4.5 Oh My!

I don't know how this has happened, but my sweet girl is 4 and 1/2 today. She has been counting down to the day for 3 weeks. Maybe it has something to do with this doll?

I told her for her 1/2 birthday she could pick where we eat lunch and we would go to Target and let her pick out one thing she wanted. It could be anything. For weeks she has said it would be an overpriced Sophia castle, but she called an audible and saved me $40 at the last minute. This girl can't resist baby dolls and especially ones she can take care of. We don't leave the house without a doll, her blanket, a drink and a snack. She had lots of choices and picked this doll whom she named Rose Mary. I found it wonderful that she now owns 4 dark skinned babies. She had a full ethnic line up to select from and this was her girl. 

For lunch, she selected Wendy's. She likes to better than CFA because it is quiet. ha!

On the flip side, she is obsessed with super heroes right now. She watches Superman, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans (little kid superheroes) over any other shows. She knows all the characters and loves Wonder Women. Fingers crossed we love WW through October because I would love that Halloween costume! Luckily Justice League is at Target right now and we have stocked up for cheap!

She has very set ideas of what Momma and Daddy are for. With me, she wants to snuggle, gives kisses hourly, likes to help in the kitchen, wants to go swimming and spin round and round and likes to do nightly prayers. I am her comforter when she is hurt or tired. She still crawls in my lap and sprawls out like a baby. Her legs are long, but they can still do the trick. She loves to surprise me with an iced tea on Starbucks runs with Daddy and knows my order at the doughnut shop on Sunday mornings. She likes to get me a Sweet-n-low at restaurants and wants to hold my hand when we are walking. 

With Daddy, she is all play! He does bath time, swings her, goes to the park, plays super heroes, throws balls, does dollhouse pretend play and reads her nighttime stories. She loves to wait for him on the porch when he is coming home from work. She always thinks of him when she sees a black car and says his name when we drive by his office. She wants to Face Time with him daily.

She looks like such a big girl some days! Her VBS picture from this week shows us how TALL she is compared to her friends. Her feet are stretched out and touching the ground while her friends feet are dangling. She is about 44" tall and about 45 pounds. She has grown 2 inches since January and lost a few pounds. People who see her comment she is tall and has leaned out. This is the face of a little girl and not a baby. She wears size 5 shorts and size 6 or 6X in swimsuits, shirts or dresses. Her waist is a 5 but her length requires the 6 in most things. We still wear a size 10 shoe and have since last fall. 

Abby loves shopping with Momma and especially trying on glasses and hats. Not even kidding. We do it all the time. She has entered the phase of wanting a toy at every store, but we have worked hard on that and I am seeing progress. She has learned she can tell me what she likes and then those things are options for her birthday or Christmas. I also have started making her name her favorite toys she does own when she asks for a new toy. It all seems to be helping. 

We did learn last week that her peanut allergy has worsened and she is now allergic to tree nuts. Bummer! It doesn't look like she will outgrow this allergy at all- it is now a Class 6 which means that touch could cause a reaction. We will be educating teachers for years :) We were most worried about switching from almond milk that we love to cows milk, but she has done fine. Hooray!

I can't complain about this child at all- I see the little person she is becoming that Marcus and I are working so hard to mold into a well-mannered, kind hearted little girl and I am so proud of her. She is a joy- most days!

VBS 2013

We have had a busy week- it is VBS week! I volunteered and Abby and Kyleigh attended VBS this week at our old church. We have so many friends there and it fit our summer schedule better than the new church, so we decided to do it! Kleigh got to do something for the bigger kids called FLYTE and she declared it better than VBS. I love that because it is hard to be appealing to tweens. They scare me!

We were at church at 8:30 every morning this week. How in the world did I do that daily? Wow- I am tired and really miss the hour long snuggles with breakfast and shows in bed. 

I was in the grade school crafts room. The kids most loved these snow cones and honestly, they are so cute but were such a pain to manage with 30 kids. But, they loved them, so we made it happen! We had about 200 1st-4th graders in crafts each day. Kids are exhausting. God love teachers!

