Bouncing Ball Video

Marcus and Abby have so much fun at bath time! I captured her laughing at the ball splashing in the water.

Happy 11 Months Abigayle

I have loved every minute of the last 11 months and loved writing these posts; however, it struck me this morning that this is likely my last one. In 1 month my baby girl will be one year old! Not long ago I began planning her party and Marcus made fun of me since it was so far away. Here we are past Thanksgiving and coming onto Christmas and I feel like her party is next weekend. Pretty soon, it will be!She is smart and funny. She is a great eater and a wonderful sleeper. She likes people and isn't afraid of anything. She reads books to herself, is ticklish all over and loves straws more than most. She loves her teachers and friends at school but her face lights up when we pick her up at the end of the day. She loves Momma and Daddy equally, but in different ways- Daddy for play and Momma for comfort.

She says Momma and Daddy regularaly and said "hedgie" for her hedgehog (below) for the first time today. He is her favorite toy, followed closely by her spinning wheel and barn. She can shake her head "no" and can sign "more" and wave bye-bye.

She wears 6-12 month clothes and 3-6 month shoes or size 2. She eats fruit and yogurt/oatmeal or waffles for breakfast and fruit, veggies and meat for lunch and dinner. She loves feeding herself more than us feeding her. The transition is hard as I had the puree meals down pat. She loves cheese, craisins, cheerios, chicken, rice, peas and mandarin oranges still rank #1. She crawls and pulls up, but no crusing or walking yet!

Abby Meets Mr. Christmas Tree

While Abby was napping on Friday afternoon, Marcus and I scurried to put up our new 9 ft. skinny tree. We didn't do a tree last year in our new home since I was so very pregnant and our tree from our old house just didn't work. I was excited to see my tall and skinny tree up and lit!Marcus picked up Abby as she awoke and I grabbed the camera. She wanted to feel it and touch the lights first.
I think she likes it!

So far, we haven't knocked it over! Abby likes to rub the tree skirt (just cotton?) and to pull on Santa's beard on an ornament on the bottom limb.

Next up, Abby's own personal tree!

Yummy, I like this ball!

Is this a yellow ball? I wonder what kitty does with this yellow ball? I know I have seen her walking around the house with the yellow ball before? Now, how does she hold it?

Oh yea, in her mouth! It must taste yummy if kitty eats it!
Wait, it doesn't fit in my mouth!

Let's hope a cat's mouth is as clean as they say a dog's mouth is!

Thanksgiving Day 2009

We hosted family and friends for Thanksgiving this year and had a potluck lunch. Everything tasted wonderful! I did a great job balancing full and miserable. It is an art I am working to perfect!

Before everyone came over, we woke Abby up from her 2 hour morning nap to take a couple of pictures. This girl is FUNNY! She was making great faces for us in her sweet pumpkin pie dress! She loved sitting in the wagon and just being outdoors.But, you put her in Daddy's arms and she is anything but calm. She kicks and flys and shakes her head yes and no at the same time. It helps lead to a long afternoon nap :)
I am thankful for many many things this year and I am most especially thankful for this one right here. She brings so much joy to our home. I wake up with a smile and go to bed laughing at some silly thing she did each day. What a blessing!

I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends, food and football!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to our wonderful friends and family, near and far. We are blessed by your love.

Thankful

I love that Carter's has a clothing line for every possible holiday. Today at school, Abby is sporting her Thanksgiving onesie- it reads "Thankful for Mommy". Love it!Tonight, she will sport Thanksgiving pajamas and tomorrow wear her pumpkin pie dress. It is an obsession, I know.

My 20 Pound Reward

This my friends is what broccoli in heaven must taste like! And, I will hopefully enjoy one this holiday season.

I am about 2.5 pounds away from having lost 20 pounds. When I hit that magical number, I will be enjoying a large Peppermint Chocolate Milkshake from Chick-Fil-A and promise to take pictures!

This shake will be gone after Christams, so I better stay on track or it will be gone and I'll have no reward!

Momma, I'm Shy

I tried taking Abby's picture and she kept putting her head down and looking up pretending to be shy.

I think we all know better!

Those blue eyes don't lie- there is mischief just around the corner!

