Abby's Three Year Portraits

Abby and I had her three year portraits done the first week of January. We used Sarah Phillips Photography for the first time and I loved her! She is the sister of a church friend of ours and ran a special on Facebook just before the holidays that her sister shared on her wall. I am always looking for an inexpensive photographer that will ultimately give you the CD of the images. I do too much digitally to only have a printed version.

I knew the location and look that I wanted and Sarah was eager to try something new. We took the photos just before sunset at Southwestern University in Georgetown. They have the biggest trees and best old buildings! I wanted a very vintage look to the photos.

Abby's dress inspired my look- it is very 50's. I am certain my grandmother must have worn one like it! I got it just before Thanksgiving in the holiday dresses at Buy Buy Baby. They were buy one get one free. So, I bought it and her Christmas dress that she wore to the Nutcracker. 

Her pink coat was a hand me down from church friends- it is beautiful and I'll be really sad when she outgrows it. The large silk flower I found on etsy to match the dress. It came from Germany!

This one below is currently my screen saver. I love these doors to the university's chapel!

The one is Marcus' favorite!

I love them all- in the end I got 2 CDs full of pictures from Sarah. Abby wasn't in the best mood and I am so glad she got a few treasures out of a grumpy girl!

Abby's Busy Schedule...

We have Abby involved in both dance and soccer this Winter/Spring and it is fun to see her make friends and develop skills in both areas. Skills meaning learning to listen, follow directions, work with others, etc. The skills are this point don't include kicking the ball or tumbling much :)

Tuesday after school we had to pick up a few things and Abby had her first icee. She looks so sad here, but she loved it. She loved having a blue tongue!

Wednesday after dance class, most all of us did lunch together at the Smokey Mo's in the parking lot. Michael Gumpl, Abby's little friend, was visiting and got to have lunch with the 6 girls! I love spending an hour a week with these Moms. We bounce ideas off each other, talk about elementary schools in the area, and support each other's kids as they accomplish new things. It is fun!

Thursday, Abby had her second soccer game. Like her new soccer bow? Once I knew her uniform color, I had to help her accessorize. It didn't stay in long enough to go in the game :) Next week!

 Have a great weekend everyone!

Weekly Randoms

We have had a busy and random week, so this post and recap will be random, too :)

Abby and I did some Valentine's shopping this week. We did it a little early so that we could send a package to our World Vision child, Ahlumile, in South Africa. Here is her goodies. I have a hard time shopping for her- what doesn't require knowledge of the English language (books, cards, etc.) or requires more than she has, seems extravagant, etc. I just struggle. Oh, and the items must all fit into a 6" x 9" envelope and weight less than 13 ounces. It costs about $10 for a 13 ounce package. More than that is more postage.

So, here is our little Valentine's package. The good news is that I bought everything in bulk, so I am about done with her school and dance goodies, too!

Abby has water painted a few times this week. Since I took a picture the first time, when she colors she now tells me to take her picture :)

Marcus and I have been trying to eat low fat, low sugar, low carb like we did last Spring. We did really well the first week and then this week haven't done as well. We are just too busy right now to put such crazy diet restrictions on our life. We did lose weight in the 2 weeks (5 pounds for Marcus and 7 for me). We made this yummy salad with grilled chicken, strawberries and a homemade strawberry vinaigrette. It was good!

We dropped it today when I had more dental work done. I have a crazy number of cavities to fill- the dentist told me sweet tea is the worst! It gives your teeth a little coating of sugar with every sip. For about 3 years, I drank at least a 32 ounce tea each day. Oops. I am paying for it now.

I had 4 cavities filled last week and went back in today for 6 more. I know- INSANE! Well, 2 of those from last week were bothering me. So, he planned to redo those 2 today and then 2 of the remaining 6. Numbed both my upper left side and lower right side. After he did the two right (well almost finished them), I had to remove the mouth guard and cough- I was choking. That got the cavitiy wet before it was supposed to, and he had to do it all over again. That meant we were out of time for the left side. So, I got it all numbed up for nothing. Needless to say, soft food was required and most soft foods are carbs. I quit the diet- I couldn't do a numb mouth and grilled chicken or steak.

We'll enjoy the next few days since Abby is staying with my Mom this weekend and part of next week and then go back to being better with our carbs. It is eye opening to know how many carbs are in some of my favorite foods.

