Abbyisms...

This girl kills me! Everyday she makes me smile, laugh out loud, and well... want to pull my hair out! Luckily we experience the first two (smiles and laughs) more than the last. I can't believe how fast she is growing up. I never want to forget some of our favorite ways she makes us laugh, so here is Abby in a nutshell at age 2:

I wish I could have a recording of all of these, because to hear her say it is priceless...

"wook it" = look it

Sometimes it seems like we hear this about 100 times a day with all the things she wants us to look at...

"Waddy" = water

She loves water! She loves taking baths, driving by lakes or ponds, swimming in it, drinking it, anytime she sees it she is sure to point it out to you!!

"Buddy" = Logan

When Logan was a newborn and would cry Seth & I would sometimes say "it's ok buddy, don't cry" well Abby couldn't say Logan, so from the time he was born if you asked her, that was his name. She has just recently started sometimes calling him Logan.

"it's coming!"

Said with incredible excitement as she is sitting on the toilet about to have a BM... yeah don't we all get that excited for that???

"another one!"

Again said with the same excitement while having a BM...

"wanna see Uncle"

said while pointing to the computer. She doesn't talk much when we are on Skype, but she sure loves it and asks about it every time she sees the computer. She sometimes asks to see other people when pointing to the computer, but mostly just "Uncle"

2, 4, 6, 9 10 (9, 10 said very quickly)

This one took a little while to figure out. I finally realized that when we count with her we say 1, she says 2, us 3, her 4, us 5, her 6, us 7, then she is apparently not a fan of 8 because she then yells nine ten! We are working on this one...

"copy" = coffee

She LOVES to sit and watch her dad make "copy" everyday.

"Kiss it better"

everything is better after a kiss :)

"Bebo" = duck

This one also took me a few days to figure out because it didn't seem to make sense. Then one night I was reading the Sandra Boynton book about belly buttons before she went to bed. In the book they call their belly buttons "bebo" but every page that says "bebo" has a picture of a rubber ducky, so she now refers to all ducks as "bebo."

"I pretty"
It is good to know our daughter doesn't have a self esteem problem! We must hear her say this at least 20 times a day!

There are a few more things Abby LOVES

Dogs (the bigger the better!)

Dancing (this girl has got some moves!!)

Starbucks (yep daddy has her trained already! She has to get a water every time we go!)

Computers (it is funny to watch her play with a computer acting like she knows exactly what she is doing...)

Screwdrivers (If you ask her ANYTHING can be fixed with a screwdriver and some new batteries!)

Cows/horses (you can't drive past a field with cows or horses without her letting you know!)

Tractors (any construction type vehicle is a tractor to her and she loves them)

And her favorite thing right now has to be airplanes! Taking her to the airport to see them take off or land, sitting on the tarmac or flying in the sky is the coolest thing in the world for her!

There is so much more that we love about this girl and so much more that makes us laugh. I am sure there will be plenty more Abbyisms posts to come! I pray she never loses her passion for life and the little things!

Ready or not it's potty training time...

I will be the first to tell you that there is not much that I know about potty training. I have tried to do some research and read about it, but I have to be honest, I am sure there is some good advice out there, I just have not found it... I think my favorite was the lady on the Pull Ups DVD. She says she tells her daughter to "release the pee." Seriously???? Seth and I just laughed about how our 23 month old (at that time) would have NO IDEA what "release the pee" means!! So, like I said I really don't know much about potty training. I do, however, know two things. 1) If your child is not ready it will be a nightmare and 2) It requires a major commitment from the parents.

Number 2 is the reason why I have been putting this off for awhile now. Abby has been showing signs of being ready for a couple of months. I keep talking about how I really need to get started, but well, I have come up with any excuse I can think of to put it off. I have a lot of friends whose children were potty trained well before they were 2. I will admit I am jealous, but I have had my hands pretty full for the past 8 1/2 months and I have not had the energy to take on that task.

This evening I was home with the kids and Abby was outside playing. I remembered that I had seen her potty chair upstairs earlier this week and thought I should get it down and clean it so it would be ready to use when Seth gets off for the weekend. I figured if we were going to do this, it was going to take us both to make it happen. I had just finished cleaning and putting the chair together and was going to put it in the spare bathroom, so it would be ready for Saturday, when Abby walked in and saw it. She immediately wanted to sit on it. I didn't think much of it so I let her sit on it with her shorts and diaper on. She really seemed to like it and after I made her get off she continually told me she wanted to go potty, so I decided to take her into the bathroom and let her try to go potty. I had recently changed her diaper so I really didn't expect anything. I decided to take the advice I had gotten from a friend to give her a large amount of fluid while she is sitting on the potty. She got a special cup with a straw to drink out of and was happy as can be. After she finished her drink she no longer wanted to sit so she told me she was done. I decided to bring the seat out of the bathroom so if she decided she needed to go potty it would be close by. A friend called and I was talking to her about how I have no idea what I am doing and Abby was continuing to sit down and get up. All of the sudden Abby got up and looked at me and looked down into the seat and gave me a strange look. I looked in the bowl and she had pooped!!!!!!! I started screaming and clapping and acting all excited and she started laughing and clapping too. I gave her a high five and we took it into the bathroom and said bye bye and flushed it away. I put the seat back out and she continued to play by it. She sat on it, got up and started clapping. I told her "mommy only gets excited and claps when you go potty." I looked in the bowl and realized she had peed!!!!!!!! So begins the journey...

