madison - 7 months

Our happy, baby girl is 7 months old! Madison loves to be tickled and she giggles so much when we play peek-a-boo with her. She is starting to reach for Mommy and Daddy. As soon as we have grabbed on to her tummy to pick her up, she quickly grabs on to our hands and smiles big, ready to be held. Madison is eating three meals a day. Sweet potatoes are her favorite. She is very strong when she sits up now, rarely falling over to the side. Madison mostly enjoys sitting on a blanket, surrounded by toys, and watching all that is going on around her. Madison has also been enjoying the bath more and more recently. She loves to kick her feet, splash with her hands, and suck on foam letters that float around her. We are enjoying the holidays with Madison, anticipating what her first Christmas will be like!

sitting up all by herself

grabbing her toes

bath time!

carrots...mmmmm

out for a walk

candy cane lane

Last Friday evening, we walked Candy Cane Lane with some of our great friends. We bundled the little ones up, grabbed our hot chocolate, and made our way up and down the streets, pushing strollers along the way. The lights were awesome!! Most of the time Audrey was out of the stroller, shaking her booty with the dancing Santa and walking hand-in-hand with her friends. Madison viewed the lights from the stroller, snuggled up in blankets. We enjoyed our walk, making memories, and we will be ready to do it again next year!

ready to check out some lights

audrey and madison with their buddies

such sweet "big girl" friends

audrey shaking her booty with santa

pausing for a family pic

o christmas tree

Just like last year, we took a trip out to Reedley to pick out our Christmas tree. As soon as we got there, we made our way to what Audrey enjoyed most, riding the "choo-choo-train". Audrey had the biggest smile on her face during the entire ride, Madison was not as excited. After riding on the train, we searched through many trees to find the perfect one.

daddy and his girls, ready to find a christmas tree

mommy and audrey on the "choo-choo-train"

bundled up for the ride

we found our tree!

madison's first christmas tree...she loves it! : )

only minutes after leaving the tree farm...

...both girls were out!


That afternoon, when Audrey and Madison woke up from their naps, we decorated our tree. Audrey did a great job being gentle with the ornaments and placing them on the tree. Most of the ornaments ended up at her eye level and bunched together. Madison was most impressed with the lights. She tried so hard to get all of them in her mouth. With help from Daddy, Audrey put the golden star on the very top and we were done decorating our Christmas tree!

audrey ready to decorate

madison tasting the lights

all done decorating

santa claus and christmas lights

The day before Thanksgiving, we went to the mall to have Audrey and Madison's picture taken with Santa. As soon as Audrey saw him, she waved and yelled, "Santa! Hi, Santa!" As we got closer, she became a little hesitant. We briefly talked about being brave and soon she was ready to sit with Santa. I don't think Madison was given enough time to get upset. She was focused on the man behind the camera who was frantically waving a stuffed animal in an attempt to get her to smile. We got the picture of the girls taken, and then Kaleb and Abby joined us for a second photo. When we were done taking pictures, Audrey had a little chat with Santa about being good and listening to Mommy and Daddy. Audrey told Santa what she wanted for Christmas (a "big girl" bike), and before we left she was given a candy cane. We will see you next year, Santa Claus!

our girls

cousins

helping daddy with the lights

up they go...

daddy's big helper

daddy's little helper...sort of

thankful

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, celebrating all that we are thankful for. On Thanksgiving day, we had a lazy morning at home in our pajamas, watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Audrey had so much fun dancing to the music and watching the enormous floats go by, one by one. That afternoon, we went to the Loves for some football with the cousins and yummy food. The next day we went to the Kourys for a second Thanksgiving, more family time and more delicious food. Two busy days, a little crazy, but so thankful we have wonderful family to celebrate with.

our little turkey

the love cousins

in the huddle with daddy, aka uncle aaron

hut, hut, hike!

two sweet blessings

big girl, sitting up all by herself

so fun tackling cousins

Wii be dancing!!

audrey - 3 years old

Three years ago, we were blessed with our first baby girl, Audrey Elizabeth Love. We fell in love with her immediately! We were overwhelmed with emotions as we held Audrey in our arms, knowing that the Lord had entrusted us with her. Our prayer then and our prayer now, is that we do the best we can as parents to raise Audrey in the way that the Lord would want us to raise His child. We know that she is a gift, our small miracle that has grown into a beautiful little girl. A little girl who loves deeply, laughs often, and can definitely be a little sassy at times. Audrey is very independent and doesn't want any help unless she asks for it. She is very concerned when others are hurting and shows her concern by giving hugs and words of encouragement. Audrey's hero is her Daddy. There is no one else that she loves more, trusts more, or feels safe with.

A few of Audrey's favorite things are snuggling in Mommy and Daddy's bed when it's way too early, doing anything and everything to make her little sister laugh, singing songs loudly while holding onto a plastic microphone, dancing around wildly in pretty princess dress-up clothes, putting on rain boots and stomping through puddles, doing puzzles over and over again, reading several books while sitting on your lap, swinging as high as the swing will go, taking care of her baby dolls, praying out loud before each and every meal, and baking yummy treats with Mommy just so she can lick the spoon. Audrey could not possibly sleep without her cozy pink blanky, everything in her little world has to be purple, and the one thing she could eat every morning for breakfast is pancakes with syrup.

It's so hard to believe that our baby girl is now three years old. We can't even imagine what life was like before Audrey. We love her so much!!

Daddy, Mommy, and Sissy gave Audrey her very own kitchen for her birthday.

Nani and Papa left this very large, singing balloon on our front porch for Audrey. And in the white box...

...cupcakes of course!!!

On the evening of Audrey's birthday, we celebrated with friends in San Luis Obispo. We ate at Mo's restaurant for dinner, sang "Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl, and then enjoyed the cupcakes that were left on our doorstep. Happy 3rd Birthday, Audrey Love!!

camping in san luis

The week before Thanksgiving, we took our trailer to San Luis Obispo to camp with two other families for five days. We had so much fun, even in the rain!! The second day that we were camping was Audrey's birthday, so we celebrated with her friends that night at Mo's in San Luis Obispo. After we finished our dinner, we sang Happy Birthday to Audrey, and then we enjoyed yummy cupcakes from Sugar Shack that Nani had sent with us on our trip. While on our vacation, we ventured to a beach called Montana de Oro. What a beautiful beach! The kids loved playing with the teeny, tiny rocks and running from the waves. On the last night, we skipped having a bonfire and had a movie night instead. The kids snuggled in the Esajians trailer, ate popcorn, and watched Tinkerbell. We had such a wonderful time as a family, but also with our friends. We can't wait to do it again next year!

On our way!! This was Audrey's first time wearing headphones, and it took her the entire trip to get used to them. She kept readjusting them...notice her wonderful hairdo.

sisters in the trailer

happy camper

How cute is this picture? The kids wore their rain boots every day, all day. Together they went on adventures, rode bikes, played on the playground, and jumped in rain puddles.

buddies

cozy fun in the trailer

Audrey wanted to hold the flashlight every time we used it. Most of the time she would shine the light up into the trees to look for birds. The rest of the time she was shining it in our faces.

smores!

montana de oro beach

sitting up like a big girl

handful of teeny, tiny rocks...really wanting to eat them

mommy and audrey

daddy and madison

three besties playing on the beach

One of the days we were vacationing, we went to the Children's Museum in San Luis Obispo. Audrey spent most of her time dressing up and performing on stage. So fun!