A different use for the walker

Audrey is starting to master walking with her walker. It gets frustrating because our house is so tiny that we constantly have to redirect her. She even started getting bored with walking and decided to use it as a ladder.

A Festivus Miracle!!

Audrey took her first steps (a whole 1.5 steps) during Christmas at the Bales house. One of Audrey's many presents was a walker which she practiced with and then she took some steps from her walker to the coffee table. She loved being with the Shannon family and I'm not sure there was a moment that she wasn't held by someone. Thanks to everyone for all the presents for her. She loves them.

For those who don't know, Festivus is an alternate Christmas celebrated by the Costanza family on Seinfeld. It is my favorite episode.

Going to Grandma's

Katherine the babysitter

Katherine got to come over and take care of Audrey this afternoon. They had a lot of fun at the park.

The weather outside is frightening.

It's really cold here in Houston. I feel really bad for Audrey because our hardwood floors that she crawls around on all day are really cold. Her hands are like ice when we pick her up. Here is a pic of her bundled up to go outside.

Christmas Tradition

We get Audrey an ornament for each different place that she visits during the year, and so it is now a tradition for her to hang all of the ornaments that she gets on the tree. This year she has a New Orleans, Stone Mountain GA, and North Carolina ornament. Hopefully sometime soon she'll get to add more. Beth had to help her hang them.

Hospital Trip

Audrey got really sick and had to be admitted to the hospital because she was dehydrated. One of the few benefits to living in Houston is the great medical care which Audrey received at Texas Children's Hospital. (I say all of this before I've seen the bill for all of this fine care) Shannon and Beth had to take her on Monday afternoon while I was in the middle of taking my national board exams. So after I got finished with testing on Monday, I went to the hospital and stayed for a while. I feel like a really bad father, because I had more testing the next day so I went home to spend the night. Shannon, being the super mother and wife, stayed beside Audrey's side the whole time! Audrey looked adorable in her hospital gown and when waving bye-bye to people with her IV hand which was in a splint. Well she stayed overnight and got really hydrated as you can tell by this picture. She wasn't too happy about the whole ordeal though.

First Christmas Party!

Audrey enjoyed her first Christmas party at our church. She made an ornamenet(my favorite on the tree), made some cookie mix, rode a pony, and most importantly heard the story of the birth of Jesus. Here's a pic from the party.

Thanksgiving

As you can see by the size of Audrey's belly, she really liked her first Thanksgiving meal.

Friends are Friends Forever

I believe the great Michael W. Smith(or maybe it was Zach Morris with the Zach Attack, I can't really remember)once said "Friends are Friends forever as long as the Lord is the Lord of them." Well anyway, it's been 10 months now and Audrey and Ellie's friendship is still going great. Here's some pictures of the cuties in their nice dresses.

Eye Exam

Audrey came to the University Eye Institute for her first eye exam yesterday. She was seen by a superb 4th year student who really cared about her and her eyes. This doctor even changed Audrey during the exam and fed her while she dilated! Now that's some good service. Her eyes looked great which the doctor was extremely happy about.

Doing Dishes

We didn't give Audrey a bath for two days. So, she took things into her own hands and decided to climb in the dishwasher for a possible cleaning.

The Rich and Famous

After only nine months, Audrey took her first limo ride. It only took Shannon and I twenty-five years to accomplish this feat. This was compliments of David Richardson as we celebrated him finally asking Ashley Otwell to marry him. After David popped the question, we took the Hummer limo up to Dallas where we ate at Ashley's favorite spot, Pappadeaux's. Here's a picture of the sweet ride. Supposedly, it gets a whopping 4mpg.

Halloween

For her first Halloween, Audrey was the most beautiful flower that I have ever seen. Aunt Sissy was nice enough to buy her this costume. The weather was really bad here in Houston, so we didn't get to go to our church carnival but I still think she enjoyed hanging out in her costume.

Aunt Sarah

We finally got to see Aunt Sarah after a long hiatus. I think Aunt Sarah is pretty fond of Audrey as she started crying the first time she saw her(it's okay Sarah, I did the same thing). One of the many great things about having Sarah around is that you'll never have to change a diaper when she is near. I'm not sure why she likes it so much, but I'm sure not complaining. Here's a great pic of them together.

Baylor Homecoming

Audrey attended the first of many future Baylor Homecomings this weekend. We were able to meet up with Jason, Kendra and Gavin for dinner before heading to the bonfire. We also finally got to see Brigid in her element as a Baylor Bear. The parade was at 8 a.m. so we weren't able to go, but we did head to the game. Audrey got to see her second football game in two weeks. Last week, we watched the Texans play. Baylor looks a lot better than when Shannon and I went to school. Heading into the 4th quarter we were only down 6-0 to Tech. In the past, that score has been 63-0 going to the last quarter.
Sadly, the pastor at University Baptist Church in Waco(where we went a couple of times during college) passed away this weekend. Please pray for his family, friends and congregation.

Audrey Makes College Commitment!!!

Today, Audrey made her first decision about college. Aunt Jennifer tried the early brainwashing which Aggies are famous for by getting a A&M t-shirt for Lil' A. The only thing that she could think to do with it was use it as a diaper. So I don't think A&M is anywhere on her list anymore.

Go ASTROS!

Audrey loves her Astros and has been watching all of the games with me. I'm trying to teach her important values like loving the game of baseball and hating the New York Yankees.

Pulling Up

Audrey is getting strong enough to pull herself up now. She has started to pull herself up on her crib, but gets too scared to let herself down. So she cries pretty hard and it's been difficult to get her to take a nap. She's a pretty sad girl right here.

