Visiting Santa 2007

Well, I guess I don't have to tell you that this was our worst year yet. Abigail has yet to cry when we visited Santa and I thought since she is older and has things she is actually asking for for Christmas that she might want to talk to him. I was wrong! We waited about an hour in line and she seemed excited about it and told us all the things she wanted to tell him like "I want a dishwasher, twins babies, clothes for them, and everything I need." That is her list for this year, however when it came time to go through with it she didn't want to get near him much less sit on his lap. So we now have the crying santa picture. She did tell us later that she had fun. Go figure. I wanted to scan in the last two years pictures with Santa but it will have to wait until I finish this enormous amount of wrapping that has to get done here before Sunday and Abigail is sleeping now and it is prime time! Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2007

It's not Christmas yet but we have been modeling and photographing the new outfits Grammy made us to wear this Christmas season. With the warm weather we have been having in December it was nice to make pictures outside. It was at least 70 degrees yesterday and today.

Because I am sure everyone has been wondering about Abigail's potty training(ha!) and for my own documentation purposes we are extremely close to being trained and it all started the Monday after Thanksgiving. That day she finally used the potty rather that just sitting there for an hour and I think it just clicked in her head what to do. She does great at home and rarely has accidents, however we haven't really tried using the potty in public so she is still wearing diapers/pull-ups when we leave the house. Also we are Christmas shopping and staying away from home longer than usual so that doesn't exactly help. She is such a creature of habit she can't really go without her particular seat that she uses. It looks like she might be able to go to preschool next fall after all!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween this year! That morning we went to Kindermusik and wore our costumes and had a little party after class. Then we came home and took a nap and began to prepare for trick-or-treating that night. We drove over to trick-or-treat at Grammy and Pop's and then we came home and went to a few more houses and then came home to pass out candy and roast hot dogs and have smores in the driveway. Abigail liked trick-or-treating (pushing the doorbell actually) but she really liked putting candy in the other kids buckets. I thought she might not want to "share" but she didn't have any problems and she would tell them"Have a Happy Halloween" as they were leaving!

Boy Styles have Changed

While we were at my mom and dad's last weekend mom got out some of my old dresses and we wanted to try them on Abigail. We only got one on her so we took some pictures. I had my picture made in this dress that I wore when I was over 3 years old. I point that out because Abigail is only 2 1/2 and look how short the dress is in the back! I didn't bring the picture of me home and so I didn't have it to scan in to compare but I dare say I guess this was in style 27 years ago! Who knows. Oh yea theRaggedy Ann doll is in the original picture and that is why we wanted Abigail to hold it too. Raggedy Andy is face first on the floor, she doesn't know what to think of a boy baby doll.

My First Ponytail

We finally have enough hair to pull all of it up in a ponytail! I thought it was so cute, a lot cuter than the picture shows because her little curls fell down by her face, however don't expect her to be wearing her hair like this because the ponytail only lasted about 5 minutes. I kept trying to put it back and she didn't like it one bit. Now, I am lucky if she lets me comb her hair at all. She wasn't used to the mild pulling required to get the scrunchie around her hair. You would have thought I was plucking her hair out one by one. She was yelling "ouch, stop, no, I don't want a pinktail!" Oh yea, how about that smile, I think I have seen that before on someone else that lives here.

Pumpkin Patch, Carving, and Cookout

A couple of weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch and bought a pumpkin to carve and a little one that Abigail can carry around. I will have you know that the two pumpkins seen in the picture cost $15! I think that is a little much since you can buy them all day long at Wal-Mart for $3.97. I guess the picture taking opportunities, the train ride, and the atmosphere are what you are paying for. Anyway, we carved it a few days later and Matthew made the first fire in his fire pit that he got for Christmas last year. Abigail cooked her hotdog and we had smores later. I think she enjoyed it!

Playing Dolls

Abigail loves baby dolls of any kind! She is really getting her imagination developed. She feeds, rocks, puts to bed, and talks to them as if they talk back. She explains what is happening on tv to them. It is so cute. The doll in the picture is Bitty Baby and she and Abigail have new matching dresses that I found at TJMaxx (my favorite store!) She sort of cooperated when I asked her to let me take her picture with her baby in their new dresses and then she decided Bitty wanted to ride on her shoulders like she does on Daddy. It was pretty cute!

