Getting Bigger

Yes... that says Carter's 9 months. She is that big now. Holy cow. It is hard to believe that approximately 1 year ago Abigail began as one little cell. She is certainly a remarkable creation. And remarkably big. A couple nights ago we took her to the grocery store and the clerk guessed that she was 5 or 6 months old. Apparently she was from a family with little babies.

Abby and I had fun today relaxing and snuggling. We also found some fabric that I had meant to use for bassinet sheets, instead we are going to make some soft blankets for Abby since she loves snuggling blankets right next to her face when she is falling asleep. It's just too cute for words. Aunt Carol and Uncle Jeff Mansfield are going to be in town sometime today, so tomorrow we may be doing some thrift store adventuring with Aunt Carol. But first Abby is going to accompany me to the salon to get a hair cut - the first one since sometime in January.

For Uncle Nate

An entire roll for Uncle Nate. We just got our Veggie Tales "Lord of the Beans" movie in the mail - I think it's time for a family movie night :-)

Oh... and this was filmed with the camera sitting on the floor, so if it isn't the best cinematography, sorry... I can't be an expert at everything.

Finally... The Photos

We finally got the pictures of our best girls to upload. Hope you enjoy them :-)

Yesterday we let Abby have a little juice diluted with water for the first time. We are starting her on cereal in a couple weeks, so we wanted to give her the chance to try something new before the big girl food transition. The pucker on her face when she first tasted the pear juice and water was priceless. We should have had the camera handy. After the initial pucker she decided juice was okay, and promptly sucked down most of the bottle. If one thing about this little lady is certain, it's the fact that she won't hesitate to eat. She doesn't eat a ton at a time, but she likes to eat often, so it balances out. She generally has about 6 ounces at a time and then saves room for a "snack" a couple hours later.

Now that Abby is a great napper (on my bed, but napping nonetheless), I am finding it increasingly difficult to get out of the house. By the time she gets up in the morning, I only have about an hour before Steve is home for lunch, so I can't really go out. Then, after visiting with her dad at lunch and playing a bit Abby goes down for another nap around 1 or 2 and sleeps for 2+ hours. So by the time she is up again it is about


















time for her dad to be getting home. And when he does get home he is tired and wants to just chill out here. We are going to have to figure this out so I don't go stir crazy!

To add to the feats of strength that Abby can perform, last night she was sitting in her high chair while we had dinner and decided to use her arms to pull herself into an upright sitting position. She has been doing little "sit-ups" when I lay her on her back as well. Our little lady will be sitting on her own in no time. It's hard to believe it's only been 15 weeks since she was born!

House Rules

Our friends from Ann Arbor, the Franko's, have these great rules posted in their house. We do too, on a custom sign with Maize and Abby on it. We thought they were a good tool for teaching little ones. The rules are from a book and can be found at this website http://www.fortifyingthefamily.com/21_rules.htm.

The 21 Rules of the Obreiter House
1. We obey God.
2. We love, honor and pray for one another.
3. We tell the truth.
4. We consider one another's interests ahead of our own.
5. We speak quietly and respectfully with one another.
6. We do not hurt one another with unkind words or deeds.
7. When someone needs correction, we correct him in love.
8. When someone is sorry, we forgive him.
9. When someone is sad, we comfort him.
10. When someone is happy, we rejoice with him.
11. When we have something nice to share, we share it.
12. When we have work to do, we do it without complaining.
13. We take good care of everything that God has given us.
14. We do not create unnecessary work for others.
15. When we open something, we close it.
16. When we take something out, we put it away.
17. When we turn something on, we turn it off.
18. When we make a mess, we clean it up.
19. When we do not know what to do, we ask.
20. When we go out, we act just as if we were in this house.
21. When we disobey or forget any of the 21 Rules of This House, we accept the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

In case you are wondering - rule number 14 is our favorite.

