Birthday Weekend

We had a full weekend so we'll be talking about it all week! I just couldn't fit it all into one post! Marcus, Abby and I drove to New Braunfels this weekend to celebrate my Mom's birthday. Tiffany made us a wonderful and heart healthy lunch!

I think all Mom really wants for her birthday is a good picture of her with her grandkids. We took about 60 of them and this was the best one. At ages 9, 5 and 20 months, it was tough!

We had strawberry shortcake for dessert and gave Abby a bowl of cool whip with a spoon. She decided the spoon was too much work and had fun eating it off her fingers.

Abby hasn't spent a ton of time with Cohen, but she took to him this weekend and the had fun together.

So cute! We are really going to have to work with her on kissing boys all the time.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy 20 Months Sweet Girl

What I will remember most about Abby at this age- how funny she is! People are just drawn to her and we can't go into a public place without someone asking us "how old she is?" or telling us how cute she is. She just draws attention, sometimes because of her not-so-favorable behavior.

We recently learned to huff (exhale while bending arms and placing hands into armpits) and to exclaim, "I'm Mad". We are working on replacing hitting and throwing with letting her just say, "I'm Mad." The hitting is a regular occurrence when we don't get our way. It is a work in progress.

Our favorite foods right now are dried apples, pasta, cheese, peas, carrots and corn. She will eat massive amounts of peas and just loves them. We are struggling to get her to eat meat. The only meat she will eat on a consistent basis- Chick-fil-a nuggets! We still love milk, drink lots of water and sometimes mix a little tea in the water.

I think we are right on track size-wise. Abby wears 18-24 month clothes, moved into a size 5 diaper recently, and is now in a size 4 or 5 shoes depending upon the brand. I think our little feet are finally in the normal size range. As she runs and plays more, we are seeing her little baby face turn into a little girl face and her baby belly disappear. No thigh or arm rolls are left.

We still love Yo Gabba Gabba like crazy. She carries her Foofa doll most anywhere we will let her. She has been known to throw a fit when we don't allow her up on the couch to watch her show and force her to play in her room. Luckily, she recovers pretty quickly. She names all characters verbally and has learned to say, "that's not right" after an episode.

Verbally, we've been told she is very advanced. Most any word you say, she'll repeat if you ask her. Sometimes it is spot on and sometimes only the inflection matches up. We have been working on counting 1-5 and our primary colors. She is getting better at both!

No more progress on the potty. Going #2 unexpectedly has really scared her away from even sitting on the potty.

New IKEA purchases

We went to IKEA last weekend and purchased a couple of new things for Abby's room. We were lucky to sell a few things from her room on Craigslist to help make room and money for our new purchases! She got 2 new hot pink chairs for her little table. We previously had small backless stools and she couldn't sit on them well. She likes her new chairs.

Her table is great for drawing, reading books, and looking at pictures of her friends. We have a couple new pictures to add to her board. She is able to point out her friend Madeline and her school friends on her board.

This is Abby's new dresser that replaces her smaller chest of drawers and changing table. I should have gone this route in the first place- it takes up less space, provides more useable storage and Abby had just gotten too long for her changing table. Either her head was pressed against the top or her legs were hanging off. I have new crystal knobs coming to make this more vintage/shabby chic looking!

God bless IKEA for inexpensive options!

Welcome Home

My Dad and stepmom are back in Texas today! They have been traveling and volunteering in Idaho and Colorado since March. This is what Abby looked like when they saw her last.... Abby and Granpa
She can now walk, talks 10 times more, has lost a lot of her baby face, has much longer hair, a more slim physique and so much more since they last saw her!

I can't wait to see them!

End of Summer Splashing

Who am I kidding? School may start this week, but the summer heat isn't leaving us anytime soon! So, we'll spend the end of summer cooling off in the water at the splash park!

This was Abby's first time and when we pulled up there was only one other family there and all the water was spraying. She got really excited and we thought this must be what splash day at school that she loves so much must be like.