Finally, it is a big birthday week in our family! Happy Birthday Mimi, Granpa and Uncle Shaun. We hope you all have great days celebrating! I think Granpa (my Dad) is celebrating it best- they are headed to Florida for a cruise to the Virgin Islands. Jealous!

First Soccer Game

We had our first soccer game this morning and as expected it was comical. 

Ten 3 year olds on the court makes for good entertainment. Some kids got the point, some wanted the ball no matter who had it, some forgot the point of making a goal in their net, and some could care less that a game was trying to occur. Abby fell into the last category.

If 3 year old soccer needed or required a goalie, she would have been ready! She loved standing in the net and even got her hair bow caught in there at one point.

At one point the "zebra" was talking to her about getting into the game. She just waved at him, smiled, and kept on playing solo. She did say she had fun and loves soccer which is good.

We don't keep score and everyone is a winner- which I appreciate at this age. I think our team scored more goals, but the majority of them were in the wrong net :)

Our next game is on Thursday. It can only get better!

Napping, Water colors, and a Birthday

Abby and I had a fun day of just us! Daddy had to work late, so we spent the whole day together. After dance class, we made a quick stop at the grocery store and then had lunch at Chick-fil-A. Their grilled chicken nuggets are wonderful! A really healthy and yummy new option! We even ran into two friends there and Abby got to play. Good to see you Heather and Brittany.

We got home about 12:30 and I started the dreaded rest time process. Abby hasn't napped in over 2 weeks and I am a little frazzled about it. I wouldn't care if she just had quiet time in her room except she doesn't stay quiet or in her room and she is a whiner from 3-8. I was going to force her sleep today if it took everything I had. It almost did. She finally went to sleep after 3 PM. I bribed her, spanked her, yelled at her, shut her door, took away her toys, you name it! I think she fell asleep from crying so long. We'll see how tomorrow goes. We must keep some sort of nap unless she can keep a good attitude without it ;)

Tonight after dinner while awaiting Daddy's arrival, we pulled out one of our birthday gifts at water colored! I had not done this with her yet, but she had at school because she knew just what it was and what to do! 

She had lots of fun coloring Dora and making brown paint! She also liked having blank sheets to draw on her own. She always draws me a number 11 and then proudly proclaims, "it's your favorite number!" So thoughtful.

I helped with Dora's skirt. She mostly used her right hand tonight? I wonder if that is what it will be. Notice how red her lips are- lucky girl!

Finally, a Happy Birthday to our Aunt Vicki! We love you and hope you have a wonderful day! Abby is coming to stay with Mom for a few days later this month and she has asked to see Aunt Vicki, Uncle Cecil and Kaki, the dog. She doesn't forget anyone!

Glow Sticks Party

I read on Twitter about a Mom who bought glow sticks from the dollar spot at Target and let her kids play with them in the bath. She talked about how much fun they had and it was the best $1 she ever spent!

I would totally agree! 15 sticks for $1 and lots of glow in the dark fun!

I let Abby play with them tonight and they put 2 other sets of 15 sticks in her treasure chest when she earns 10 stickers on her responsibility chart. She loves counting her stickers and I think having these in the chest will excite her!

Celebrating Number Three

We celebrated Abby Lu's 3rd birthday on Saturday morning. She had about 20 of her little friends over in the jammies for breakfast. One day I'll be able to get a good group shot of her and all her little friends, but as you can imagine, they were all over the place!

Abby has been so excited about her party and she was a good hostess welcoming her friends, sharing her toys, and saying goodbye to most everyone. I think she was a little overwhelmed because Marcus found her sitting in my office closet at one point during the party. Weird!

She loved everyone singing Happy Birthday to her and did a great job blowing out her candles! I love this picture of her in her fuzzy jammies with a sweet Fruit Loop necklace. She won't look this young forever.

This is one of the only cute pictures I got of Abby and her guests, cousins Bella and Landry. Such a sweet pictures of three little girls!

We had lots of people in the house- I have tried to shrink her parties each year and focus on her little friends more than everyone we know! I have no doubt that will get easier as she truly makes friends at church and school.

Luckily we had good weather, so many of the kids ended up playing outside with the swingset, golf clubs, soccer balls and frisbees. Thank goodness for good weather- it extends our living space for everyone! You never know with a January party! 

We did not open gifts at the party- I think Abby has a hard time with the attention and since she wasn't thrilled with presents at Christmas, I didn't want her to not show interest at the party and offend anyone. So, we discussed opening them on Saturday afternoon, but Abby wasn't interested. :) We convinced her to open gifts on Sunday morning before church. It took some work to convince her, but she loved all of her goodies! We are going to have fun pulling out new toys for her every couple of weeks. 