A-Maize-Ing

We have an amazing dog who already puts up with a whole lot of abuse. I took some really cute pictures of Abby and Maize yesterday, but this silly website wouldn't upload them, so if you want to see them you will have to visit our flickr photo page by clicking on these different colored words. And, amazingly enough, both the dog and Abby are still sleeping at almost 11 a.m. I am so lucky to have a great sleeper :-)

We will try to load up the pictures later, but it is lovely outside, so we may get stuck resting out in the sun to try and get tan before the wedding we have to go to this weekend.

A Half Roll Left For Uncle Nate

Uncle Nate said he wanted proof of rolling, but Abby said he was only big enough to have half a roll. Maybe next time he can have a whole one.

Ice Cream Sunday

Another lazy Sunday down the tubes :-)

We did some cleaning so Wade and Sarah can stop in this week. We don't like cleaning much, so there was a bit to do, especially in the mail processing department. But, with Abby's assistance (in the form of a nice two hour long nap) we got it all done. She was very helpful.

Abby was also a little angel in church this morning. Lots of smiles, some sleeping, no noise and most importantly no dirty diapers. One of the couples from our new small group was convinced we had met them somewhere long ago - it took a while to figure out that they just recognized us because Abby had very loudly filled her pants a few Sunday's back. Thankfully she is over that habit.

And now little lady Abby is getting ready to sleep by resting on her dad's lap and sucking her thumb. She is really good at that trick now. So, maybe Steve and I need to hurry and get some of the ice cream out of the freezer :-)

Shopped 'Til She Dropped

She did it - we walked downtown from our house and went to all the "fudgie" shops this morning. Abby made it through part of them, but somewhere along Portage Ave. she dropped off to sleep. Mr. Pig had to accompany us on the shopping trip since we cannot go anywhere without that pink, rattly, noisy dude. We had fun pretending to be tourists.

This evening Steve went golfing for the second time in one week. He found a golfing buddy in our small group and has been enjoying some time on the course. Abby and I decided that if he got to golf we could go shopping again, so we headed off to J.C. Penney to hit the sale racks. Abby picked out (and chewed on) some shirts for next summer. We also found some cute play dresses for her and a couple things to add to Baby Jack's shower gift. Abby loves shopping - all the lights and colors and people oohing and aahing over her.

These are a few of my favorite things

We all love the Baby Einstein sit and spin center! Abby loves being able to stand and it is perfect for holding her up.

Abby also loves mirrors, and the sit and spin has a good one.

And best of all... the sit and spin puts Abby at the perfect height for her most favorite activity of all - TV watching. We really didn't want a little one who was a TV junkie, but sometimes it's the only thing that will calm her down, so we give in. Like last night when the uncontrollable crying only stopped when we turned on "America's Greatest Dog" for her to watch.

Which brings us to one last thing that Abby is growing increasingly fond of, Maize. Those two girls just love checking each other out. Abby got at least a dozen kisses this morning from Maize alone and was just mesmerized by her. They are a hoot.

Enjoy your weekends and the docudrama on Abby's TV habit (drama because there is no funny bone in this kid's body - she's just the most serious little thing around today, must be the weather).

A Little Bit Smoky

Yesterday Abby, Steve, and I went over for dinner at Dr. Drockton's house. We had fun visiting with Steve's two dental partners and their families. Abby got lots of snuggling and made a very nice new friend - Sadie Drockton, who is in 2nd grade. We all had a good time and got to enjoy a nice fire outdoors after dinner.

Abby's been keeping me busy, busy, busy. She is really into playing with her pink pig rattle. She will hardly let it go. We have a great time with the little porker and Abby rather enjoys chewing on him. We also got a noisy bug toy from Virginia Jennings - an old high school friend. When I pulled on it so that it would make noise her eyes got SO big. This afternoon Abby and I need to make a trip to the post office for more stamps and to Wal-Mart for more invitations so we can get them sent out for Baby Jack's baby shower! We can hardly wait to see him and the rest of our family :-)

Keys Found!

How they ended up in the beach bag, I can't remember. Luckily Steve had the common sense to look in that bag - I had figured it wouldn't have any reason to be hiding my keys. Now... as soon as Abby is up we are off to shop for baby Jack :-)

Introducing Cousin Jack Hagberg

This is Abby's newest cousin Jack Hagberg, born yesterday. Obviously my sister Melissa is way better at having babies than me - she looks amazing (not like the zombie I was after having Abby). Congrats to the new Mom and Dad!