The theme this year was Colossal Coaster World and it was amazing what the people at Great Hills did to make it come alive. The white blob in the middle is a spinning wheel with lights. 

The roller coaster behind the screens is a good 20' tall. It is made from PVC pipe, pool noodles and lights. Ah-mazing!

Abby learned about Jeezy as she likes to call him now (funny girl!) and was super excited to see Michael each day. He spent Tuesday after VBS swimming with us. These two are so sweet together- I love him!

I loved the week with old friends, sweet kids, and Jesus and am also happy to return to play dates and sleeping in next week!

Summertime Livin'

You know what we did this week.... the same thing we did last week and will do next week.... lots and lots of SWIMMING!

Abby was excited when I put on yellow flip flops to go to the pool and she ran into her closet and came back in shoes to match. This picture is the image of summer for us- sweet little toes, bright sandals and swimming!

Thursday night Marcus had to work late so we sent him a picture of us at the pool swimming! Life really is good! Swimming after rest time and then getting CFA to go for dinner. Love it!

Thursday was also 1/2 shakes at Sonic, so Abby and I had one that afternoon. Marcus took the opportunity to try the peanut butter and bacon shake. Gross! He said it was really sweet and then you'd get a "salty chunk of bacon". No thank you!

We spent this morning swimming with our friend Lilia, Andrew and Liesl. We always have a good time with them- they play really well together. We swam at the YMCA for over 3 hours and saw two other friends.

Andrew passed the Y's swim test and was able to do the big slides for the first time. You can see his shadow up top about to do the big swirly slide!

Fun times!

Fun with our "New" Friends

One thing that terrified me about leaving our church last Fall was losing out on strong Christian girls in my life. I need them to uplift me, encourage me, challenge me, teach me, you name it. They play a big role in my life. God knew what I needed an answered it in a big way- I have already made so many new friends at church and in our MOPS group there. By far, the biggest blessing is this sweet girl and her family!

We knew Carrie beforehand since Marcus and her worked together, but know I can claim her as my friend, too! We were at there house on Saturday night for a shrimp and crab boil.  

Marcus loved eating the yummy seafood and I enjoyed the steak Brian made for me. I just had to look away while they were cracking legs and looking for meat. :)

Abby has made two new friends in the family also- McKenna and Addison are fun little girls with total opposite personalities! Abby is a little bit of each of them. McKenna is my new little friend and she is certain my name is Abby also!

Monday morning we met our MOPS group at a local bounce house and Abby Lu ran and jumped with the kids. I was so thrilled for her- she kept saying, "that is X, I know him/her from the cash register church." She likes the cash register toy in her class, so she renamed the whole church!

She did a great job holding McKenna's hand and sliding with her. And, she followed a little boy around all morning calling JACK. I had to ask who his Momma was and thank goodness, she is another good friend because clearly my child is smitten with him.

I am so glad we took a big leap and joined our new church and thankful for a God who knew my biggest fears and met them ten fold!

Father's Day and a Little Rash

This sweet girl loves her Daddy and she was pretty excited to celebrate him today. Although she did ask when "her day" was. Everyday kiddo!

I will be sad when she outgrows Carters and I can't dress her for every holiday. This $4.99 shirt made me smile!

She gave her Daddy a homemade card and was so proud that she got his hair color, eye color and age correct. At church this morning, she made a little craft of all the things she likes to do with Daddy. He is pretty top notch in her eyes!

Most of all, they like being silly together. I am not silly AT ALL, so I can appreciate this in them. I am the serious parent.

We had fun plans to swim with friends all afternoon and grill; however, a call to the pediatrician's office to ask about this rash that has taken over Abby's arms led us to retreat indoors. We think it is a heat rash from swimming 4 days last week and her first real sunburn, but we aren't sure. We are putting cortisone on it and avoiding heat (when we see it get really red) and hoping we are much better tomorrow.

