Abigail's First Birthday Party

Today we celebrated Ab's first birthday. IT WAS FABULOUS!!! We rented out a little hall and invited both sides of the family and all the friends. I was a little worried because everything I had read about first birthdays STRONGLY recommended keeping the celebration small, but that's just not how we roll haha.

The party had a Dr. Seuss theme. I put up books and stuffed animals on the tables, as well as some kooky centerpieces. I also ordered these really cool wall stickers of the characters off the Internet. We intend on reusing them for the next nursery. ;)

We set up a nifty little section in the corner where Abbi's friends and her could play. Arienne Vaughn, Parker White, Mason Smith, and Abigail played for the first part of the party. We then moved on to the cake where Abs simply picked at the frosting until DadDad showed her how to take giant bites. We finished with the presents. SHE HAD SO MANY!!! ... and she did so well.

All in all it was the best birthday experience ever! I can't wait for next year! :)

Back to schoool... back to schoooool...

Exactly 11 days prior to my first day of school I got a phone call. I had applied for an online teaching job back in December and constantly nagged and followed-up (border-line stalking) to absolutely no avail at all.

Exactly 11 days prior to my first day of school I got a phone call. While on maternity leave I decided that I did not want someone else raising my childrend and I was determined to find a way that I could stay home with Abigail AAAAND do the things I loved aaaand make money>

Exactly 11 days prior to my first day of school I got a phone call.

I was offered an online teaching position.

I declined.

(I just couldn't do that to my school.. but I may be regretting it now. I miss my Abigail.)

Emmons Reunion

Today Abigail, Derek, and I attended the Emmons reunion. We arrived a little late because The Worm was napping, but when we got there, she was WOUND UP! She absolutely loves to be around people and does whatever it takes to get people to look at her and smile. She is loud and she laughs a lot. She reminds me of her Auntie Natalie a lot in this aspect. ;)

When it was time to eat she had about three bites of her baby food and then decided that she should have what everyone else was eating. I gave her small bites of cheese and a cracker-- GRANDPA on the other hand covered her tray in brownie crumbs and whip cream dollups!! She loved it!


After dinner she hung out with her cousin Masen-- Anna and Joe's son. He is about a month younger than her. Last time they played together at Grandma Ruth's birthday, she screamed at him and made him cry. Twice. This time she was nicer and they took turns chewing on toys! SO CUTE!!

Abigail's First Friend

Well, summer is here and I am heading back to the world of soccer. We work out three times a week from 9 to 11 in the morning. I enjoy the time I get to train with the girls and Lord knows it is good for me to be out there workin out too! :) Needless to say, I needed someone to watch Abbi.

We are blessed to live in a fabulous neighborhood and across the street, lives another couple very similar to us (Pete and Andrea) with a little boy just 8 weeks younger than Abigail-- Parker. I asked Andrea to watch Abigail while I was doing the soccer thing this summer and she seemed absolutely thrilled to do so.

They are both at the age now where they can sit up on their own and play with toys. I need to take a picture of my living room as it is always insanely scattered with singing gizmoes and colorful stuffed animals. Anyway, Andrea has a room very similar to this and Abigail's eyes light up when she sees all of the new toys to play with. But, this pales in comparison to the way her eyes light up when she sees her new friend Parker! She gets so excited and waves her hands, starts talking-- even shouting at him, and reaches out to touch him. Andrea says they can sit and play for the full two hours together. What a great experience! I am so glad that she has the opportunity to interact with Parker while I get to coach soccer. two birds. one stone. awesome.

I am curious to see how their lives intertwine as they grow up. :) I know that I still hang out with some of my neighborhood pals from back in the day, and sadly some of my closest neighbor friends, I rarely or never talk to.

Either way, right now Abigail has a great new friend-- Parker!

100.1 degrees (once I averaged it all out)

There are a number of possible contributing factors: a second tooth popping up, vaccines yesterday, or the fact that ancient air conditioning unit decided to quit working for a 6-hour period today.

Whatever it may be, it has happened. Abigail has a fever.

It is her first fever ever and I reacted just like any other crazy mother would react.

1. I sent Derek to the store to get a new battery for the thermometer-- just to be safe

2. I took her temperature in her ear, under her arm, in her other ear, with the ear thermometer under her arm, both ears again, and again, and again at varying angles...

