Rough Morning

This baby girl was so tired from her fit at church this morning she fell asleep on the way home! She cries into a full blown fit every time we leave her at church- 5 weeks straight. We've tried different things- give her a drink, snacks, a bigger kids class and nothing works! This morning we were paged that she was crying and just couldn't get it together. She spent the morning in class with us- happy as a lark.

We welcome your prayers as we work through this parenting challenge.

13 Months Old

Abby Lu is now 13 months old! She is just so talkative- signing to us, saying Momma and Daddy regularly when she sees us or wants us! She started signing yes, hat and ball this month.
She eats and sleeps easily! She took to whole milk in a sippy cup without any hesitation and is almost purely a self feeder besides the occasional yogurt, applesauce or soupy dish like pasta with sauce. She sleeps on a mat, not a crib, at school and is down to one nap a day, around lunchtime. At night, she sleeps from 7 PM - 6:30 AM. When you walk toward her room, she immediately yawns and when I hand her her lovey, she cuddles up to it and falls onto my shoulder. Not a tear at all. It is amazing!

She loves Yo Gabba Gabba, wagon rides, and playing during bath time. She doesn't like the changing table unless she has a toothbrush to suck on. She even loves taking her Allegra for allergies since it tastes like bubblegum. She sucks the syringe dry!

Honestly, she is just the most fun and the easiest baby!

We hope this month brings walking and a few more words, by sign or voice! Stay tuned, it just keeps getting better and better!

Ms. Sandy

Today is Abby's last day in the baby room at school. On Monday, she'll be in the First Steps class with kids 1-2 years old.We are really going to miss her teachers, Ms. Sandy (pictured) and Ms. Suzi.

These ladies have done such a great job of loving and teaching Abby. Suzi took a liking to Abby early because she would cuddle with her. So, Suzi would rock Abby to sleep or let her nap in Suzi's lap. She hugs and kisses Abby everyday.

Sandy has been very instrumental in teaching Abby sign language and encouraging her love of books. She also does a fabulous job of telling me each day something neat or new that Abby did that day. Both of them have been talking for weeks about how hard it will be to see Abby gradute- the things a Momma wants to hear.

I could not have asked for better teachers for Abby. We are also excited for her next class. While the baby class is slow, quiet and less structured, the next class is fast paced, on a schedule, and full of daily activities. Abby has been spending a part of her day with them and loves it. Somehow, they've even transitioned her to napping on a mat. Amazing!

Toys

So much for toys- Abby loves to take things out of her changing table basket and then put them back in. Her favorites- toothbrush, toothpaste and lotion!

Jello

We ate dinner at Luby's recently and ordered Abby the kids plate and it came with jello! After she finished her meal we let her try it. She had fun squishing it inside her hands!

This was her first time- we don't regularaly feed her foods like this since there is no real nutritional benefit and she eats so little you can't waste what goes in. It was a great treat!

Dinner in New Braunfels

Saturday night after the party, we went to dinner with my Mom, sister, and Kyleigh and Cohen. Abby seriously loves Kyleigh. It doesn't take her any time to warm up- she goes right to her. She also watches her every move and laughs at her! Abby was even willing to wear a big bow in her hair since Kyleigh put it there. Cohen listened to his headphones and played in the iPod while we waited on dinner. His eyes are so beautiful. I am certain he will bat them for the ladies as soon as he is interested. He has long full eyelashes and green eyes with a rich brown outline. Love him!
Abby found this funny face from Tiffany intriguing. Obviously, it is an inherited skill as Kyleigh could do it without a problem! Funny!

I managed to get no pictures of Mom, but I promise she was there! We shared yummy fajita nachos. It was great to see them for dinner after the party. Abby fell asleep within 5 minutes of us driving away and woke up 12 hours later!

McKenna Children's Museum

Abby and I went to McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels on Saturday for our friend Georgia and Lilah's party. I got no pictures of the girls- they were all over the place having a blast! Abby also loved it!

It was a princess party with crowns for the girls and swords for the boys. Abby kept poking herself with the crown! The museum is in New Braunfels and I would highly recommend it. Lots of things to do, like smiling at the cut baby in the mirror!
Chatting with friends on the phone...

and watching the butterflies on the wall.

This is my favorite part of the museum- distorted mirrors that took off a few pounds and added a few inches. So, this is what I would look like! Nice! ha!

Happy Birthday Georgia and Lilah! Thanks for inviting us.

Food Updates

Having a self-feeder and a whole milk drinker has made eating time, packing for school and going out so much easier! But, it has made an almost daily food post non-existent. We haven't tried many new foods lately, but we have really changed how we eat our favorites.

This is a plate representing Abby's dinner the other night. She doesn't eat every item on this plate, but on average eats about 80%.

Her carrots are sliced and cut in half just to avoid the coin shape that is a choking hazard. With 10 teeth, she really chews her food up, but we're playing it safe. She loves string cheese and will eat it all first! She can eat a full string and normally puts 4 or more of these pieces in her mouth at once. She eats ham and chicken daily and we buy it in julienne strips already. Just recently, we stopped cutting up her bananas and fed it to her in "sticks" which she loves to squish in her fingers and then smash into her mouth.
If we are lucky enough to be able to feed her with a spork, Abby loves to pretend like she isn't paying attention to the food in front of her and then quickly dive in and bite it off the spork. We applaud her technique (really just the fact that she is eating) and she claps and gets ready to do it again!

Wagon Weather

Recent nice weather prompted us to pull out Abby's birthday wagon and take her for a ride. Her and Daddy took the wagon for a spin to the mailbox. I think she liked it!

