Happy Night from the Bumblebee!

Trampoline Fun!

Playing at the park....

Here are a few more pictures of our time this past weekend. The weather was perfect and we had SUCH fun!

Pumpkin Patch with Neannie, Kourtney and Krista

Millions of New Pics....

I have TONS of new pictures and videos to post so stay tuned this week for lots of new ones. I may even do a slideshow or two to get them all in!

Channing Birthday!

We got to go to Channing's birthday on Sunday and got to eat tons of tons of pink M&Ms. Gosh she loves those things!

The Chatter

Here is a little glimpse of our little Chatter. She ADORES the dogs and talks to them constantly. Bless their hearts. They are so patient!

Another cute OSU Pic....

We also taught Abby Kate to say "GO POKES!" which was cute and fun to watch her say. This horse is an OSU rocking horse that Nannie and Grumpies had when I was little. It was fun to watch her play on it.
She already misses Nannie and Dumpies so much. She talks about them all the time and yesterday saw a lady with white hair and leaned over to touch her hair and say "NANNIE!" Of course, she was embarrassed when she turned around but I think mostly disappointed :) Isn't family the best?

Bath Time!

We still love bath time here...we now call it swimming. You can see the video of her "swimming" in the above post!

Pop and "Dad Dad"

We also got to spend time with Pop and "Dad Dad." They came up for the Gun Show and had a ball. It was the first time Grandad had got to come visit so we had a WONDERFUL time and I cannot begin to tell you how fun it was to watch this men fuss over Abby Kate. Saturday morning they were all three in her room when she woke up and just giving her all the attention in the world as she performed. What a fun thing for a little girl! Undivided attention from the men in her life. Ahhhhh....she is surely blessed!

Go Pokes!

We had such a wonderful time in Stillwater this weekend for OSU Homecoming! We got to see our entire family which is always such a treat and spend time with Nannie and "Dumpies." We laughed a lot and just loved being together. I could not get the pic of AK and I to rotate so sorry about that! Hehe!

One More...

I couldn't get this one to post last night but I love it. They were just chatting away. LOVE IT!

The Pumpkin Patch with Channing

We are trying to soak up the minutes with Channing and Lacie before they move next week. Her birthday is this Saturday and her party is Sunday which may be the last time we get together. As you can see, they have a BALL together. We grabbed lunch after this chilling day outside at McAlisters and ate yummy soup in a bread bowl and the girls laughed hard at each other the whole time. Lacie and I just chatted and I realized how precious it is of our Lord to give us friends to walk beside. I am already praying that Abby Kate will have friends that encourage her and inspire her and point her to the Lord. Though Channing may be miles away soon, we will still pray for her and know God will do big things in her life. It is just FUN to watch your children make friends. And to love them. And to squeal their name when they see them. Channing kept saying "ABS! ABS! Come here!" today and we just laughed and laughed. Fun two year old friends. They can teach us a lesson or two in how to enjoy each other....

Her Father's Joy....

Did you all know the name Abigail means "her father's joy?" This is such a sweet picture of the joy her father brings to her life!

Dancing Queens

Please do not listen to my dorky voice on this....I think it is so funny or I wouldn't be posting it. I HATE hearing my voice on camera. I feel like a moron. Anyway...enjoy!

Abby Kate and Channing

This is Abby Kate and her sweet friend Channing. They have SO much fun together. They are 2 months apart and are little peas in a pod! We just found out last week they are moving and we have been SO sad! I love their little pink cheeks in this second picture. They played SO hard outside. Lacie and I were afraid they were going to stroke out before we got some water in them.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall...

Here is the video I promised. I SO think it is the best. She is just chatting away to herself. Hehe!

Fun Pictures

These are just some of the pictures Celia took. Aren't they ADORABLE? hehe! I love the second one. Doesn't it look like she is just praising our Jesus?

Oh Sweet Goodness I Figured It Out!

So I finally became determined to figure out how to do this....I knew it could be done, I just was unsure how. Then I realized it was easy enough that I just download a new browser. YEAH! Thanks for bearing with me. I have another great video I will post tomorrow that had me in stitches. I also have some incredible pictures that our precious family friend, Celia, took of Abby Kate when Mom and Dad had her during B's surgery (for those of you that don't know, he had his tonsils taken out, a deviated septum corrected and his soft palate burned and is doing GREAT now by the way). They are incredible but I cannot get them to load. I will try again tomorrow!

