Backpacks

Please don't look at me in this picture. Monday is my cleaning day and I HAD a shower but was junked out. Abby Kate wanted us to wear our backpacks...not sure for what but we walked around the house with them. Laura brought Sutton over and saw us and took a picture....Silly little girl, but great imagination!

Ducks in a Row.

I just thought this was funny.  Abby Kate loves these ducks.  I am not sure why.  She gets on a kick where they are the first thing she asks for after a nap and she will carry them everywhere.  I cracked up when I looked over at her yesterday morning and she had lined them up...and even funnier, had pointed them out so they could see outside.  Considerate huh?

Fun with Daddy

I declare, these 2 could come up with a game with a paper plate and a rooster. They laugh so much together. I love watching them. B is tireless with her. She has been a bit of a Daddy's girl lately...and it is no wonder. At 2, she got roses from him on Valentine's Day, gets to ride around on his back for hours, watches him jump to touch the smoke alarms 200 million times, just because she asks him to (and most of the time he is holding her as he jumps), running from her bedroom and our bedroom yelling for hours on end....none of which Mommy will do. The party pooper. Anyway, what a blessed little girl to have such a smitten Daddy!

New Eyes...

It always helps to have a new pair of eyes look at anything. This includes the wardrobe of your 2 year old. In these 2 years, I have longingly looked at Abby Kate's clothing selection with envy. Now that she is not growing as fast, I am a bit tired of her winter clothes. Her Daddy got her dressed today and the first thing he said was, "I want her to wear this pink coat today." Well I had forgotten she had this adorable pink coat and I rummaged around in a drawer and found the cute matching hat so I had to snap a few pics. It was FREEZING today but she didn't seem to mind. She protested more when I put her in the car. Must have been the toasty warm coat :)
*Sorry the last one is blurry. But the smile was cute :)

Hiding

I have absolutely no idea why, but this child adores to hide. I mean anywhere. Behind pillows, under beds, behind your back in a booth while you are trying to eat spaghetti, and yes, in her stuffed animal tub like today. It was too cute a photo opportunity to pass up. The last 2 was her "talking" to her bear. She is too much....

New Haircut!

We went to get Abby Kate's first haircut today, after much persuading with Daddy. She literally cut maybe an inch off but it was as traumatic as a shot to AK. Not sure why...we have this great little children's salon here with a car to sit in and movies playing and suckers to keep them occupied. She was in a child's heaven but she clung to me like I was going to drop her off for good. So no pics of the actual act but here she is afterward carrying her sucker and playing in the great weather!

Just Words...

I know a picture is worth a thousand words, so I am sorry that none is available for this post.  I just had a ton of words I had to share that just make me giggle about this child of mine.  

The first thing I thought I needed to remember through this bloggy journal is how much my child resembles my baby brother in that she loves watching TV and then pretending to do as the characters are doing.  If it is super spies, she is hiding and sneaking.  If the characters are eating raisins, she wants her raisins.  If they are dancing, she begins to boogie, trying her best to imitate.  It is hilarous to watch but even sweeter for me to reminse Hal as a little boy, racing to dress up like Superman/the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, Ninjas or whatever character caught his fancy.  And he did not merely want a costume to resemble them, but it had to be an exact replicia...down to Superman's curl.  I know I need to start storing up dress up clothes right now!  I loved having a younger sibling...I was thrilled when I found out I was having a girl first because I know some of my Momma traits were formed through "caring" for my little brother.  Though I now know the amount of care I gave was laughable in relation to a Mother's true job, but the feeling of protection I desired to give Hal is a fraction of what I now feel for Abby Kate.  Today is his birthday by the way and it goes without saying how thankful I am God made him and gave him to me!

 The other thing is my child's adoration (love is too simple of a word) of music.  I mean truly.  She is in her crib right now for naptime singing at the top of her lungs while keeping beat by kicking the wall.  She just cracks me up.  She reminds me of my friend Laura, who has one of the most beautiful, pure voices I have ever heard, but would bust out in song...and not quietly mind you...in the middle of Wal-Mart as we shopped for groceries.  Or better yet, in a crowded line when all the other customers awakwardly looked away.  But I tell you, though I was embarassed often by this display, I admired her freedom, her talent and most importantly, her joy of life.  I now see these traits in my own child.  Isn't it neat that God knits us all together so perfectly?  That the things I adore in my friend's are being manifested through this child who takes my breath away?  