3. Repeat #2

4. Read every last detail on the Motrin box while Derek gave her some medicine.

5. Felt her head, cheeks, handies... all which felt SOOO HOT

6. Repeat #2

7. Had Derek dig up the information on the vaccines from yesterday and read all four pages twice. (which had some CRAZY symptoms and side-effects that made me worry even more and check for swollen tongue, crusty eyes, pale-ness... all kinds of weird things)

8. Cranked up the AC- which randomly decided to start working again

9. Repeat #2

10. Fed her a bottle and put her to bed

Currently: I am staring and the video baby monitor, armed with the thermometer, watching her breathe. .... and about to repeat #2 :)

A Good Man

So much has happened since I last updated my blog- a new food, a new word, a new tooth, and sadly, a great loss. On May 16, 2010, my grandpa passed away. Since then, sleep has eluded me and my days have been filled with tears. Abigail has been a savior though, she makes me smile. I guess each day gets easier. And yes, I KNOW, he is in a better place and he is no longer in pain. I just don't need EVERY person I talk to to keep telling me that.

Abigail met her great-grandpa Art just a few weeks ago. I took her over to meet him and grandma when they returned from Port A. I am still kicking myself for not taking a picture.

Here is the picture I have in my head of that day.

Abigail and I arrive around 6 and Grandma is over at the neighbor's having coffee. It is just Grandpa, Abigail, and I. Grandpa walks down the hallway and greets us with a big hug. He sits down in his chair and I sit next to him with Abigail on my lap. She STARES at him intently for a moment and cracks a HUGE toothless smile. HE LOVES IT. Then, she reaches up and grabs his finger and holds on.

I can still see the grin on his face-- He. Was. Tickled.

We talked about all sorts of things. He held her before Grandma came home. He was a little worried about holding her because he doesn't feel his hands so well. He was so alive and so happy.

I will remember him that way. I will tell Abigail about all the wonderful things he did and how much a part of my life he was-- at all my sports games, birthdays... ANY important event of my life. I will show her the pictures. I will share his story. But, more than anything-- I WILL MISS HIM. Rest in Peace Grandpa. I love you.

Splish Splash She's Takin' A Bath!

Abigail absolutely loves bathtime, which in turn makes it really fun for Derek and I as well. I am glad that she enjoys the water since we spend a lot of time around water in the summer. She now has a floaty bathing suit for my parents' swimming pool and a full life jacket for our pontoon boat. Derek just put the boat in the water this week after a little makeover. We named it "TOONS" OF FUN. ha.

Anyway, on of my favorite things to do while Abbi is in her tub is fill up a cup and slowly pour the water out. She is absolutely fascinated. You can see her brain working, trying to figure out how to grab the stream of water. When she does connect hand to water she tries to hold on tight, which never works obviously. Not to get too cheese-ball-yyyy, but that innocent, inquisitive expression will forever be filed in my memory. She is so beautifully curious and so genuinely happy. It is the little things I guess. :)

"Don't cry over spilled milk."

I am breastfeeding Abigail so every day after the 5th period bell I haul my trusty breast pump down to the co-ed staff bathroom. Some of the other teachers call it The Taj Mahal due to its spacious interior. FAAAABULOUS.

Tuesday I carted down my gear, pulled my chair (that I stole from the library and stash in the corner of the bathroom) over to the outlet, and plug in. I get all set up and pull out my cell. I usually text whoever is watching Abbi during this 20 minute session. It is either that or stare awkwardly into the mirror (next to the outlet), the grimy floor, or the throne itself.

I texted my mom. I wave my phone around in the air since that is the only way I can get one bar of service in the concrete box in the middle of the cornfield. I text my husband, wave my phone. I text my sister, wave my phone... and CRASH... SPLASH.

I notice warm wetness running down my leg and a slight change in pitch in my pumping machine. I look at the grimy ground and I see that the bottle has come detached from the suction cup pumper. The bottle is on the ground surrounded by puddling breast milk--- liquid gold all over the floor. I sit, stunned for a good 20 seconds before I realize that in addition to all the milk on the floor, my pumper is continuing to spray breast milk from my right boob all over my lap. FML.


Whoever coined the phrase "Don't cry over spilled milk" was NOT a lactating mother!

CARROTS!

When Derek was a baby he loved carrots. As the story goes-- he was once fed carrots for several days in a row. He turned orange! He loved carrots.


Abigail got to try carrots for the first time tonight. She usually eats about half a jar, but tonight she ate the entire container in less than five minutes! I started with just the normal half a jar and warmed it up. I could not get them in fast enough. If I slowed down she would let out a howl.


I quickly poured the rest of the container into her bowl and continued feeding her and she continued screaming for more carrots. :) She loves carrots- just like her daddy.