Sliding

I cannot begin to tell you how much this child loves to slide. She is so fearless. I finally decided to catch this on video to remind me what she was doing at this age and to remind her of the adventures she was unafraid to take....I pray her life will always be that way.
*This may take a little while to load depending on the speed of your internet!

The Last Days of Summer...

We have been playing, literally, HOURS outside. We spent from 2:30 yesterday until 5 just playing in the backyard. We are soaking up the last few warm days...though I am looking so forward to the crisp cool fall! YEAH!

Off to "School"

Abby Kate found this backpack the other day in the garage....something I had forgotten after cleaning out my car one day. She LOVES it and did not want to take it off. She was browsing my magazines and my heart constricted at the sight I know I will be seeing all too soon. (Minus the diaper and plus a few years of course...)

The New Pew...

I saw an entry way that I ADORED in the Cottage Living magazine this past month. It was adorable and functional and so I decided to redo my own....pending I found the perfect church pew. The search began....it was so much tougher than I thought since we needed a 6 foot one and most are either super short or about 8 feet. So when I came across this 1940s beauty, I bargained and won! She sold it to me and I promtly loaded it in Bobby's truck (it was when he was still super bad after the surgery) and took it home. I had my sweet neighbor help me unload it and it sat in my dining room until B was well enough to help me move it. The kiddos LOVED playing on it. AK goes and sits and chats to Lord knows who and watches out the window. It could be one of my favorite material items in my house now!

So sorry

Hey all...
I have still not figured out how to post pics with a Mac. If any of you have insight, please post. I know it is not Mac compatible right now but there is a way....I just don't know how.

Questioning all Mommas!

I want to start by saying I am so sorry I have not posted in a while. Especially sorry Abby Kate. This is your scrapbook of sorts so it isn't because of neglect, I promise. So I was SO pumped to have my new Mac but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to post pictures. I have a guy coming over this week to try to save all my info from my old PC who happens to work for Apple so hopefully he can help me out.
But in the meantime, I would love to ask a question. I know this seems silly but I seriously want to know this. Our bedtime routine from day one has been bath, bottle (now book), and then bed. She has never gone to sleep without a bath. I know, most of you are thinking I have too much time on my hands, that I don't have more than one child, etc...but it has proven to be great wind down time as well as serving as a great bedtime promter. So up to this point, when she is finished with her bath, I take her out, carry her to the vanity where there is a towel to lay her on as well as dry her off with. I then lotion her up and get her jammies on. So here is my question, she is outgrowing the vanity. Fast. What do your bedtime rountines look like? Do you do lotion? Where do you get your kiddos ready for bed? I would LOVE to know your answers.
Also, while you are posting, how did you transition your child to a toddler bed?
Thanks buddies!

Being Momma....

We finally got my old play furniture out of storage at my parents and into Abby Kate's room. It is beautiful and has been so fun to watch her play Momma to her dolls. She pushes the carriage all the time and tries to feed the babies in the high chair. Interesting how mothering is so instinctive. I did not show her how to play this way.

We went back to Little Gym today and I was amazed. She said "GYM, GYM!" the whole way. During the introduction as all the children were sitting in their parents laps, our little girl danced and jumped and squealed. It was beautifully uninhibited. She was blissfully aware but uncaring that all eyes were upon her. Though she likes attention, watching her it was clear her movement and squeals of delight was simply her joy that could not be contained. I watched partially neurotic wondering if the other Moms were judging her as a show-off and the other part laughing with tears at my child's beauty.

Oh how I wish we could bottle up childhood and save it for our children. We all as parents, I presume, desire our children to grow up and still be comfortable in their skin. To be able to express joy simply and easily. To have few relational hang-ups and see the world with wise eyes yet still be grateful. Watching her today made me realize why God says “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."

I know the world steals our innocence. Our trust. Our joy. But oh how as a parent I will now pray, preserve her childhood. It truly is breathtaking, compelling and an incredible teacher.

Updates and such....