I wish I could live in a dream world where the rest of her training will go this easy, unfortunately I am smart enough to know it is going to be a roller coaster ride with both good and bad times. She did go potty two more times on the big potty tonight and one more time in her pull up. (she drank A LOT of water :) ) So we will have to see what tomorrow holds...

Logan 9 Months

It has been another busy month! Logan is on the move crawling everywhere. He also got his first 2 teeth this month. We also got to go to San Francisco for Uncle Philip's wedding! Abby was a flower girl and even made it down the aisle! It was so much fun to see all our family. Enjoy!

Love Languages

A long time ago I read the book Love Languages by Gary Chapman. He talks about how we all show and receive love in 5 possible ways, or languages.

Gary Chapman describes the 5 Love Languages as:

1. Words of Affirmation - including Encouragement and Kindness.

2. Quality Time - giving your undivided attention via Quality Conversation and Quality Activities

3. Gifts - anything from trinkets to gifts of yourself.

4. Acts of Service - showing love by being helpful.

5. Physical Touch - including sex, casual touch, massage.

From a very young age it was clear that my number one love language is physical touch. I was ALWAYS a child who loved to cuddle. My mom's friends would often comment about how I was always sitting on my mom's lap. I was lucky enough to marry a man who is also a cuddler. I always wondered what our children's love language would be. Abby is a VERY active child and doesn't usually hold still long enough to really cuddle. The only time we would get to cuddle with her is when you are putting her to bed or when she first wakes up. Well it is beginning to look like one of Abby's love language might be Physical touch too... Any time she is not on the go she wants to be sitting on your lap. It doesn't matter if you already have something on your lap and there is not room for her.

Boy does she love her brother!!!

She also can be a bit dramatic with the "CHEESE"

not too sure how he feels about it...

A Big Month of Firsts...

Abby:


March 5:

Abby got her first haircut!! I know it is hard to believe since she really doesn't have any hair, but it's true. This was SOOO hard for me to do, I knew she needed to get rid of her lovely "baby mullet" but she is almost 2 years old, and still has less hair than a lot of newborns! How do you cut that??? It was hard, but it's gone... She was so good, she did moved her head a lot with her normal curiosity, but she sat in the chair and let Dana cut her hair. She is such is a cutie with or without her mullet :)







March 19:

Abby was in her first wedding and she even made it down the isle!!! She was so cute! She was the flower girl in her Uncle Philip's wedding.




This picture was taken right before she passed out on the dance floor :)







Logan:

March 7:

Logan took his first nap without being swaddled. I really shouldn't even include this here because it only lasted one day, but the pictures were so cute... We are going to attempt to end the swaddling again this weekend. Wish us luck, he is only 7 1/2 months old after all...




March 6:

Logan's first time crawling. Got reverse down great just like my sister...











March 15:
Logan got his first tooth!! (sorry no pictures, but if you put your finger in his mouth he will gladly show it off for you!)

Family:

March 17-20:

First family trip to San Francisco. Of course this was Seth's second trip, but we like to pretend the first one didn't happen... (he took an emergency trip 2 days before our wedding to pick up his passport so he could actually come with me on our honeymoon...)

Neat Freak Fruititarian, and Roid Rages & Cereal???

So I know it has been awhile since I have had enough time to blog. I must have a million posts that I have started in my head but haven't had the time to finish... I thought I would try to do a quick post to get caught up a little...





Abby



Wow, where do I start??? This girl manages to make me laugh everyday!! I love her so much! She also often makes me want to pull my hair out... She is the most active and curious child I have ever met. (I am still dreaming of the day when she will sit in one spot for more than 2 minutes).





Anyway, the latest on her, well, we are pretty sure that she would be completely content if we would allow her to be a fruititarian! All she wants is fruit, all the time! Fortunately we are still able to get her to eat other food, but she only eats the rest of what we give her to get to her fruit! She especially LOVES her bananas, apples, grapes and "Cuties" oranges.












Abby is also showing conflicting signs of being a neat freak... When it comes to the living room, wow, I am too embarrassed to take a picture and post it. Let's just say we have nicknamed her "hurricane Abby" it is crazy to think how something so small can make such a mess (and we really don't have that many toys!). On the other hand, when it comes to her crib, total opposite!! Abby always sleeps with a stuffed animal and her quilt. When she wakes up from her nap or in the morning she likes to play in her crib for a little bit before you go get her. If you go in too early she has been known to make you sit down in her rocker until she is done playing and is ready for you to get her. Usually we wait until she is ready to get out and she will be standing in the corner of her crib calling out for you. This is what you will see in the other corner of her crib...









