A few cute Christmas pics...

We took these at Neannie and Pop's over Thanksgiving.  I love them!  

Abby Kate's Costa Rica Pics

Listening to the monkeys talk to her!

That black blob in the tree is a monkey!









Just to tone the mass quantities on my blog of pics, thought I would share the fun ones of Abby Kate on the trip.  She LOVED swimming.  She would hop back and forth from the pool to the hot tub all day long.  The pool was super chilly so it was great to have the hot tub to warm up!  And the day we went to the beach, she LOVED it!  I was shocked because she can be super sensitive to texture and I wasn't sure how she would react to all the wet sand.  But she loved it! I think she would have played for hours on end.  I am SO glad....we can gang up against Daddy in the future and lobby for beach vacations!  

Birthday Girl!

I cannot believe our baby is 3!  This has been, by far, the most noticeably different birthday yet.  It is amazing how children grow and develop.  For the most part, the first few years bring about subtle differences.  Of course, you see the obvious growth: crawling, babbling, walking, but little of their true personality.  I have found as Abby Kate's vocabulary and ability to communicate has grown, the more I feel I KNOW her.  

This year has revealed this little girl, with no traces of baby.  She loves to chat, sing, and laugh.  She loves to be chased and tickled.  She loves being scared (her favorite is when I hide and as she "finds" me, I jump out and say "ROAR!" and she screams at the top of her lungs and says, "AGAIN!").  She is passionate and loves exclaiming about everything.  

For a while, I had begun to think she was going to be shy.  She did fine around those she knew but clung to us when she was around other children in public.  Just recently, she has stepped out of that and even walked up to a child in a store the other day and patted her chest and said, "HI!" I about fell over.  She loves attention and spends most of her day saying, "MOM! Watch!" She loves to dance and still loves her bed.  She gets in it many times a day and the transition from crib to big bed was much simpler than I thought it would be.  She just loves being there.  She loves wearing jammies and puts up a fight when I try to dress her.  She knows the alphabet by sight and can count to 20.  She loves to sing and "read stories."  She has recently gotten into coloring and writing.  She still has a short attention span.  She hops from one thing to the next super fast, which we are working on.  She still is a finicky eater.  She hates the texture of things.  She will not eat fruit (except apples) and only likes sweet potatoes as a veggie.  We are working on this too.  She loves turkey and chicken and cottage cheese and yogurt and any kind of pasta, especially pesto.    She still loves bread!  She drinks a ton of milk and was introduced to chocolate milk this year, which is a treat.  She is still sleeping wonderfully (which will possibly end soon due to us taking her "abby" (pacifer)...I know, WAY late).  But I am waiting for the Farmer's Almanac weaning day, which is the 17th of this month.  She is potty trained but still working in diapers at nights and for her nap.  

She has been SOOO excited about her birthday this year.  We started by celebrating at Neannie and Pop's with the fam.  She LOVED it.  Aunt Krista got her a cake and topped it with Sleeping Beauty figurines and after each nap and waking up each morning, she asked, "Can I have cake?!"  So much for the early distaste for sweets!  She just loved eating the icing.  

We then had a little party for her here at home.  She loved everyone being here and had super fun playing with her friend's Everett and Addi...and of course, Kourtney!  She got tons of fun presents and has loved playing with each thing!  We realized this year after inviting family and a few local friends, hosting this at our house was not going to work in the future.  It was a smidge crowded but my cup overflowed with having so many of our family and sweet friends in one place!

Abby Kate, we are so deeply thankful for you.  We delight in you.  Every day is a precious gift as we hear you begin to softly chatter into the monitor.  Daddy and I often race to see who can get to your room first.  We love hearing your cheerful, "Good morning!" and to see you hop out of bed or better yet, to want us to snuggle.  You truly are the most precious earthly blessing we have known.  We are humbled that God would entrust you to us and pray daily that He would parent you through us.  We want more than anything else in the world to point you to Him and to see you come into a personal relationship with Jesus.  You are truly so special.  Your personality, your health, your gifts, your beauty....all things we cannot wait to watch God work together for His good.  We praise God for you each and every day and will try to NEVER take you for granted.  You are more than enough.  God lavished His sweet blessings upon our life the day you were born.  He expanded our hearts and taught us more about true love than we had known.  Our knowledge and depth of insight into His love grew exponentially when we met you and understood what He gave up when He sent His Son, Jesus, to this earth to die in our place. We adore you precious girl, and are deeply thankful God has given us a front row seat to watch your life.