Turns out she saw the swings nearby and that led to all of the excitement- ha! We calmed her down after refusing to go swing and then she had fun in the water. This is until this sprinkler came back on while she was standing on top of it!

We stayed in the water for about 30 minutes and she spent most of the time filling up this pail and her cup and then pouring them on us and laughing about how funny it was to get us wet!

She looks like such a big girl in these pictures and I just can't imagine how she'll look next summer when we come back. I know I'll think she is such a baby in these.

See you next year splash park!

Warning: Post about Poo :)

Do you see the proud look on this girl's face? It is because she used the potty 3 times this weekend! I know, at 19.5 months!

We have had the Boon Potty Training bench since before Abby was born. With the lid shut, it makes a seat for an adult during bath time. Lately, Abby has shown interest in the potty. She signs it for us, correctly answers when we ask if she went potty, and signs potty when we are changing her diaper. So, the past week after bath time, we've had her sit on her potty and read her favorite books. We gave her a piece of TP to "pat pat" afterward and made no big deal about it.

Friday night, she went pee. We were so excited- gave her hugs, high fives and lots of verbal affirmation. The kid loves to get a YEA out of us! Saturday morning, we had her sit on the potty and read books for about 10 minutes. I sat in there with her and listened to her babble. I asked her if she went potty and she said yes. So, we stood up to look at it and she had gone poo. I can't accurately describe the look on her face, but she was mortified and confused by the poo in the potty. It was hilarious! She sat back down and didn't want me to see it. I kept affirming her and went to have Marcus do the same, but she was either grossed out or thought she had done something wrong. It was really funny!

Marcus took her to story time at Barnes and Noble this weekend and we bought her a potty related book so we can start discussing it more. Her school said they will be ready when we are and thinks she will do it early. I never imagined it would all happen so quickly- she was just a newborn!

Happy Birthday Nana

Happy Birthday Nana!

Love, Abby and her parents

This Kid Is A Riot

We took Abby to Picture People in the mall to get some new photos done. Our last photos were in the Spring and she has changed so much since then. She was a mess- all over the place and just dying to go and ride the carousel in the mall.

I feared we were going to get nothing out of them, but we ended up with 2 pictures that really capture this stage in our life and I just love them.

This one can't help but make you laugh!

And, this cheesy pose.... what can I say? We were just happy she was smiling. Reading books is a big part of our day now and this was the only way we could get her to sit still and stay on the mat.

Picture People in Lakeline Mall now has a black and white damask printed background! I am on the hunt for the perfect hot pink dress!

Saturday Dinner Dates

Saturday afternoon after Abby's long nap (3.5 hours and I had to wake her!), we went to see our cousins Landry and Bella. After a few minutes to get her bearings, Abby was running around with them like the best of friends. Oh the squealing! They played Bella Dancerella. Both L&B are so sweet to Abby and want to include her in everything they do. You'd expect kids their age to treat her like a baby and want her out of their stuff- such good girls!

We all went to dinner at Chick-fil-a afterward. Abby sat at the kids' table for the first time and did great. We forget she eats with kids at school everyday. She ate well, didn't fuss and laughed at Landry's "num-num-num"! Then, they played on the playground while we all chatted.

A group picture would have been so cute, but Abby wasn't playing along.

Thanks for sharing your toys L&B- we'll have you over to play next!

Friday Fun

Abby's school was closed for a teacher workday on Friday. Marcus had the day off with her and I had a 1/2 day. So, they came to visit me at work Friday morning. Abby put on a full show for my office. There were just a handful of us there, so she showed everyone all of her tricks- making faces, signing, running, raising the roof, Guns Up, dancing... she did it all!

Friday night we went out to dinner at Carrino's for Italian. We both love their food and you can split a meal there and still get really full! Plus, we know Abby will always eat pasta! She downs penne noodles without taking a bite. We have to give her just a few at a time- she crams them in and just swallows. It is a sight to see!

