Resolution Recaps

These were our new years resolutions from last year.

Abby's list:
1. Learn to walk and finally catch Maize
2. Learn to use a spoon so she can feed herself ice cream and cheese cake and not have to share it with her mom.
3. Learn enough words to boss everyone around

Jen's list:
1. Read through the entire Bible at least once this year
2. Lose the last 10 baby/law school pounds
3. Learn to make knitted (as opposed to crocheted) baby blankets

Steve's list:
1. Lose more weight than Jen does
2. ???
3. ???

Apparently only Abby was successful, since she daily terrorizes Maize, feeds herself anything she can get on a spoon that tastes good, and knows enough words to hold a conversation. She has certainly changed in so many wonderful ways in the last year.

I, on the other hand, have only made it through 1/2 of my Bible this year (which I still say is pretty successful considering I have very little time when a small person is not supervising me and she does not tolerate me reading anything - she barely lets me use the computer). I'm pretty sure I've gained way, way more than 10 pounds, so I don't think I can say I've lost that last 10. And the knitted blanket happened, but looked like a giant dish rag, so we put it into the doll box. Oh well... there is always 2010!

I'm not sure if Steve lost any weight, but since all I've done for the last few months is gain I'd say he is safe in claiming he lost more weight than I did.

I'm sure this year will have many, many new and interesting challenges and we haven't yet sat down to decide what, if any, New Year's resolutions we plan on making. We're just too busy playing with Abby and all her new things.

Our Girl - 25 Weeks

Your Baby

By the time you reach pregnancy week 25 your baby probably weighs in at more than 1.5 pounds and may be almost 13.6 inches or longer! Most babies' length and weight tend to vary from this point on in your pregnancy week by week. Keep in mind that while some babies are born a mere 6 pounds, others weigh in closer to 10 pounds! Most babies average about 7-8 pounds at birth.

Changes In Your Growing Baby

Your baby is working diligently on putting on weight during pregnancy week 25 and as you continue your pregnancy week to week. About the time you approach 25 weeks pregnant your baby's spine starts to mature and blood vessels form in the lungs. If you were to peak inside at your baby you would also find her nostrils developing by pregnancy week 25. By the end of 25 weeks pregnant they will even open!

from (http://www.pregnancy-weekbyweek.com/pregnancy-week-25.htm)

Tired Tuesday

We hope you don't get a case of the post-Christmas grumps, but if you do this may help you get out of the slump. Abby has been enjoying her Christmas gifts almost non-stop since we returned home. And after purchasing some new rubbermaid storage totes, Steve and I have been appreciating them too. Last night we had some good times with Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head. Abby is certainly creative when it comes to making them up.

Abby got quite a bit of kitchen supplies and fake food for her play kitchen over Christmas and she has been cooking us some wonderful pretend creations (and boy are we glad they are pretend, because in real life some would be majorly disgusting). Last night we had some tomato coffee (she is really into cooking up tomatoes) and some cookies. She has also been feeding a lot of her creations to her dolls and Maize. It is fun to watch her imagination at work.

I have reached the stage in pregnancy that we shall fondly call sausage foot time. The car ride to and from Hastings left me with toes that felt much larger than they should and with distinct imprints from my socks, leaving a nice sausage like bulge where they ended. So I am back into the compression tights, not something I would have minded skipping this time around - oh well...

Last night Abby entertained herself (and apparently her sister too) by shining a flashlight directly onto my belly. She enjoyed the red glow that your skin makes when the light is directly on your skin. Abby's sister enjoyed punching out the light that Abby created. I'm pretty sure baby O. is going to come out swinging, so Abby had better beware!

Abby's New Bed

http://www2.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=57087&CatID=57899&GrpTyp=STY&ItemID=144915c&attrtype=&attrvalue=&CMID=57087|57091|57852&Fltr=&Srt=&QL=F&IND=3&cmVirtualCat=&CmCatId=57087|57091|57852|57899

That is the link for the bed Abby just ordered for her big girl Princess room. We would have just posted the picture, but it wouldn't let us save it.