U of M Football Game

Last night we took Abigail to the Memphis football game. This is the second one that we have taken her to and she does pretty well. I like the night games, I am sure she wouldn't do as well at the 1:00 games that are coming up since she is usually asleep at that time. Grammy made her this cute new tiger outfit. The people taking the tickets at the gate called her the "little cheerleader". She was even friendly with the man that sits next to us and shared her fruit snacks that I save for occasions like this in case of a meltdown. She didn't have a meltdown she just found them in my purse. We left before the game was over but we didn't get home until after 10:00. The game was on tv and was taking a long time! We watched the rest at home and the Tigers finally won one.

Fun at the Park

On Sunday afternoon I talked Matthew into going to the park near the house that was having a community picnic type of thing. When Abigail woke up from her 3 1/2 hour nap we drove over and had a big time with Abigail even though if was crowded and we had to wait in line for the things she wanted to do. Abigail rode the ponies which was surprising because back in April when I took her to the Fish Fry in Paris she didn't want any part of it and wanted to stay far away. She requested the "pink pony" and luckily that is the one she got. Her name was Baby Doll which she loved and as she was sitting there waiting to go she was petting her mane and she said "look mommy I am petting her tail on her neck"! She fed the goats and even saw Lenny the guinea pig (like wonder pets on tv). The picture in the middle is Abigail looking at this little, tiny, pig that squealed and squealed. She thought it was so funny. She finished off every last drop of her snow cone (because I wouldn't let her eat it in the car) and we came home. Oh yea, we all ate dinner there B-B-Q and kids got hot dogs and the weather was perfect.

Playing in Paris

Well I was finally able to get the pictures off my new camera. Between the new software and the fact that I can't just put the SD card in the printer like I used to do I have had a hard time figuring it out. I actually had to use the cord and hook it up that way, then the USB port kept saying "does not recognize this device"! We all know that I am not all that computer savvy anyway.

Last weekend we went to my parents because it was opening weekend of deer season(archery anyway). It was Matthew's birthday on Sunday and it was his idea to go because that is what he wanted to do on his birthday. Matthew goes hunting in Paris with my brother and uncle. Before we left on Sunday we took Abigail up to the park with my parents to waste some energy before we got in the car to head home. The first picture is Abigail and my mom pretending they are Raggedy Ann and Andy and the other is my dad getting the mulch out of her shoe. We have to empty shoes a lot I think she could feel a blade of grass in there. I will be glad when it is tennis shoe weather and we don't have to worry about that.

Happy Birthday to me!

So I guess turning 30 is not so bad considering Matthew got me this fancy new camera and planned a party at our own house without me knowing. He did everything, invited family from out of town, bought groceries and hid them at his parents house, cooked the food for everyone, and researched buying a camera. This all happened Sunday and we even went to church that morning. It was a fun day and thank you to everyone for coming! It is now going to be pretty difficult to make Matthew's birthday just as special. His birthday is this Sunday.

Bible Study: Before and After

Well last Thursday was the first day of MOMS which is the Bible study I went to last year and have started again this year. I love going and I think I am going to love it more this year because Abigail is getting better about me leaving her in the nursery. We have never done any kind of preschool or mothers day out and so church was the only time anyone else kept her(besides family that she knows and had rather be with than me anyway). She has been doing fine at our church for a while now but this study is at Bellevue and so it was a new environment. Well, to make along story short she repeated all the way in last Thurs, "I don't want to go to this church" but when we got in and looked into her class she started squirming to get down and walked right in and never looked back. Who knows I might be able to start staying for the lunch they have afterwards and get to eat with just adults for a change. Oh yea, the first picture in the pink was last year and the red overalls was last Thursday. I can't believe how much her hair has grown. I didn't think she would ever have hair. I love her curls and it was definitely worth the wait.

