Not much going on.

I feel as though I should post something because its been a while, but there isn't much going on so I don't feel like I have much to say! I can always post more pictures of the babe... Oh, that reminds me - I never posted her 3 month pics.... I'll have to get to that. Gosh, its so hard to get anything done around here! Keeping up with dishes and laundry is about all I can handle. Forget cleaning the house - and getting a meal on the table takes a great effort.

Abi, Abi, Abi.... We have fought all day today. She will NOT sleep longer than 45 minutes for her naps. It doesn't seem to matter what I do... Even if I fight with her for several minutes and hold the pacifier in her mouth till she falls back to sleep (after a bunch of screaming) she will be awake all over again in 45 min. I can't seem to fix the problem. Then she's miserable and screaming all day because she's so over tired. Hmmm... I think I'll call Chris and Pam Stanley tomorrow and see what they have to say....

We've been thinking about getting a ping-pong table for the family room down stairs. We have no furniture to put down there so the room is empty and we've wanted to make it into a game room. All game tables are expensive though! We were going to split the cost and take it out of our "allowance" money, but Kris found one on sale on Craig's-list for $35! (cost us $40 because we didn't have exact change...) Anyway - he borrowed the truck from work and picked it up last night. Its nothing fancy, but I think we're really going to enjoy it. Maybe the family room will get some use now!

Our smallgroup meets this Thursday - we're starting a study on the book of James. Why James? Just happens to be my favorite book and no body said what book they wanted to study, just that they wanted to study one! We now have 7 couples in our group - 8 sometimes. The group is growing - hard to believe that at the start of last year we had only 2 couples and were concerned about it! We've had 2 new couples join this year and are learning how to work with the expansion. We know that it changes the dynamics to have new people join, but feel strongly that we should keep our group "open." Funny thing is - why are both of the other "young married couples" groups in church struggling to get people? They are both excellent groups!? I'm praying that they will see new people soon too and feel encouraged. We feel very blessed. It would be hard to have to "split" our group if it gets much bigger - we're all getting so close now. We shall have to wait and see how things go this year.

So I'm back to work... Just per-diam, so I'm working only 2 shifts per week. I'm working every-other weekend (days) and one evening a week. That way Kris can be home with Abigail when I'm working and we don't have to worry about who is taking care of her. The one day a week that I work evenings I have to be to work at 3pm and Kris doesn't get out till 4pm so she stays with Nicole for a couple hours. I'm so grateful that she's willing to help us out like this. She already has 3 girls and has to deal with my schedule that changes every week. Thank you Nicole!

I'm anxious to see what my paycheck will look like this week so that we can re-do the budget and see if things will actually work out! I think that things might get a bit "tighter" than we are used to. Prayerfully we'll be able to handle everything as is. We shall soon see...

Guess I had more to say than I thought.

A few more Abi pics :)

These first 2 pics were from a couple months ago, but I never posted them on here. Abi's 2 month shots. The one of her and Kris is one of my most favorite pictures ever!

We had friends take our family picture last week. I think that it’s the first good family pic we have. She's just starting to get old enough to cooperate a little bit with pictures :)

Abi is a very curious baby. She's always looking around and studying everything. She screams when we hold her facing us - she wants to be turned out so she can see the world! She's started to love sitting up and looking around, but her back is still a little wobbly - so we got her this cool chair! She likes it!!
Abi likes story time! (well actually - it only lasted a few minutes... We'll have to try again!)
Me and my little babe - at lock 7 near our house...

Photo shoot

We tried to do a little photo shoot with the babe last weekend, but she's still a little too small to be very cooperative. We'll have to try again. We weren't really sure we liked what we got, but I thought these were cute so I wanted to post them anyway.

Firsts :)

Abigail had a bunch of firsts this past Labor Day weekend - pretty stinkin cute! (In my most humble opinion.) :)

First we went to Cobleskill to my parents house on Saturday. Apparently Grandpa had been waiting for her to get her first calf ride! He ran right out to pasture and she had her first steer riding stint! And she thought.... ....dahhh....what's this....?