Merry Christmas to You!

Right: the entire Scott J. Hodges family. By next Christmas the family will have officially doubled its original size. I'm thinking eating out with 16 people (5 toddlers and infants) is not in the cards. Sorry Melissa... you had eyes closed or funny faces in all my pictures :-(

Here's the first few Christmas pictures. We'll share more over the next few days, since there are so many to go through. We had lots of fun visiting family and friends over the holiday, but it was pretty tiring!

Here is the pregnant bunch. From left to right: Courtnie (sister-in-law) due July 4th, Melissa (sister) due July 4th, me due April 14th, Sarah (cousin) due February 19th, and Laura (cousin) due January 25th. We also did the belly measuring and Laura and I were tied. Sarah has a couple inches to go to catch up with us. I'm hoping to stop expanding or I am going to win the biggest belly of the year contest in this family.

Abby was wonderful the entire trip. We didn't really have any major behavior issues to deal with, she used her manners, and she slept like a champ. She had so much fun opening presents once she figured out what the process was. And she really enjoyed all the new things she received. We have her pretty worn out though, so she's working on 12+ hours of sleep right now. She even rode down and back with only minimal crying and only one dumping of the snacks onto the floor. That's got to be about a record for us.

Our Girl - 24 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-24-weeks_1113.bc)

Abby, Steve and I are all packed up and ready to hit the road when Steve leaves work. We decided to leave tonight instead of waiting for tomorrow. We really don't want to deal with any winter weather and we are hoping that Abby falls asleep and rides better tonight than she would during the day tomorrow. Unfortunately Abby woke us up at 4:45 a.m. and stayed up, so it is going to mess with the schedule I had planned for her (which included a nap right about the time we were going to leave). So we just have a few things left to gather and we will be on our way.

P.S. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott - we are joining the slumber party at your house tonight since we are going to be pretty late and Grandpa Roy and Grandma Yvonne have to work tomorrow. Just so you know :-)

Present Practice

Abby practiced her first round of present opening when we let her do our family Christmas tonight. She now has two cool play-doh sets, two new Veggie Tales dvds, two Olivia books, and some new shirts, socks, and hair clips (not that she will wear them). Her stocking stuffer little people animals are currently eating her dad. I think she's pretty happy with the new things she got.

We'll try to get some of the pictures, or maybe the big video posted for tomorrow.

Cookie Exchange

Today Abby and I hosted what we hope was the first annual Christmas cookie exchange at our house. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Yesterday Steve, Abby, and I made about 16 dozen cookies (we also had some help from our friends Trevor, Tara, & Maddie Dodge). So for the exchange we provided butter cookies, peanut butter cookies with reese's cups inside, and 2 varieties of sugar cookies (one roll out and one drop style). I think we are all cookied out for a while.

Abby enjoyed her weekend with Daddy. We did lots of playing and watching Veggie Tales together. We are going to have a girls only night tonight while Steve goes with friends to see the Manly Man Movie of the month (Avatar). I think Abby and I will finish up a few Christmas shopping type things and probably enjoy another Veggie Tales movie. Then we may very well be having our family Christmas tomorrow night, just in case we need to leave Wednesday to avoid any snowy weather. So far it seems that we will be clear until Christmas Day, but you just never know with the lake effect snow bands we have to drive through (mostly from St. Ignace to Grayling). And we need to do Christmas before we ride down because Steve and I want some new Veggie Tales to listen to while we drive.

Week In Review

We have had a busy week and are looking forward to the holidays next week and some much needed downtime. We've had lots of playing, partying, and cooking this week.

On Monday Abby had a play date with her friend A.J., including some yummy lunch. Abby and A.J. are starting to really get into playing with each other, which as a mom is so much fun to watch. They have the funniest conversations with each other while they are playing - most of it isn't understandable to me, but they sure seem to know what they are saying to each other.

