A Weekend in Autumn

We spent a wonderful fall weekend out at JP's dad & step-mom's place. We've been out there a lot as JP helps them rebuild their deck. This weekend we took advantage of Saturday's weather and went to Fall Harvest Orchard in Montrose, MN. It was more of a petting farm trip than an orchard. There were goats, pigs, chickens, cows...and the girls had tons of fun playing with them.

Feeding the Goats

The corn pool

JP the goat whisperer

"Punkin patch!"

On Sunday Margie threw herself a Dora the Explorer themed birthday party for the girls. They loved wearing the party hats and received Dora balloons and goody bags.

We also put the girls in their costumes for a photo shoot. Ava is a mouse, but you can't really tell because she wouldn't put her hood up! Rae is a ladybug and Ruby is our sweet pea.

VeggieTales Live

On Saturday night, Margie & I packed up Rae, Ruby, and Ava and made the long treck from Clearwater to Lakeville for VeggieTales Live! Israel loves VeggieTales, especially Junior Asparagus. She had a blast singing and dancing to all of the silly songs. Ava, on the other hand, was a little scared of the loud music, flashing lights, and giant vegetables, so her mom came to pick her up early.
Here are some pictures of Rae busting her moves!

Funny Story of the Week

On Sunday afternoon, I decided to give the girls a bath. Normally I put Rae in the tub and wash Ruby in the sink, but I decided to do them both in the tub together this time. Things were going great...until Ruby pooped in the tub (sorry if this is too gross for the average reader). The poop started spreading all through the water as I frantically tried to get both of their slippery, naked bodies rinsed with clean water and out of the tub.
I got Rae out first, and she started running around the house yelling "I'm nakey! I'm nakey!" I hurried to get Ruby out and into a clean diaper so I could get a diaper on Rae as well. THEN, as if on cue, Caleb (the dog) puked on the living room floor. Israel, in all her curiosity, went to check it out and ended up stepping in it, slipping, and falling down. With Ruby all cleaned up, I then proceeded to wipe away Rae's tears, clean the puke off of her, and get her dried off and into some clothes.
During the entire fiasco, my phone was ringing over and over and over again. I had 15 missed calls from JP and numerous voicemails wondering why on earth I wasn't answering the phone. One voicemail said, "It's me, JP. Just calling to let you know that I'm dying. I wanted to say goodbye, but you're not answering your phone. So the last time you'll ever hear my voice is on a voicemail." (how dramatic)
Anyhow, it was a fun day. :) Here's to life with two!

Handyman Hunk

JP was on WCCO 4 News at 6:00 pm tonight! 

The story was about winterizing foreclosed homes. JP has been doing some work for my former boss at WCCO, and when he heard that JP does winterizations, he asked if JP would be willing to be a part of the story. 

Click here to see the story! 

Even More Pictures

Published

This is kind of old news, but lots of people have been asking about my article that got published in Focus on the Family magazine this month. I wrote it about a year ago when Rae was about 9 or 10 month old. I hope it is encouraging to other "competitive mothers" out there. :)
Without further ado...

My Baby is Better Than Your Baby
by Audra Charlebois

Ruby - One Week

Little Ruby Ann is one week old today! She is doing wonderfully -- eating, sleeping, and pooping by the book. :) Rae has been adjusting very well. She gets a little bored and whiney during feedings, but that is getting better, too.
Here are some pictures!

Resemblance?

Here are some comparison pictures of Rae & Ruby as newborns in the same outfit. Rae has the bow in her hair. Ruby has the pacifier. See any resemblance?

Ruby Ann!!!!

Hi everyone, and sorry for the delay on the news and pictures!
For those of you who haven't heard, our darling daughter, Ruby Ann, was born Monday morning around 6:35 am. She was 7 lbs, 11 oz (one ounce smaller than Rae) and 20 3/4 inches long. I started having contractions around midnight and by the time we got to the hospital, I was already quite far along! I only had to push for 15 minutes (a HUGE difference from the 2.5 hours of pushing I did with Rae!) and there she was, beautiful little Ruby.
She has been healthy and wonderful from the get-go and is nursing like a true champion. We got home tonight (Tuesday) around 7:15 pm. Rae LOVES her little sister and always asks to "hold you." She gives her kisses and helps me with diaper changes (bringing the diapers, throwing the dirty ones away...). We are believing God for a smooth transition for all of us.
Anyhow, I'll stop typing and give you what you really want: pictures! Thanks to all of you for your prayers, wishes and love!