Stranded

I have lost my keys, and so tonight, instead of shopping and picking up groceries while Steve is out golfing I am stranded here in the house with a screaming, unhappy baby. Needless to say we are both unhappy at this point. She really needed the car ride. And the keys are no where to be found. I have ripped apart my purse, the diaper bag, the car, and everywhere else I can think of. I probably dropped them the other night when I was out with Steve and they are long gone.

Abby got another cousin today - baby Jack Hagberg. Jack was only 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19 inches long, so Abby is feeling rather large at twice his size (she was almost 16 pounds the other day). We can't wait to meet Abby's newest cousin :-) We are all super happy for Melissa and Glenn.

Holy Roller

We have had 4 successful attempts by Abby at rolling over today - her first time accomplishing this monumental task. She rolled over this morning and I thought it must have been a fluke or the way I laid her on her belly to play, so I flipped her back onto her belly and she rolled over again (the other way this time). Being a skeptic, I made her do it a third time just to be sure. And she is a roller.

Steve saw her do the new trick while he was home for lunch. Unfortunately Abby's been camera shy when it comes to rolling, so we having been able to film this new feat - but we will be working on that tonight. Right now she is napping to get her strength up for this evening's attempt. She is still in the novice rolling category - we have to put her arms in the right spot for her and she hasn't quite figured out what she is doing to cause the rolling, but she is sure catching on quickly.

Why So Crabby Abby?

She was happy for about 3 hours total today. A bit this morning for photos in her cute Sunday outfit (thanks to Great Grandma Joyce Obreiter for the dress and hat). Then she didn't take her morning nap at church like usual. It was all downhill from there...

Abby and I took a nap together this afternoon while Steve mowed our lawn. I had every intention of not taking a nap, but she kept waking up with big cries every 15 or 20 minutes. She was just way too tired. At least she was super cute today when she was happy.

We wore the ruffle bottom tights today and had to take a picture just for Auntie Meg. We always loved our ruffle bottom tights as kids :-)

If you have a weak stomach quit reading this paragraph now. We had another big blowout in her diapers today. I think it is about time to move up to size 3's before we need to bleach every outfit she owns. That's 3 blowouts in 3 days - 100% deadly accurate. Every dirty diaper has been a blowout.

The weather was cooler today, but terribly humid, so it was miserable and we had to go to Goodwill and K-Mart to get into some air conditioning. Tonight will be early bedtime.

Incredible Feats of Strength

Baby Push-Ups






















Standing and holding all her weight on her own - now we just need to work on balance

Where is the Beach???

We tried to go to the beach along the Saint Mary's River near Lake Huron today. The map showed a turnout where it seemed to go right along the coast. We stopped along the Munuscong River, which according to the map drained right into the big lake. The beautiful grasslands in the photo are the "beach" we were headed to. Obviously, we did not go to the beach. On the bright side, the campground there was big, with sites right on the river, and there were only 2 sites with people in them, so we are pretty sure it would be a great place to get together with friends or family just to hang out. The fishing may or may not be good - more research is necessary.

We did go to some yard sales today and got quite a few size 12 months pajamas for Abby. We also found a great play set for Abby - it is a ocean themed belly mat that turns into a tunnel for when Abby gets bigger. Now we are all a little tired from driving all around the eastern part of Chippewa County.

Dog Days of Summer

We hit 80 degrees again today. By my count that is 4 straight days. Finally... summer. Just in time for a great beach expedition tomorrow. Since Abby has now visited Lake Superior, we are going down the road in the opposite direction to try out Lake Huron. Should be perfect beach weather.

Abby attacked her piggy rattle today since it was the large animal auction at the Barry County Fair and her Aunt Hannah and Aunt Emily were busy selling hogs. We hope they remember to save some bacon for Abby, but it may be a while before she can eat it. Today she was very interested in the bowl of cereal I was having for breakfast, so I'm sure she'll be more than ready for rice cereal when we start that next month.

