People Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Best Friend

Abby and her best dog friend Maize enjoying the new chair by the window in the living room. Abby even wore her special basset hound bib for the picture.

Movie Star

Abby's New Home

Unpacking

We have been busy unpacking all of our accumulated belongings and assembling all of Abby's equipment that had been left in the box waiting for the big move. I didn't know that you needed to have a Ph.D to set up a high chair, but apparently it would have been helpful. For only having 10 parts, it should have taken way less than the hour I spent putting it together.

Abby's room is just about complete - only a few boxes left to go through. It's been really cool here, so her room is just a bit chilly. For a really old house (built around 1890), it doesn't do to bad keeping warm, but we are all getting used to wearing extra layers. Abigail seems to be adjusting to the new house and new pace of life well. She's getting to be a great shopper, since we have been heading to WalMart and K Mart on a daily basis. We can't seem to remember everything we need to get on the first trip, so multiple trips have been needed.

I promise - pictures tomorrow. I've found the camera, now I just need to locate the memory card reader.

Da Yupper

Abby is officially a "Yupper" - for those of you not familiar with Michigan-ese, a "yupper" is a resident of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Yesterday was the big moving day for all of our things and the new house is now full. We had lots and lots of assistance in the big move including Grandpa Great Steve, Grandma & Grandpa Obreiter, and Grandma & Grandpa Hodges. Nate and his girlfriend Courtney also came up to help us organize, set up, and clean the new house.

Abby now has her own room and her crib - photos of her nice new space will follow when we can find the camera.

Hotel Obreiter is now open for visitors to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan - please let us know if you'd like to stop by and spend a night or two. We may even have all the boxes unpacked before you get here.

Overachieving

Abby is officially an overachiever. Today at her doctor's visit Abby was 11 pounds, 23 inches long, and had a head circumference of 15 inches. Each of those measurements put her in the 95th percentile for her age. We are very proud of our overachiever and hope that the overachieving habit will continue in her academic career.

Today Abby is packing boxes and cleaning with us. We are going to be getting a lot of use out of the snugli baby carrier to keep Abby out of trouble.

Packing Up and Moving

Abigail has been assisting us in the monumental task of packing up our home of almost 5 years and moving to a new home in Sault Ste. Marie. It has been quite an experience going through things that have been in place for years and years. Needless to say, Steve and I have had quite a few laughs at some of the things we had and some of the memories that went with them.

Abby is getting bigger and staying awake for longer and longer periods. Last night we took her to Toledo, Ohio for her first trip outside the state of Michigan. First we had coffee with my friend Scott Ciolek, who was one of my study partners during law school. Then we took her to the Elephant Bar to have dinner with Maureen and Erin, who I worked with at Merillat. We had a very nice time seeing friends and Abby was awake, alert, and content for the whole outing.

Yesterday was also our last day at our church, Crossroads Community Baptist Church. It was a bittersweet day having to say goodbye to so many wonderful friends. Steve is considering pursuing a degree in endodontics, so we may be back to school at the University of Michigan some day, but that doesn't make leaving great people any easier.

Today we took Abigail for one last visit to the University of Michigan. Steve had to drop paperwork off at the dental school, so Abby and I rode along. She slept through her whole ride through campus.

We go back to the doctor tomorrow to have a checkup for Abby - we are sure she's grown a lot since she is getting heavier and heavier to carry.

One Month Old

Abby turned 1 month old yesterday. She is getting really smiley and much more interactive. The face only shots are a comparison from 4 days old to 4 weeks old (4 weeks is on top, 4 days on bottom). Our little girl is changing so much. We are enjoying watching her grow and learn new things. We had to take all the little newborn clothes out of circulation this week because she's just too big for them.

Abby's First Trip Up North

Abby made her first trip Up North (excluding her 3 prior trips as an internal passenger) this week. We took her to Sault Ste. Marie on Monday to find a place for us to live when Steve starts his new job on June 2nd. On her trip Abby had another big first - her first swim in a pool. She wasn't quite sure what to think about the pool and we only dipped her feet into the water, but overall we'd call her first swimming experience a success (no crying and a few funny faces).

We were also successful in finding a home that will be good for Abby and her dog Maize. Our new home will be in downtown Sault Ste. Marie and is a rental home - so if we don't like it we can move again next spring. It's a really old home, but it has some character and a fenced back yard for Maize to play in. It also has some curb appeal, so at least we aren't going to be embarrassed to invite our friends over.