On Wednesday we hosted Steve's office Christmas party. Abby had fun with the assistants and other dentists and even got to help open a present. She was mostly shy, like normal in big groups, but she did let some of the assistants pick her up and did give a few tours to her new friends. And she got to eat some goodies, like cheese and crackers and cheesecake. And we ended up with two animated goodies and lots of packing peanuts (she only tried to eat two of them).

To round out our busy week we went to the Christmas party for the crisis pregnancy center (CareNet Pregnancy Center of the EUP). Abby had fun playing with her friend Sophia from church. Sophia is almost three and enjoyed greatly playing with "Little Abby". It cracked me up since we have another friend who has a baby named Abby and so we are used to calling our girl "big Abby" and their daughter "little Abby". The reversal of nicknames was fun for a while. And Abby was on her best behavior - she really impressed the other ladies at the party. And we were semi-successful on our first cheesecake (it was softer than I would have liked, but since it wasn't baked it had a different texture than many baked cheesecakes). It tasted wonderful though, so that makes us for a multitude of little shortcomings. The next time I try this recipe I am going to put it in a baking dish instead of trying it with a springform pan.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow

So most of our Christmas cards have been sent out and we are now ready to reveal Abby's beautiful Christmas photo. It's a good thing we took this picture when we did because now the snow is too deep to even attempt to take an outside snow picture. And, when we did this one it was around 30 degrees - today it's a balmy 9 degrees (brr... it started at 1 degree this morning)!

Abby was wonderful last night at Steve's office Christmas party. She had a great time visiting with the assistants and other dentists. I think she almost stole the show, although some of the white elephant gifts were pretty hilarious! We somehow ended up with some animated goodies, including a dancing Santa (in his underwear of course). Abby likes copying Santa's dance, so we may have to capture that on video for everyone to enjoy.

Today's adventures include making my first cheesecake (it's a peppermint and chocolate recipe that thankfully doesn't require baking) and also making a dish for Steve's work brunch tomorrow. Abby is going to be getting a lot of practice cooking today. She will probably also get some practice eating.

Snow Ice Cream

One of my favorite mommy websites is quirkymomma.com and they had a great recipe for snow ice cream. I think Abby and I may have to try this tomorrow since we have so much snow!

Ingredients:

• 6 c. clean snow (Or use shaved ice from a snow cone maker)
• 1/2 cup of whipping cream
• 2-4T Sugar
• 1 t. vanilla
• Chocolate sauce, to taste (optional)
• Flavored extracts, such as raspberry extract or peppermint extract (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and serve immediately.

Our Girl - 23 Weeks

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-23-weeks_1112.bc)

Here is our daily snow update for Grandpa Harley:

The snow on the deck this morning was above my knee (or in Abby terms up to her armpits). Roughly 20 to 21 inches. In the yard it is probably more like 17 to 18, since we've had to clear a trail for Maize on the deck, so there is a bit of extra snow accumulation where we've tossed the extra snow.

Sockless

We must have a baby sock stealing gnome in our house because we can't find socks for Baby Sister in all the boxes of Abby's old things. I've found the shoes, clothes, bibs, blankets, and basically everything you can think of, except the socks. Weird... I guess today will have a little more box hunting to see if we can get some socks found.

It is snowing again... lots of snow. Big, beautiful flakes, which apparently will mean another 3 to 5 inches by the end of the day. There was at least 2 or 3 inches out there when I shoveled off Maize's trail to the backyard again. It is just wonderful to sit on the couch, snuggling Abby (who discovered that our light switch above the couch controls the Christmas tree), and watch the snowflakes come down. It's a good thing we don't really have much to do today except clean and get ready for our Christmas party tomorrow night. And possibly buy a cheesecake pan so we can attempt our first ever cheesecake. Yummy!