Then Grandpa helped her to taste her first fresh strawberries, and Grandma showed her all the flowers. She wasn't quite sure what to think of the berries!

Then on Sunday we went up to Schroon Lake were Nana and Grampa camp every Labor day and Abigail got to wiggle her toes in the sand for the first time. her reaction was the same. ....dahhhh....waz that?....My fingers taste good!... :)

All in all I think all the "new" activities and fresh outside air kinda wore her out!

1:50 AM

Yes - that's what time it is... I should be sleeping. I was actually, but I woke up with nasty allergies. Its funny really - I never had allergies in my life till about 5 years ago. Then I started to get seasonal allergies in the fall every year. Probably ragweed - and somehow every year they seem to get just a little bit worse. I woke up at 1:15 with my eyes swollen and fiery red and my mouth, nose, eyes, ears and throat itching so that I could hardly stand it. I took some meds and I'm just waiting for them to work so that I can hopefully go back to sleep. So what better to do while you wait than change all the colors on your blog? :) Hence the new look - you have allergies to thank for it!

Blah...

I'm feeling emotional...

The last few months have been all about change - sometimes change is good, but its almost always initially hard. And I'm not one to really enjoy change. Don't get me wrong - I love my life and I'm so happy. Adjustment has just been so much harder than I anticipated. Its funny really... You think everything through... You calculate everything over and over in your head... You weigh everything out... You discuss everything endlessly... And you make a decision. Then afterwards you realize that you really had no idea what you should actually be thinking... calculating... weighing... discussing...! The decision was made and you are happy ...just shocked. :) Becoming parents has brought us both such a mixture of emotions and feelings. We've been happy and sad, angry and elated, excited and discouraged, frustrated and over-joyed. Emotions are one thing you can never plan for! Don't get me wrong - we are so happy to have little Abi. I'm just taking a minute to put down some of my thoughts from the last couple months.

Now its time to adjust again... I have to go back to work. I'm only going back part time for which I am so grateful! I don't have to worry about Abi because she'll be with Kris. I've thought about it, and I think that even if I didn't have to go back to work, I'd still want to work just a little. I think that I'd miss it. Plus it gives me a little chance to "get out" and see other humans. I think the thing I'm most upset about it the time it will take away from my Honey. That has been by far the hardest adjustment for me since having Abi - us not being able to spend time alone together. Now it will get even a little bit harder. I feel like an ungrateful wretch for even saying this (seeing as I'm only working 2 shifts per week)... I'm happy to be able to work it out that Abi doesn't have to be in day-care, but that means me working every other weekend and one evening a week - all shifts that I've never liked to work.

Soon I will stop being emotional and give myself a good strong kick in the pants... but maybe I will have a good cry first.

Naps...

Abi has been sleeping through the night like a champ for 3 weeks now - awesome! However naps have been a different story - she sleeps for 20-40 minutes and is awake and won't go back to sleep! I've wanted to try having her sleep on her tummy and see if she does better, but I've been too nervous. All the "experts" saying 'don't do it!!!' scared me... even though I know that we all slept on our stomachs and lived! :) Well, we got back from Mich last night and today I decided to let her sleep on her tummy. Actually - I put her down for her nap on her back and she slept for about 40 minutes and didn't look like she had any plans of going back to sleep! Well - I rolled her over and she cried for a while and fell back to sleep. I had to wake her up 2 1/2 hours later!! I was so surprised! We'll have to wait and see if it keeps working. P.S. I've been in to check on her at least every 10 minutes! :)

Ty and Beth :)

My handsome brother Ty and my beautiful sister-in-law Beth are finally married! Don't they look awesome?!!! Kris, Abi and I traveled to Cadillac, Michigan Thursday through Sunday. We met up with Aaron and Melissa and Mercy at the airport and what a sweet ride we rented! Ford Crown Vic - we were riding in style! :) Abi was so good on all the flights but didn't like the 1 3/4 hr. car ride from Grand Rapids to Cadillac very much. Can't complain at all thought - she was so good all week end and even slept like a champ at the hotel!

