So I know that it has been almost 2 months since my last blog. Not keeping up so well! It has been so very busy around here! My dad came to visit, and during that trip Abbie got sick with a stomach bug which she ever so sweetly passed right on to me. Then after we were both finally healthy, we went to Atlanta for a Saturday to see our nephew, Austin, play in his baseball game on his birthday. While we were there I stupidly forgot sunscreen and I was a lobster for the rest of the week! THEN...the following weekend, on Friday, Abbie and I piled into the car and drove to MI to suprise my parents for their birthdays. We had worked it all out with Jamie and she and Bill took them to dinner and I was there. Their reaction was classic! I just walked up to the table and stood there and they both looked at me and looked away kind of confused, like that girl sure looks familiar! Then it set in that we were there! Their reaction was great! And we threw another suprise on mom...we had reserved 2 tables at the Mom to Mom sale! For those of you that don't know its like a giant garage sale held at a school or church selling nothing but baby stuff. Between the loads of clothes Jamie had and all the big items I had we cleaned up! And then donated everything that was left! Here is a picture of Abbie on the new bike I got her at the sale and Ian checking it out for her!

While we were in MI Abbie got her first big boo-boo...

She took a header off the brick steps outside of Grandma and Papa's house! Poor thing! But she took it like a big girl and got over it really quickly! So we survived the drive to and from MI but as always...we didn't come away healthy! Which brings up to this weekend! Uncle Bill came to visit and check out the area and Abbie has been sick all weekend! She has a sore throat (we know this because she cries when she eats or drinks) and a nasty cough and quite a bit of congestion. While back in MI Grandma has bronchitus and Ian has the Rotovirus. So we are off to the dr today!

Here are some cute pics to share!

Baking Cookies for Papa

Chocolate milk and a Mickey Straw!

Hair be gone

I finally did it! I chopped off all my hair for locks of love! 10 inches to be exact. It was a little scary when I was in the chair with my hair in the ponytail and she started cutting, I was thinking is it too late to turn back? I'm thinking that since she has already cut through half of it...it just might be past the point of no return. Here are my before and after pics:

In the end I have realized that it is a nice change that was much needed! Much lighter and easier to handle.

Also, we have successfully weaned Abbie off the bottle all together. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but she is now just a sippy cup baby. Next up: Potty Training! Yippee!

Lessons Learned

Well, another week has flown by and I have forgotten to blog again! It's a work in progress! We had a pretty crazy week here. I have not been feeling well all week, but I'm getting better each day! I learned a few things this week...like don't leave a 15 month old alone for too long...


Lesson learned...


And don't expect to have a private conversation when you have a speaker phone button...



So we learned lots this week.
Abbie had her 15 month check up on Friday. The dr gave her mostly a clean bill of health with the exception of yet another ear infection, second one on a month! But she weighs 22.5lbs, 31.5in tall and her melon is 47cm around. She is in the 40th percentile for her weight the 80th for her height and the 94th for her big ol' Dempsey melon!
We took her to the playground the past two weekends and she LOVES it! She loves going down the slide and just running everywhere! We have a pretty large yard here but it is all a giant hill and she is not walking well enough to be navigating down a huge hill, so she doesn't get to run outside much. I caught a little video of her sliding with daddy...

Fun stuff. Well, naptime is over and mommy duty calls again. Here is a little video to leave you with. This one is for you Jake! haha

Some Videos Too...

Whew, what a week it has been! We finally got Abbie back to "normal" she is sleeping through the night again and we are blissfully catching up on some MUCH needed sleep! She is also through the monster phase and is back to my sweet loving little girl again...good thing too because I was about to see how much it would cost to fed-ex her little butt to Grandma!!

I took a PiYo class last week, which is a Pilates/Yoga class and I loved getting back into the yoga part of it, but the pilates part kicked my butt! I am honestly still a little sore from it! Monday it is a plain ol yoga class then next Wednesday I will try PiYo again! Abbie stayed in the nursery there and I was very surprised that she just walked right in and went to play. So I took off right away warning them that I have never left her somewhere like this before. When I went to pick her up she ran to me so fast and clung to me like she hadn't seen me in years! They said that she was fine for the first 30 minutes then she just flipped and was crying and upset for the last 30! We will see how excited she is to go play on Monday! haha
I got a new video editing program and I have been playing around with some of the video I have taken and I made a couple cute little snippets to share on here. In this one she hears my phone getting a text and you can't really understand it too well, but she says who dat? (shes a nosy little bugger!) But her face is priceless in this one!

And this one she is "talking" she gets so serious when she chats with you! (notice her very messy playroom...her daddy dies a little bit everytime he looks in there)

I guess thats about it...more later!!

