April 30, 2010

Swimming Pool

Knowing that Abby loves being outdoors and water, we've signed her up for swimming lessons in early June. Her and Marcus will do the 30 minute lesson 4 days per week for 2 weeks. I can't wait to see her excitement to get in the pool everyday with Daddy! I'll be capturing it all on camera and video.
We have a neighborhood pool, but sometimes it is just nice to play in the backyard and water the grass :) I wanted this whale pool from Pottery Barn Kids, but it is on backorder until late June. Marcus went on the hunt and we bought this one...
Oh sweet Abby isn't going to know what hit her- between balls, slides, water, rings and a sprayer! She is going to be in heaven! Better stock up on sunscreen now!

16 months


While the wife is away, I can do my own 16 month post....

16 months:

Baby girl is also doing the following great things:

You are already working on your basketball game, tennis game, and of course football ability.
We are already applying for several scholarships to colleges for these sports...

You are also progressing well on your C++ proramming language, and able to debug most Linux based programming. As soon as we can get you to stop trying to eat the enter key, we will be able to move to graphic based programming...

you've beaten Takeru Kobayashi twice in the pudding eating contest.

Such an advanced baby girl!

- DADA


April 29, 2010

My Favorite Things about my 16 month old!

Seriously, I had no idea this little screaming head would be so much fun! At 16 months old, I wanted to capture a few of my favorite things about my precious daughter: I love your undying unwavering all consuming love of cheese.
I love your affection for falling into my arms when I am trying my hardest to get you to walk.
I love that you laugh the longest and loudest during bath time with your Daddy.
I love that after bath time when I wrap you in your towel you lean out of my arms to get a good glimpse of yourself in the mirror.
I love that you wake up in the morning calling our name, no crying or whining and that you immediately hit the ground ready to play.
I love that you say Momma with affection and Daddy with a soft flirty whisper.
I love that you see a frog on your signing video and you always laugh!
I love that you have special routines with each parent and they are totally different.
I love your stink eye face.
I love your big round baby belly.
I love your nice hands (rubs my arm after hitting me!).
I love your nose.
I love love love that God made you mine!

April 28, 2010

Balls! Balls! Balls!

Abby has a new obsession with balls- it doesn't matter what kind. She has them all- a red ball bigger than her, small high bouncy balls, light up balls, soccer ball, tennis ball, Daddy's basketball, cloth fuzzy baby balls and the list goes on!
When I get her up in the morning, she immediately says ball and wants down to pull out every last ball in her toy bucket. To see if it helps her stay in bed longer, I gave her a football to play with when she wakes up- she decided to sleep with it instead. She needs to be holding a ball in the car also. And, in her wagon. I let her take a tennis ball into Walmart on Sunday. It had to stay there after she dropped it and it went under an aisle. So sad.

I assume this is a normal phase that all boys and girls pass through. I'd love her to love her football longer!


April 27, 2010

Ladies Man

Have you met my friend Sonny?
Sunday night while at dinner with friends, our buddy Kiersten wanted to play with Marcus and they had fun. She recommended he bedazzle his flip flops to match hers. She told him she roots for the Astros and they shared some ice cream. When Marcus got up to go to the restroom, she asked where Sonny was? Cracks me up! I'll get right on the bedazzling, Kiersten!

Peanut Allergy

I didn't realize we hadn't updated everyone on the major health news in our family until I mentioned it recently and they had no idea- Abby is "deathly" allergic to peanuts. Remember way back when I discussed her poor face breaking out from wipes.... yea, it wasn't the wipes there were a byproduct of the mess she made eating peanut butter! I thought all the wiping on her cheeks made her red since I had to wipe extra hard to get PB off her face. We had given her a spoonful here and there and she didn't seem to like it. About a month ago, she loved it and ate a lot of PB. Afterward she went down for her nap and come up covered in red hives. We called the doctor immediately and since she wasn't experiencing swelling of the throat, we gave her Zrytec and she recovered over the next 24 hours. This past week she had blood work done and of the 80 things they tested (mold, cedar, every nut, corn, milk, etc.) she is only allergic to peanuts. I'm happy she doesn't have other food allergies- we can control nuts.
So, at the doctor yesterday we developed her food allergy plan for home and school and learned all about the EpiPen. We will have 4 pens- school, home, diaper bag and my purse. If Abby were to get a hold of peanuts and exhibit certain symptoms, we would have to inject her thigh with a strong dose of Epinephrine and go to the emergency room. Scary stuff! They will retest her at age 3 or 4 to see if she has outgrown the allergy.

