra decided to help out by feeding Phoebe the rest of her dinner.  Audra is such a great big sister and will be "all practiced" for when she is a mommy some day.  However, she will need to work on her aim a bit.

The SPA

Audra went to the spa yesterday for her first "real" haircut. I asked my stylist to show me how to layer it so that I can do it at home.  Although, I have to admit it was nice to have someone else cut it. The best part was that it only cost $10 (and it was a really good cut).

BEFORE

AFTER

It does not look that different in pictures but when you see it in person you can really tell the difference.  Plus, Heather helped blend in the "self-inflicted" haircut from a few months ago.  Audra had a great time (even if the two above pictures don't demonstrate that).  

The Runway

PR is back and I am so excited.  For those of you who do not know I am a bit obsessed with Bravo's Project Runway.  Ben (although he might not admit it) watches it with me but he is not impressed with the season 5 designers so he says he is going to stop watching (yeah, we'll see).  I think this season has some good designers but since I don't "know" them yet my opinion is a bit premature.  You have to respect someone who can make a cute skirt out of vacuum cleaner bags!  If you want to find out what the heck I am talking about here is the web address for the show:  www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/season/5/index.php

Got Teeth? Phoebe does

Phoebe now has 8 teeth.   Sorry to disappoint those who love to see pictures of the kids (ha) but I can't get Phoebe to smile for me yet.  Despite my concern regarding how her teeth came in (seriously who gets lateral incisors before their front two teeth?) she does not appear to have "snaggle teeth".  Thank goodness, we all know how I feel about the "snaggle".  It is yet to be seen if she had the "Finley gap", perhaps she will need braces like her sister (as the nurse practitioner mentioned last time we had Audra into the Dr.  -  seriously someone should talk to that woman about the appropriateness of her comments).

Feeding Time

In an attempt to encourage independent feeding (Ok I was being lazy) I let Phoebe eat the rest of her breakfast by herself the other morning. The results were a bit messy but she had a great time.  As an added bonus the oatmeal mask also gave her skin a beautiful glow =)

Is it clean enough for you?

In his never ending battle to keep the table clean Ben decided to buff the table with our "multi purpose" buffer and special wood cleaner. He assures me that buffing the table is a perfectly acceptable (and normal) use for the buffer.
Audra needed to be Daddy's helper, of course, and gave herself the task of holding the extension cord. As always she insisted on wearing her "safety glasses" while working.
Because she is a daddy's girl and loves to do everything Ben does she needed a turn with the buffer.  I thought she might be a little scared of it but as you can see she loved it.
Audra thought she needed a helper as well and recruited Ben to hold the cord for her.  He is such a good helper =)

Sooo Big and Sooo Cute

Phoebe had her nine month checkup today and she was 22 pounds, one ounce and 29.8 inches.  Basically she is where Audra was at a year.  It looks like she is going to take after the Yoder side of the family and be taller than us Finley's.  I'm not looking forward to seventh grade when she will be taller than I am =)

   
Audra is growing like a weed as well, although not quite as quickly as Phoebe, thank goodness.  She has her "three and a half" check up in a few weeks so we will see just how much she has grown.  Since Phoebe celebrates her "month" birthdays Audra likes to know what month she is on too.  She especially enjoys telling people she is five but does not like it when I say five months instead of years.   

Tour de Onalaska

Audra's new favorite activity is to ride her trike up and down the sidewalk in front of our house.  She especially likes getting decked out in her bike gear.  Doesn't she look stylish?

Sisterly Love?

While I was cooking dinner the other day Audra was playing with Phoebe.  Both of the girls were giggling and having a GREAT time. I walked around the corner and this is what I saw!

Of course I was a little startled and yelled at Audra to get off of her sister. I told Audra that sisters should love each other not crush one anther and that Phoebe did not liked to be sat on.  Audra replied "Phoebe loves it when I do this, look she has smiles".  Sure enough she was right.  What is a mom supposed to do?
 

