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This weekend one of my very best friend's Lindsey came to visit! It was so fun to have her here and we spent the weekend relaxing, catching up on each others lives, dining out and shopping. Matt worked Friday & Saturday so it was just us girls, Lindsey, Audrey and Me. I took her to my favorite thrift store and did some serious shopping, we found some great deals. Then we had lunch at a yummy sandwich shop before heading over to this great boutique called Frances in downtown Phoenix. That night when Matt got off work we decided to go to Trader Vic's to watch Matt's brother Alex play with his band. Audrey was babysat by her grandparents which was a little rough at first. She realized I was gone and cried for a good hour or so but then finally wore herself out and fell asleep. It was really nice to be able to go out with Matt & Lindsey, we had a great time!

Lindsey & Me at Trader Vic's

A highlight of her visit for me was Sunday when we brought her to our Church. Lindsey and I both grew up in Catholic Churches and now that Matt and I go to a non-denominational Christian Church I was very excited to see how Lindsey liked it. When we walked into the courtyard outside she was very impressed by how large it is and she said it didn't seem like Church to her. She really enjoyed the music and at one point leaned over and said "I think my mom & dad would like this Church." It really meant a lot to me that she was open to coming along with us and to try something new to her. I looked over and saw her texting her boyfriend back home that they should try to find a Church like this when she gets home. That made me so happy! I love when I can share my faith with someone and get them interested in becoming closer with Jesus or better yet re-connecting with Him. It was pretty awesome.

After Church we met up with Alex and went out for brunch at this fantastic restaurant called Avalon. Everything they serve is organic and fresh and is delivered there daily. It was delicious!!
Later that night we went out again for pizza at Grimaldi's. It was a really wonderful way to end Lindsey's stay with us.

Lindsey & Audrey

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My dearest Audrey,

From the moment I found you in my tummy I loved you. I kept you close, and vowed you would be a part of me forever. As I felt you rolling and kicking, I rubbed your little feet, and knees and bottom, and whispered sweet words of love and encouragement to you.

When you arrived in this world, I forgot everything else. You were my universe. You have changed me only for the better. You inspire me to be a better person every day, in every action I take, no matter how big or small. You have shown me the path to compassion, unconditional love and infinite patience. You are a daily reminder that purity, innocence, goodness, truth and freedom truly exist in all of us. These past three months have been the best of my life. I look forward to the years and years ahead with our little family of three.

love, mommy xx

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Now that I am officially a stay at home mom (wooohooo!!) I have been thinking of new fun & interesting things I can do to keep me busy (aside from caring for & nursing Audrey). Now mind you, I've already learned that any type of project or activity has to either include Audrey or last less than 45min to an hour. This is where the challenge comes in! One of my favorite hobbies is cooking. This, might be the most challenging activity to do with an infant in tow. Until she is able to occupy herself I should probably forbear from cooking for awhile. I say this because so far every cooking project I have started has been completed by my gracious in-laws. I know that they too enjoy cooking and are always more than willing to help, but along with the delicious outcome, I also enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. With that said there are a few yummy treats I have been able to make (with help) in these last few weeks.
In trying to coact with my intent to eat healthy I am determined to find nutritious recipes for tasty treats that satisfy my sweet-tooth! However, believe it or not, these things do not mesh (in this case anyway). I did though try and this is what happened.....

60 calorie cupcakes. Unfortunately they look better than they taste.

(you don't want to know) calorie glazed pumpkin doughnuts. delicious!