We were going to take Abby's picture with the Mackinac Bridge in the background, but it was so foggy when we came home on Tuesday that you couldn't see the bridge. The fog was so thick that we couldn't even see the freighter that was directly under the bridge while we were crossing, but we could definitely hear its fog horn.
We also got to check out the forest fire that held Steve up on his last trip home from the U.P. There was extensive fire damage on both sides of I-75 - no wonder he had to be detoured.

If you are interested in getting our new up north address send us an email or give us a call. We aren't going to post it on the blog, just to make sure no strangers or stalkers are following us up to our new home in the frozen north. The big move will be over Memorial Day weekend, so the packing is now in overdrive.

We're Back

We have been traveling with Abby for the last week, but this afternoon we finally made it home. We left last Wednesday morning for Hastings and the grandmas' houses and then traveled on to Sault Ste. Marie on Monday to find a rental home. Both trips were fun and successful and Abby was a great traveler.

On Saturday, May 10th, we had a graduation party for Steve and introduced Abby to our friends and family. We all had a great time and Abby was the highlight of the party. Some party pictures are below.
















We spent my first Mother's Day splitting time between the Hodges and Obreiter families and had a very good day. Abby was finally able to get the picture with her cousin Jacob, who is 4 days younger than Abby. She also got to meet Jacob's big brothers Connor and Noah. We had fun comparing the new babies.

Three Weeks Old

Abby is three weeks old today and has been enjoying herself with lots of fun activities. This morning she got to take a bath and splash in the water. In her bath time before she had to lay in the newborn sling and get sprayed with the sprayer, but this morning she got to lay in the tub of water and splash all around. She wasn't quite sure what she thought of the new way to take a bath, but there was no crying, so she probably liked it.

We also went to visit Uncle Greg & Aunt Linda today. First Abby got to visit the golf course at Rustic Glen so Steve and Grandpa Hodges could play a round of golf. While Steve was golfing, Grandma Lorraine and I went over to Uncle Greg & Aunt Linda's house , which is on the course, for a visit. We got to see lots of beautiful birds and chipmunks. Abby slept through the whole visit, except for the two minutes she was awake to make sure I was giving her the right bottle.

Then Abby got to go for a walk in the park with her dog. Maize was not well supervised (my fault) and jumped into the muck, so it was a smelly ride home. Abby enjoyed her ride on her dad in the carrier and slept for the walk. Maybe one of these days she will stay awake for the activities that we plan for her.

A Cultural Experience

Abigail had her first multi-cultural experience last night when we attended the graduation party of Steve's friend Ruchir Patel. Ruchir is originally from India and most of the guests were Indian. Many of them had made the trip from India to be at the dental school graduation. We really enjoyed experiencing the different styles of celebration and had a nice time visiting with Ruchir and his wife Virali and Steve's other friend from school, Adam Mileski and his fiancee Ann. Abby wore her purple dress, which was almost as fancy as the Indian sari's that most of the women were wearing.

Unfortunately, Abby's little belly did not like the taste of Indian food in her milk supply and she was feeling rather odd this morning. We've survived the worst of it and her belly is now on the mend. She is back to her normal, quiet and relaxed self, so Steve and I were able to sneak in some R&R this afternoon.

We are off to Hastings later this week for Steve's graduation party. I'm sure all the family is looking forward to seeing Abby again.

Abigail Attends Graduation

Yesterday Abby attended the University of Michigan School of Dentistry's graduation to see her dad receive his Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree. She stayed awake for the first half of the ceremony, but fell asleep before Steve actually received his degree and proceeded to sleep through the post-graduation reception as well.

Steve is finally done with dental school and we are on to the "adult" portion of life - jobs, a house (we hope), and a family.

Abby did a great job at graduation - she didn't cry during the ceremony and we only had to sneak out once for a diaper change. Unfortunately, she was SO overstimulated during the day that we had a really, really, really long night. Abby couldn't figure out what to do with herself last night, so she cried and fussed and stayed awake. We are hoping a day or two home alone without visitors will help her get back on schedule and back to being a content little girl.

Abby Loves...

Abby loves her beautiful pink and white afghan.

Abby really, really loves her grandmas and great grandmas (she even got a shirt that says so).

Abby really, really loves her grandpas and great grandpas too.

Abby loves eating milk from a bottle.

Abby loves her family and her dog Maize.

Abby loves her pink bouncy seat and the toys on it.

Abby loves the cow that rides on her car seat.

Abby loves bath time.

Abby loves her special pacifier.

Abby loves riding in the car.

Abby loves taking walks with her family around the block.