Poor thing was scared to death the moment she saw the nurse- we have entered the "I know where I am and you hurt me" stage.

I love our local pediatrician and after her appointment we walked around for a few minutes. This is my favorite art work in the attached hospital. I love it!

It is so modern, yet rustic!

I'm off to Kansas City for the week for work, but I have scheduled fun posts to make it through the week! See you all on Saturday!

April 25, 2010

Table for 12 Please

Sunday night we had dinner with our friends, The Betaks and The Mizes. I went to elementary, junior high, high school and college with these ladies and having dinner with our 6 kids was a crazy grown up moment. Having 6 kids at dinner was the crazy part. We needed 3 high chairs, 4 of the 6 are under age 2 1/2! Luckily, we all have amazing kids because not a single fit was made in our 2 hour dinner. We girls normally meet alone and talk for hours. This time was a little different- ha! It was fun and I'm so glad we did it.
Love you both!

April 24, 2010

Saturday- Spiritual and Sweet

I hope that today I changed my life....

I've been reading So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore and today was her simulcast at 869 locations around the world to over 300,000 women. I guess this isn't just my issue :)
It is a wonderful book that has opened my eyes to some many parts of my life and the people around me. I thought I knew what I was insecure about, now I know where I am insecure and have real tangible tools to deal with it. Today's lesson gave us an explanation to the word SECURE and I wanted to share it with you all. But, you really should still read the book. A secure woman is:
SAVED FROM HERSELF- secure enough to stop obsessing over herself and what other people think of her in every situation.
ENTITLED TO TRUTH- Satan wants you to be insecure and live a lie.
CLOTHED WITH INTENTION- this doesn't come naturally in our society, Proverbs 31:25 says we are clothed in strength and dignity through Jesus.
UPENDED BY GRACE- more forgiving when you fill your empty space with the grace God has given you.
REBOUNDED BY LOVE- knowing that no matter what you do, you are truly loved by Christ gives a confidence that diminishes what other people think of you.
EXCEPTIONAL IN LIFE- knowing that you are special to Him and matter will allow you to be the things that others around you will seek out.
I'm grateful Beth Moore wrote this book and is giving our generation of women the opportunity to study and overcome this. There were women in the final years at this event- I don't want to grapple with this at 70.
I don't want her to grapple with it at 34. I want to be a role model for her.
After the simulcast, Marcus, Abby and I drove to Georgetown for the Red Poppy Festival. I love outdoor street fairs and Abby loves cotton candy!

Outdoor festivals are great for our family since Abby loves to be outdoors, people watch and see dogs! I enjoyed looking around the booths and we all shared sweet tea and cotton candy.
Afterward, we ran into the outlet mall so Marcus could buy a new pair of jeans- one size smaller! It was an exciting day- he has worked really hard with his personal trainer and was able to get into jeans/pants he has not worn in YEARS! I'm so proud of his work ethic.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend as well!

April 23, 2010

What is Abby doing?

She isn't choking herself, so what do you think Abby is doing here? She's signing the word FROG!
Abby loves to sign and is getting quick. We watch her Baby Signing Time video on the DVD player in my car on the 10 minute ride home from school each day and I'll hear her saying the words and then see her signing others.
The video has a small animated frog named Hopkins that makes Abby laugh. Not the most useful word on a daily basis, but a fun one!