I am very interested in health and nutrition and I find it rather fascinating how chefs create beneficial versions of common recipes such as cupcakes. This particular recipe for instance with-held butter and sugar! In place of these items were honey (natural sweetener) and Greek yogurt. For the frosting I pureed fresh blackberries and combined it with fat free cream cheese. I liked how the berries turned the cream cheese purple! The honey, being the only form of sweetener, just wasn't enough for me and made this more of a breakfast treat rather than a dessert. The glazed pumpkin doughnuts on the other hand were amazing! I have always had the desire to make homemade doughnuts and my craving has been satisfied ten fold. Yes, these were deep fried. The complete opposite extreme from the cupcakes, I felt I had to amend my former misdoing ;) Needless to say the doughnuts were the winners in the taste factor but when it comes down to counting calories, the cupcakes are the way to go.
In 2009 I became very interested in the Raw Food Diet and took some time exploring it's basis. I was instantly enthralled with a whole new appreciation for food. During this time I purchased an Excalibur Food Dehydrator and started a journey of preparing new and exciting living foods. This included raw burgers, crackers, bread, dried fruit, veggie chips, buckwheat crisps, etc. all vegan and "cooked" at a temperature of 115 degrees or less. Although I didn't stay with this diet for very long (it was quite expensive & time consuming) I did hold on to a few recipes that I still enjoy making today. So yesterday I decided to pull out the dehydrator and make some yummy Kale Chips! They are so delicious and SO healthy, probably my favorite way to eat Kale.

Okay, enough about food. It's making me hungry.

Something else new and fun that I just started engaging in is running. It is something that both includes Audrey and is a healthy habit. I've never really been one to enjoy running but I have done it for sports in high school and for exercise occasionally. Now I find myself excited to go for runs and excited to see if I've made an improvement. I'm pretty sure Matt is also glad that I am learning to love running because I am definitely getting great use out of the expensive jogging stroller that we purchased. Speaking of Matt, he has been a great running partner and is so motivating. Without saying, he knows when I need that extra push.
This past weekend was the P.F. Chang's Rock n' Roll Marathon here in Phoenix and Matt, Audrey and I went to cheer on our friend Heidi. We know Heidi through our Bible Study small group which only meets once a week so it was nice to see her and her husband Ben outside of our study group.

I am planning on running next years marathon so being there was such an inspiration! I really look forward to training and putting in the hard work to accomplish this goal. Running long distance requires great physique but also mental strength. I hope to learn how to improve both of these things during my training. In the meantime I have registered for my very first race, a 5K (3.1 mi) which is next Saturday January 29th. I ran a test 5K the other day and kept a 12:20 minute pace which is pretty slow but right now my concern is just finishing and not so much time. I am excited for the race and we'll just have to see how I do!

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We have made it through the first week of the year!
I have set a few goals for myself this year and I am excited to accomplish them. I am tempted to share my goals but have been advised not to (even though I'll probably end up writing about them eventually anyway). One of Matt and my favorite writers Donald Miller blogged about a lecture he went to where the speaker talked about goals and how powerful they are. That we shouldn't share our goals, if possible, for it puts you at a disadvantage. He said the brain enjoys the sharing in the same way it enjoys the achievement itself therefore you have lost your motivation. It makes sense and is something interesting to think about.

Since I won't be sharing my "actual goals" I will at least say that so far I have stuck with them and have set smaller goals within my big goals that I have already started to achieve.

Now, on to Audrey.

She is at the stage where she is closely observing her surroundings. It is so fun to just watch her look around wide-eyed, taking it all in. You can just see the wheels in her head turning trying to figure out what everything is. Matt and I often talk about how pure life is when you're a baby. How simple your needs are and how nothing alters or influences you, you just are who you are! How beautiful is that? I hope this innocent pureness is something Audrey holds on to for years to come.

Earlier this week we took Audrey for her first hike. It was a lot of fun and a pretty intense workout for me considering I didn't exercise very much during my pregnancy. We hiked North Mountain because it has a paved trail so we were able to push Audrey in her buggy. She slept the way up but awoke when we reached the top, which is only about 1.5 miles.

It looks level here but it was quite steep most of the way.

Half way up a nice man offered to take our photo.
We usually don't get to take photos of all three of us.

A view from the top!

I love this photo! Matt showing Audrey where she was born.

I love her cute little face.

Audrey telling Daddy how much she likes hiking.

On the way home Audrey fell asleep, per usual. When we were ready to take her out of her car seat once we got home I wanted to film her because she does this cute little stretch every time. It's one of my favorite things she does. She raises her eyebrows and stretches her neck and usually curls her arms on each side of her head. It's the sweetest little thing.

More cutie photos of Audrey...

Tugging on her little hat.