If you go to get her before she has a chance to "pick up her crib" she will do it when you come in, before you pick her up. I love to watch her do it because sometimes she picks her blanket up 2-3 times until she has it sitting how she wants it...




Logan

I love this little guy so much! He is just such a fun baby, and he is so easy! That is unless he is taking his steroids for his lungs... Wow, where did my great sleeper and happy baby go? I called my "private nurse" and asked what is going on with my child and she said it is normal for them to eat like crazy, not be able to sleep well, and be super CRANKY when they are on this med. She said I should see the older kids in the hospital when they are on it, they can get mean. I told this to Seth and he said wow, so our kid is having roid rages and we just have to deal with it until he is done?? Great my 7 month old is having roid rages! Luckily we finished his meds yesterday and he is already returning to the happy fun baby that we love so much!













Also, we have also FINALLY started Logan on solid foods . He is not much of a fan right now, and boy is he a MESSY eater, but we are getting there.






There is still so much I need to update, but that is all for now... We love these kids so much and we thank God for the joy they bring to our lives. It is such a privilege to watch them grow.

Logan 4-6 Months

Happy Valentines Day!

I know I am a day late, but hey that is like being early for me! :)

Last year Seth bought me tickets for the musical Wicked for Valentines Day. This year he got us tickets for Mary Poppins. (Looks like we might be creating a tradition...) On Thursday we went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory with a friend from his work and his wife, then to the show. Grandma watched the kids for us. We can't thank her enough!! (Abby decided she didn't want to stay in her pack n play and Logan decided he didn't want to take a bottle... yeah fun night at grandmas!!) It was a nice evening out for us.

~

We considered this our Valentines Day so I wasn't expecting anything else. It was such a nice surprise to wake up to roses and a card on my nightstand. I noticed there was also a single carnation in the vase. Seth quickly informed me the carnation was for Abby. So we went and got her out of her crib and Seth gave her the flower. She wouldn't put it down! We tried to put it back in the water, but she would have none of that! She carried around her carnation until it completely fell apart! I love my husband so much and I love to see the way he loves our children!

~

If all of this wasn't enough for a great Valentines Day, he also let me take a nap while he fixed dinner for us and a sandwich for Abby without me even knowing! What a great Valentines this year!!

Hope everyone else had a great Valentines Day also!

Yes??

The Bible teaches us to "let your yes be yes and your no be no."

DISCLAIMER: I know I am about to TOTALLY use this Scripture out of context, but hey it fits my story :)

This is a lesson that we are trying to teach Abby. To a 20 month old, yes can mean all sorts of things.

For a long time when you would ask Abby a question she would answer "yeah." It was so cute!

"Abby did you have fun at church?"
"yeah" (Said in a very cute voice)

It was so nice to hear her answer that way. Then suddenly out of the blue "yeah" turned to "no". Way not cool, or cute...

"Abby do you want this banana?" (Abby LOVES "nanas" and would NEVER turn one down!)
"no" (still said in the cute voice, but not fun to hear)

We worked very hard to get her to understand that if she said "no" she would not get it but if she answered "yes" she would get it. She would always quickly change her answer to "yes" to get what she wanted. It was again so cute to hear her say "yes." The way she said it would always make you smile. I thought for sure she would eventually realize she needed to answer "yes" the first time.

Well it looks like we quickly moved past the "no" phase and her new "yes" is "okay." Again said in that totally adorable way.

Yesterday she got her foot stuck in the dining room chair and needed help getting it out.

"Abby are you stuck in the chair?"
"okay"

Can't wait to see what comes next! We are hoping it is "yes please" but I am not holding my breath. I am guessing we may have a few more stops before we arrive there. I just pray it is another cute stop and no more of that "no" business!

Are these kids really mine???

The past couple of weeks our kids have had to go to the doctor for shots. Just the thought of getting a shot gives me a mini panic attack! Seth on the other hand doesn't mind getting shots. Luckily so far the kids seem to take after him in this area. Both kids got their shots without even crying!! Let's just hope they are always this brave!

That's My Girl!

A typical routine in our house often looks like this: feed Logan, lay him on his play mat to entertain himself while I chase after Abby and keep her out of trouble. He loves to play on his mat and will often play on his mat until he is ready for me to change his diaper and put him down for a nap.

This morning after I finished feeding Logan I just sat on the couch playing with him, while Abby entertained herself. I couldn't help but laugh when I looked up and saw Abby playing with her doll.

Then a few minutes later I walked out of the kitchen to see her playing with a different doll.

She had a little trouble getting the diaper tabs open so she moved on to trying to get Logan's sock on the dolls foot.