I never asked for a little brother!

OH NO! A little brother?! Maybe I can scare him away with my "monster face"!

Didn't work? Fine, I'm outta here! Dad, can I borrow the Nordy's card?

He's still here? Maybe my new fairy wand and cape (thanks Grammy) will make him disappear. Abra-Cadabra!

Look, I turned baby brother into a pretty annual arrangement.

The only thing that can cheer Audrey up more than an ice cream cone is her BFF Sydney. I found myself saying what every kid's 3rd grade hall monitor said "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt". Unbelievably this ended up being a 5 minute giggle session with no tears. Audrey certainly needed it!

Here is Lisa portraying the pain that no man will ever have to endure.

And here is Dad stealing the first kiss. What a jerk.

Audrey's initial reaction was quite positive.

Her second was "He's still here, I'm so over him!".

While my eyes are nailed on Sam, I think Audrey's are focused a little higher.

She will no doubt be a great big sister.

Okay, before anyone dials up child protective services . . . Sam had a pretty good case of jaundice. They sent us home and said if it should happen to get sunny to strip him down and put him in front of a window in the direct sunlight. If nothing else it's proof that the sun does shine at least once every other March in Seattle.

The first meal out simply had to be burgers, or as Audrey puts it "let's go to the hanga-bur store!".

Anyone that's seen Audrey at the dinner table knows that a simple burger has no chance with her. That's a solid patty up there!

All in all, week one with little brother went well. Eyes are still blue and Daddy still drys her hair after each bath. Maybe her world isn't collapsing after all.

It's a boy!

Friday night, 5:38pm, 7lbs 11oz, 19.5in, SAMUEL DAVID SEKORA!

Thank you, thank you Lisa. She was wonderful (as usual) and is recovering well. Audrey now has competition on this little blog. I have a feeling cyber-sharing will be easier than the 3-dimensional kind. We'll keep you posted!

Audrey's Wardrobe

You will notice a recurring theme to this month's blog . . . Audrey's wardrobe. We are now washing nearly daily as she is fairly adamant that only her "cinderella dress" (aka santa photo dress), "soccer jersey", or "ballerina dress" are worth wearing. Sometimes she puts them all together.

Here she is mid-jump in her ballerina dress and "glass slippers". They look more fuzzy than glass to me, but I know better than to argue with a 2 year old.

Close up of the "sparkly's" adorning the ballerina dress.

Woodland Park Zoo has an indoor facility with climbing rocks and a whole lot more for those rainy Seattle days. It really is a wonderful way to let the kids burn some energy when the park isn't an option.

Needless to say, Audrey's pretty excited for the new Flamingo exhibit opening May-08.

Notice the ballerina dress under the soccer jersey?

The second the rain lifted we headed out to see some 3 dimensional "aminals". Unfortunately the first one Audrey saw was Mickey Mouse. Of course she set out a dead run ignoring my informational talk about how this wasn't her Mickey and that hers was safe at home. The poor girl up ahead had no idea what was about to hit her.

I got her settled in and headed over to her favorite . . the giraffe feeding cages. One problem living so close to the zoo is that she now thinks these types of animals are common place. No real excitement here.

Yes Audrey, this is the look you should use when there are actually animals in view.

Relaxing before bedtime with a little p-corn and milk.

The kid loves the tub. She has learned that she doesn't have to get out until her fingers look like raisins. It's approximately 27 minutes for those who are curious.

Here comes baby brother!

Audrey still isn't too excited about baby brother. Sharing isn't going to be easy.

100% girl.


So excited for the next five minutes of her life.

After one bite of that cream cheese frosting she knew milk had to be in the equation.

Okay, back at it.

Anytime there is a cake, it must be someone's birthday. No, well let's just pretend it's mine.

Maybe not. Not sure how she managed to slingshot it across the table, but well done Audrey.

Relaxing with mommy.

Relaxing with Mickey.

My least favorite pic of Audrey of all time. I can't believe she takes up the entire love seat.

Another day, another cup-cake. Another day, same cinderella dress.

Lisa and I managed our first two-nighter away from Audrey (yes, we're those people). Auntie Sooz got married up at semiahmoo and Lisa was in the wedding. It was a beautiful day and she was a beautiful bride. Here she is sneaking up on her man Nick for the first time in her dress.

And here is Nick's reaction. Smart guy!

It was a beautiful wedding and this was the sunset that greated all as we left the ceremony.

Here's Audrey's idea of accessorizing the cinderella dress. Oh my lanta. The funny thing is Lisa was reluctant to spend $30 on a santa dress that Audrey would wear one time and probably hate. You could say we got our $30+ and shouldn't complain, but seriously, it's every day!

Fall, Snow, and Santa

2 years old and very task oriented. Oh the joy of seeing Audrey actually contribute something to the family other than cute smiles and sloppy kisses. She picked up quicker than Lisa could prune!

However, she proved not so helpful in helping Dad rake and pick up the leaves.

Following Thanksgiving it was off to Alan Acres in Stanwood for the annual christmas tree hunt. I thought it was a good tree until upon closer inspection Audrey found a bare spot on the back side. Whew, that was close.

While the snow caught us by surprise, I think I still could have taken a few minutes to put proper clothes on my 2 year old. "Jeez Dad, can you find me some gloves!" I think she came out of the snowman construction unscathed (as long as she didn't stare to long at my freakishly bright shoes).

In line to see Santa and Mom and Dad are definitely having a good time. I think at this point Audrey is remembering the trauma of last year's photo session. She has that vague "something about this is familiar" pose.

What a difference a year makes! A 2 year old can actually be bribed with promises of candy canes and ice cream. Proof below that the same bribery does not work with a 1 year old.

Who needs a baby brother when you have a posse to roll with like this! I used to complain about all the stuffed animals and Lisa would remind me that one day Audrey will have tea parties, etc. As usual, Mommy knew best.

Audrey has entered the much anticipated stage of demanding to pick-out her own clothes. Safe bet that any 4 days out of the week you'll see her in the soccer jersey (vaguely seen underneath), the "cindawella" dress (aka santa photo dress), and the ever fashionable rainbow sweats. Grandparents, please ignore the fact that Audrey is jumping on the bed in this photo . . . If Billy can sleep through it, it must be harmless.

It just wouldn't be a posting if we didn't have a photo of BFF Sydney included.