Back to the Bible study if there is anyone out there who is trying to "raise up their child in the way they should go" and need a little encouragement to "Run well and finish strong" (that is Jeans study last year) there is a live video feed of her study this semester called "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall" a study of James that plays on www.bellevue.org at 10:30am every Thursday. It is the best thing I have ever been a part of and she really understands the trials of bringing up your children to love God and how to incorporate it into your everyday life. She is so easy to listen to the time just flies. She will have you laughing out loud one minute and crying the next. I love it! If you like to read blogs the teacher has one and it is www.jeanstockdale.com and there is a link right on the front page to read her blog and a list of other blogs of christian mommas that she reads and so do I now.

Labor Day Weekend

Abigail and I went to Paris Labor Day weekend because one of my best friends from high school Staci was coming home for a visit. She and her husband Travis and little girl Sierra live in Jacksonville, FL so they only get to come once a year. Sierra has gotton so big and Staci is expecting another little girl at the end of February. While we were at home we went to the fair in Camden where my grandparents and brother live. Scott met us at the fair, so that is him holding Abigail in the picture with my mom. You have to understand that for some reason up until now Abigail has been very distant and pretty much rude to my brother and other male family members that she only sees every few weeks. She won't even look at them and then she will cut her eyes over and give them a dirty look, and she wouldn't touch them or even take a toy from their hand. She would start whining to be picked up and turn her back to them. It is really embarassing but I really didn't know how to fix it. I had tried everything like keeping pictures of them on the fridge and talking about them. Well, little did I know that riding the merry-go-round would do the trick. I knew she loved it because we have one here at the mall that we ride often. Abigail wanted to ride the rides so bad that she didn't care who was taking her and I guess she realized Scott wasn't going to hurt her and she has been acting better ever since. Scott carried her all night and rode the rides with her and he took her to get cotton candy and she sat in his lap to eat it and that has never happened. Maybe she is coming around and just getting older might have helped. I hope so!

My New Curtains!

Well I finally made a decision on the fabric and Matthew's mom made us some curtains for the kitchen. They are roman shades and I love them! These are my first curtains ever. We never bought any for our other house and there is not a single curtain on another window in this house. It is a good thing we have blinds. It was pretty painless and now I might even attempt to find some for Abigail's big girl room that is not even started, that way I will have plenty of time to make the decisions that I am terrible at doing.

I do love the curtains and they are just what I had pictured, just like the pottery barn catalog. Did you notice in the first picture that I don't have a single sippy cup sitting on my sink? I want you to know that never happens here. I wash them at least three times a day and there is still one lingering it seems.

Naptime and Potty Training

Things are not going well here on the potty training homefront. I have resorted to filling her full of undiluted apple juice, which she never gets, so that she will drink it all quickly and hopefully help her to use the potty. Here is the problem, we have spent a lot of time on the potty however she has not used it even once. I put her on it in the morning when her diaper is still dry and when she get up from her nap, still no luck. I finally give up and put her diaper back on and guess what she goes immediately. I guess this is normal, I don't know. We have decided to take a break for a while. I hadn't thought of this until Matthew's mom suggested that I wait until my Bible study starts and maybe there will be someone potty trained in her room and she might see them and get the hang of it. However I am potty trained and I have tried to model the behavior many times and still no luck! Ha!

On to cuter things...

Here is what I see everyday at about 3:30 pm. Yes, I know she is 2 1/2 years old and she still has to have her "paci and lovey" to go to sleep. I really don't know how or when we are going to take it away from her. Frankly, she sleeps so great I am scared to try. She does know she has to leave it in her bed when she gets up. Check out her hair. The longer and curlier it gets, the wilder it looks when she wakes up. You should see it when she goes to bed at night with wet hair.

Prayer Request

I have been thinking about my friend Stephanie Vasofsky a lot lately and along with the other blogs I read I always read her journal that she posts everyday. Some background on how I know her. We were hired the same year as new teachers at the same school then proceded to teach together for four years. We both quit teaching around the same time because we had babies. I didn't see her for a while and then I started the MOMS Bible study and she was there. Well, at the end of the study last April I found out that she had been diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer and the tumor was already so large that it was pressing on her lung. She is only 28 years old! She has a supportive husband and little Zoe who is now 18 months old. She is taking chemo now but has already completed radiation. She has the best outlook on life that you won't even believe and a sense of humor to go with it. All she wants to do is use this trial in her life to bring people to Jesus. Please think about her and her family and say a special prayer for her.