Small Town

Yesterday we went to the YMCA and signed up. They offer a lot of different things that Wayne and I are both interested in. I can take yoga classes and leave Abbie in the nursery there, and they have a nice gym there for Wayne. He has been looking for a good gym since we moved her and until now, has struck out. Now this may come as a shock to some of you, and you may want to sit down for this one...but Hixson is a pretty small town. Now I know what you are saying...What? I thought that a city with the word "HICK" in it would be a booming metropolis! But it is in fact not. Now, don't get me wrong, they have pretty much everything I could possibly need here...there is a Target, a mall, a Starbucks (notice I said "A") a really great chinese restaraunt and even a good Sushi place! And really compared to our neighboring city, Soddy Daisy, we are nearly Manhattan!

Anyways, I have gotten off the subject a little. So one of the things offered at the YMCA is a class called Wee Gym where Mommys and babies can go and play and do excercises and play games together with other mommies and babies. I was all for it! So today we got up and got ready and went in to the Y. It was FREEZING this morning and the whole way into the building I am thinking this better be good...well it wasn't. Until Abbie and I showed up there were no babies there! So they just had to cancel the class! Grr! Oh well, hopefully next week!

Abbie slept a little better last night, we have started taking away a nap during the day, so now she only gets one in the middle of the day instead of 2. Whether or not it will work that remains to be seen.

She is going through another "new stuff" phase. She has learned to say her name and walks around all day saying abbieabbieabbieabbieabbieabbieabbie. What makes it a little more funny is that she says it with a REALLY northern accent like shes saying eeaabbie...just like Aunt Jamie... She also started singing along with Darby, Tigger and Pooh while they sing think, think, think. She pats her head and says tin-tin-tin and shakes her little booty!

I guess thats all for now...I will add a pic that has nothing to do with this post, but I can't have a posting without a picture!

need...sleep...

Abbie has been a good sleeper ever since we put her in her crib for the first time. She has always taken good naps (I'm a BIG believer in self soothing) and has just overall made my life a lot easier...until now...last week she woke up one night at 12:15. She had been doing that while she was cutting her molars and I just figured that she needed some loving then would go back to bed...and she did...at 5am. That started us off in a every other day situation. One night she would sleep like a champ, then the next night she would wake up and refuse to go back to sleep. Well, last night was a no sleep night. Luckily for me it was only from 1:30 until 3 and I was falling back into my warm cozy bed. I am truly hoping that this is either just a phase and it will pass or that when she actually cuts those molars she will start sleeping again! I just hope which ever it happens to be, it comes soon!

On a much lighter note...Abbie ate spaghetti by herself for the first time! She absolutely LOVED it! I didn't much care for the clean up though...

Sickly

Well, I knew it was bound to happen at some point, and we were lucky enough to go this long...but Abbie has gotten her first ear infection. I took her to the Dr yesterday to have her cough checked out and she said that the cough was just drainage and benadryl will help that but that we were lucky because we caught the ear infection very early. Whatever it is that Abbie and I have, it spread pretty quickly through all three of the kids! Ian and I both got it the same day, then Abbie got it but poor little Morgan got it the worst. She had to go to the Dr yesterday and found out that she has RSV. Poor sick little baby!

You would never be able to tell that Abbie is sick though. Other than the fact that she is not sleeping so well during the day, she is running around and laughing and talking up a storm...most of which makes no sense at all...Her big sissy Jennifer is here visiting for a few days and they are loving spending some time together!

Christmas, New Years and Michigan...

Well, we survived another holiday season with our many, many family members. We always seem to have a whirlwind christmas. Don't get me wrong, I know that we are so lucky to have so much family that loves us...but whew!! It all started on the 23rd when Mother and Curt (Wayne's mom and step-dad) and Jennifer came here to visit. We celebrated with them that night and xmas eve morning. Then it was on to Rome (Georgia, that is) Where we met up with Pop and Pam (Wayne's Dad and step-mom) and Tammy, James, Hilary & Austin and of course Jennifer. Although there was quite a scare when Madeline was put in the hospital because she tested positive for RSV, but she was later released and was able to spend xmas morning opening presents. We had a great time with all of Waynes family and Abbie had a blast playing with all her new presents.

Then xmas morning...and I mean morning (4am) we were on the road to Michigan! We arrived in freezing cold, snow filled Michigan that afternoon and began our 9 day vacation.

Of course, true to form Abbie and I both got sick, as we always do in Michigan, but that didn't put a damper on our fun (just our sleep) We went shopping with Aunt Jamie and Morgan and went to the outlet mall with Grandma (cold, cold, cold) and spent our mornings with Papa. The classic morning was when Abbie was in the living room playing and Papa came in and she looked up from her toys and said clear as a bell, Hey Papa! then went back to playing...

Spending time with Ian she learned some fun new things...she learned to say Angel (Ian calls me that) she learned to say Grandma, and she got really good at running.

On our last day there Mom, Jamie and I all took the kids to get their pictures taken. That didn't go well...We all thought that Abbie was going to be our problem child, but it was Morgan that took over that role! She cried every time her mommy put her down on that table! In all that fuss we only managed to get one good one with all three of the kids...