So back to Abby Kate, she is so much like Laura in this way...she ADORES to sing.  She busts out in Wal-Mart, or church, or the mall or in the bathtub or...in bed, her most favorite of all.  And though you cannot discern many of the words she is saying, she is surprisingly on tune.  Her favorite song to sing is from Veggie Tale's Madame Blueberry which goes, 

I thank God for this day,
For the sun in the sky,
For my mom and my dad,
For my piece of apple pie!
For our home on the ground
For His love that's all around
That's why I say thanks everyday!

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart!
I'm glad for what I have,
That's an easy way to start!
For the love that He shares,
'Cuz He listens to my prayers,
That's why I say thanks everyday!

And to hear her sing it is the cutest thing you have ever heard.  But the most special is that she gets it.  When she is being whiny or demanding, we start to sing it and I remind her that a thankful heart is a happy heart.  Isn't music grand?!

And finally, yesterday after she woke up from her nap, it was rainy and freezing outside so I decided to let her watch a movie...a treat she doesn't get often in the afternoon.  I gave her some raisins and her milk and turned on the fireplace and cuddled up next to her.  And then she looked at me...with her precious eyes and just smiled....leaned over and kissed my arm....said "love you" and went right back to watching her movie.  My eyes welled up at the spontaneous demonstration of love...and that my baby was clearly no longer a baby...and well, my heart was thankful and HAPPY!

Caught!

Abby Kate is not to climb into her tox boxes. She was silent for a suspiciously long today and I found her like this....it just tickled me for some reason so I ran to get my camera instead of being a good Mom be consistent on my discipline...oh well! And yes, she is still in her jammies at noon! It is freezing here so we are taking a lazy day tucked in the house....

Just pure joy...

I just clicked a few pics today...well just because. I go to Bible study on Thursday mornings and started leading a study this semester which started today. Abby Kate cried the entire time I was gone which broke my heart. On our way to Bible study, I stopped to get gas and AK exclaimed, "thats a 3 Momma!" and lo and behold, we had pulled up to pump 3! I was pretty impressed. Her Daddy has been working on her numbers with her in the bath tub at night. She has these cute little things that have 1-8 on them and she can identify all the numbers now! She also brought me a sticker today and said, "this stickr (her Rs are pronounced "or") says YES Momma!" and sure enough it did. I have NO CLUE how she knew that though...Daddy came home for a few minutes to grab lunch today and I couldn't resist snapping a few of them together seeing as they both were wearing red, and the fact that they light up when they are together!

Yummy, Spaghetti!

She is my child alright. She may not look a thing like me, but give the girl pasta and bread and she is happy as a clam...just like her Momma! This was hysterical. She ate a whole plate full and for days after, even for snacks, she asked for more "sugetti"!

Good Day, Sunshine!

Was yesterday not PERFECT?! Oh my goodness it made me so ready for Spring! We got home on Sunday and Daddy was cleaning out the garage so we played outside for hours sweeping, which seems to be Abby Kate's favorite thing. She woke up from her nap yesterday and the first thing out of her mouth was "SWEEP please Momma!" So after Sutton woke up, we swept to their heart's content. And again on Sutton's clothing, Laura dresses him, I promise, but it was too dang hot yesterday for pants!

The Kitty

When a black cat came rambling up to us today, I truly thought Abby Kate was going to have a heart attack. My Mom is deathly allergic to them and Abby Kate and I literally spent 30 minutes trying to coax this cat to us. Abby Kate kept putting her hand out and making kissing sounds saying "here kitty, come here kitty..." over and over....Then Sweetie came to the rescue and brought a bowl of milk out and the cat rushed right over. She loved Mom of course, who starting itching the moment she touched it but continued petting it until Abby Kate got her fill. Ahh....the things we do for love!

Finally...a new post!

Well, I am back. I lost my camera (in the depths of my purse...hmmm) and then had all the other medical issues so the posting has been delayed. I had a D&C on Thursday and everything went very well. I have felt great except for the large doese of hormones I am taking which are making me a little crazy. Hehe! Abby Kate and I headed to my parents for a baby shower of one of my oldest and dearest friends who is having twin boys. I was a hostess and was thrilled to be able to go. It was so great to see friends that are so invested in your life that have been praying as they have....
Abby Kate has wanted to play outside every second this weekend. My parents have 3 acres of beautifully wild land to explore. At this time, I would give my right arm for such playland for her to explore every day. She has been HOURS in the leaves and as my Dad kept her yesterday, he taught her all about tree bark and treetops and moss....when I got home she could not tell me fast enough and kept trying to climb the trees. We helped Poppy clean up the branches that fell victim to the high winds last week and threw them into a brush pile and AK was carrying branches bigger than she was! I kept being fearful she was going to uncover hibernating snakes! We have scrubbed her down each time she has come in because she is practically cuddling with poision ivy and poision oak but she has not shown any sign of allergy to it....she gets that from her Momma and Daddy :)
She also has a Dora tricycle Sweetie and Poppy keep here for her and she was having a ball on it today! Their driveway is inclined and she would have Poppy push her to the top and then put her feet out and go. It was so fun to watch.