Party Weekend

It is snowing again. And of course, we have a silly winter weather advisory (news flash... it is winter in the UP, it snows, a lot). So... apparently I should be out shoveling some of it before it gets too deep (2 to 5 inches says the national weather service), but instead I'm thinking about all the fun we had with Abby this weekend.Friday night we had friends over so Abby had lots of little playmates. She is just starting to get to the point where she wants to play with other kids, not just next to them. They had lots of fun playing with the toy kitchen things. On Saturday we went to Maddie's birthday party (one of Abby's two best friends). All her friends were there again, so we got to watch the girls have another great playtime. And, Abby ate all of her ice cream, all of my ice cream, and none of her cake. So I got double cake and she got double ice cream. Not a terrible trade-off.

Yesterday Abby really went to work and made dozens and dozens of cookies at the Drockton's house. She had lots of fun visiting "Doctor Dave", Jackie, and the girls. We did have some minor moments of confusion when Abby couldn't tell which big girl was Kitty, but we got over it pretty quickly. Abby enjoyed playing with all the doll house pieces and parts that the Drockton's had. She was in little girl heaven. And we brought home a lot of delicious cookies, candies, and fudge. It's a good thing there is snow to shovel or my waistline would be expanding faster than allowable.

Here's some funny stuff Abby's come up with lately. She now asks for a "family hug" - aka mom and dad hugging her at the same time. She also continues to tell her dad to kiss her mom (I still think some money is secretly changing hands). And apparently Abby isn't really a big fan of Christmas cookies - she loves oreos, but she won't even try most of the cookies we made yesterday.

Cleaning Crew

Abby joined the cleaning crew today, although I think her contribution caused more cleaning to be done. She was especially excited to help fold "Baby Sister"'s clothes, which we started washing today, since we had piles and piles of laundry to do anyway.

We only ended up with about 12 or 13 inches of snow, so all in all not a bad start to winter snow season. And since I kept up with shoveling it as it fell, my jobs (the dog trail off the deck and front walkway) weren't that bad. The only downside was locking myself out twice - luckily we have the back deck door that is rarely locked if we are home and can't be locked when you open it. Those other doors let you go out, but won't always let you back in.

Hope you all have wonderful Fridays and great weekends ahead. Tomorrow Abby is going to her friend Maddie's birthday party and we are going to a cookie making party Sunday - should be a busy, but fun, weekend!

Some Random Abby-ness

Here are a few random things Abby has done to make us laugh in the last few days...

1. Abby has made the switch from always saying "uh-huh" when she wants to say yes. Now instead she says "yeah." It is simply adorable. Except when she is being naughty or having a fit.

2. Last night I really wanted to soak in the bathtub, since Baby O. was not being a nice girl. I didn't say the words bath, bathroom, tub, water, or anything resembling those. I told Steve I was going to go soak for a while. Faster than lightning, Abby said "Abby take bubble bath, yeah!" and she was up the stairs within about 1 minute. So much for a nice soak...

3. Abby no longer wants to sleep in our bed, at all, ever. Hooray!!! Last night Steve was tired from work and shoveling out our driveway, so he accidentally fell asleep in Abby's bed while they were playing in Abby's room. So, Abby came into our room where I was putting away clothes. I put her in bed with me when we were done with our chore. She lasted about two minutes before she asked to go lay down in Abby's bed. I've been waiting and waiting for this moment :-)

4. Abby is over the mom holding another baby jealousy - at least for the most part. This morning Abby and I went over to her friend A.J.'s house to lend a helping hand, since they received a tiny little infant foster child yesterday. They already had 2 girls 2 and under, so we figured that some extra hands would be helpful, especially since A.J.'s dad was going to be at work all day. Abby was very good about touching the little boy gently and letting me hold and feed him so A.J.'s mom could do some laundry, shower, and get ready for the meetings she has to go to this afternoon.