April 22, 2010

Our New Glider

We have a long skinny totally bricked in front porch. It is one of the few things I don't like about our house. How do you make this type of porch welcoming? I can't hang anything since it is a brick exterior. It is so narrow, that you can't do a table and chairs. Oh how I would love 2 big deep rocking chairs! No sunlight, so plants don't do well. Plus, the door is not centered, so plants on each side cut off the main walkway. I might be tempted, but Marcus will err on the side of practical everytime.I've been looking for a bench to place on the porch. A place to sit your items on the way in and out, for the UPS man to leave cardboard treasures and something welcoming! I think I found it in this Garden Ridge bench that is actually a glider. I was oh so tempted to buy it in red, but thought that wouldn't look so good with the brick. I'm liking the black! I also planted some fake white flowers in a galvanized tub and placed them on a plant stand. I'm hoping to find some sort of a welcoming sign to hang on the wall with the special hangers for brick and mortar. In the meantime, Abby has a new place to sit in the morning while we wait on Daddy to load up his laptop bag, gym bag and Abby's bag. Luckily that extra time allowed us to brush our teeth thoroughly :)

April 21, 2010

Cottage Cheese and Super Heroes

Last night I met Andrea, Heather and Brandi for dinner at Luby's. It was yummy! I actually ordered one of my favorite desserts, the pistachio/pineapple/cottage cheese jello mold and was shocked to discover there are people on this Earth that do not like this. What?! I know! Brandi and Heather gave it a try. Heather thought it was better than she expected and Brandi wanted to know why there was jelly on her cottage cheese? We all died laughing at that one! Fun night celebrating Andrea and my birthday with 3 of my favorite people!
Speaking of favorite people, today is Super Hero/ Fairy Princess day at Abby's school. She didn't go as Cinderella. She wasn't Tinkerbell. Oh no, this is Marcus' girl- she went as The Flash. Hilarious! I wanted to put her in jeans with her shirt, but Marcus insisted The Flash wears red pants. Forget the fact that the red shirt is a different shade than the red pants. In Super Hero land, matching colors is totally optional.
I'll make sure she is in a totally girly ruffley outfit tomorrow!

April 20, 2010

So Serious

Anyone else's children look like they are solving the world's problems while they sleep? Abby is a funny, lighthearted, smiling kid when she is awake! But, asleep, she always looks so serious.

April 19, 2010

Daddy's Girl

Oh what an educational Sunday we had... we volunteered in Abby's class at church and learned that sombody likes having her Daddy all to herself! We thought it would be a low stress Sunday since we didn't have to leave Abby, but it turned out to be tough. She threw a full on face on the floor temper tantrum when Marcus held other children. The big problem- another little girl was very upset to be left by her parents and only wanted Marcus. Marcus tried holding them both, but that also didn't work. It was an embarrassing mess! Just in case you are wondering, she had no problem with me playing, holding, hugging, and loving on the other kids.

April 18, 2010

Backyard Photos

Since we were unable to have our family photos this weekend due to rain and mud, I tried to capture some of Abby in our backyard. I love how they turned out! Enjoy!






April 17, 2010

Saturday Shopping, Snacking and Spanking

We had great plans for the day and much of those didn't happen! We started the morning with breakfast at Mimi's Cafe in Round Rock. We ordered Abby Mimi Mouse pancakes and she threw every last shred of these nice pancakes on the floor. She didn't eat a bite- I was mortified. Luckily as early as it was the other guests were grandparents and young families who were very forgiving. We told her no, slapped her hand, spanked her bottom, took her outside, ignored her... you name it. Nothing worked. It was so frustrating. After breakfast, we went to Garden Ridge. I want a small bench on the front porch and they had a great option for us. We bought this bench in black; however, when we got it home we found the box was taped back up and the bench was damaged. So, we are off to Garden Ridge tomorrow.
After G.R. we went to IKEA to prepare for our church class' scavenger hunt in a few weeks. We had lots of fun coming up with the questions! Everyone is going to have fun running around looking for the Malm, Slorgen and Benno.

Abby played in her kitchen today as well. We raised it recently when some friends came over and discovered Abby can now touch all of the top buttons on her flat feet with it raised. She has definetely grown since December!

She loves that blender!

We were planning to have family photos taken this afternoon with a friend, but the rain pushed us back. So, Marcus and Abby played at the mall playground this afternoon while I visited the grocery store. Luckily, Abby behaved much better this evening and is happily snoozing for the night!

Playtime

Abby has developed a fun routine of playtime in her room. She discovered her big yellow chair and wants to sit in it by herself. She then stacks her books all around her, reads them one at a time, and throws them on the floor. Love watching her get into books- I was a HUGE reader as a child!Abby also loves to open and shut her wipes container. She likes for me to give her direction... I say open and she presses the button to open the lid. When I say shut, she closes it and looks to me for approval. Somewhere in between, when she is feeling defiant, she'll pull out a few wipes. I'm teaching her how to put them back inside. She also loves playing with Marcus' juggling rings. She'll put them over her head and then let them fall to her waist and she'll crawl out of them.
I'm just waiting for her to start juggling them herself.

