I'm 30...

...and I'm OK with it. :)
I thought I'd be much more upset with turning 30 than I am. I'm not - I'm fine with it. I'm so blessed by God and all that He's done in my life and the position that I'm at. I have a husband who loves me and is more wonderful both to and for me than I ever hoped. I love you Honey - forever and always... more than I can say! I have a beautiful daughter that I adore watching learn and grow. She, without knowing it, makes me realized new things about myself every day. I am blessed with friends to share my life with in good times and bad. We have a house - and one much nicer than I ever dreamed of throughout my life. Two good cars sit in our driveway and I don't have to wonder if they're going to break down. We have a church that we love and are blessed to be able to serve along side people that we love and respect. I serve a God who loves me and works daily to make me more like Himself. I could go on and on, but at the risk of starting to sound silly and boring anyone who reads this... I'll stop. I'm so happy!!!

Beauty Queen Wave :)

Kris has been working for several days at teaching Abi how to wave. :) Until today she would only do it for him, but today she waved for me too. Its so funny and cute... I think she also kinda knows who "Dah dah" is too. For the last few days she stops what ever she's doing at some point throughout the morning, starts to wave and asks, "Dah dah?" How cute is that?

I've never disliked winter so much!

Somehow this is the end result of a very long sleepless day... How this could be comfortable, I do not know! You know, the parenting class that we took made everything sound so simple - "If you do it like we say, your child will sleep through the night and nap on schedule!" I'm struggling not to be frustrated lately. Abi sleeps well at night for the most part, though every once in a while (and for no apparent reason) she'll go through periods of waking up multiple times a night. The last few nights have been better, and I'm so grateful! At least I'm getting to sleep without getting up every couple hours! We had a few rough weeks before this! Anyway -naps are a battle every day. If this were a war I would surrender - after all I loose the battle almost every single day! We started out good today, but after her morning nap she woke up miserable and was for most of the day. I have no idea why, and she wouldn't take a nap this afternoon. I only wish I had some small clue of how to fix the problem! It seems like if even one small thing messes up her routine then I'm screwed for the next 3 days. That means - no shopping, no projects, no ever leaving the house... I can't do it! I'll go insane!!

I've never struggled so much with winter before. I think that it just might be because I've never been home all winter before - I've always worked and I think that makes it go by quicker. I feel like a shut in lately. Its been to cold to take Abi out and even if it wasn't it messes with her schedule. Even when I'm home I don't get much opportunity to do anything - babies take a lot of time and attention. All I'm saying is that it makes for a very LONG winter!

I long for Spring!

And I need a vacation...

Just a couple of little pictures...

This is the face that greets me every morning and after every nap... ...it melts my heart. :) Even when we have a bad day, I can't be sad when I see this!
Its very hard to take a "self portrait" with a heavy camera while holding a baby that never holds still! :) But - I liked the picture anyway. Next time I will use a tripod and camera remote!

I finally got all the Christmas decorations down yesterday. A job that I always do on New Years day, but Mercy, Colin, Cheryl and Ryan were here. Then Abi got sick. Then I had to work.... Alas the job is done, and yet the tree still sits in my living room. There is one thing that we did not think out thoroughly before buying a fake tree... storage! Raised ranch houses don't have much storage. We have an attic, but it has a broken pull down ladder and no flooring! I think that tomorrow we will attempt to do something makeshift just to get the tree up there and get it out of our way. Hopefully by next year we will be able to replace the attic door/pull-down-ladder and put in a little flooring (which will also require putting down thicker insulation prior to nailing down flooring). We really need the storage space!

I look forward so much to the holidays, but this week I am really enjoying getting back to a sense of "normalcy." Whatever that is of course!

Wowza!!

My baby is 7 months old already! Every month I'm in shock at how fast the time has gone. I love her so much it overwhelms me sometimes. She's so beautiful. I'm prejudiced and I'm OK with it!

So, yeah... I spiked her hair the other day.... just because. :) Actually I thought Ty might enjoy it. Her hair sticks up all the time anyway, but I wondered what a little gel might do? ...and now we know. :)

Odd Days Project

Kris came up with an awesome photo idea - its called the Odd Days project! And he managed to get a whole bunch of us excited about it! So there is quite a following. :) I hope to take better pictures, but here is my start. The idea is to take one picture for every odd numbered day for the whole year of 2009. I'm really excited to see all the pictures together at the end of the year and print them out for an album.

Abi really wasn't as terrified as she looks! Her expressive little face doesn't always show through at her best in pictures. We actually had a fantastic day with Mercy, Colin, Cheryl, and Ryan, and Abi was so good all day - despite the fact that she only took two 45 minute naps... She was loving her new friends. :) It was awesome to get a chance to see Mercy for a little while and to meet Colin.

Little side note: Abi fed herself her finger foods for the first time today. She loves to eat absolutely anything, so I've been trying Cheerios with her. I put them on her tray and till today she would play with them and even pick them up. But for some reason, though everything else she touches goes into her mouth she wouldn't put food there. She would just sit and wait for me to put another one in her mouth! Today she did it herself for the first time! Pretty cute to watch.

Happy Moments :)

Haha! I love this video! I had just gotten home from work and Abi was a little fussy, so I took her in our room while I changed my clothes so she could be with me... I laid on the bed and she just started laughing! It was so much fun because she doesn't laugh much and she kept it up for about 10 minutes! I'm so glad Kris thought to tape it!

Abi's had a lot of firsts this week! Her first Christmas of course (which I'll hopefully get around to posting pictures of soon!), she started sitting up, she got her second tooth (and I'm so glad - its been swollen up like a blister for 2 weeks), she started making actually syllable sounds, and she held herself up on her hands and knees!! My, what an eventful week! I so love watching her - its all so amazing!

Little Babes Attacks the Tree!

Her Dad taught her to play with the tree. :) Abi loves the ornaments - how can ya resist letting her play? She's so funny with her little hands - hasn't quite mastered bending her fingers yet. She just pokes at everything with stiff finger tips for the most part. Although - she did figure out how to grab the ball with both and pull it right off the tree a few times! So proud of herself too. :)

6 month shots...

Every month it seems to get a little harder to get Abi's pictures. The more mobile she gets, the harder it is to get her to sit for even 5 seconds! This kid has energy! And sitting still is not in her vocabulary. She's very much a go getter. I have trouble getting her to sit because every time she catches her balance she does a nose dive for whatever has caught her fancy! She is always on the move and into whatever she can reach - I'm sure she'll be crawling soon and I'm nervous. I don't think I have enough energy...

6 months old! (Dec. 2nd)

Hmmm...what can I get into?

I'm getting a little tired of this now!!!

Please, for goodness sake stop!!!

First Christmas tree for Babe...

Abi's first Christmas tree!!! Be ware the loud, shrill, piercing noises! Abi has taken to discovering her vocal chords... She likes it better the louder and higher pitched it is! :)