A day in the sprinkler....

Kitty

One night out of the blue, Abby Kate asked for milk in a bowl.  I figured she wanted cereal and started to fix it for her.  She was devestated...she only wanted the milk.  I had NO IDEA what she wanted with it until I handed her the bowl, and she promtly placed it on the floor and did this...

A Fun Family Week!

Bendaroo glasses...yes, people actually BUY these!  AK LOVES them!

A beautiful sunset, even more beautiful niece...

AK put her bandaid on Neannie's back to help it "feel better"  



We had a blast this past week with Neannie, Audreia and Kourtney (who got to stay a whole 7 days!!!).  Seriously, it was such a fun, relaxing time.  The girls just played and played and Abby Kate has basically been depressed since dropping her off today.  Kourtney really is a dream maker for Abby Kate.  I just was so impressed watching both of their incredible imaginations play out and all the fun things they came up with to do.  We also got to go to the pool several times, bowling, to the Aquarium and to the movies.  So we had a fun-filled week!  Here are some pics to share!

Arg Matey!

I am not sure how my little girl became so obsessed with pirates.  Bobby joked yesterday, she loves all things pirate and princess.  Funny enough, he is so right!  She got to pick out a surprise due to some spending money from Neannie and Pop and she picked this pirate hat right away.  She spent all day yesterday saying things like "Arrrr...matey!  Time for ye to walk the plank!"  and "Shiver me timbers!"  It really was super funny.  She wanted me to fall into the sea over and over after she had me walk the plank and it was all I could do with my 7 month pregnant body to fall onto the couch.  She is a hoot!

Early Summer Fun....

One of her favorite pastimes is picking flowers, which I try hard to keep her from my pots.  I also steer her toward the dandelions.   But here she had beautified Poppy!

Racing with Daddy in the rain!


I know I have been terrible updating.  So here are some pics from the start of summer!  My baby still LOVES being outside.  It has been our constant entertainment since the great flood of '09 passed.  We really have had such a ball.  Bobby installed a new ceiling fan on our porch after a wasp colony built a nest in our old one last summer.  My sweet parent's replaced our glass tabletop that was shattered last summer as well.  I have so loved being out there.  We have a great, comfy porch swing which is my favorite resting spot but I have pretty much taken up residence behind the swing set as my child wants to be pushed and swings endlessly.   We did get her a little pool which she has spent hours in as well.  Our favorite treat is getting Popsicles (or icelollies as AK often calls them...which she heard on Charlie and Lola) and sitting on the swing as we eat them.  AGH!  The joys of summer!

Worst Mom Award...

Due to the nature of my intentions on this blog, I am recording this more for memory than to air my faults on the internet.  I seriously cannot believe I did this.  Seriously.  Hopefully never to be done again, thus my recording it to memory.

I put Abby Kate down at 7pm last night, her standard bedtime on a day where she does not take a nap.  She conked right out and was still asleep at 9:40 this morning!  I went to check on her several times, though I was not worried due to her sleeping so much later now that she is not taking a nap.  Finally, when I went in at 9:45 she was awake.  It smelled strongly like urine and as I snuggled up next to her as per our morning routine, I was soaked too.  I pulled back her covers to realize that her bed, blanket, quilt, from side to side were soaked.  Her jammies were ring-able.  I gasped.  She is a huge wetter at night.  I have not even attempted to start potty training at night, though by day it is mastered, due to how wet she wakes up every morning.  She wears a diaper and plastic pants over that and I STILL change sheets most mornings.  But this was different.  She said, "Momma, I am really cold."  I asked her to stand up and let me get her out of her clothes and into some warm clean ones and then I realized my error to my horror.

I had not put on a diaper.  Not to mention the plastic pants.  Hmmmm....I asked her forgiveness and actually laughed a little and she got giggly and just sweetly said, "I forgive you.  And Mom?  Can I get my warm jammies on now?"  Sure baby.  I am an idiot.

A Couple of Funnies...

Just a few funny things Abby Kate said over the past 24 hours....I didn't want to forget.

*Last night, Bobby was having "Daddy time" with her as they do every night.  Her new favorite thing is to ask, "what's your name?"  She literally asks it ALL THE TIME.  Bobby answered her and asked, "what's your name?"  And she pulled out her sunglasses, put them on, and said, "Um...I think it might be Jim."

* Then he got up to leave her for the night and she cried a little and said, "Could you spare me a little time?"

Rainy Days won't get us down!