Our Girl - 22 Weeks

How your baby's growing:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-22-weeks_1111.bc)

I went in for my regularly scheduled check-up this afternoon. Everything is going well and baby is growing right on schedule. She was super active while we were there, so it made getting her heartbeat a little tricky, but Dr. Mackie managed and it was a healthy 144 bpm. We are going to be repeating the glucose challenge test next visit and also doing the rhogam shot (boo!). And then we will be scheduling a visit to the surgeon's office to set a c-section date. We are all looking forward to Abby's "baby sister"!

O Christmas Tree

In retrospect, I should have listened to Steve when he warned me that the tree I was picking was a little on the large side. I swear didn't look nearly as big outdoors as it did once we got it into the house. I think we have about 2 inches between the tree top and our 9 or 10 foot ceilings. But it does smell wonderful and Abby enjoyed watching the tree get lit up and decorated.

So we would have posted yesterday, but it took basically all night for us to get the tree in the house, wired to the wall so it wouldn't fall down and then decorated. It was a monumental task, but Steve is pretty good at figuring things out, so it went off pretty well. And then Steve helped Abby come up with some great poses to practice in front of the tree, including the "gun show," "touchdown," and the 80's glamor shot pose. They had a pretty good time :-)

Madrigal Magic

Abby attended her first fancy theater event last night - the Madrigal Dinner at the Kewadin Casino. It was a really fun medieval dinner show with singers, dancers, and some musical numbers. She went mostly to watch her baby sitter Kitty and Kitty's sister Susie dance in the program. She was incredibly well behaved for the 3 hour program - I was shocked.

The only problem we encountered was Abby's little fit over the cornish hen they served. She did not want a whole chicken on our plate (Abby and I shared). She only stop fussing over the chicken when she noticed that Kitty had a chicken too. Apparently whatever Kitty does is the standard for cool in our house right about now.

Abby is helping her dad celebrate his birthday today. So far they had donuts for breakfast, went to church, had pizza at Pizza Hut for lunch, and is now playing toys and watching football with dad. I think they are both having a good day.

Christmas Card Photo Hint

This isn't our Christmas card photo, but it is a hint at what that picture might look like.

Here are somethings Abby has been trying lately:
1. More fruits. She has especially enjoyed kiwi, peaches, and dried cranberries lately.
2. Dog treats. Abby found a dog treat when we re-arranged the furniture and decided it would be nice to try and eat it. Obviously some gagging occurred (both her and me).
3. Opening DVD cases. This is something we are trying to discourage, since we don't want the dvd's rubbed all over the floor. We have had multiple time outs over this proposed activity.
4. Yoga. Mostly the downward facing dog pose (imagine Abby making a triangle with her body). Next we will be teaching her to snap a football from this pose.

Some Random Photos from Thanksgiving Weekend

Doing Chores

Abby has been mastering her two chores around this house - feeding Maize and picking up toys. She is getting pretty good with the toys, but sometimes the dog food doesn't quite end up in the bowl...We've had a rather uneventful day today, which was a welcome change from the running around and busyness we've been experiencing lately. Abby and I even took the opportunity to re-arrange our family room so that we can enjoy our gas fireplace, which until yesterday was not working. We did a lot of sweeping, picking up, and rotating of furniture so that we can see both the t.v. and the fireplace from the couch. And Abby found lots of great things under the couch that we had "lost."

Abby is really mastering language at a great pace lately. She is talking almost exclusively in sentences now and it is becoming harder and harder to pretend like we can't understand what she is asking for. She gets pretty adamant about things too... Like yesterday, we bought a second toddler car seat for Steve's car. K-Mart had them on sale and we really wanted the ability to take which ever car was parked in back (since we have a one lane driveway and parking on the streets during snow season is not a great idea). So Abby and I went and picked out a new, pink car seat. Then she had a little fit because I wouldn't buckle it in right away and let her ride home in it. She didn't quite understand that we were on a schedule and changing out car seats in the freezing cold wasn't on mommy's agenda. She did enjoy playing with the car seat once we got home. She even wanted to be buckled into it and left alone.