Happy weekend everyone - we hope it is cooler "downstate" than it has been lately!

Hallelujah!!!

Great news on two fronts.

First - we are 1 hour and 45 minutes into a nap (and counting). This means I got to work out, lift weights (thank heaven for the bowflex) and shower and I still have time to update the blog.

Second - my biopsy results came back with "no abnormal cells" which makes me non-cancerous. They still haven't figured out what is causing the lump, but since it isn't anything that is dangerous, we can just leave it be and see if it goes away on its own. The latest theory is that the lump is an abscess, but I have no pain, no swelling, no redness, and no tenderness so Steve and I are pretty skeptical about that diagnosis. But... cancer free is fine with us, so we will just leave it at that.

And... since Abby and Maize are still quietly napping, I had better get some cleaning done before my hands are full again.

Sleepy Girl

Abby loves to sleep in late, but only if she gets to sleep on my spot in our bed. I've lately been swapping out my spot in the bed early and letting Abby rest in my spot while I get around in the morning. We just trap her in with some pillows to make sure she doesn't try to make a great escape, put her baby monitor in our room, and let her sleep until she's ready to be awake.

I normally get two to three hours of productive time this way. Now that Abby is sleeping in her own room, I am sleeping much better and feel ready to get up at 7 when she is ready to trade spaces. Abby's made it an entire week sleeping in her own room, with the exception of last night since it was so hot in this house and we only had enough fans for our room. Poor Abby barely fit into her bassinet, but I'm sure it felt better than having lots of space in a super hot room.

I was reading an article this morning that said babies have a highly developed sense of smell even while they are in the womb. That must be the reason that sweet little Abby loves being in my spot on the bed. We found out yesterday that it is the only place where she will nap for more than 20 minutes. So... I think I will be looking for those bed safety rails that you can slip in under your mattress. We'll need them eventually anyway for her and I would love some extra time during the day to work out while she naps. Only 25 pounds left to go until I am back to what I weighed before we were married. Only 15 to get back to my pre-bar exam weight and only 10 to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

It is supposed to be another warm and sunny day in the Soo - I think we will be enjoying some of the afternoon outdoors again. Maybe I will be able to tan enough to be darker than Abby.

Three Months Old (Yesterday)

Yesterday Abby turned the big 3 months. I had every intention of putting our pictures from yesterday up in a timely fashion, but the evening got away from us. Abby started her first day as an infant (apparently the switch from "newborn" to "infant" occurs at 3 months) by sleeping until quarter past 10. She did wake up around 7 am for her first breakfast and to see her dad off to work, but it was a very short burst of energy before going right back to sleep. We had a fun morning of folding laundry and learning about clothes and colors. She was especially entertained by wiggling socks in front of her. We had lots of laughing.

Yesterday afternoon was a particularly splendid day for laying around in the backyard. There was a good breeze, lots of sun, and most importantly no bugs. So, Abby and I took our playtime outside and relaxed under our new beach umbrella. We had such a fun time that Abby wouldn't take her nap (again). When Steve got home we took Abby to our local library. She got to check out two books this time. We are going to be reading Piggies (about our fingers) and Seven Blind Mice, since it has lovely pictures. I've also been working with Abby on learning to control her hand movements - we've been playing a lot of open and close hands games and songs. She still isn't getting it on her own most of the time, but I bet she isn't too far off.

Since we had an unproductive nap time, we had to take a ride to our favorite store (WalMart) to get some milk and pick up contact lenses. Abby stayed awake the whole time, but the ride at least ended the crying. On the way home we celebrated with Dairy Queen :-)

So now we have a very beautiful, very happy three month old little girl. We can't wait for Melissa and Glenn to have their own sweet little Baby H - only 7 days until he or she is due!

Our Napping Dilemma

Abby is now an official grabber of toys, hair, and anything else that gets within arms reach.

We have a slight dilemma on our hands up here in Sault Ste. Marie. Abby has decided that nap time is a great time to practice singing (happy songs for the most part). We have tried napping in several locations and at different times of the day. We have tried putting her down while she is awake and putting her down when she is out. Anyway we try it, within 5 minutes she is wide awake and having a great time. The only way she will nap is if she is laying next to me, on me, or is riding in the car. Obviously this is not going to work. Any great ideas would be much appreciated. Until then, Abby and I will be having nap time on my bed (she naps, I read or crochet or something).