Sorry I have become so lax in updating this blog!  Abby Kate has pretty much wanted to spend every waking minute outside since the weather has finally started leaning toward summer.  I can only imagine how my summer is going to look for my very pregnant self!  HOT!  We spend 98% of our time swinging.  I am desperately trying to teach her how to pump and swing herself.  Is 3 too young to expect this? :)

So after a crazy storm came through yesterday, AK had diligently watched for the rain to stop and the second it did, she was ready to go swing.  Now typically, she hates to get wet.  If she even spills a little bit of her drink on her, you would think it was acid by the way she gets out of the offending garment.  But yesterday, she just took one look at our water-logged backyard and ran full speed and jumped in the closest puddle.  She even managed to run around and jump in the puddles for 15 minutes before stripping to her underwear.  And it was a fight for another 30 minutes to keep those on her!  

She has been really funny yesterday in how much she has loved playing with Belle and Callie, our dogs.  She will literally play with Callie, our younger dog, chasing her (or being chased) forever.  Callie loved her playing in the water yesterday.  AK would just splash her and laugh so hard!  Callie loved it!  Belle, our 9+ year old dog just sagely watched.  It was fun to watch her with them.  She told me yesterday Belle and Callie were her best friends :)

Well, just wanted to share our rainy day fun with you.  She has a seriously runny nose today.  Do you think it could have something to do with letting her run around wet in her underwear in 60 degree weather?  So worth it...

Ready-ing for Summer!

I cannot keep this girl out of her bathing suits.  If it is above 65, she wants to be in one.  So here is a preview of her new mermaid towel (which she says is frustrating...I think because it is so long) and her precious ballerina swim suit!  

Our Bat...

I know, I know, I am a neglecter.  I have found it much easier to sit down and jot down my thoughts on my own blog rather than waiting for the 872 pictures to download from my camera card.  So I am sorry.  I still love my girl, as I tell her every day, she is my favorite girl in all the world.  So I am going to try to make up for my negligence.

Oh how she delights our hearts!  I cannot tell you how fun she is...how big her imagination is, how dear her vocabulary comes forth, how much she loves her life.  

Take these pictures for example, I was using trash bags to bag up some old bedding for Goodwill and she asked me to be a bat.   I had no clue what she was talking about so she made a head hole and spent 2 hours pretending to be a bat while I was the princess in my castle.  Most the time, she was a "good bat" who had come to the castle for tea.  But others, she was a "mean bat" to while she giggled hard as I said, "Shooo!  Shooo!  Yucky Bat!  Back to your cave you go!"

And here are just a few examples from today...

Just a little background, our 6 year old fridge went out Sunday.  We paid $77 to have a man drive out, spend 3 minutes inspecting and consequently telling us we needed to "start shopping for a new unit."  Um, huh?  Needless to say we were sick about it.  However our sweet Lord provided our state tax return in the same day we had to purchase a new one, more than covering it.  We had not earmarked it for a new fridge (it felt like paying for a speeding ticket) but nevertheless, we had money to pay for it.

So it was delivered this morning and B and I spend time emptying the ice chests and placing all the food back in the fridge and freezer.  And my goodness, our girl got antsy.  She so wanted to be outside playing....she asked to ride her bike, for us to push her on the swings, etc...only for us to push her off trying to finish our task.  She finally forlornly headed to our backyard and I heard her sweet voice say to our dogs, "Hi Belle and Callie, you will play with me..."  Break my heart!

So after lunch I told her she could choose, bike or swing and she choose to swing.  Now she can swing for hours....I am so not exaggerating.  So here are a few things she said while happily swinging as my arm fell off from pushing her...

*Oh what a lovely day!  It is so warm.  Not cold.  I don't like the cold.  But I love the warm.  Oh how lovely!  (amen sister)

*There is Belle and Callie.  They are my doogs (said in a british accent)...oh yes, that is their names, Belle and Callie.  Oh, they are so sweet (said in british accent again).

*Oh Belle and Callie, they are my friends...and Mr Bill and Caylor and Colton all from church ilovechurch and wehideeastereggs andoh,watchnemo!  (like my run-ons? Just copying her enthusiasm)

*Hold me Momma!  Oh Mom, you hold me so good! (this said as I carried her through our soggy yard to the trampoline)

*Oh Mom, you are the best Mom!  I love you so much.  (Sigh)

Fun with Jocie and Bella

Abby Kate with a sweet staff member

Bella!