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This time of year usually has me frazzled, planning visits with family, preparing gifts, decorating, etc. But not this year. This year was incredibly relaxing and I really enjoyed it! Maybe it was because I have Audrey to take up my time or that this was my first Christmas as a wife making new traditions with my family, whatever it was I liked it.

The day before Christmas eve my younger sister Brigitte spent the night and that was really special. We don't get to see each other very often because she lives almost two hours South of us so it was really nice to have some sister bonding time.

Audrey had her 2 month doctor's appointment that day and was given three shots. I had been dreading this day all week. The nurse came in and weighed her and she now weighs 10.5 lbs, still a little peanut! They have me take all her clothes off except for her diaper and then we wait for the doctor to come in. The last few times we have been there we haven't waited very long but that day must have been busy because we waited for 20 min which felt like an eternity considering Audrey was having a complete meltdown. I tried everything to calm her but nothing worked. I thought maybe she was hungry so I tried nursing, I tried to rock her, I tried swaddling her, nothing worked. I started to get really frustrated, we hadn't even seen the doctor yet let alone get her shots over with. Matt was nice and calmed me down and finally the doctor came in to talk to us. Audrey was still crying so Matt rocked her while I talked with the doctor. She said everything looks great with Audrey and she is growing beautifully. She asked a lot of questions like "is she smiling, cooing, recognizing mom & dad?" and we answered yes to all of them. She also asked how she is sleeping and if she has rolled over yet. I told her that Audrey has been sleeping 6-7 hour nights which she said is considered sleeping through the night. I told her that she had rolled over 4 times and she told us that only 20% of babies roll over this early, that it usually doesn't happen until 4 months. She held Audrey and listened to her heart and as she handed her back to Matt she commented on how well she holds her head up. It's pretty cool to hear the doctor tell us how coordinated she is, maybe she'll be an early crawler! We'll be baby-proofing our house before we know it! The nurse then came in and administered her shots. Matt helped hold her still and I sat on the side. I just couldn't watch. I looked over at one point to see Audrey's whole face beet red! Luckily she wore herself out so much from crying she fell asleep shortly after and took a nice long nap. For the rest of the day, anytime she woke up she was a grump but I don't blame her. Shots are no fun!

waiting at the doctor's office

I'm pretty sure this is what my face looks like right before shots

we went out to lunch after to Pei Wei for Thai food

Brigitte's first try of Pad Thai

We saw this at the grocery store! We thought it was pretty clever.

We spent the rest of the night baking holiday treats and watching Christmas movies.

Brigitte decorating gingerbread cookies.

Chocolate Peppermint Bark

The next day, Christmas eve, we went to my dad's house for dinner. It was a lot of fun visiting with them and exchanging gifts. Audrey had the most gifts to open out of everyone and she slept through the whole thing!

Matt, Audrey and I left dad's house and headed to Church for the last Christmas service.

we each shared our flame until the whole Church was lit up.

It was a beautiful way to celebrate Jesus' birthday.

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Today Audrey is 2 months old! I can't believe how fast time has passed. She has grown so much since birth and can do a lot of cool things now. Her talents include holding her head up (90% of the time), sitting in her Bumbo chair (which requires head stability that she is still working on), she rolled over (three times!!), and most importantly she sleeps at least 6 hours through the night (sometimes more)!!! So, her skills are not perfection but she is doing so great. We are really proud and excited for these small milestones.
My friend Jenny takes a photo of her daughter every month to show how much she's grown and I love this idea so I thought I would do it with Audrey. We missed the first month but we will start today with month two.

Audrey in her Bumbo chair

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas with Christine and Peter because they will spend the holiday in California with Matt's Grandpa Pappas. Christine cooked a delicious dinner of stuffed chicken breast, yams, salad, green beans and a double chocolate bread pudding for dessert! After dinner we sat around the tree and opened presents. I wish I took more photos but this is all I have from the day...

Audrey's morning bath

Playtime with Uncle Alex

Audrey hanging out with the boys

Daddy love

It was such a nice day. There are a lot of fun things ahead this weekend, I can't believe Christmas is already here!