Abby can River Dance!

Check out this video from Cameron Park Zoo. Abby was finally heavy enough to make music on this platform and she loved it! Funny to see her little legs move so quickly!

More zoo pictures coming soon!

Seriously...

... can she get any cuter! I love this little ruffled dress I found at Zulilly last fall and the cute little blond in it!

Wrapped in Valentine Love

For Valentine's Day, we bought Abby a pink tricycle. She is scared to death of the motorized Barbie Jeep, so we thought we should take a step back and try a tricycle. I found this one half-off on Zulily last month!

She refused to sit on it Tuesday morning, but by Tuesday afternoon would ride on it with Marcus pushing her.

By Wednesday afternoon, she could do it! 

She was so proud of herself! I am really looking forward to Spring when we can ride it more! 

Marcus and I also exchanged small gifts. He got me these cute napkins- I'll have to save them for a girls craft night. I love that the crown is upside down! ha!

I also got a butter bell. My friend Andrea told me about it and I love the idea of it. Butter can stay out and stay soft for up to 30 days. I love this for baking, toast, and yummy garlic bread with dinner!

I bought Marcus an R2D2 hat off Etsy. 

We want a Princess Leia for Abby Lu.It is cute with little buns knitted on the sides!

Abby also got a sweet Valentine package from her Mimi and Nana. She loved her cards, stickers, and cookies Mimi- thank you! Nana sent Abby a card with $5. We asked her what she wanted to do with the money and she said she wanted to give it to the man. We died laughing- THE MAN? Do we talk about paying taxes and the man that much? I asked her what the man would give her and then it all made sense- she wants to take it to the mall and ride on the carousel! The man is our friend that sells carousel tickets!

I hope everyone had a lovely day with those they love!

Wordless Wednesday: Cupcake Love

Love

The Little Gym

It has been no secret that I have struggled with if Abby likes dance class. She didn't take to it quickly and still 6 months in doesn't fully participate, has to be dragged in most days, and generally doesn't show a good attitude about it. When we missed for 2 weeks and she didn't seem to care, I told Marcus that I thought it was time to try something different. He agreed. When I mentioned it to Abby, she did not agree.

So, we made a deal with her that we would go back in February and for 4 straight classes, she had to show a good attitude, smile and participate. We have talked about it all week and at dance on Wednesday, she did the best she has ever done. It makes me happy, but is also frustrating that her motivator is me threatening to quit dance. In the meantime I have been exploring options to replace dance.

Friday morning we tried The Little Gym and she loved it from the first minute. Like, she walked right in, talked to everyone, showed off, participated, sang, danced, every bit of it! 

I thought there is NO WAY she is going to do the rings with Mr. Trey. Look at her proving me wrong. She held on, walked up the blue padded wall and ....

even hung upside down. I could not believe my eyes. At one point she ran into another child and was crying, they brought her to me and I thought, "this is it. I'll never get her back inside." She gave me a hug. I asked her if she was hurt or just sad. She told me just sad and then went back inside and got right back to it. She whines and begs not to go back into dance class.

One wonderful surprise of the class, her friend from MDO Makayla was in class! And, her Mom, is Ms. Nicci, Abby's MDO teacher that she loves. Abby was so excited to see her friend in class and Makayla was so sweet to save room for Abby and line up with her as they moved around. 

Ms. Nicci told me that Abby has such an encouraging spirit about her. That we must encourage and praise her often. She said Abby will often tell her (the teacher) good job as she is leading the class. That cracks me up! My love language is verbal so I know I project my love onto Abby verbally!

We are going back to Little Gym for a birthday party next weekend and I think it will be good to see how she does a second time and then we'll decide if we are moving over for weekly classes. It costs a little more than dance so we want to make sure she loves it and it is money well spent!

Randoms

Lots of fun stuff happening right now and my poor blog isn't in on the action. I never thought spending more time with Abby would lead to less blogging, but it does. Here is a glimpse of our week...