Casting Crowns Concert

Friday night Marcus and I drove to Belton to attend our favorite band, Casting Crowns, in concert. We both love their music and saw them for the 3rd time- the first time up close!The arena was small, but had great sound from the 12th row. Casting Crowns sang all of our favorite songs and even a few Christmas songs.

One of the reasons I love them is these two girls- Megan and Melody. Megan at the microphone is one of the only plus size artists I know. It is nice to see someone look "real" on stage.

During a concert in Houston we attended 2 years ago, each of the band members picked a group of people to pray for after one of their songs.... fathers out there trying to lead their families, teens learning to stand up for what they believe, soldiers fighting for our freedom, teachers in the important role of educating our future, etc. Melody prayed for all of the women in the arena awaiting a baby and hoping to be a Mom. It tore my heart up as we had completed our infertility consultation that month.

We missed seeing them in April the following year as I was on bedrest having completed our IVF procedure that brought us Abby.

It was wonderful to see them again and celebrate the fact that we had to arrange for child care (thanks Mom!) in order to see them this time around. We praised a faithful and loving God Friday night as we came full circle.

Silly Girl!

Abby put a banana piece on her face and found it HIL.AR.IOUS! We took so many pictures of her smiling and laughing at herself. Really, we have a ham!

Chick-Fil-A Playground with Daddy

We had breakfast at Chick-fil-A at 7:30 AM on Saturday morning. I had already been up for 2 hours with Abby. She had breakfast, we made her steamed carrots, mashed potatos, and broccoli cauliflower mix. We washed dishes and got ready for the day. Since nobody was at CFA that early, Abby and Marcus tried out the playground. Can you see the face-filling smile? She discovered the circle in front of her could spin!
Shortly after this picture was taken, she discovered there was something between me and her and hit her forehead on the plexi-glass. Her sad face and cries only lasted a few seconds and we were back in business!

My Favorite Lunches

I consider it a good day when I have lunch appointments with friends. I consider it my favorite kind of day when my lunch appointment includes a sweet baby!Today, I had lunch with Andrea, Caroline and her daughter Madeline. Oh what pretty eyes Miss Madeline has! She is just 1 month younger than Abby and taught me a few things- we have to try fresh peas and black eyed peas next. Madeline ate those so well during our lunch.

Self Serve Dinner

For the first time ever, Abby's dinner was entirely self serve. I love making her food and for so long she has eaten really well, but lately she wants more of her real food pieces and less of her pureed food. So, I think we are beginning to transition. For dinner this time, we fed her steamed and chopped carrots and shredded chicken. I bought a pouch of the grilled fully cooked chicken breasts to try out. It worked well and will be great for packing her lunch each day. She also fed herself bananas and bread. With all four on her plate, her preference was 1)bread 2)banana 3) chicken 4) carrots. She did eat just about everything when it was all said and done.

I welcome more suggestions- what are easy, healthy self-serve foods I can pack for Abby's lunch. I would prefer to be able to make a week's worth of food on Sunday or at least pack her lunch up the night before.

Driving the Cart

We recently discovered Abby prefers to face forward in the shopping cart. It makes sense since she likes to face forward when being held in our arms. We were at the grocery store Saturday morning before 8:00 AM and got first dibs on the race car carts. She did great in it until the very end. In her excitement, she lean forward and then went back quickly and hit her head on the red plastic part behind her and it was all over!

Standing Tall

We had to drop Abby's bed to the next setting this weekend since she learned to stand all the way up! Until now, she had gotten onto her knees only.Saturday morning, I went to get her about 5:45 and she was ready for me and looking so proud to show me what she could do.
It is truly like a light switch came on, she has pulled up and stood using the coffee table, end table, fireplace, and her toy basket. I guess the next step is "cruising" when she walks while holding onto another object.

Giant Head = Giant Brains, Right?

One afternoon last week, Marcus and I met with Abby's teachers for a parent teacher conference. They hold these at least once a year to assess your childs devlopment. We were happy to hear her teachers have no concerns and she is ahead in some areas, especially language arts. Maybe her big head (when will Daddy learn girls with big heads can't just wear hats off the rack?) is full of big brains! Some of her teacher's comments included:

• Abby is crawling and pulling up
• She loves music (she dances in the sitting position just like her Daddy!) and books (can sit for 10 minutes just turning the pages back and forth) and has fun interacting with the other babies.
• Abby gets upset when something is taken away from her (don't we all!)
• She loves to eat (don't we all!)
• Abby is an adorable baby with a great personality and a smile that lights up the room.