The house is back in order, the punch bowl is packed away again, and we are left with happy memories, lots of wonderful and thoughtful gifts, and two big polka dotted balloons!

As you can imagine, I have lots more photos of the party decor, food, crafts, and goodies to come next week. You can click here to see more details as they post.

Happy Birthday sweet Abby Lu!

Abby and Friends

Abby's social calendar was full last month ;)

On the Friday after Christmas, we had breakfast to celebrate Blythe's 6th birthday. I texted her Mom Natalie when I got Blythe's invitation and told her we were planning the same party... Blythe's party was Pajamas and Pancakes and Abby's is Dolls and Doughnuts. It was fun to see the girls in their jammies and eat yummy pancakes with our friends!

One Monday night, we had dinner with the families of two of Abby's church friends- Lauramae (pictured here) and Megan. Abby talks about both of these girls on Sunday, so it was nice to have dinner with them and their families. I look forward to the day when us adults can talk more and there isn't the stress of Abby not eating the lovely meal. We had amazing baked spaghetti with cream cheese inside, brown sugar green beans, and homemade rosemary bread. Oh, and I should not forget Peppermint Cheesecake. Seriously, Abby ate like 2 green beans. Stinker!

In mid-December, we had our Fantasy Football wrap party and Abby got to play with Ellie who just turned two. She is the sweetest little girl- I love seeing her run and play. I'll never forget the miracle that she is!

We also had dinner with our little friend Madeline last month. Marcus was working late, so Abby and I met Madeline and Caroline at Chick-fil-A. We have known Madeline since she was born and at dinner she spoke more without hesitation with me than I've ever heard. I was so proud to see she was comfortable with me and had something to say! Abby and Madeline loved running to the playground and then coming back and declaring it too loud. So, they read books to each other.

Abby watched a Yo Gabba Gabba episode called "Talent" and each character identifies their talent. Abby once asked me her talent and I had to really think about it. We decided her talent is making friends and work with her on how to be a good friend- give hugs, share our toys, greet each other. I love seeing her work on being a good friend with these special girls.

Let the Games Begin

Thursday was Abby's first soccer practice! We enrolled her in soccer at our local YMCA. It was a minimal investment and we thought a good time to let her try something new. She loves balls and running and after our difficult transition into dance class, we felt like she needed more exposure to group activities.

Since this was her first athletic activity, she wore her first pair of Nikes. They look tiny on her (size 9)- I swear they are as wide as they are long!

Practice is 45 minutes every Thursday for the next 8 weeks and then we have games on Saturday mornings. She wasn't always on the same page as the other kids- not standing in line listening fully; but, she did 10 times better than her first dance class!

 It was nice to have Marcus attend and see just how difficult it is not to try and force her to participate. You want to talk in your serious voice, pop her, take her arm and put her in place, but it all will not work. You just have to keep calm, praise her when she does well and consistently enforce the message, in this case, "stand on the white line and listen to Coach Mark". 

This only happened once which makes me happy- A major improvement!

I honestly think she could be good at this. She has the right build :) But, she can kick the ball. She can stop it with her foot. She made 2 of 3 goals. She was a toot during practice when it wasn't her turn and she had nothing else to do. I'm excited to see if she does have talent for soccer, if she will focus and apply herself, and if she keeps up the interest.

Until then, Marcus is "that" Dad and I'm a soccer Mom and we love it!

Three Year Well Check

Marcus and I were so excited to see our pediatrician this morning. We then realized how blessed we were- we have seen her 2 times in the last year. We have a healthy little girl and we wanted to show off how wonderfully smart and big she is, but we also had a couple of questions and concerns that we wanted to get her opinion on.

First up, the stats. Abby is a healthy big girl. She is 37 pounds and in the 95th percentile. She is also tall at 38 3/4 inches which is the 88th percentile. Dr. Sperling looked at her and proclaimed her healthy with a "strong bone structure" and not overweight. She said she could tell it was her build and not a big belly. She is a little linebacker :)

We talked about all the normal things like moving her to a bigger carseat. We purchased a new one after the appointment since she is too long for the current one! I evaluated all the seats based upon price and the length they can accommodate. This one will keep her in a 5 point harness to 65 pounds and converts all the way to a booster for up to 100 pounds and 57". Perfect! 