Stay Away Joe Francis

Every kids seems to go through this stage! We'll make sure she is done with it before she is a teen! ha!

Manhunters

Do any of you watch Manhunters?

Not the single type, but the fugitive type!

Marcus and I love it- Thursdays at 9 PM (Central time) on A&E.

It follows real life US Marshalls tracking wanted suspects. They will outline their strategy, show you their location and route on Google Earth, meet at ungodly hours of the day, and give you a real feel of NYC. I know where not to visit!

Set your DVR and check it out!

Also, if you see Girl Scouts in the area, they are now accepting donations for cookies to be sent overseas to soliders. How awesome is that! I softly turned down the sweet girl and her Mom at Abby's school and they told me I could donate to a soldier instead. I hope they like Thin Mints!

Happy Birthday Uncle Shaun

One more family birthday this week! Abby's Uncle Shaun is celebrating his birthday today. Abby wore her cool Converse hightops and her hoodie with a car on it just for him. And, she made him proud by being a little stinker and not sitting still for anything!

Happy Birthday Granpa

We love you, too!

Happy Birthday Grammy

We love you!

Birthday Present: Little People Noah's Ark

I saw my friend Tabriah last week and she brough Abby a giant bag filled with a birthday present! Included were some awesome play keys and this Little People Noah's Ark. We had just recently played with similiar animals at the doctor's office, so the timing was perfect. Abby enjoyed eating the animals and putting them in and out of the ark. Girl loves to organize things!
Next up, teaching her what each of these animals are! Thanks Tabriah for a wonderful gift! I was so sad to put the Little People nativity away and now we have an alternative.

It's A Hat

This week in her class at school, Abby Lu studied hats and practiced trying on different hats. Last week while I was at a meeting, Marcus caught Abby making a hat out of her utensil basket in her kitchen. Smart girl!

Pardon the overturned blender and the sink that obviously needs a plumber. This kitchen's Momma is busy!

Cheese and Cousins

Thursday night on my way home from a meeting, I saw this sign and knew it was the place for me! So, we ate lunch today at Chedd's, a gourmet grilled cheese restaurant. They had a million different grilled cheese options- breads, over 30 cheeses, meats, veggies, and sauces! I was pretty boring with mozzarella, pepperoni and Focaccia bread. A yummy pizza sandwich. They recommended I add green peppers, black olives and pizza sauce. I opted not to :)

This is Marcus' sandwich- smoked Gouda, cheddar, turkey and pickles on marbled rye. He loved it and wants to try every combination possible! This place was great for kids- Abby loves grilled cheese! She had cheddar on white with milk and a fruit cup. Perfect for her! This evening our cousins Landry and Bella came over to play. Abby and sweet Landry tried to get a picture, but Abby just wanted to look at Landry. Landry is such a little Mom, she has a voice just for talking to babies. And, she rubs Abby's head. So cute!

Birthday Present: The Ball Popper

Abby received so many fun new items for her birthday and we've had a blast trying them out. I placed a few in the closet to pull out in another month or so, but I wanted to share with the gift givers pictures of Abby playing with her new toys and books. My cousin Kristi always shares pictures like these and I enjoy reading them. It may also help many of you looking for new toys.

Abby received 2 purses for her birthday. What are you people saying, here? ha! We exchanged the purse from our friend Jay, Heather, Katie and Connor for this ball popper.

Very quickly Abby learned to press the purple button to turn it on.The balls are then pressed with air to move through the clear tube in the base and pop up the yellow center. Sometimes they even fly out or are pulled out prematurely by grabby hands!
And, when you finally get 2 balls out, you can bang them together!

Abby loves her ball popper- thanks friends!

Happy Belated Birthday Aunt Vicki

This week was my Aunt Vicki's birthday and I had a booger of a time getting Abby to share in the celebration! She threw the sign, kicked the sign and tried to eat the sign!
Heck, she wouldn't even smile for me!

But, the sentiment is the same!

We hope you had a wonderful birthday and that we get to see you again soon!

Looking Ahead

Wait just one minute, something feels wrong! Hmmm, I think I like this. I am in the car and I can see you. How does this work?

Hi Momma! Hi Daddy! This weekend we moved my carseat to Marcus' car and faced it forward for Abby. We have the clearance from the pediatrician! This carseat can face backward longer, but she is long and gets mad kicking the seat. So, we moved it to Marcus' car that she only rides in about 2 miles per day.

Her other car seat still has plenty of rear facing leg room, so it is now in my car and still facing backward.

We're Moving Up!

This pretty girl spent her last Sunday in the baby room at church! We hadn't been in about 6 weeks due to travel and crazy holiday festivities and it was too long for Abby. She was unhappy about being left. When I went and checked on her I asked about moving her up. So, next week she'll be with the big kids! After church, we had lunch at Rudy's BBQ and Abby played peek-a-boo with us.
When we got home, I pulled out all of her 12-18 month winter clothes and washed, dried and put them in her drawers and closet. So many memories in this bin- clothes from sweet friends, items I bought last winter's end, and gifts from our baby shower!

It is going to be a wild 6 months! Gymboree ran a leopard and zebra line last year. I bought a few of these items and the leopard shirt and pants were a gift from our friends Rob and Josette. I'm thinking Abby needs a black long sleeved shirt to go with these.

Abby spent the afternoon napping and playing! She crawled into the office and stood up trying to get her birthday party balloon. She loves to punch it and have it bounce back and hit her in the face!

We hope you had a wonderful Sunday, too!