Here is the link to her website that has her story and journal:

http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/inputSiteName.do?method=search&siteName=stephanievasofsky

6 Years and Counting!

Well, tomorrow is our 6th wedding anniversary so the other day I used my precious naptime(Abigail's that is) to walk down memory lane looking through old pictures from our younger days. I wish I could say that we were doing something exciting tomorrow night but the fact is that we went to dinner on Wednesday night so we could let Matthew's parents keep Abigail. They left yesterday to go visit Amie , Craig, Jimmy, and John. As for Saturday, the real day, we will be doing our usual. Getting up, eating breakfast, "playing toys" abigail says, eating some lunch, taking a nap, getting up "playing toys" some more, hopefully not cooking dinner, going to get something to eat where you don't have to wait because 2 year olds don't like to wait, coming home to give abigail a bath and finally sitting down without a littte person needing something for at least 5 minutes. Sounds like a plan to me!

I found this picture as I was looking through old albums. I actually scanned it in because we got married before the digital age.(sounds like a long time ago doesn't it?) It was taken right before we left to go to our wedding rehearsal dinner. It doesn't seem like it was six years ago. I remember my mom taking this picture just as she has done for every other event in my life. Mom says "I need to take a picture before you leave" which means 15 pictures and I say "no we have to go now, hurry up!" As usual I wasn't appreciative at the time but at this season in my life I am so thankful for all her picture taking aggravation through the years.

Happy Anniversary Matthew, I hope we have at least 56 more!

I was tagged!

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them!)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I am addicted to taking pictures. (of Abigail mostly) I love taking them and going to print them. The reason I love them so much is that I know I will eventually forget all the little cute things she says and does and it will be fun to look back and remember her being small when I am playing with my own grandchildren one day, hopefully! I also have my eye on a fancy, new camera that will take the picture right away instead if that pesky delay that most digital cameras have.

2. I love watching Regis and Kelly. I pretty much watch it everyday and keep saying I am going to send my name in for the trivia question to win me a fabulous trip but deep down I am afraid they might call and I wouldn't know the answer!

3. We are pretty sure Abigail is left-handed like her daddy. This is not surprising since she got most everything from him it appears. I am glad though! I think her daddy is pretty cute too!

4. I am a germaphobic and I wish I could let Abigail play at Chick-fil-A or Chuck-E-Cheese but I just can't. Luckily she doesn't know they exist yet. I am sure my days are numbered.

5. I love reading blogs. Most of them are complete strangers. Weird I know.

6. I love the beach/pool and anything to do with water sports. I worked at the Paris City Pool for seven summers as a lifeguard and swimming lesson teacher.

7. I miss teaching 2nd grade. I feel guilty about this. I am thankful I can stay home with Abigail and I don't think I could take her to daycare/MDO everyday(a couple days a week maybe), however I miss the interaction with other adults and the paycheck! Ha!

8. I turn 30 in less than a month!! I am getting old.

Now here is the part where I don't follow the rules, everyone I know that blogs has already been tagged so I have no one to tag! I did the best I could, it was a little stressful thinking of 8 things that you don't mind everyone reading.
Enjoy.

The Hottest Day of the Year!

Of course since we are having a record breaking heat wave our air conditioner decided to quit working! I used Abigail's fan that stays in her room to be her "white noise" and brought if out to the den and she and Millie parked themselves right in front of it with no objection. We were watching Curious Goerge waiting for the repairman to get here. He came at about 7:00 so we didn't suffer too long. I actually didn't realize it was broken until about 4:00pm when the thermostat said 87 so I called to have someone come out they had to charge us extra for an after hours call but when it is 105 degrees you have to go something! So today I am thankful for a cool house.