Well, at 20.5 months and counting...much has...and is happening. Oh gosh so much. B and I were talking this morning at how it seems she has truly AGED over night. I had read that this time (18-24 mo) has some of the most rapid growth that you can see in a child. How true, oh how true. First of all, her vocabulary has exploded. Things I had no idea she had picked up is coming out of her mouth faster that I can compute. Today, for instance, we were reading a book that had little pictures for every 10 words. She knew 90% of them. Like house, trees, hand, finger, hot (for fire), ring, apples, water, fish, bow (this was the fish's tale but it did look like a bow) and so on. One of the things that literally had me fall over was a few weeks ago, we were playing as she was taking a bath and she has these wonderfully colored stackable cups. She kept saying something over and over and when I finally tuned in, I realized she was saying blue. I proceeded to point to each cup and she knew blue, green, yellow and pink. I was floored. This has become something we do all the time, "what color is this?" Sometimes she gets it, sometimes she doesn't. But it is fun!

The sweetest thing that she has learned is to say "i love you" and climbed in my lap a few weeks ago and gave me a kiss and said, "luv you Momma." All unpromted! I would have given her a car at that moment. Oh yes I would have...had she asked.

Another huge milestone, we had started acclimating her to the potty. Last night she actually went! We shouted and cheered and danced! She loves sitting on her potty now and are working on getting her to go each time instead of in the floor. She likes to hold it until I take her diaper off and then run away from me and go. I have been grabbing her midstream and sitting her on the potty. Last night was the first time she has actually gone in it. Oh this should be fun!

Finally, I would LOVE your opinions/advice on this. I know they range so much but I know there are several readers of this blog that have children around the same age as Abby Kate so your two cents could really help us. I have been kicking around the idea of moving her to a toddler bed. The one piece of advice that I have gotten consistently was do it before they can open the door. Most everyone has said do it by two. Yesterday, our parents as teachers consultant said she really thought I should do it soon. We will eventually put her in a queen but her bed converts to a toddler bed. I am thinking about letting her sleep in the toddler bed for 2 months and then putting the queen mattress on the floor? And then in a month put it on the low frame and putting the rails on? I just not sure how to do this. I would LOVE your input.

Lots of milestones, lots of fun!

Jumping! With Friends....

My college friends are reuniting this weekend and my friends Lindsey and Kizzy came over yesterday for a planning session. Our kiddos wanted to jump, in 101 degree heat no less. But I am not an entirely bad parent, I let them wear their shoes. No hospital visits for scaldings for these kids. No way.

Peek-a-boo Poppy!

Abby Kate LOVES to be scared. This was cracking us up!

Abby Kate and Max

Sorry again for the long absence. We have been traveling and are now finally home after 10 days!

I loved this pic. Max comes every M,W,F with Laura to pick up his brother and AK adores him (she says his name over and over after he leaves). Laura and I, as usual, had gotten into a chat and we look over and these two sitting raptly watching Veggie Tales. Thought it was cute!

Splash Park with Channing

We went to play at a splash park last week with our friends Channing and her mom Lacie (my friend). We had so much fun! AK was not crazy about the water (weird b/c other times I cannot get her out) but I think it was b/c she could not keep it out of her face. We went to feed the ducks though and made it all better! *AK is the one in the tutu bathing suit!

Abby Kate and Sutton

I don't know if I have shared this with most of you but I am watching Sutton, one of my best friends son (Laura and Greg....they are who B works with) on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. It has been SO great. He is a precious child (12 months) and it has been SO good for AK to learn she is NOT the center of the universe. Great prep for a sibling!

Dancing Video

I had promised to post AK and Kourtney's dancing video from a while back. It WILL NOT post on this blog for some reason. So if you want to watch it, you can go to my personal blog at www.breatheholyonthisrust.blogspot.com

Poppy's Future Partner

Poppy gave Abby Kate one of his old stethoscopes and it has become her favorite new toy. This morning, I walked in from feeding the dogs and she was examining Tigger.

She is as accident prone as I am. She fell Monday face first into the tile and possibly broke her nose. They cannot do anything about it until she is older. I broke mine 3 times but she is starting a little sooner than I did. She is a kamikaze child. Just acts, doesn't think too much. Adventurer like her Daddy, klutzy like me. Not a good combination.