Our New Neighbors!!!

While we were away on vacation we had some new neighbors move into the bird house on our fence, blue birds.  Audra loves to watch the birds and invites them to live in our house with us everyday.  She can't quite understand why they would want to live in the "wood" house rather than our "warm and cozy" one.  

This is FUN!

Bartlesville has this really cute amusement park for children called Kiddie
Park.  All of the rides are sized for kids ages 3 to 6, 
even the roller coaster (which is much smaller than I remember when I rode it as a child).  The best part is that most of the rides still cost only 25 cents to ride with a few of the larger rides being 50
cents.  Phoebe and Audra both really enjoyed the Merry-go-round.  The boats and the train were favorites for Audra.  I think it was because she was able to go on them "all by ourselves" with her cousins!

PaPa and Grandma

Phoebe had a great time "getting to know" her PaPa Jim and Grandma Paula and I am pretty sure that they enjoyed her as well!  We sure miss them now that we are back home but can't wait until they come to celebrate Phoebe's first birthday!

Fun in the Sun

Since the Bartlesville pool is still stuck in the 80's (no real kids area or fun slides) we decided to take a trip to the new aquatic center in Coffeeville, Kansas.  Phoebe had a great time playing on the splash pad.  

Audra had a great time at the pool as well.  I tried to get her to go down the slide with me but she would have nothing to do with it. Perhaps it was because they would not let her take her green water ring with her which she insisted she needed with her at all times =)

My sister in law Angie and her daughter Isabella were able to go with us well as my step sister Holly and her son Josh.  The girls had such a great time playing with their cousins.

My Cousin Josh

While we were in Oklahoma visiting my parents we were able to spend some time with my step-sister Holly and her son Josh.  Audra loved having a playmate and Josh enjoyed playing with her as well. Perhaps he could have done without the hugging though.

First Mate Audra

While in Grove, Oklahoma at a reunion for Ben's Dad's cousins we took a pontoon boat ride around Grand Lake with the Yoders.  Duane, Ben's dad, served as the captain and Audra was his first mate.  It was her duty to honk the horn and she took this task very seriously...as you can see from her official outfit =)  

Audra had a great time swimming in the lake with her grandma Jill.  I am just glad that I did not have to get in...seriously the lake is cold and disgusting.  

Phoebe had a great time as well.  She tolerated the life jacket much longer than any of us expected.  She especially enjoyed driving the boat with her grandpa.  

The Farm Condo

To help all of our "non-rural" friends understand what we mean when we talk about the farm condo Ben and I took some pictures when we were in Newton visiting the Yoder Grandparents.  Ben's grandparents live in a condo built into the side of an implement shed which is located on his uncle and aunt's farm.  The condo is surprisingly nice with tile floors, a decent sized kitchen, a large bedroom downstairs, and an upstairs loft with a bedroom/office.  

Down on the Walton Farm

While in Kansas we had the opportunity to go to Ben's grandparent's farm in Walton.  In anticipation that the family may have to sell the property now that Ben's grandfather has passed away the family did a lot of work getting the property ready.  While Ben was taking down a tree and cleaning out the barn I decided to take some pictures of the girls around the farm.  

Family Pictures..Finally

I have wanted family pictures for some time but I am cheap and I didn't want to pay for a professional photographer. I know I could have gone to JC Penny but I just don't like way that those studio pictures turn out.  Luckily my sister Rebecca is a talented photographer, trouble is she lives in Kansas.  However, when we went to visit her in June she took us to a local park and was able to get some really good shots of the four of us, five if you count Greta (which of course Ben does).  Here are a few of my favorite!

Since we have had children Ben and I have had our picture taken alone together a total of one time.  Thus, Becca wanted to take a few shots of just the two of us.  This is one that I thought turned out well.  I will leave it up to you to decide exactly what Ben is whispering in my ear.