Our Girl - 21 Weeks

How your baby's growing:
Your baby now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. You may soon feel like she's practicing martial arts as her initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to her activity as you get to know her better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now, and if you're having a girl, her vagina has begun to form as well.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-21-weeks_1110.bc)

Note from Jen: she has been practicing martial arts (hence the nickname Ninja baby) for weeks now. The poor ultrasound lady could hardly get the pictures she needed since the baby was constantly flipping. We can even see her moving across my belly already.Abby, her dad, and I have been working hard on figuring out a name for baby sister. Abby has also been working hard on designating which things are hers and which belong to baby sister. So far she's doing pretty good at understanding that she has to share things, but I'm sure that will change the minute the baby is actually here. One of the things she is excited to share is the new Disney princess table and chairs that we bought with her Christmas money from Great Grandma Lorraine and Great Grandpa Harley. She has been so excited about her chair and baby's chair and keeps asking us to take them from her room downstairs and back again, based on where she is (we are not obliging, since she already had a table downstairs).
Abby got her H1N1 booster yesterday, so she should be officially protected from getting the swine flu. Unfortunately I think they also squeezed in a little grouchy vaccine too, because she has been having random meltdowns since the shot. She was really cute after getting her "poker" - she looked at me after they put the band-aid on her leg and said "poker time all done uh-huh". She was totally over the crying before we left the exam room and besides reminding me that poker time was done, she didn't seem to be affected at all.

Girlie Girls

Well... Abby's baby is a good wiggler, kicker, and flipper. SHE also knows how to do the touchdown symbol already (we saw her do it at least 3 times). That's right... Abby is getting a little sister. She was very excited to see her baby on the ultrasound and was actually pretty good for the hour long scan. I'm not sure that ultrasounds normally require an hour, but with the amount of flipping our ninja was doing it took a long time to get all the measurements and pictures they wanted. And we found out this will be a second large headed child (her head was measuring one week ahead of schedule). Must be this will be another big brained child.

Now it is on to the big project - picking a name for the baby girl. We had our boy name set in concrete, but we haven't quite figured out what to call a little girl. We would be happy for any good suggestions, but remember that the initials need to create a word (like Abigail Grace Obreiter - ago). That certainly complicates the process, along with the fact that I have tons of cousins and all of our favorite names have been used by at least one of them. Abby suggestions so far include "Boy" and "Maize".

The Big Day

Tomorrow is the 20 week ultrasound and (hopefully) the big revelation of Baby "Ninja"'s gender. Stay tuned tomorrow night (probably after 8 pm) for the big reveal :-)

Abby Knock Up Door

We left Abby with her friend A.J. today while we were at a funeral. On the way in, Abby helped knock on A.J.'s door and then she said to me "Abby knock up door." I could hardly keep from laughing. She is quite an observant little lady.

Not much else is going on. We are just working on laundry and packing. Abby is reading me Hop on Pop (only the big words, not the whole page). So on this page above, she would read me "Hop Pop" and then I'd read the rest. She is pretty smart to have memorized the big words on almost all the pages. That and we read this book almost everyday.

Playing By The Door

Abby stayed with her favorite baby sitter Kitty tonight and they had a very interesting time. Apparently the whole two hours we were gone they spent playing with various toys, books and puzzles, but only sitting next to the back door. Weird...

We will begin the packing and getting ready for our trip down for Thanksgiving tomorrow after we attend the funeral for our friend Dan. He was an amazing person and a great example of living the Christian life, even with his medical issues and other challenges. We aren't looking forward to the funeral tomorrow, but we know our friend is in Heaven and is finally healed.

While we are at the funeral, Abby will be playing with her friend A.J. and A.J.'s grandpa (who she calls Apple). I'm not sure how Abby will react, but she will certainly be happier there than she would be at a funeral or staying at Steve's office with his assistants, which was our only other option. And now... on to little people time. Abby is a very demanding task master.