Fun

We had a great weekend. We have a ton going on...I will blog about it later on my personal blog but it was a great weekend nonetheless...
We took Abby Kate to see the Pirates Who Don't Do Anything (Veggie Tales) that came out this weekend at the movies....she lasted 15 minutes. It was a complete waste of $12. She is just still too young. I thought she could do it....considering she will sit stock still for hours in the car watching shows. I underestimated the games in the lobby. They grabbed her attention and she did not want to sit in a big dark room with those loud, bright games just outside the door :)
Pappy and Sweetie came up to take care of us. They were such a blessing. We went to eat at Pete's Place on Saturday night, as you have heard in previous posts, it is my all time favorite. We gorged ourselves on Italian food and even watched AK eat tons of spaghetti. It was a ball. Hope you all had great weekends.

Trey (or Greg) and Kiki

We got to spend SUCH a fun weekend with Trey, Christina and new Baby Jay!  They are the only friends I know that would drive 3.5 hours with a 4 week old!  It was so fun to watch them parent.  They are so precious to us.  Abby Kate LOVED having them.  All Christina's nieces and nephews call her Kiki so of course, so does Abby Kate.  She had a hard time remembering Trey's name and kept calling her Greg (Bobby's boss and our friend here).  So all weekend, Trey kept thinking of new names for Abby Kate, which was hysterical.  We ate SO WELL and just spent sweet time catching up!

R Christmas

These are some fun pics from Christmas with my side of the family. Uncle Hal and Aunt Ashley got Abby Kate this neat princess tent that she LOVED and wanted everyone to get in and play with her (she also got a neat tent from Neannie and Pop that she got to play in at their house!). She even coerced Dacey, Hal and Ashley's huge, shy black lab to get in with her. My Dad even took Mom, Bobby and I to Las Vegas after Christmas. We had SUCH a great time! The last picture is Reindeer made of pecans at the Bellagio! Amazing!

F Christmas

This is the first family picture we have taken with Abby Kate. It is my Mom's side of the family. As those who know me well know, I adore my extended family. We played so much growing up, you would have thought we all lived in the same town! My Nannie and Grumpies are so special to me! We had such a great time getting to see everyone. It is rare when you can get that many people in one place. Especially when everyone is scattered. Family is such a blessing!
*As a side note, I adore my Dad's side of the family too. This is the first time since my first married Christmas that I got to spend Christmas Eve with them. However, Hal and I were the only cousins present so we did not take a pic!

Q Christmas!

Here are some fun pictures from the Q side of the family! We had such a fun time. Abby Kate fell in love with Neannie's snow globe with Mickey inside. She pretty much played with it every few minutes (now how I missed a picture of it is a bit unclear to me). She also got a Chicken Dance Elmo and it cracked her up. She would try to flap her wings like him but would get tickled.
B got what even he said was the best present ever. His parents deeded him land in his hometown that has been in his family for generations. Heritage is a huge deal to him and this is such a neat part of his heritage. As they say, land is the one thing that we cannot reproduce. So we started dreaming on our way home of some day building a cabin (it is in the mountains) so our family can go a rest, ride 4-wheelers, etc....
We also loved getting to see Grandad or "dad-dad" as Abby Kate calls him. He was in the hospital a few weeks ago and we were sick we could not get down to see him so it was such a blessing to be with him whole and well this Christmas. We also got to watch a play at Neannie and Pop's church that Neannie WROTE. Kourtney and Krista had lead roles and Kourtney even sang a beautiful solo. It was so fun. Neannie plays the piano and leads worship and after every song, Abby Kate would yell "YEA!!!!" She already has the "PRAISE THE LORD!" blood in her! We truly had a ball. We are so blessed with such precious family!

The ultimate gift

Before you think we shamelessly spoil our child, this was her HUGE gift from both grandparents.  We were all going to go in and get her an outdoor playhouse but we saw this and knew instantly it would be a hit.  It is hard to pry her off of it.  We set it up upstairs seeing as it is the largest room in our house and so every morning, after naps, etc. she is asking to go upstairs.  It beauty of this gift is in the summer, it has a hose that hooks on and sprays water, turning the slide into a water slide.  It is a Leaps and Bounds product and I cannot recommend it highly enough.  It combines most toddlers favorites (slides, stairs and balls) in one safe gift!  FUN FUN!