Okay, this might just be my favorite picture ever. It is my 2 favorite people, participating in my favorite earthly thing ever. I will tell you, watching your child's personality, likes and dislikes emerge is both fascinating and at times frightening. But I will tell you, this new "favorite" of my daughter has brought more delight to my heart than I can tell you. As silly as it sounds, the written word has taken me to places I will never go in the flesh. It has challenged and stretched my imagination
to the limits. It has encouraged and inspired me more than anything else on the earth. It bonds me more quickly to other readers than anything amount of time or experiences. As I faced a cancer scare earlier in the year, it caused me to reflect and journal a lot....leading me to write Bobby a list of things a father might not think to do and things I wanted Abby Kate to learn if I was not around to teach her. One of the most important things to me is fostering a love for reading in our children. My Mom was great at that. I would go to her countless times in a day, asking for ideas to break through my boredom and she always challenged me to go curl up with a book. Thanks Momma.
So thus to the point....Abby Kate has loved reading,
particularly a book called Miss Spider's Tea Party since she was terribly young....I think because the cadence of the language is so beautiful, the pictures colorful...but lately, she is loving ALL her books. She will sit for long periods of time (a feat in and of itself) thumbing through the pages. But my
most favorite, the part that causes my spirit to scream with thankfulness is this... she comes toddling over, places a book in my hand, signs "more" and then climbs into my lap, leans back against my chest where I can smell her sweet hair and feel each sweet breath and I know... there is nothing the written word has never done more for me than this....
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to the limits. It has encouraged and inspired me more than anything else on the earth. It bonds me more quickly to other readers than anything amount of time or experiences. As I faced a cancer scare earlier in the year, it caused me to reflect and journal a lot....leading me to write Bobby a list of things a father might not think to do and things I wanted Abby Kate to learn if I was not around to teach her. One of the most important things to me is fostering a love for reading in our children. My Mom was great at that. I would go to her countless times in a day, asking for ideas to break through my boredom and she always challenged me to go curl up with a book. Thanks Momma. 
Her Daddy says it is because she was born on Pearl Harbor Day, but who knows...she enthusiastically signs "more" (still her sign when she wants something, I really need to get on teaching her new signs) when she is in our bathroom, wanting some time with my jewelry. She ALWAYS goes for these pearls, will promptly put them around her neck, and then spend the rest of the afternoon walking around with them on until I take them off, much to her protest, for bedtime...
I know I have been doing a lot of video lately. I really just realized. I guess I figure 4D is better than 2D right? AK has had a hard past few days with naps. She woke up too early today too and is still wiped out. This was her watching Veggie Tales. Check out Snuggle Bunny as the pillow...that is no way to treat a friend :). Oh be still my heart!
This is the face you see any time you look at Abby Kate when she is happy. It is hard to keep a straight face. Any stranger (and there is no such word to her) gets this face in exchange of a tiny bit of attention (yes, even a glance). There is usually so much laughter from the stranger that it is hard to be worried about this child that would be perfect kidnap material (she knows no fear). You can reference this face from this past August here http://sweetabbykate.blogspot.com/2006/08/nose_22.html to see this face has been a favorite before....it has just resurfaced. We also had a ball on our vacation. You can see pics here http://breatheholyonthisrust.blogspot.com/2007/01/oh-sweet-vacation.html
Our season passes to the aquarium are SUCH a great investment! We haven't been in a while and we are in the middle of trying to go to one nap...nightmare. Anyway, she LOVED the fish. She seriously stood there and looked and talked to the fish for about 20 minutes. 
This is her new chair Sweetie and Poppy got her for Christmas. She loves sitting in it! She watched cartoons in it for a full 20 minutes without moving this morning! It helps that it is covered in the same fabric as her sheets. She has loved textures since birth. She also has an Elmo chair that Neannie and Pop got her that giggles. She loves it too but it tips over when she tries to sit in it so she mostly just tries and tries to make it giggle and shake!
This just cracked me up. She so has my hair. Stick straight and has a million cowlicks (not sure how you spell that but I think that way is best even if it is not right). I misplaced her brush over the holidays so went days without one and this effect was even after wetting it! She's a rock star!
Just wanted to post once more before Christmas. We truly pray you will all do as Abby Kate is doing in the first picture and look up this Christmas. Our Pastor a couple of weeks ago talked about how Christmas is one of two times a year that the supernatural world collided. We pray you will all put JESUS in the center of your holidays and that your time with your families will be blessed. We love you all!
