woooooo pig sooie!

Last Wednesday, Abby and I headed up to Fayetteville, Arkansas to see my sister, brother-in-law and their son Zach.  Zach was born 9 weeks after Abby.  They were hilarious together all weekend long.  Mom met us on Wed. too and we shopped all day Thursday and Friday.  We had a blast and the kids were too funny "playing" together.   It was fun to watch their differences.  Abby  is such a girl...DRAMA queen, just playing with her dolls.  Zach, on the other hand, is such a boy....wild man and nothing seems to bother him at all.  They got along pretty well, but when they didn't, we were laughing too hard to do anything about it.  Bo and my dad met us Friday and we all went to the Razorback game on Saturday. The weather was perfect...the game was not, but it was still fun and I called the HOGS many times!!!  I love them..even when they are having a rough year.  We had a great time with family and Abby looked too cute in all her Arkansas outfits!  Go Hogs!

happy fall!!!

Today we met many friends at the arboretum for pumpkins, crafts, a picnic lunch and some kidmusic. We had so much fun!  I saw friends from my childhood, high school, college and some new friends too.  I wish it had been cooler outside, but we still had a great time.  Abby loved the pumpkins.  She wasn't too sure what they were, but loved posing with them.  I love fall!!

my big girl

Today Abby had her ONE year check-up!  All went well.  She is eating real food now (not many different things, but she is eating) and she is drinking whole milk.  Such a big girl!  She weighs 19.11 pounds and is 31 inches long.  That puts her at 25% weight and 95% height.  She is my long, tall Texan.  She has a few words she repeats often: da-da, go-go, no and Coke.   She can't walk alone yet, but she loves to walk around holding on to your fingers.  She still takes 2 short naps a day, but sleeps 12-13 hours at night.  I LOVE that!  She loves her baby dolls, but her most favorite thing of ALL is her bumpers!!!  She also barks at all animals....even birds.   

It's been a fast year.  I know everyone says that and if it you had asked me last December if it would be a fast year, I would have laughed (really cried) at you.   Even though it was a rough start, I wouldn't trade Abigail for the world.  I wouldn't know what to do without her.  She is precious to Bo and me.   She has made us stronger people and made us love and appreciate each other more.  I love my little family and wouldn't trade it for anything...even a perfect baby!

Abigail Elizabeth - We love you so much.  We will always be here for you.  You will always be our #1 daughter.   You are precious.  I thank the Lord for you every single day.

Abigail is ONE!!!

What a fun birthday my sweet daughter had!  We woke up early on Thursday and headed to the airport for the Ryder Cup golf tournament.  Abby was precious when I woke her up at 4:30 in the morning, but she was wondering what was going on.  I was busy PACKING HER BUMPERS as we sang Happy Birthday to her for the first time that day!   

Bo's aunt, uncle and grandfather live in Louisville, KY and his parents met us there so the guys could go to the tournament all weekend.  We had a long day, but Abby did well flying for the first time.  When we arrived, everyone was there to pick us up.  It was fun that Abby got to meet her only great-grandfather for the first time. We spent her birthday hanging out with family.  Mimi made Abby a cake and we ate it that night.  Abby LOVED when people sang to her.  I think she really just loved being the center of attention.  She enjoyed the icing and got some of the cake too.   We had a fun weekend and a fun first birthday with Abby!

party? what party?

Monday we had playgroup at our house.  I was excited to have it because it was so close to Abby's birthday.  Bo and I had said we were not going to have an "official" party for her first birthday, but I had to do something to celebrate!   We had a good turn out and I think everyone had a great time.  The weather was perfect, so we headed to the park across the street and just enjoyed being outside!   We ate lunch and for dessert we had cupcakes and candy for the kids and Sprinkles cupcakes for the adults to celebrate the birthday girl!   I am not sure she had a clue that this was a little different than any other playgroup, but when we sang Happy Birthday to her, she just had a precious smile on her face.  She loved all the attention!  Thanks, special friends, for celebrating with us.  It was a fun, crazy day!!

sunday

Just ready to leave for church this morning!  I thought she looked too cute.  