So many fun toys at her disposal- and yes, she is wearing an Avengers shirt. Daddy has a say somedays :) Wednesday at her school is actually superhero/fairy princess day. Our choices are: The Avengers, The Flash, "Barf" Vader, and Abby Cadabby.
What should we pick?







April 16, 2010

Birthday Present: Phonics Magnets

I held back a few of Abby's birthday presents and brought out another new one recently- her Leap Frog Refrigerator Phonics magnets. I wanted to find something she could do in the kitchen when we are cooking or cleaning. She is slowly getting the hang of them! When she pushes the music note about the letter slot, it plays the ABCs and she claps and dances. This child will dance on a dime! Just break out in song or bee box and she'll boogie!
Getting the letter in the slot requires it to be right side up and that is the hardest part for her. She did it on her own for the first time this morning.

She is really good at taking them off the fridge and putting them back on- learning what a magnet is! And, notice she stood on her own!

I am 99% sure there were from Aunt Tiffany- so thank you!
By the way, her onesie says "My family tree is full of nuts" and was bought long before I was pregnant. It makes me laugh! Susan, I'll mail it to you when she outgrows it!

April 15, 2010

Mmmm- wah!

Marcus and Abby share breakfast together every morning at our local Starbucks. It was a timing decision- Marcus had to leave the house by 6:50 so I could get ready and he was dropping Abby off right at 7 and then was grabbing a coffe and getting to work early each morning. So, they moved it around and he gets a coffee each morning and they sit together and Abby has her milk and breakfast bar. It is the cutest little routine. All the green aprons know her and she knows them. They sit near the drive thru window and she blows kisses at the people coming in and driving thru. I love that Marcus found a way to spend more time with Abby and just love that Abby is social and loving toward others. Such personality!

April 14, 2010

Bubbles

Abby has learned the word bubbles from one of her sign language books and loves playing with them at school. It is one of those words she says with a smile on her face and admiration in her tone.
While picking up a new antibiotic for her bad ear infection (she's had it 3 weeks!) I bought a tub of bubbles at CVS. She loved them! She would pop them in her hands, crawl to them, let them pop in her face and hair and just smile! One of the most fun things about being a parent has to be seeing old things through her eyes. Bubbles aren't that exciting to me, but because she loves them I can't wait to go home and blow more bubbles!

April 13, 2010

Summer 2010 Vacation Booked

We decided we couldn't go all year without a vacation, but knowing Abby is so small and won't remember this trip, we decided not to go all out. So, we booked 3 nights at the Sheraton in South Padre for the very end of summer. We are hoping with the kids back in school, we'll have this big pool and the kiddie area all to ourselves. We also want to experience the beach with her and the nearby zoo in Brownsville.
Booking this for the end of summer also gives me a little more time to lose weight before the beach!


April 12, 2010

2010 Capitol 10K

Abby and I joined our friends Heather, Katie and Connor downtown this morning to cheer on Marcus and Jay at the Capitol 10K. It was a misty cool morning and Abby loved the people, dogs (new word for her!), and outdoor air. She sat looking through the fence and clapping, blowing kisses, and cheering for the runners.
Katie and Connor loved seeing the crazy costumes the runner wore- Heather and I saw a tall man in the crowd running in a wig. We pointed him out and then realized he had on a small Speedo with his wig. I don't think they noticed- thank goodness!

This was my favorite- Wendy and the Burger King! Our favorite runner crossed the line in under 58 minutes! He took Abby from me and did the last 500 yards with her. She wasn't real happy about it. I think we scared her lifting her over the fence, plus Daddy was a little wet :)


Jay crossed the finish line just a little after Marcus. He had his cell phone with him and was giving us updates. So funny!
After the race, Marcus shared his banana with Abby in the concourse. Girlfriend loves her 'nanas!

Obviously, the 10K was exhausting for her. Abby slept the whole ride back to the car and woke up for lunch a happy camper!

Marcus hopes Abby is interested in running and they do the race together in 10 years!

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