I had the biopsy today for the lump in my breast. It was partially fluid filled, partially solid. Results from the pathologist won't be in until Wednesday or Thursday. We'll have to wait and see what they say and what our next step is. Until then we are going to hang out and try to have a bit of excitement. Tomorrow is library day again. We are going to have to get several kids books, because Abby is a lover of books. Yesterday she was mesmerized with pictures in the books Steve was reading to her. She didn't look away from the pages once during the two books they read.

Naps are FUN... as long as you aren't sleeping

This is how nap time often goes in our house...

Goodwill Friday

Our little girl apparently LOVES shopping (oh no...). I think it is the overhead lighting that most amuses her. Today we decided to try my sister Melissa's favorite Friday trip and started our own "Goodwill Friday's" tradition. We found some good bargains. We got a set of illustrated bible encyclopedias (each volume was only 99 cents - and they were old so they match my antique book collection). We also found a VHS copy of The Prince of Egypt and 3,2,1 Penguins (a movie by the veggie tales guys). Last, but not least, was a car seat winter cover for Baby H. as soon as he or she is ready for it. Abby will be too big for the infant car seat before it gets too cold here. Or maybe we should re-phrase that - she will be too heavy for us to keep carrying her in that seat.

So... we took our afternoon and made the most of it, and I think we both had fun. Abby laughed and cooed all the way through Goodwill, but slept though the book buying at the Salvation Army.

Today was happy in a brown shirt day - these are my favorite pictures from this morning. She's been a happy camper all day long :-)

Remembering Grandma Baker

Steve's Grandma Alta Baker passed away last night. We found out this morning - what a terrible start to a day and the weekend. I am so glad that we were able to get some pictures of Abby and her Great Grandma Baker a few weeks ago so that we can teach her about her family and can remember Grandma Baker on a day when she was at her best. We want Abby to have all wonderful relationships and family memories and hope that she will value her family as much as we do.

Further complicating our weekend is the fact that I am scheduled for a biopsy on Monday for a large and still growing mass in my breast. We weren't going to tell anyone about the tumor until we knew whether or not it was cancerous, but with the biopsy on Monday and the need to head down to the Kalamazoo area to remember Grandma Baker in the next few days, we had to let Steve's family know about the procedure and I didn't want people to be hearing rumors about my health issues so we are going public.


















Steve and I are both fairly confident that the results will be non-cancerous, but we are waiting for confirmation and praying to that affect. Either way I will probably require surgery, but surgery for a non-cancerous mass is much less stressful.

So, instead of starting a wonderful weekend of exploring our U.P. home, we are waiting to figure out what our plans are for the next few days. I envy Abby's peacefulness at this age. While we were digesting the convergence of terrible news and stressful issues this morning Abby was laughing and playing with her chicken rattle. The simple joys of being a baby.

And on that note - we apologize for a thoroughly disappointing and depressing post. Hopefully this afternoon will bring a lovely adventure for Abby and I to report on.

Me & Maize

Best friends are nice. Abby is getting big enough to appreciate her pal Maize. This morning she spent 5 minutes checking Maize out while Steve tried to get her attention. Apparently dogs are cooler than parents.

Here are the best photos of our two girls from their playtime on Monday. Abby did most of the playing, Maize did most of the napping.

No dogs were harmed in the creation of these photos.

Company's Coming

Here are some more pictures from our 4th of July visit to Great Grandma Jennie's house. It was Abby's first time being held by Great Grandpa Steve. She also got to visit with Great Aunt Barb.
Our family is hosting visitor's today. Abby and I are waiting for my friend Maureen Fox and her boyfriend Greg to arrive. We have some big plans for today, if the weather will cooperate. Right now it is 63 degrees, cold, breezy, and cloudy. If it clears up we are going to visit the Soo Locks tonight and have dinner at The Antlers. For those of you who haven't been to The Antlers, this is what you are missing out on - a huge room full of stuffed animals, chandeliers made of antlers, lamps made with deer hooves, a two headed calf, and the famous "bells and whistles" that go off while you are eating. Last time Abby slept right through the whole thing, including the whistling and ringing.