• We tried out The Little Gym this morning and Abby did really well. Her first day was better than her 7th month at dance class. I think I know where this is going...
• We have soccer pictures on Saturday morning. I can't wait to have a little picture of my blondie in her gold uniform among her little friends. Those are the pictures you laugh at years from now.
• I bought a canning kit, new mason jars, and a cookbook. And now I am a little scared to actually do it. I think I need to wait for Spring when veggies and fruits are better. I fear I'll work on jelly all day, it will be awful and it will mold quickly. 
• Abby has 3 birthday parties this month. Oh how I love seeing her with her little friends. She is going to be confused when there is no party to attend.
• The home invasions in our neighborhood are a little scary. I've learned the risk to us is less than I originally thought; however, it did make us have some serious conversations with Abby about not opening the door. I don't think she can, but I don't want the moment I learn to be the moment she opens the door to a stranger!
• I made about 20 dozen cookies yesterday for Marcus' clients. I sampled way too many of them. I wish I was an excellent salad maker or vegetable steamer. 
• My Wednesday night Bible study is wonderful. God really spoke to me this week. I am so glad I signed up and so thankful for Beth Moore.
• Tonight is Parent's Night Out at church and we are trying a new restaurant. On Tuesday, we are doing a lunch date for Valentine's Day and then exchanging gifts and cupcakes with dinner at home. I think I know my present- it isn't romantic at all, but I am super excited about it. Just wait!

That's all for now. Have a great weekend! 

Abby Said What?

I have two new good ones for you courtesy of my very sassy, smart and verbal child.

Today we stopped by my old office to say hello and drop off a few things. The CEO, COO and the Accountant were in a meeting in the conference room, but heard Abby's voice and opened the door to say hi. Abby went into the conference room gave Robert, the accountant, a high five, and then loudly said, "What's that smell?" She has my strong nose! Robert said he fears he may have put on too much cologne :)

Friday in the car I was telling Abby about our weekend plans which included a birthday party for her school friend, Braxton. Abby proceeded to tell me, "I like Braxton. At his party, we are going to go to another place and I'll do what Braxton says because I don't say no to Braxton." Excuse me, what?

Surprise!

This sweet girl spent her first Free Family Friday at our local YMCA last night. We joined the Y this summer and are still learning about all of the programs. Friday nights are free childcare and provided they have space, a family can drop their kids off from 4-8 one Friday per month. So, we did it last night and she did awesome! Hooray for more date nights!

She went to the Y because I had a surprise baby shower for my friend Natalie to attend. We held it at a local restaurant and tried to keep the decorations minimal. Look at this cute diaper cake my friend Angela made. It had just as many fun goodies on the back side, too!

I used 2 ducks from floral arrangements when Abby was born to decorate the table. I'll save them for future parties- they'd look great with white or blue flowers for a little boy, too.

My camera must have been on a weird setting because these pictures aren't great.... Natalie arriving for dinner with Angela. There were about 20 of us that yelled SURPRISE! She was quite shocked!

 It is hard to keep a secret from someone you see at least once a week. We had been planning the showers for about 2 months. I'm surprised she was surprised- yea for friends that keep good secrets!

Natalie and little Caroline Grace received lots of wonderful things including these fun bows. I love the giraffe and orange. I bought Natalie and homemade blanket with a pretty new Alexander Henry fabric I found in Fredericksburg and a favorite thing of ours from Abby's time as a baby- her stackable snack cups.

This is most of the group- a few had left. Congrats Natalie- we all love you and look forward to welcoming Baby Caroline with love.

Sickie Update

We saw our favorite pediatrician yesterday afternoon and Abby has a viral infection. It is in her chest making her a little "rattley" when she breathes. We are doing breathing treatments every 4-6 hours for the next 2 days and then she should be better. No school or soccer today. She is pretty normal during the day, but sounds bad at night and early in the morning.

She was so friendly with our doctor and the resident doing rotations with her. They thought she was hilarious- she even invited them to her party. She invites everyone to her party. Only problem is, her "party" I assume is her birthday party which already happened. I have no idea what party she is talking about. We are hosting Super Bowl with our church friends this year and we may just let her think it is her party :)

Since she was so good and brave letting the doctor look in her ears (always the worst part!), we stopped and got cupcakes at Gigi's afterward. The chocolate one was for Daddy- Hot Chocolate Mama. It is fudge and cheyenne pepper. It was really good- a slow burn after you swallow. I had coconut cream pie.

Abby had the birthday surprise- white cake and pink frosting. She licked about 1/4 of the frosting and then wanted the "bread". Funny girl. Oh, and she invited the cupcake lady to her party. The fun never ends!

Sickie and a Church Picture

We didn't want to be those parents that told their child no when she asked to "see Jesus" when we pulled into church on Sunday morning. We were running late, so we went to see him afterward- she didn't forget. She specifically sat in his lap and told me to take her picture. The life of a kid who has a blogging Mama :)

I will be sad when Abby doesn't go for smocked dresses anymore. I sure love grabbing them for dirt cheap on Zulily!