**I keep looking at her to see if he skin is changing colors even though I know it would take way more carrots to make it happen**

BRAT

After Abbi was up much of the night with a rock-hard tummy and flailing legs, I assumed that she may have a bit of a tummy ache. I then groggily stumbled down the stairs and grabbed my laptop. I asked Jeeves and Google and BING! and found a thing called the BRAT diet. This was to be given to children with diarrhea to help solidify their poo a bit. It is also cautioned to NOT overdo any of these foods.

*****FLASHBACK*****


Abbi and I are sitting at the table and she is LOOOOVING her baby food tonight. She usually eats about 1/3 of a jar, but she was so into it that she polished off the entire jar of bananas!


We followed up about 2 hours later with her typical "before bed" cereal. Usually we fix up a 2-to-1 ratio of MILK to CEREAL... Derek accidentally flip-flopped it on this given night. Oh well, she seemed to enjoy it. She ate it all.

*****FLASH FORWARD*****

Abbi is up. It is 3:13am. I skim through the article. I find this BRAT diet that is to pretty much guarantee CONSTIPATION.
B-Banana
R-Rice Cereal
A-Apple Sauce
T- Toast

2 out of 4-- awesome.

Table Talk

Abbi sits with us at the dinner table most nights and is usually quite entertaining. However, this night, I am not sure who was funnier to watch; her or her dad! We had just finished up or meal. We ate mexican and Abigail had bananas. She was sitting across from Derek and making googly eyes at him as she often does. He started making funny formations with his mouth and making the "ewww" sound at her. Sure enough, she immediately copied him. I ran for the camera--it was DARLING! She is so smart. :)

**video to come

Teeeeeething!

For the past few weeks we have noticed Ab's incessant drooling and hard-core chomping on EVERYTHING (including me--yooouchie!). After inspecting her gums I noticed some bumps just under her gums on the bottom. So, naturally, we busted out all the teething toys in full force!

Derek had to check them out as well!

:)

Giggle Girl

For some reason Abigail is super happy tonight! It could be that she pooped 4 times while grandma was babysitting her today!! :) She has been giggling so much lately. LOOOOVE IT!

blue-eyed beauty or brown-eyed babe???

I have read up on the topic and asked around a bit. The "final answer" is that eye color is usually determined by now (4 months). In some cases a baby's eyes can still change.

Miss Abigail started off with the newborn baby blues as most babies do. They have since changed to the smokey grey with a tint of blue color. They are BEAUTIFUL. She also seems to have big eyes like her mom. :)

People also often comment on her lashes. I think we would all have prettier lashes if we didn't layer them with black gunk every day.

Anyway, looking at her parents' and grandparents' eyes, one would think it would be nearly impossible for her to rock anything other than big brown eyes. I suppose only time will tell.

Baby Blurb Blunder

I have to shower at night now, that way I can get up and get ready for school quickly.

Tonight:

7:45 Nice, hot, steamy shower, hair washed and legs shaved (rare occasion)

8:00 Abbi is laying in our bed watching me blow dry my hair. She loves to do this and continuously grins at me when I flip my hair around.

8:10 I quickly run my straightener over my hair a few times.

8:15 Abbi nurses a little before her baby massage. (I know, I know... crazy contemporary mommy stuff, but she LOVES LOVES LOVES her massage! wouldn't you?!?!)

8:20 I am walking downstairs with Abbi facing backwards on my shoulder

8:21 Abbi lets out a giant man burp

8:21 I feel warm goo dripping down my shoulder and splattering on the floor. Abbi is grinning. I imagine that felt good. I grab my hair to push it out of the mess and realize it is caked in thick, gooey, pugnant baby blurb.

8:22 I smell like baby blurb

8:25 Repeat steps that begain at 7:45, but in a rushed, not-so-relaxing fashion.

USA vs. Canada

Derek was downstairs watching the US vs. Canada hockey game today- the final event of the Winter Olympics. Abbi and I were upstairs fixing dinner. It amazes me that she can sit and watch me run around the kitchen and be completely entertained. Derek was hooting and hollering at the TV downstairs.

Well, USA tied it up with 24 seconds to go, so dinner was served in the family room. Derek was cheering between forkfuls of chicken and rice... when suddenly Abbi begain mimicking him. She was hollering at the TV too! Sooooo cute! Derek would yell and instead of getting startled she would yell-- REALLLY YELL!

The best/worst part was when Canada scored, ending the game and earning gold for them, silver for us, Derek was moping around and jeering at the TV. Abbi started to cry. She seriously started to cry and continued crying until I picked her up and carted her around the house.

I can't wait to see if she will watch sports with her dad when she grows up. :)

... just a quick little thought before I head to bed.

Cereal

So I was talking to Derek the other day about Abigail starting solids.