Uh yea, those big brains will learn all too soon that kitty food tastes yucky!

Parents' Night Out

This evening was our first time to drop Abby off at church and leave! We signed up for Parent's Night Out. For $4, sweet volunteers watched Abby from 6:30 - 9:30 at the church. She did great- didn't cry when we left her and only used the emergency bottle at 9:00 when we were picking her up. Otherwise, a happy baby girl wearing her jammies in church! After dropping her off, we picked up Tiff's Treats cookies and milk and visited our friends Mo and Jessica in the hospital. We are all praying that Baby Trejo stays put for at least another 2 weeks. Then, we tried 2 new restaurants recommended by friends.

We ate dinner at Mama Fu's at Lakeline. It was really good! Marcus loves to eat Asian food and I'm not a big fan. Our friend Holly recommend this place. We tried the beef curry rolls and they were fabulous. Marcus ate a really spicy Thai Basil Noodle Bowl. I took one bite and needed a drink. Woah!

The giant smile on my face comes from the sweet tea in my hand. Asian food with sweet tea- this place was made for us! I had Honey Glazed Chicken with brown rice and snap peas. It was yummy and very filling!



On a side note, I am trying out a floral headband. I bought it in Houston at Ann Taylor Loft and think they look so cute on everyone else. I feel silly in it, but was reassured today by friends and co-workers that it was cute. In this picture, it looks like I have some random black bug in my hair!

After dinner, we went to Yo Go Yogurt Bowl. Love it! It was self serve frozen yogurt charged by the ounce. You pick your bowl and load on the toppings and pay 39 cents per ounce. I tried non-fat PB yogurt with brownies, chocolate chips and Reese's pieces. Marcus had chocolate yogurt with fruit, nuts and brownies. Our total bill was $6.08 and we both were full!

I am so grateful to our church for offering PNO each month so that we can enjoy evenings like this. Next Friday night I had a big surprise for Marcus, but he ruined it tonight so I let him in on the surprise. My Mom is watching Abby so we can drive to Belton for the Casting Crowns concert that Marcus thought I had forgotten about. We both LOVE them and couldn't miss the chance to see them so close to our home.

The last time they were here, we had tickets, but couldn't go since I had just had the IVF procedure done and was home bound. The last time we saw them, we had made the decision to do IVF and the song "Praise You in this Storm" had so much meaning for us. I can't wait to sing with them this time around knowing where we are and what He has done for us.

I Opened the Box!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here it is- my gift to myself for losing 17 pounds!

I believe the last time I weighed this amount was about 3 years ago. My pants fit better, my cute fitted t-shirts fit again and some of my shoes even fit without the snugness they had. It feels so much better than a Round Rock doughnut!

I screamed with glee on the scale this morning and then ran into the living room to call Marcus who was on his way to work that I was opening the box and wearing my new watch today because I had done it!

I love love love my new watch and the reminder it holds that now is the TIME to be healthy! In another month or so, I should celebrate losing 10% of my weight, a major Weight Watchers milestone. I'll keep you posted.

Thank You Mrs Natalie

My super sweet, incredibly thoughtful, and very talented friend Natalie made this bag for Abby Lu. She has made diaper bags for numerous girls in our bible life group and when I asked her if she'd make Abby one, I had no idea it would be this beautiful! I have seen some beautiful fabrics on etsy and picked out this set of three colors for her bag. The bag takes so little fabric, I was able to buy coordinating pieces sold for quilters. The inside fabric matches and has pockets all around the inside of the bag. Natalie also took it in and had it monogrammed. We are beyond the big diaper bag stage and I hate cleaning out her daycare bag on the weekends. This one is perfect for church, running errands, shopping, etc.

Thank you so much Natalie- we could not love it more!

Do Not Adjust Your Computer Screen

Abby has decided that being upside down is much more fun that being upright. Seriously, is this normal for a 10 month old? It starts out with her putting her head up and then leaning back. She then stiffens her back and arches it to force herself backward.She loves it- I'll pull her up by holding her hands and she comes up laughing with her fine hair all over the place!

Mind you, she wants to do this after finishing her night-time bottle. You'd think it wouldn't go well, but it does. Look at that happy girl!