Abby had a runny nose on Monday and Tuesday and today she woke up with a deep cough and is having trouble breathing through her nose. We haven't seen the doctor for a cold in a long time, but have an appointment later today.

Abby is generally in a good mood- she is just laying low. She also wanted her water in her baby cup. I gave in for a sick little girl. I want to run some good medicine in her. We have a busy 4 days planned with Super Bowl, birthday party, dinner plans, dentist appointment and a haircut!

She may be sick, but she is still cute!

Pfun with Pipe Cleaners

I saw this activity on Pinterest and last time we were at Hobby Lobby, Abby picked out her pipe cleaners. The other night after dinner Abby sat in Marcus' lap and started playing!

Here is Abby playing with her worms! This activity improves fine motor skills and helped Abby really focus on getting them all the way inside the holes! I am sure we will pull it out again soon!

Soccer Update- Week 3

We had a great Saturday! Abby's soccer game was at noon today, so we were able to have a normal morning. We had doughnuts, Marcus and Abby went to storytime at the library and then we had lunch with our friend Madeline, who also attended story time.

This week was our thrid week and soccer and our third game. So much improvement in her attention to the game! When she was in the game she was running with the kids! Major improvement. She even kicked the ball a few times! There are 2x as many kids as can play at once, so Marcus sat on the floor with her when she was out and they talked about the game. The biggest thing we are teaching her is NO HANDS! We also have noticed that she kicks more with her left foot, rarely her right. 

The little team and Coach Mark! We taught Abby that Coach Mark is a teacher just like Ms. Nicci (her MDO teacher) and that she needs to listen to him. This week she seemed to listen to him better! Hooray!

We are playing soccer through our local YMCA which I really love! It has been a good investment for our family. We signed up for our first Free Family Friday. They offer free childcare for members on Friday nights, but they sell out quickly. I booked our February spot this morning. Yea for date nights!

Picnic in the Park

On Friday, Abby and I enjoyed the warm weather at a picnic in the park with our cousins Read, Bella, and Landry. All morning Abby had been talking about having a picnic just like Minnie and Mickey do on an episode of her beloved Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

We packed lunch for her and after eating quickly and begging to go play, I let her loose on the playground. We went to the Williamson County regional park playscape. It was perfect- not crowded, small playscape, near the parking lot (good for lugging kids and lunch), and had covered picnic tables so that Kristi and I could visit.

Abby would play with the girls for a while and then come back and talk to Baby Read. The girls are older than Abby and a little braver :). At one point Abby came running to me and told me she had gone down the slide. I was so proud of her for going down the big slide (2 story) and asked her to do it again so that I could see her. Um, yea, she meant the baby slide. :)

She sure is cute when I can get her to smile!

Bella and Landry right before we left- Abby refused to smile with them. I love these girls and always learn so much from the way Kristi talks to them and treats them. I seriously don't think I have seen two siblings who love each other this much and behave so well with each other. That I am learning takes hard work, so good job Ben and Kristi!

I look forward to more sunny days and picnics in the park this Spring!

Abby's Three Year Portraits

Abby and I had her three year portraits done the first week of January. We used Sarah Phillips Photography for the first time and I loved her! She is the sister of a church friend of ours and ran a special on Facebook just before the holidays that her sister shared on her wall. I am always looking for an inexpensive photographer that will ultimately give you the CD of the images. I do too much digitally to only have a printed version.

I knew the location and look that I wanted and Sarah was eager to try something new. We took the photos just before sunset at Southwestern University in Georgetown. They have the biggest trees and best old buildings! I wanted a very vintage look to the photos.

Abby's dress inspired my look- it is very 50's. I am certain my grandmother must have worn one like it! I got it just before Thanksgiving in the holiday dresses at Buy Buy Baby. They were buy one get one free. So, I bought it and her Christmas dress that she wore to the Nutcracker. 

Her pink coat was a hand me down from church friends- it is beautiful and I'll be really sad when she outgrows it. The large silk flower I found on etsy to match the dress. It came from Germany!

This one below is currently my screen saver. I love these doors to the university's chapel!

The one is Marcus' favorite!

I love them all- in the end I got 2 CDs full of pictures from Sarah. Abby wasn't in the best mood and I am so glad she got a few treasures out of a grumpy girl!