9 months pics (3-2-09)

So I decided with Abi's 9 month pictures to actually put a little more effort in... I happy with them. I'm already wondering how on earth I'll do the next couple months pics though! She doesn't hold still anymore!!!

8 month pics - late...

OOPS! I was just thinking about the fact that I need to do Abi's 9 month pics and realized that I never posted the 8 months ones! So, alas - here they are :) She was 9 months already yesterday... I'll try to get tho those pictures tomorrow. I can't believe I've already been able to carry her on the outside for as long as I did on the inside! She's growing up just WAY too fast.

Abi helped me do a little shopping today. And by helped, I mean she continuously pulled at every tag she could find non stop. Pulling piles of clothes off onto the floor faster than I could pick them up. Then the ones we were keeping she kept throwing on the floor and saying "uhh- uhh!!!" She's so stinkin cute - we can't imagine our lives without her anymore! So, anyway, had to go out and buy all new clothes for the first time... What a blessing - we had all the clothes we need up to size 9 months just from my baby-showers! But she's gettin big and needs 12month stuff now and we didn't have any. Can someone please tell me why baby clothes cost so much???? Its like 15$ per outfit - and there is hardly anything to them!

Yesterday -

I had SUCH a bad day... We'll get to that later...

When I got home, I was so frustrated and just wanted to have a good cry, but I knew that wouldn't work. I walked in the door and up the stairs and there was Abi in her jumpy seat. She started screaming and jumping around like crazy - she was so happy to see me! It didn't take long for that to turn to desperate attempts to try to get me to pick her up... But my husband and the love of my life comes first. Why is it that being with him and having him near makes everything 100% better? I picked Abi up and took her into my room while I changed my clothes. Then we went into the living room to play for a little while. I sad down on the couch - something that Abi usually hates as she's rather we be standing up carrying her around - but not this time... She grabbed my face with both her slimy little paws and pulled my face to hers and kissed me over and over and over with wide open mouthed wet wet kisses!!! She's never done that before - my heart melted. And this time I cried - because it was all better now...

So- about my day... there is this thing about nursing. Co-workers have to work together or things get dangerous... If everyone doesn't work just as hard and do their part to the best of their ability, then things can go very very wrong and the one person who is trying feels 10x's the stress and pressure. That, and - no matter how much they do, it will never be possible to make all the patients happy and give them the care they need and deserve! On my floor at the hospital there are a couple people that don't pull there weight - its a huge frustration to everyone! I was working with both of them yesterday. Hence I was WAY over stressed, dangerous things happened. I spent much of the day trying to clean up were they left huge blunders. That left angry patients. One of them screamed and cussed me out - I yelled back... At least I had his respect after that. One of the above mentioned individuals did something they new was VERY wrong - because they were afraid of being turned in they spent the next couple hours trying to find a reason to turn me in instead so they wouldn't get in trouble. Ended up with the nurse manager involved - thankfully she knew it was all bogus. Why has it all been let get to this point? Then the 2nd patient started getting upset and yelling... What was I to do? You can't put out 1000 fires all at the same time. Prioritizing always makes those lower on the list angry...

And that was my day in a nutshell. There were plenty of other little things, but there is no point in belaboring the issue. I went in to work today for a little while just to have a chance to talk to my boss. I feel better about that. But somehow I don't expect things to change - this has been going on for a very long time. I love my boss and I don't think its her fault and think that HER boss has her hands tied. I wish that I understood the politics. I don't.

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!