Sweet friends...
We got to have a super fun day with my best friend of 25 years and her precious daughter on Tuesday.  Bella was on spring break so we got to spend some time at the mall, go to Bounce U and then to eat a yummy meal at Los Cabos!  We had a ball!  On of my favorite parts of the day was at the mall, the girls wanted to get their pics taken in one of those photo booths.  Bella wanted the theme to be "best friends."  Joce and I were inseperable as children, from the first day of first grade on.  I love seeing our daughters play and love on each other.  And now, we are both pregnant with little boys who will only be 2 months apart.  When I sent my Mom pics from this day, she replied, "reminds me of 2 other precious girls I know."  Me too.  

The girls played until they were sweaty and exhausted and Joce and I got a chance to catch up.  It was truly a great day!  I am so thankful for precious friends...

A new normal...

Um, yeah, this is what I found after a 2 hour quiet time.  I tried transitioning to quiet time after 2 weeks of no naps and it worked wonderfully.  She loved having time to herself and spent most of the time playing in her closet, as you can see.  However, after spending a couple of days out of town and her not napping OR getting quiet time, she had the saddest, most horrific meltdown I have seen since infancy.  It took Bobby and I both to calm her down, get her to eat a quick bite and down by 6 pm (her normal bedtime is 7:30).  So needless to say, she thinks she is big, but still needs that naptime routine, even if it is just to spend some time alone.  She was this way even as a baby.  Got overstimulated way easy.  It hit me one day how horribly I attempt to keep her entertained.  We were driving to meet my parents and about 40 minutes into the drive, Bobby was reading and I was driving with the radio off, I realized I had been lost in my thoughts (I do that lots :)) and turned around to see what she was doing and she was gazing out the window happily.  I asked her (stupid I know), "Abs, do you want me to turn on a DVD or do you just want to sit?"  and she replied, "just sit Momma."  Yeah, me too.  So why is it that in this noisy, crazy world, I feel the need to constantly stimulate my child?  So I quit.  And am trying to stick to it.  Because you know what?  I desperately want my child to love silence.  To love being alone with her thoughts.  To be comfortable in her own skin.  And to someday, delight in her time alone with her Father.  And by gosh, I am not just going to hope it will happen.  We are setting new patterns!  

Campout!

Well our first campout was a success!  Abby Kate was more excited than I have ever seen her.  We got to roast marshmallows and eat smores (which she took apart and ate the chocolate alone).  She got to put on her jammies and we put the sleeping bags on the trampoline.  She also wanted to bring her pillow, her bunny and her Bible.  She and Daddy got to jump a TON and then was got in our sleeping bags and told "ghost stories" at her insistence.  We read the story of Esther from her Bible and just visited.  She was too excited to lay down so after a while, we went inside to sleep.  SUCH a fun memory!  Great idea Daddy!

Big Sisters Rock!

Abby Kate L-O-V-E-S this t-shirt!  Wants to wear it every day.  She is super excited about becoming a big sister.  She wants to look at my tummy every day and often talks to him.  In case you haven't heard, she is going to have a brother.  Funny story.  We told her back after we found out the names we had picked out, thinking it would help it become more real to her.  She was all about the brother for a while and then made a drastic switch.  Our girl name was Ellie and our boy name is Bo.  She would daily say, "Mom, I want Ellie not Bo okay?"  I tried every day to explain to her that it was God's choice all the while cringing hoping if it WAS a boy, she wouldn't be too devastated.  When we found out Wednesday, we came home and told her she was going to have a brother and she happily went along playing.  When asked, she will clearly say, "Bo is in Mommy's tummy."  However just a few days ago, we were talking and she said something about Bo and then as if she had just remembered, asked "what about Ellie?"  My heart stopped and I quickly wondered what to say.  I just said, "God picked Bo for us this time and you will have SOOO much fun with him!  You are going to be such a great big sister!"  And she sweetly replied, "yep, I am going to hold him and feed him a bottle and change his diaper and love him Mom."  Oh my heart.  I cannot wait to watch her in this role!

Cuddling with Daddy....

Valentine's Day and Birthday Celebrations....

Munching on cookie cake...YUM!

The whole Valentine's gift...is it not the cutest rain ensemble you have ever seen?!

Nothing like trying to play catch up!  These are from Valentine's Day weekend.  It is also Sweecie's birthday and Uncle Hal's on the 12th so we had an amazing celebratory weekend.  We got to have a yummy brunch at Hal and Ashley's and then Los Cabos for lunch.  We played Rock Band and Wii Fit at Hal and Ashley's along with lots of other fun stuff.  SO FUN!  Ashley's family came too so we had a ball with them as well.  Abby Kate is already calling them their grandparent names before Liv even makes her appearance.  We are so blessed to have such fun family!