Oh Well... Go Blue Anyway!

Abby was hoping to feel like this after the Michigan/OSU football game. Unfortunately...
she felt more like this.

But she did enjoy wearing her Michigan warm-ups (Thanks Grandpa Scott!) and she looked good doing it. Now that football season is over for her, Abby is going to have to start learning her basketball lingo, since touchdown really won't work when watching Michigan Basketball with daddy or Michigan Hockey with Grandpa Scott.

We've been really busy, but we are still finding time to squeeze in some random fun. Like colored water bubble baths and Veggie Tales movies. Abby also has been working on not throwing her food onto the floor - Friday night she had 3 time outs for doing that trick before she was excused from the table. I'm pretty sure she only ate about 3 bites of dinner that night, and she did about the same at lunch today. She has suddenly developed an aversion to eating what I put on her plate, but has no problem eating the same foods if we take her out to eat. Weird...

Sweet Victory

We only had 10 minutes of crying and door pounding before she gave up and put herself into bed. When I was gone Steve got her to sleep at nap time almost instantly, no crying... I don't know how he did it. He must be the baby whisperer.

And since we got Abby into bed I've been cleaning up around here, since it is a big, huge mess! So far I've managed to clean off the surfaces, which seem to be super clutter catchers. And I realized that Abby stole one of the votive holders in my 5 candle holder, so I have 4 of 5 glass pieces... ugh - that thing could be anywhere!

And now... back to cleaning since it is going to be a crazy, busy, and emotional few days. Yesterday we lost a friend we had made up here, so there will be a funeral to attend. It is of course Michigan vs. Ohio State weekend and the Lions vs. the Browns, so there will be football viewing parties to host. And it is an Angel Food distribution weekend (we are almost done with the project - after December we will have our weekends back). So, needless to say we will be busy and won't have much time between events and such to clean back up.

Napping Battles

We are having a nap time power struggle for the last few days. Today I am letting Abby stay up as late as she can handle to see if that will make her so tired she falls asleep without the massive amounts of crying and door pounding. She's asking to take a nap now, so we will see how this experiment works...

Our Baby - Week 19

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-19-weeks_1108.bc)

Today Abby says our baby is a boy. She has been talking to the baby a lot, so the baby will probably know her voice very well by the time it arrives. And it will probably know the words "no" and "time out" too since Abby has been having a very defiant week this week. Hopefully it is just a product of the two teeth that are coming in right now. Or maybe it's something in this house, since Maize has been growling at Abby a lot more lately. It may be time to get out of dodge for a few days.

Test One - Passed!

I officially passed the first glucose challenge test, so as of last week I hadn't developed gestational diabetes. There will probably need to be a re-test in about 10 weeks, but it's nice to know that I can enjoy some yummy holiday treats without worrying about my blood sugar. And I think tonight is going to involve some ice cream in celebration!

Abby had a great play date with her friends Little Abby and A.J. this morning. We really enjoy the ability to play with other kids (and she also enjoyed playing with their puppies Maggie and CoCo). Abby and I are thinking about heading out to finish up some Christmas shopping today - we are over halfway done and hoping to be all finished before Thanksgiving. Abby has been thinking really hard about what to get for her Aunties and Uncles now that we have all of her cousins' shopping done.

Veggie Tales Dance

Christmas Shopping Extravaganza

I don't think Abby missed me that much while I was Christmas shopping in Traverse City. She was huggy and snuggly when I got home, but I think she had a lot of fun with her Daddy yesterday. And I had lots of fun with my friend Tara getting a jump start on Christmas shopping. So far, we have presents for all the little people in our lives (including all of Abby's gifts). Now we just have to tackle presents for some of the bigger people.

Since Abby can't read, and I can't take things back easily, here is what I got her: the play-doh version of Mr. Potato Head, the books Olivia and Olivia's Opposites, a Little People panda and giraffe set, and some more of the Gymboree dog gear (socks, barrettes, and a white t-shirt). Most of her present is going straight into her college fund, since she is too little to care whether we bought her a ton of stuff. And she has a ton of stuff... too much to put away.