Wishing a very happy day to the wonderful Dads out there and praying for those without a father or those wishing desperately to become one. I know how hard days like this can be. 

Lucky Girls

Happy Father's Day to these two wonderful men! Abby and I are lucky girls to have them!

Week in Reverse

Abby and I had something fun every day this week and we loved it! She this was our only full week together until August so I packed it with summer fun! She has gymnastics camp, VBS, 4th of July, 3 weeks of gymnastics camp and then I am out of town and it is August!

Friday afternoon Granpa and Jacque came over to celebrate Father's Day. We went swimming in our neighborhood pool and played in Abby's room.

She was excited to show him the roly poly we had found in the flower bed. Abby loves roly polys and after keeping one in her room in a bowl with leaves and grass, we set him free on a leaf for a bed. Such a tender heart on this girl!

Thursday we had pizza poolside and swam with our friends Abbie and Lila. These girls make me laugh! Abbie is just like Abby- playing orderly games with set homemade rules. Meanwhile, Lilah was flipping into the pool, swimming until she couldn't stand and yelling, "Help I am drowning" repeatedly! On the other side of the pool, my cautious child has on a life vest, intertube and kick board. I eventually made Abby give up her life vest for her "drowning" friend!

We swam at Andrea's inlaws neighborhood pool. Gorgeous! 

On Wednesday, we took a tour of a local bakery (Blue Baker) and the kids learned about baking bread and made their own challah rolls. Abby was joined by her friends Megan and Addison. 

Funny story, the kids got to put their hands in flour and feel how soft it is. Abby then proceeded to put a handful of flour IN HER MOUTH before any of us could stop her. She freaked out and kept trying to talk, but only flour dust would come out. The sweet tour guide got Abby a glass of water and commented that was a first! I grabbed a paper towel so Abby could spit it out- it has made a paste when mixed with her saliva. She will never try flour again- I am certain!

Sweet girls sampling the chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, raisins and craisins for their challah rolls.

Abby put a little of each in her roll and then we made it into a heart shape.

Afterward, Carrie and Addison stayed for lunch. The girls were given warm chocolate chip cookies as part of the tour. It was such a fun morning and totally free! I highly recommend calling and scheduling a tour.

We ran by Old Navy before coming home. If this girl spots a hat, she wants to try it on. It makes me laugh- she does look great in hats!

On his way home from work, Marcus picked up Abby's bread creation. It was yummy!

On Tuesday, we saw Epic with Kiersten and Kaylinn. It was a cute movie of good vs. bad in the forest. The animation was impressive and I loved the slugs. They made the movie!

Total summer week!

Family Reunion 2013

We attended my Dad's Dad's family reunion the first Saturday in June. These pictures are just too cute not to post. I love this sweet girl and her little cousins!

Downtown Fun on the Train

We met our friends Lilia and Andrew at the Lakeline Station of the Metro Rail on Monday morning and took the train downtown for lunch. I have been wanting to do this FOREVER with Abby and we had lots of fun!

We walked a few blocks from the train station to lunch and stopped to capture a picture of the kids in front of the iconic Frost Bank Building. They weren't nearly as impressed as I expected :)

We ended up dining at a crepes restaurant on 2nd street. I was so scared Abby would hate them and make a scene, but I called it a quesadilla and she was in! We shared a ham and cheese crepe and then a chocolate crepe. They were both really good!

Afterward, we walked to Jim Jim's water ice for a snow cone. I have had their cones a few times before- more like an Italian Ice and they have real fruit pureed to make the juice. So much better than a traditional snow cone. Abby wanted chocolate which was much better than I expected. It tasted like chocolate soft serve. I had Strawberry with Coconut. 

These were necessary as it was almost 100 while we were walking around downtown!

We walked back to the downtown station and had about 10 minutes to kill We enjoyed the shade of the convention center!

We were back on the train and home about 2 PM. I would highly recommend taking the train! It was cool inside, very clean, quiet (minus these excited kids) and less stressful than I had imagined.