Me: Abbi's four-month appointment is coming up pretty soon. The doc said we could start her on solids at four months.

Derek: (Makes grunting sound to assure me that he is paying attention... slightly)

Me: I am excited about having her try cereal!

Derek: Yeah, we will have to go out and get some Cheerios.

PAUSE...

PAUSE...

Me: Derek, what are you talking about???

Derek: We don't have any Cheerios. We will have to go out and buy some Cheerios the next time we go to the store.

PAUSE...

Me: Derek, she isn't going to eat Cheerios! (laughing out loud) Are you serious?!?!

Derek: What? All babies eat Cheerios.

Me: Yes, babies with TEETH eat Cheerios. I was talking about baby cereal.. rice cereal.

Derek: Oh... (bashful grin and slightly reddening face) Well, think about it. Every time you ever see a baby eating cereal it is Cheerios! How was I supposed to know?!?



hahahaha- I absolutely adore that man.

Put a SMILE on your face!

"The athletic director at school told me this joke yesterday (she's female) and it made me laugh a lot...

I was out walking with my 4-year-old daugter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth.. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.

'Why?' my daughter asked.

'Because it has been on the ground; you don't knowwhere it's been, it's dirty and has lots of icky germs,' I replied

At this point my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, 'Mama, how do you know all this stuff? You are so smart.'

I was thinking quickly and replied, ' All moms know this stuff. They have too. It is on the Mama test. If you don't know it, they don't let you become a mama.'

We walked along in silence for two or three minutes. She was obviously pondering this newly found information.

'Oh!.... I get it!!!' she beamed, 'So if you dont pass the test then you have to be the daddy.'

'Exactly.' I replied with a big SMILE on my face."

Becoming a Parent Changes You.. like you haven't heard that before

Becoming a parent changes you. I know, I know, I know-- I was told this countless times by family, friends, social networking sites, magizines, doctors, and some strange lady at McDonalds taht wanted to rub my belly for good luck once... very odd. BUT SERIOUSLY, I realized one major change yesterday at school.

Yesterday we had a teacher in-service day. The lucky, lucky children got to stay home and play and we had to go listen to some self-important "expert" drone on and on about how much she knew about teaching. (I don't ALWAYS think that, but some of the people they bring in are wack) So, I got up, fed the Worm, and drug myself, unexcitedly, to school. We spent the first hour coloring our nametags and eating over-cooked egg casserole and sipping chunky orange juice. WTH!?! seriously-- coloring our nametags... WITH MARKERS!

OK... back on topic. The in-service was on bullying. Bullying. I instantly flashed back to middle school where Jessica Kennedy wanted to pound my face in because Jay Gribben talked to me on the phone and we were maybe going to "go out" eeek eek. The in-service began and the principal introduced this lady with orange hair who apparently had a lot to say about WHY she was so qualified to tell us about our students.

Time Passes...

So she puts this video clip up on the big screen and I watch. A man is talking about studying bully trends and kids without friends. Talking about kids who have no friends at school and would rather have negative attention than no attention at all. Then we watch top secret video footage from a playground where this little boy walks around the playground with a little toy in his hand. All Alone. Other little boys come up and yank his toy out of his grasp and throw it across the yard. He runs to grab his toy before the others get there. Meanwhile, on the other side of the playground, a boy with a ponytail is surrounded by his buddies. The ponytail leader points to one of the boys and the mob jumps hime. SERIOUSLY they are in like 3rd grade. The little boy who was kicked to the ground gets up and WALKS back over to the mob of boys for MORE attention where they proceed to grab him by the head and kick him repeatedly in the back. THEN CUT. A group of catty little girls on the playground (could my Abbi be in that group??) and one little girl following close behind (or is that my Abbi?!?!) The cats turn and the queen cat grabs the trailing little girl by the back of the neck (is that Abbi? which one?!?!) The group leads her around the playground tearing her clothes, pulling her hair, screaming about hurting her, making her kiss the tree and eat dirt. So many just watch...

WHO THE HELL IS TAPING THIS??? and why aren't they doing something to stop it? Where are the teachers? Why don't the other kids stick up for these little ones??? UGH!!!!!!!!



For the first time I did not see those kids as students, but instead, as my precious little baby.
Becoming a parent changes you.

The video clip went on to interview bullies and those who were bullied, and finally the parents of bullied kids.... one set of parents who lost their little girl to suicide after being bullied and belittled everyday at school. I can't even wrap my mind around it.


Becoming a parent changes you.


...until next time-- What can you do to brighten someone's day? Maybe they were that kid. Maybe it happened 20 years ago. Maybe it was 20 minutes ago. Be a friend. A kind word goes a long way.