First Hurricane

Well our first evacuation was quite an adventure. We left Wednesday night at midnight and started on Hwy 59 to Nacogdoches. In one hour, we made it to the airport and abandoned the hwy 59 plan. So we tried our best to get to Hwy 69 and head up. Eventually we made the trip in 6 hours which normally takes 2.5 hours. We faired a lot better than Pop Bales who took 12 hours by staying on hwy 59 the whole way. Thankfully, Audrey was perfect the whole ride. As the hurricane headed towards Beaumont we worried about our family, but got great news when Grandma and Grandpa Morrison showed up in Nacogdoches. The rest of my family headed to Austin.

The hurricane didn't do too much damage to Nacogdoches, except knock over a lot of trees and everyone's power. However in Beaumont, we don't even know how much damage took place because no one is allowed back in as of yet.

This is a picture of road back to the farm in Warren. The road is completely blocked with trees, but the house seems to be okay.

Teefies!

Audrey finally got her first Teefies(this is what Shannon calls teeth). She has two lower teeth coming in. They might be incisors(hopefully one of our four dentist friends will correct me if i'm wrong). We are trying to get her in the habit of brushing her teeth. We don't want her ending up like her uncle Pat brushing only once a week! Just kidding.

Weekend in Beaumont

Jason, Kendra and Gavin came into Beaumont so we went down and had a great time with them. Here's a pic of Kendra, Gavin, Shannon and Audrey swimming at grandma's.

Best friends!

The Proudest Dad in the World

I can't even describe all of the emotions that come with being a dad. I think that the James Taylor song "Your Smiling Face" describes best the way that I feel about both of my girls. "Isn't it amazing a man like me can feel this way, tell me how much longer it grows stronger everyday."
One of the more powerful things that I've realized about being a parent is how amazing it was of God to sacrifice his own Son, Jesus. You hear it every Sunday, but I see it from a totally different angle now. I just can't fathom giving up your own child for anyone else much less a sinner such as myself. Often I think of Abraham willing to sacrifice Isaac, and it scares me so much. But I also admire that faith and hope someday soon that I would have that faith that strong.
Anyway here's some more pictures of our little sweety taken right here in the Heights just about a half a block from our house.

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to wear it or eat it

Even though you can't tell it from the picture, Audrey is starting to get the hang of eating solids.

Growing up fast

Here's some new pictures that my dad took of Audrey this past weekend.

Isabella is here!

Isabella Cristina Oliver was born on August 2, 2005 to Sara and Bret Oliver. Audrey and Isabella quickly beecame good friends. Here's a picture of the two proud dads.

Swimsuit Model

Check out Audrey in her sailor swimsuit. She better get all of these bikinis out of her system now, because there won't be any of that once she gets older per her dad.

Britney Spears is my role model

Aunt Kelly tried to make Audrey look like a big girl. Check out the halter top, the very trendy lower back tattoo, butt cleavage, low rise pants and very stylish sunglasses.

Trip to Asheville, North Carolina

Audrey took her second vacation as we traveled to Asheville, North Carolina for Shannon's family reunion. We had a great time getting to see all of our relatives and Audrey was quite a hit with everyone. Some of Audrey's stops included Mobile, Montgomery AL, Auburn University, Atlanta, Asheville, Lake Lure NC, Univ of Tennessee, and Nashville. One of her favorite spots was the Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery where she learned about the civil rights movement. She also went to Chimney Rock Park near Lake Lure, NC where the film "Last of the Mohicans" was filmed at. While at Lake Lure, she even stayed in a hotel where FDR once stayed as well as Patrick Swayze as he filmed "Dirty Dancing" at Lake Lure.
While on vacation, Audrey celebrated her 6 month birthday. We can't believe how time has flown by and much fun it has been.

Godspeed Granny Williford

Last week Audrey's great-great-grandmom died. Peggy Williford was 95 years old! Thankfully, she had met Audrey on a couple of occasions. Granny kept saying, "She's just the purtiest little thing I've ever seen!" This is a picture of the 5 generations: Peggy Williford, Dorothy Edgar (her daughter), Beth Morrison (her daughter), Josh, and Audrey.

Tongue tricks

Here's a couple of cute pics from Audrey's great-grandparents The Morrisons. She is very expressive with that tongue!

New Orleans-First Vacation

Shannon and I got off work for two days and decided to take Audrey on her first vacation. On the streetcar down St. Charles St, Audrey and I were sitting close to the aisle when a girl in a mini-skirt got on and started to sit next to us. Before they sat down Audrey started grabbing the bottom the girl's skirt. The girl turned around really fast and I thought she was about to slap me. Then I felt like an idiot saying that the baby did it. Well people on the streetcar got a good laugh out of it.
We started a new tradition for Audrey and will buy an ornament for all of her places that she visits. Shannon and I got to add a new flag to our tradition of buying flag magnets to all the places that he have visited together. We had a great time and ate some unbelieveable food. We recommend K-Paul's Cajun Kitchen and Redfish Grille.
I'm proud to say that neither of my girls earned any beads on Bourbon street.

Josh's first Father's Day

Josh had a great first Father's Day--very relaxing and low-key. We watched two movies and the NBA finals. Audrey is really able to hold things well so I gave her the presents to give her dad and he liked it very much. Here's a picture of what we made her granddads.

Future Baylor Bear

Another trip to Waco! On her first trip she was only 5 weeks old so we decided to take her to visit Sarah and Bret before they move to Lawrence and see the Baylor Bears win the SuperRegionals! Audrey also got to see her second cousin (?) Gavin and eat dinner with him in his gorgeous new house.

I'm a bad mom.

Audrey fell off the bed for the first time today! We had only seen her roll twice (from back to tummy) so we were very surprised that she was able to roll more than 3 feet over pillows and off the bed! Poor Jennifer (Josh's sister) had to console her but we took her to the doctor and everything was fine. Since that morning she has rolled over a hundred times or more.