Side note - excuse the white shoes...my momma did raise me right, but I couldn't put her in black shoes with this outfit!   Maybe she will get some new shoes for her birthday.....

friday

Abby and I have had a slow, quiet week.  Abby was sick beginning Sunday and felt much better by Tuesday.  I came down with something at that point so we have been inside much of the week.  Each morning, Abby eats her breakfast and then goes and watches Pinky Dinky Doo. It's her favorite show on the Noggin channel.  She crawls up in her new chair and just sits there.  (See, I told you she needed her gift early!)   We went over to Nikki and Madeline's house today for lunch and the girls were so sweet playing together.  I only got this one picture, but I thought it was too cute!  Thanks, Nikki, for a great lunch and it was great catching up with everyone!  Happy Friday!

early birthday

Anyone who really knows us is well aware that as soon as we get a gift for someone - they get it. We have great intentions of waiting until the actual day to give the gift, but we never wait.  Never.  So....why should Abby wait?  Her first birthday is the 18th, so last Monday when Bo was off work, we went to order Abby a chair.  We wanted to make sure it got here in time.

That was, I mean IS,  the only gift we are giving her.  Right.

Well, it came today and I couldn't wait to put it together and let her sit in it.  She was thrilled and excited and sat there all of 5 seconds, but I just know she really loves it.  

Also, my mom and sister sent their gifts in the mail.  I opened them and she loves them too! She got a baby doll from my mom and some precious clothes from my sister.  So....really it's like her birthday is today!  But, it's really not for a while....oh well.  Maybe I will have to find her some more gifts so she can actually open something on her real birthday.....

this face...

only a mother could love it....seriously

shella

My grandmother (we called her Shella) was such an amazing woman.  I would go stay with her some during the summer and she and her best friend would take me all over!  We went shoe shopping and met all of their friends for Tab every morning to catch up on the latest gossip in the town.  She was a blast!  Sadly, the last few years of her life were taken by alzheimers.  She was not the woman that we all knew.  She didn't know us, but did know her "husband" but couldn't even call him by name.  She would sit for hours at the kitchen table with a blank stare.  On a lighter note, when we would go see her, she would always have this little black hair growing from her chin.  I know this sounds gross, but bear with me here...My mom, sister and I would have to find laughter in something, so my mom would immediately pluck the hair on the chin and we would laugh at how she would have hated to look the way she did at this time. Each time we went to see her, the hair was back and we would laugh and Mom would take care of it.  

Fast forward a few years....

When I was pregnant with Abigail, my mom and I were shopping at Carters.  She found this pink rabbit that plays a sweet song.  She was about to buy it and put it back because she had already bought this baby too many new things!  Well, I took one look at it and said she had to buy it.  It had ONE black string hanging from its chin!  

Abby has grown quite attached to this pink bunny.  She sleeps with it and when she doesn't feel good she just sits and hugs it.  Shella would have loved Abby and Abby would have loved Shella. What a way to think about my precious grandmother every single day!

new thrill

Abby has decided her new favorite place to play is the dishwasher.  She loves to "help" me unload while I put the dishes away.  Always exploring something new!

standing up!

Abigail just started pulling up on things.  She loves to stand up and take a few steps with assistance!  She is very cautious and careful as she pulls up on everything and is so proud of herself when she realizes what she is actually doing.  However, now that she can pull herself up in the bed, she doesn't want to take a nap.  She wants to practice standing.  Oh well, this too shall pass, right?

dancing queen

My girl loves to dance.  Well, if you call this dancing!  

eleven months

Abigail is 11 months old today!  Bo and I can't believe how much she has grown and changed in just  11 months.  It's truly amazing to see what all she can do these days.  She can say "go, go, go" "da-da" and "oh!".   She is crawling around everywhere and loves to dance and laugh.  She is still taking short naps, but sleeps around 12 hours at night, so it's hard to complain about that. She has started to eat cheerios and crackers, but usually they end up all over her shirt.  Oh well. She isn't throwing up, so that is great news!  She is becoming more independent which is fun for me as well.  She is a pretty happy baby now and life is good!  

what a week!!!

It's been a long, but very fun week!!  We started out last weekend by going to the lake to celebrate my mom's 60th bday.  My whole family came and had a BLAST.  We went to Hot Springs and jumped on my sister and brother-in-law's awesome boat.  Bo and I weren't too sure what Abby would think since she has never been on a boat before, but she loved it. We all had a great time. Sunday, we headed to Little Rock to continue the celebration.  My dad surprised my mom with a new jaguar.  It was great!  She never dreamed she would get one, and I have never seen my mom so shocked. It was so much fun.  She deserves it!  On Monday, we honored Mom's bday with a surprise lunch for her and a few of her closest friends.  It was just a special weekend for her.  Tuesday, Abby and I went to Longview to stay with my brother and sister-in-law and then we headed to Houston for a long weekend.  It has been an extremely busy week, but so much fun!  Abby loved every minute of it and even slept great.....since we DID haul her bumpers with us everywhere we went!!!