Deal Daughter Dynamic Duo

Our daughters already have their own unique personalities and exhibit new and special characteristics every day that are both similar and different than those of her sister.

Ultimately, they are the perfect complement to each other and this family. I consider them a very dynamic duo:

Audrey loves to hide......and Brenna loves to seek!

Audrey loves to cook...
...and Brenna loves to eat! She is currently wearing clothes that Audrey wore at 18 months+ and they are not terribly big on her (just terribly cute :)

Audrey loves to do art...

...and Brenna likes to smile and be art!

Right now, all Brenna wants to do is stand up holding hands and say "Yayayayayaywawawawawawawa". Luckily, Audrey is a translator/narrator and tells us what Brenna is saying (in her high-pitched, baby-talk, "Brenna voice" when she speaks the dialogue): " 'Love you, Audrey', Benna says. 'Thank you', Benna says. 'Sorry, Audrey', Benna says. "
Audrey just wants to love on Brenna all day. You would think the older one would get tired of the younger one, but it tends to be the other way around here. Brenna gets tired of Audrey-hugs and kisses and pats and squeezes.But however grumpy Brenna gets, her face still lights up every time Audrey enters the room and every time I ask her where Audrey is.

Audrey is very creative doing things like crawling up the shadow ladder cast by the window blinds every afternoon.Brenna is obviously still very literal and likes concrete things...especially things she can chunk off the counter like the paper towel holder, toys, cups, a glass bowl...Brenna loves going outside and is obsessed with animals. She screams and squeals when she spots anything on four legs (including her friend Danica crawling around :) She is already an outdoorsy daughter.

But Audrey does love a good playground and trampoline and feeding horses and cows!

Since I began composing this post, the duo has been to the doctor and teamed up with ear infections and lots of snot. You cannot believe all of the prescriptions we came home with. Why not all be sick together, I guess! But even sick, they are both still very enjoyable and sweet daughters!

What a great team!

Play-by-Play of our Day

I enjoyed typing out a play-by-play of a wild morning a few months ago...so today was a good day to do it again :)


5:51 am--I awoke to the sound of Audrey's diaper swishing into our room. Two seconds later Josh awoke to the sound of two sneezes in his face.


5:53 am--Brenna decides she should get up, too. (They have sister ESP and always get up within ten minutes of each other...obviously no matter how early.)


6:15 am--Audrey requests "oatmilk" for breakfast...but just eats a little after asking for a rendition of The Three Bears (because of porridge/oatmeal, of course)


7:00 am--Josh leaves for his stomach sonogram in Brownwood as we prepare to leave the opposite direction for Brenna's 6 month appointment. (No, we are not having another baby...at least I hope he's not. That would make things crazier in so many ways.)


7:30 am--Audrey pulls her hair down while watching cartoons while I am getting ready. I gripe and gripe at her for doing this, and she tells me, "Thank you, Mama. Thank you for taking me to church. Someday we can go back and back and back and back." (The Lord can convict me so fast :)


8:10 am--"I want a panpake." "You can have one in the truck."
8:15 am--"I want a panpake." "In the truck."
8:20 am--"I want a panpake." "We are about to leave."
8:25 am--"I want a panpake." "I'm making it. We're going."
8:30 am--"Can I have my panpake?"


9:05 am--After 5 repeat "Going on a Bearhunt" songs, we arrive. We make our first stop at the pharmacy for infant tylenol since it was the only thing I forgot (and one of the most important since Brenna was getting shots.)


9:17 am--Two minutes late. Audrey gets scared when she sees the shot nurse, so we have another pep talk in the waiting room floor.

9:45 am--Appointment goes well: Brenna giggles as doctor checks her over. Audrey hides behind my leg. Brenna takes her shots like a champ. Audrey says, with a handful of suckers and stickers, "Thank you. Thank you for taking me to doctor. We go to Old McDonalds now?"

10:15 am--We make second stop at pharmacy for ointment. I am at checkout when I look back to see Audrey, still clutching three stickers and two suckers, army-crawling over a very dirty rug and then licking a package of cotton balls on a low shelf.

10:20 am--"I need to tee-tee!"

10:30 am--Walking to the truck, a man reminds me, "You have your hands full."

10:40 am--Arrive at "Old McDonalds" for Audrey's "big sister at the doctor" reward where she enjoys playing and Brenna watching the kids. People enjoy watching us, with looks of pity/humor because, remember, I "have my hands full."

11:45 am--We finally leave with a fussy Brenna, sweaty/ketchuped Audrey, tired arms, and stretched/slobbered shirt. I manage to hold my 20 pound girl who is reaching for my straw, retreive my keys for the automatic start (one of the greatest things in my life), hold Audrey's hand getting out at least three doors, with more "you have your hands full". We get to the truck, and Audrey says, "You make me tired... Thank you. Thank you for taking me to Old McDonald's."

11:47 am--Halfway through "Going on a Bearhunt", they are both fast asleep...and I am drinking on a Dr. Pepper very hard.

12:30 pm--We get home to find my wonderful husband doing some laundry. I tell him what sweet girls we have, who, yes, "make my hands full" but keep the play-by-plays very interesting and joyous.

Talent Show

Audrey is a multi-talented girl.

The other day she was picking her nose. I asked her what was in there. She said, A pea. And sure enough, I looked to find a full size black-eyed pea shoved completely up her nostril.

She is a great grocery shopper. Her favorite things to do are hand the cashier our Thank-You Card at checkout and also press her bare belly against the cold glass in the frozen foods.

The girl is potty-training so well now. She wears panties all day and goes to the potty all by herself...but not before she pulls her underwear down and then flings them up over her head with her foot. Every time. All day. Anywhere she is. She lets them fly.

I cropped this picture to keep it PG. Yes, those are her panties flying at the camera. And if you weren't impressed already by these first few talents, check this out. I think she has a future as a tattoo artist. Let's just say I can't leave her alone with a sheet full of stickers...or the sheet is not full anymore.This next talent is actually really neat. She loves to fold clothes. She asks to fold clothes. And she is very good at it, too. She even sorts.
She is a friend to all, big and small. Here she is with her friend Faith who moved away in January. She has started walking since then and Audrey thought it was so cool to finally walk around with her holding her hand :)

And as I've said before, you can't find a better big sister. She is never negative to or tired of Brenna. (It is actually the other way around at times. Brenna tends to be grumpy to Audrey when she doesn't want to hold hands or be a pillow.)She is very good at many other things that we are so proud of--from singing to reading to learning to laughing to hiding :) I haven't even scratched the surface.

But most of all, she is great at being the Audrey that we so adore.