Overdue

As of today, I am officially "overdue."
I went to the doctor yesterday. He said that while I am making some progress, the baby really hasn't dropped very far. He said it could be up to another week before she makes her grand appearance.
I was fairly bummed out by that news, but I know she will come when she's ready to come. As of right now, I have another appointment scheduled for next Tuesday. Hopefully she will have come on her own by then, but if not, the doctor said he may want to look into some options for inducing labor. I don't want to be induced, so please be praying that she'll come soon!
On the bright side, I lost 3 pounds last week. :) It must have been that hour-and-a-half I spent sitting with my feet propped up every day (yeah, right).

One Week Left

Today I had my 39-week check-up. Much to my horror, I learned that I gained SEVEN POUNDS last week ALONE! That's a pound a day! And that's NOT NORMAL!
The doc said 3-4 pounds could probably be attributed to water retention (my ankles and legs are a bit swollen). He recommended I sit down with my feet up for AN HOUR AND A HALF (straight time, not broken up) every day. Moms -- do any of you have an extra hour and a half to sit down with your feet up each day? Because I certainly don't!
All that said, we are very excited to be only one week away from Ruby's due date (Wed, the 24th) and are ready for her when she decides to come! Here is a picture of my 39-week belly. It has taken on a very strange bullet shape as the baby moves into "ready position."

A Visit

My dear friend Nicole and her son Beckett were in town for the convention this week. We were so blessed to be able to spend the day with them today (Friday) before they headed back to Virginia.
It's crazy to see the two of them grow up and interact with each other so much. Here are some pictures from our fun day at the park.

Belated State Fair Blog

Rae and I made it out the state fair three times this year; once with our friend Sarah, once with JP's family, and once just with JP.
Our first visit was on opening day. It was beautiful outside and not crowded yet as we got there in the morning. Rae loved seeing all the animals, especially the "babies" in the Miracle of Birth center. We originally planned to just go with Sarah, but two international students ended up coming with us, and I was so glad they did! They were a blast -- everything was completely new, exciting and very "touristy" to them. They wanted pictures of everything. They had never heard of cheese curds or funnel cakes. It was a blast! But there was one sad spot in the day -- my first fair food stop is always the meat patties from the West Indies Soul stand in the food building, but when I went there this year, the stand was gone!!!!! I was heartbroken.

Rae meets the miniature horses

Sarah and the cow
Bird's eye view
Thanks for a fun day, Sarah!

We returned to the fair on Saturday with the Charlebois side of JP's family. We're now a two double-stroller family...with Ava & Rae in one and the twins in another. The highlight of this trip was the giant slide. JP took Rae down it twice. She absolutely loved it and kept wanting to go "again!" Here's a low-quality video for your enjoyment (Margie & Ava are on the left, JP & Rae on the right; the yelling comes from Margie):

Rae also loved the carousel. This is not the best picture we got, but it's the only one I have on my computer right now.

Another beautiful thing happened this day. On the drive to the fair I decided to go online on my iPhone and check the food finder to see if my meat patties were really gone. Much to my delight, I found out that they had only moved!!! They are now located in the new Bazaar, and if you have never tried a meat pattie from West Indies Soul, I HIGHLY recommend you make the Bazaar a stop on your visit next year (don't forget the sauce!)!

The chubby prego discovers her food is still at the fair!
Rae & Daddy at the Bazaar
The whole crew (the babies are in their bjorns)

The final trip back was just the three of us (JP, Rae and myself) and consisted of all the major food stops (meat patties, french fries, sweet martha's, corn on the cob, etc.), Rae's first mini donut, and three more rides on the giant slide. JP also took Rae "up high" on the Sky Ride. She thought that was pretty awesome.