We also discussed moving her to 2% milk, switching her to regular toothpaste after testing her ability to spit, how much sleep she should be getting, and refilled her Epi-Pens and Flonase for another year. We also did a vision test which she passed.

Our biggest areas of concern likely sound silly to other people and especially parents with older kids, but she is our first and we don't want to mess up or not report something we should. 

We wanted to update her on Abby's fear of noises. We have left playgrounds and movies because she was scared. During her school play, they put tissue in her ears to muffle the other kids singing. Other noises that frighten her- toilets flushing, blowdryers, leaf blowers, hand dryers, big trucks, motorcycles, etc. The Target bathroom is a nightmare. When she hears these noises, she will freeze and cover her ears until we reassure her or the sound passes. She genuinely seems frightened.

Our other concern is Abby's OCD, as we call it. She is VERY particular about some of her things. Sets belong together and she will lose her mind if she has 4 of the 5 toys that came together. She even questions when,  for example, 2 Gabba characters are in a scene and the others are not. She doesn't understand why they are not all together. She can't just have her Dora toy, she needs the whole family. She is also particular about matching like colors together- pink foam must go in the pink bowl. A yellow toy must have a yellow blanket. Three animals means three blankets at night. I am particular and like things to match, but she has a more aggressive almost obsession with it.

In both of these cases, Dr. Sperling wanted us to watch her and if we felt like either of these were disruptive to her happiness or the flow of daily life they she would recommend occupational therapy. Until then, we should expose her to sounds over time and praise her for being brave and that we keep her engaged in MDO and a preschool program to help her learn to transition better before kindergarten. All reassuring!

New Glasses

Do you like Abby's new glasses! While at Dollar Tree shopping, Abby wanted her picture taken with the reading glasses. I think growing up with both parents wearing glasses makes her especially interested in them!

We went to Dollar Tree and allowed Abby to pick out 5 things for Marcus for Christmas. We had the most fun discussing is that for Daddy or Abby! She also would put things back as she found something else she wanted to get him. In all, she did great.

Marcus got a giant blue crayon, Dora stickers, razors, a back scrubber (she thinks it is a giant hairbrush) and some body scrub. I hope we do this each year!

Second Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my Mom and sister's family on New Year's Eve day. It was so pretty outside that the kids were able to kick the soccer ball and swing. Loved the weather last weekend!

Since they had to drive to me, I made them all lunch. We had salad and girl scout casserole. Plus, we ate birthday cake and ice cream in honor of Ms. Abby Lu!

We opened presents after lunch- we bought Cohen a new game for his Nintendo DS.

And, Kyleigh got a new shirt, scarf, and hat. She is definitely a normal 10 year old girl, she wants new clothes!

Since learning that Marcus can wear a youth hat, we've had lots of fun! I love that he plays along with me :)

Mom and Tiffany spoiled Abby with some fabulous things including this really cute cape. My sister made both of my Christmas gifts and I love them! She is becoming a really talented on the sewing machine. She made me a cute apron and a messenger bag!

Abby refused to take pictures, so here is my Mom with her more cooperative grandkids :)

The tree is now done and most of the gifts are put away. After all, we have a birthday party coming up on Saturday! Hooray!

Christmas Day Recap

I am a little behind with all my holiday posts, but I don't want to forget Abby's Christmas presents this year. It will help me when planning next year.... get her less! She wasn't excited about anything. Maybe next year?

I was so excited she is finally 3 and can play Candy Land. We have played in a handful of times and it is fun! She is still learning the rules, but gets super lucky with the "jump" cards. Santa also brought her much needed shoes, a soccer ball and shin guards. She starts soccer this month!

These little dolls on the left were found on Etsy, named Mary, Mabel and Maxine. Abby sleeps with them! We lost Mary at Wal-Mart and I retraced our steps across the whole store. In a last ditch effort, we stopped by customer service (3 days after Christmas, ugh!) and someone had turned it in! Santa also brought Abby black, brown, and pink  fleece pants for the upcoming winter along with a few other outfits.

Finally, Santa knew Abby loves Dora and brought her a ball and a book that comes with all 12 characters as small plastic toys. Abby loves them, they moved into the birthday dollhouse :)

We stayed home all day on Christmas. It was wonderful- we watched TV, played games, and relaxed. No real need to pull out the camera! 

Next to Candy Land in the picture above is the letter Santa left Abby telling her about the Barbie Jeep he bought her and to go to the garage. She has riden it twice since Christmas and is terrified of it. We'll try again every few weeks- I just know she will love it eventually!