Her kids meal came with a sundae. While we were clearing space for it (to share with Marcus) and thanking the waiter, Abby dug right in. That'll teach us!

We are parents of a toddler- we were in and out in 25 minutes! ha!

Abby is a Thesbian!

We have a little actress on our hands!

First part of the video, she'll say "Adios" for you. For some strange reasons, she believes that word can only be said with your tongue sticking out of the side of your mouth. Wierdo!

Secondly, she'll on commend show you her angry face, happy face, suprised face and sad face.

I love this kid!

Smushy Kisses

We have gone from big open-mouthed wet slobbery kisses to eyes-open, nose-crushing, lingers too long kisses! Not that we are complaining at all :)

Zing Zang Zoom- Abby's First Circus

We were very blessed to receive free tickets in a private suite for the opening night of the circus! Walking up to the arena, Abby was excited by all the people and movement, but had no idea what fun was in store for her!
The suite we were in with about 20 people had comfortable seating, great circus decor for everyone to enjoy and a wonderful food buffet complete with special treats for the kids like chicken fingers, cheese quesadillas, milk cartons and cotton candy! Once the circus began, she watched closely. She spent a good deal of time either in my lap or standing in her chair.

While the horses (keyword here) were doing their performance, Abby kept loudly yelling "Moo". We'll obviously keep working on our animal sounds! ha!

Her favorite part of the circus was the music. This girl can dance! She stood in her chair or on Marcus' leg and dropped a funky fresh beat! It made us all laugh!

She loved playing with her hat, but would try to remove it when the camera came out. Isn't it cute!

The last act before intermission- two people were shot from these giant cannons across the arena and onto these blown up mats.

The sound of the cannons scared sweet Abby right out of her seat! Aww!

We left at intermission since it was 9 PM and we feared a post-bedtime meltdown coming on.

What a super fun night at the circus! I hope I don't sign 20 bite reports for a cranky sleepy girl today.

Happy Birthday Addison

Our friend Addison celebrated her first birthday this weekend and we got to celebrate her in her brand new house! She had a super cute pink and zebra party- her parents are WILD about her ;) It was a good opprotunity for Abby to practice sharing. Being an only child, she doesn't always share and likes to say "mine". We worked on her giving Addison her toys to play with.
The baby gate on the playroom was very helpful since Abby loves the stairs.

Addison's grandpa made her this cute teddy bear cake. It was such a precious gift. She didn't get all up in it, but was a very polite eater. We all ate from a wonderful zebra and pink cake made by my friend Kelly!

Happy Birthday Addison!

Grammy and Nana Visit

Marcus' Mom and my Mom visited us this weekend! Grammy (left) hadn't seen Abby in 3 months and got to see how much she has developed over the summer! We wasn't walking last time she visited- amazing!After my meeting and the birthday party on Saturday, we went to dinner at Olive Garden to celebrate Nana's upcoming birthday. I had bought Abby a set of washable markers and a sketch pad to help entertain her at dinnertime. She had lots of fun coloring! Since they were washable, Marcus let her have a little fun on his arm! It came clean easily with baby wipes. I may carry baby wipes in my purse until she graduates high school ;)The markers I bought are smaller and shorter which worked out great for her. She liked having one in each hand and then switching out colors every few minutes.

She colored with both her left and right hand- hmmm?

Thank goodness they are washable!

After dinner, we went to the mall so Abby could ride the carousel. She literally squealed with delight when she saw where we were.

Patience sweet girl

Marcus rode the carousel with her for 3 rotations (just $5 at Lakeline Mall!). She would make cute faces and smile big for us when she came around to our side.

And then we had to get her down. She has learned to grab on tight and monkey crawl up the pole to prevent leaving the ride. Luckily, Daddy is stronger than she is.

Abby had lots of fun showing off her favorite tricks for her grandmothers. Thanks for visiting and for dinner Carol!