Photo Shoot

We took Abigail to Mimi and Paw Paw's on Saturday and I went to pick her up on Tuesday. She loves going to see them even if it is without me and that doesn't hurt my feelings one bit because if you know anything about her at all you know that she is with me all the time and separation is not an easy thing.(unless it is with grandparents) We just got her used to going to church without crying but guess what this Sunday is promption day and so we are going to start over with a new room and teachers.I can't wait! Back to the weekend, my mom takes more pictures that anyone I know and I am thankful. Abigail had two "photo shoots" this weekend and so Sunday afternoon after church and her nap my mom put her dress back on her and went outside to take some pictures. They turned out pretty well. The last picture is her smile when you ask her to "say cheese." Not really the best picture but I have taken lots that look just like that.

There's the Ocean!

Abigail liked playing with her cousins and in the sand however she wasn't wild about actually getting in the ocean because of the waves and the sound she liked the "swimming pool beach" the best as she called it.
This log was right beside the house and it is really the only place she would cooperate for pictures. She is on the move all the time it was nearly impossible to get a picture of her looking at the camera and smiling.

Our little surfer girl! I didn't know she knew anything about surfing but I bet she learned it from The Backyardigans, her new favorite show. We went to Fort Morgan, Alabama July 14-21st and had a great time. We arrived on Saturday night so Sunday had severe storms forecast so we decided to go shopping in Foley right off the bat! We did take a Abigail to see the ocean before we went shopping and she was so excited pointing and yelling "there's the ocean!" She loved the sand washing out from under her feet with the waves. She asked us a hundred times"Where'd my feet go?" when the water would wash away. Shopping was great the only person that benefited was of course Abigail. Stride Rite and Heartstrings were my favorite stores. We actually made it into town two times during the week. We pretty much got up ate breakfast at the house, went to the beach came back to the house for lunch and a nap went to the pool or beach again come back to the house everyone get showers and cook dinner. Each family takes a night and is in charge of dinner for everyone. There are just too many people for us to go out to eat plus it is a 20-30 minute drive into town. There is one little restaurant in the marina across the street called Tacky Jacks that we try to eat at for lunch one day during the week. After Abigail went to sleep for her nap Matthew and I got to walk over and have lunch just the two of us and that was fun. You have to eat seafood at the beach!

Off to the Beach!

We are off to Fort Morgan, Alabama early Saturday morning. We are staying in the "Witts Inn" which is where we stayed last year. It is fun to look back at pictures from last year. They grow up so fast!

I Love to Swim

Another thing we did while we were at my parents was that my friend Mandi and I took Abigail and her little girl Mia to the city pool. Paris is a small town so it is ok to go to the city pool. It is neat to go back to my first job where I spent seven summers of my life. We had fun and Abigail loved her new ring and even wanted to wear it in the kiddie pool. I am trying to get as much sharing practice as I can for Abigail. She seems to do better if we are not at home with her toys but I did have to explain to her that she really likes to play with things other kids have so she should be more willing to share her toys. There seems to be a correlation between sleepiness and sharing. First thing she was very happy, cooperative, and willing to share and after lunch when we were getting packed up everything seemed to fall apart. I guess that is normal for a two year old. We went to take a much needed nap.

Bubba Kitty and Whitey

Abigail went to my parents house last Thursday for a couple of days and besides seeing Mimi and Paw Paw, Abigail really can't wait to see my moms two cats. Luckily they are good natured and tolerate her petting them non stop. These are outside cats and would have never been allowed to come inside when we were kids however if Abigail wants to play with them they can either come inside in the chair or they stay on the rug. The monute we drive in the driveway she looks to see if she can see if "eyes shining like flashlights!"

Fourth of July

Things have been a little hectic around here so I am just now getting around to July 4th! We went to eat lunch at Matthew's parents and we enjoyed the nice weather outside. Abigail likes riding her "bicycle" but she still needs her legs to be a little longer to pedal.
She also got to try out the newly hung swing on the back porch with Pop.
That night I let Abigail stay up to watch the fireworks. We just stayed at home and hoped there would be something to see and we were pleasantly surprised. We could see lots of big fireworks, and there was very little noise so Abigail wasn't scared at all. Matthew said to remind him to never buy fireworks or fight big crowds to see them because we could see all we wanted from our own backyard!

Matthew and Abigail watched like this for a while and then Abigial decided she needed a snack and so we just pushed her hight chair to the window and she ate some "talking cereal" (rice crispies) and enjoyed the show.