Tonight is also a big night for Abby - it is going to be her first night sleeping in her crib. Steve and I are going to have a slumber party with her in her room so she feels comfortable for the first few nights. She's taken a few naps in the crib, but never done a whole night.

So... we will be busy and won't be able to blog any tomorrow, but we will be back on Friday :-)

Hopefully by then we will have a ton of new pictures to show off. Have a WONDERFUL day!!!

Abby Meets Puppies

Abby got to meet Grandma Mary's bulldog puppies. She wasn't too sure that she liked them, but they liked her.

Home Again, Home Again

We are all home safe, sound, and in Maize's case stinky. We had a great time visiting our families, but now we have two very tired girls. So tired that both Maize and Abby are sharing the boppy pillow on the couch (Abby on the inside and Maize on the outside). It was a very, very eventful weekend for us.

We traveled down on Thursday evening (Steve got out of work early so we left shortly before 4 pm) and made the trip in about 5 1/2 hours. We were very happy with that. We went straight to see Grandma & Grandpa Hodges. Abby got to visit with Grandpa while we waited for Grandma Mary to get home. Grandpa Scott and Aunt Hannah tried to play a trick on Grandma Mary by putting a doll into the baby bed and hiding Abby upstairs. It didn't work, but it was funny. Abby had slept well on the ride down, so she was up until midnight when Uncle Nate came home with Courtnie. Nate had just proposed to Courtnie, so everyone was pretty excited. She is a sweet girl and we are lucky to have her as a new part of our family (and now there are more women then men in the family again).

On the 4th we spent the day with our Hodges and Osgood families. Abby visited with Great Grandma Jennie and Great Grandpa Steve and also Great Grandma Lorraine and Great Grandpa Harley. We had wonderful barbecue pork chops cooked by Abby's Uncle Dan and lots of other good food. We were able to enjoy some time by the pool and Maize and I visited the horses in the field. Maize got very muddy running through the shallow puddle in the low spot of the field. My mom is down to 4 big horses and a miniature horse. The evening of the 4th my dad was called in to his office to deal with a little boy who's teeth had been splinted and the splint had come loose. Since Steve had wanted to take x-rays of my teeth, we tagged along. Luckily no drilling on my pearly whites was needed quite yet, but the weak spots on my first molar weren't any better, so they will be filled soon.

We spent Saturday the 5th at Grandma and Grandpa Obreiter's house. We got to see Abby's cousins (Connor, Noah, and Jacob) and Aunt Tammy. We were also able to see Great Grandma Joyce , Great Grandpa Ed, and Great Grandma Ruth. We had a nice time visiting, but Abby got a little overwhelmed by the big boys and their noise level. She did have a great time with Jacob while the bigger boys were out swimming. Abby and Jacob are keeping up with each other pretty well. Abby's only 4 days older and just slightly bigger and stronger, she is also tanner and has a lot more hair. Sometimes it seems like they shouldn't be related at all when you look at them. She also wants to be more active than Jacob, but they are both very good babies. By the time we did all that visiting we were all exhausted.

We went to church at Hastings Baptist Church with Abby's Grandma & Grandpa Hodges. Abby spent most of the service sleeping on Grandpa. After church we made a quick trip to Great Grandma Jennie's for lunch and birthday cake (for Jen's cousins Seth, Luke and Meghan and Grandma Mary). Then we had to hit the road to come home to Sault Sainte Marie so Steve could get back to work today. We made the trip home in 5 hours and 15 minutes. Abby was asleep the entire ride. When we got home around 9 pm, Abby wanted to get to partying, but we made her go to bed at 10 like normal. It was a good thing we were heading north and not south on the ride home. The traffic leaving "Up North" was in gridlock from the Mount Pleasant area to near Lansing. Yikes!

So now we are back to our normal routine. Today is a trip to the grocery store and Wal-Mart.