I'm so happy for Ty and Beth! We've been looking forward to their wedding for a long time and I know that they will be happy together. They're good for each other. If only they were going to live a little closer! Florida is too far away.... ....next year to NY??!! Maybe... :) I do so hope that we can vacation together one more time next summer!

There will be more pictures to come, but I just wanted to post one for now. The wedding was beautiful and everything went pretty smoothly I think.

Wow!

I neglected to mention this:

Abi started sleeping thought the night a week ago (July 29th) at 8 weeks old!!

Kris and I took a parenting class at church before she was born that guaranteed that if we did things a certain way she'd be sleeping through the night 8 hours by 8 weeks and 12 hours by 12 weeks... Hmmm... we tore our hair out with a VERY fussy baby for about 5-6 weeks thinking that absolutely nothing was working. Then all of a sudden on a beautiful Wednesday morning - I woke up at 6am and realized that it was light outside and I hadn't gotten up during the night! Abi had slept 9 1/2 hours. And she's done it faithfully every night since! We still have a little trouble getting her to fall asleep, but I'm not complaining! Oh, what beautiful nights!!!

More Abigail pics :)

How sweet is this picture? :) I love it! I think that Abi is starting to recognize our faces. So far Kris and I are the only ones that get those adorable big smiles. She doesn't mind anyone else, but she just stares at them...
Lately Abi's happiest time are laying on her back on the living room floor! She's smiling more and more and starting to coo. It's just way to cute - she gets so excited!

Bath time! Gotta love a towel with a crown - she's our little princess...! She loves the bath, but really isn't too fond of the towel and dry off time.

My little lady was 2 months old already on August 2nd! I can't believe how fast the time is flying by already! These are her 2 month shots below - with my most favorite dress of hers.

And now, poor Abi is tired - so many pictures - I need to sleep now...

I guess that my blog has become an "Abigail picture place." :) There are just too many that are just too cute in my opinion! Besides I can't believe how the time is flying and how big she's getting... before I know it she'll be all grown up and I'll be sad! She went for her 2 month check up on Monday - complete with 3 shots and an oral vaccine. That was all heartbreaking to watch. Why must they make the mothers hold them in place while they're being tortured? I almost cried! She did fine though, and calmed down pretty quickly. I think they kind of messed her up for a couple days though. She had so much trouble getting any sleep during the day for the last 2 days. I was worried that she was constipated - highly unusual for her not to go for 2 days - but that fear was resolved last night. Sorry Honey, I know you had fun taking that poo bath! I'm glad it wasn't me this time! :)

We've been working on getting little Abi used to a bottle - its been rough, but I think that she's finally getting better at it! I have to go back to work in 2 1/2 weeks - ugh. I have mixed feelings on that front. I'm nervous for one - I think that I forgot everything! I'm very grateful that I have the opportunity to go per-diam so I'll only be working 2 shifts per week, but still I'll miss being home with Kris when he's home. I guess it'll be good to get out of the house and all. Honestly - I think I'd miss it if I never went back to work - good thing I don't have a choice. I'm just selfish and want to be able to have all my time with my Honey and my Babe...

Next weekend is Ty and Beth's wedding (Aug 16th) in Michigan. We fly out on Thursday. I hope that all goes smoothly with the baby. I'm a little nervous about taking her on the plane and about trying to get her to sleep while we're there... I'm praying that all goes smoothly. I've been making lists in my head all week of all the things that I need to pack! Wow - its so different to try to travel with a little one than it was with just the 2 of us! I'm sure I'll forget something important! Its unbelievable how much stuff is required for a little baby!