We had been enjoying some unseasonably warm weather lately, but today is no good. I am not a fan of forty, sprinkly, windy, and grey. I don't think my heater is a fan either. But it is good napping weather and Abby has been working on a nice long nap for quite a while now. Which means Steve and I managed to get her presents all wrapped while she was asleep, so they will all be great surprises.

Abby Crabby

Abby has been having one of those crabby days today - must be the lack of sunshine and Maize's refusal to wear a cup on her nose all day. It may be a wonderful weekend for me to escape and let Steve and Abby have some good one on one time. Of course, I will feel bad if she is super crabby for him all day tomorrow and Sunday morning while I am in Traverse City shopping and hanging out with a friend.

Abby helped me pick out new glasses at the eye doctor's today. She was very insistent that she get to try on most of the pairs I tried on. It took way longer than necessary, but she had fun. And I think I found a pair of glasses I like (I hope) despite being rushed to get out of there by the fact that Abby was trying to bust a few pairs. Someday she will be picking out her own lenses, since I'm sure she is genetically doomed to bad eyes like her dad and I.

Abby Back Hurts

It must be that Steve and I have been talking about my aching back a little too much, because this morning Abby woke up, came down for breakfast and said to me "Abby back hurts. Hot shower." Needless to say I couldn't control the laughing and we took Miss Abby up for her hot shower, after which she was all better. She doesn't seem to miss a thing anymore. So, as much as my back is probably going to hurt for the rest of this pregnancy, I think I am going have to grin and bear it.

Last night Abby found her portable dvd player and insisted on watching Veggie Tales on it, even though her dad volunteered the big screen t.v. for her. She sure has a mind of her own. But she enjoyed Bob and Larry and her daddy was able to enjoy his sports center and other programs. She also insisted on wearing only dog clothes this morning, but after spilling a whole cup of milk on herself at lunch, she is now wearing a cute blue sweater and plain old khaki pants.

Abby enjoyed her daddy's day off yesterday by taking two walks around town, including one to the library. She enjoyed her library books so much that she went to bed with them last night. They were still sleeping with her when she woke up this morning. Another example of the crazy ideas that this girl gets into her little head. And another reason why we love her so much!

Here's one last picture of Abby and the puppy her dad said would be too much work for us (and I'm sure he was right, but it is such an adorable puppy).

Our Baby - Week 18

How your baby's growing:

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

from (http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-18-weeks_1107.bc)

We had our monthly checkup for Baby O. this morning. Everything was progressing on schedule and we are hoping that the glucose tolerance test comes back good so that I don't have to start testing my blood sugar daily. We have our next ultrasound on November 30th, so we are hoping that Baby O. cooperates and we can find out the gender (along with making sure that all the organs and systems have developed properly). Unfortunately, my back and hip pain is only going to get worse and Dr. Mackie didn't seem to think there was much that could be done to prevent it, short of doing less activity. And since Abby isn't on board with the less activity idea, I guess I will be having a sore back and hip until Baby O. arrives.

P.S.

We've uploaded Abby's 15-18 month pictures to http://photos1.walmart.com/groups/abbyschristmasalbum

Happy photo printing! Sorry we got so behind in the uploading. We still have all of our pictures from camping to upload.

Two New Favorite Things

I have two new things I could no longer live without. The first is my boppy pregnancy wedge pillow (http://shopboppy.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=17&zenid=798c8798fc3a3f9508743805eeaf8624). I'd been trying to alleviate my daily backaches by using a standard pillow, but this magic little pillow was the perfect shape to help support my back from the ache caused by the growing midsection.

The other great new purchase I made this week was a food steamer. Abby and I picked out the Rival model (http://www.rivalproducts.com/product.aspx?pid=2420) at our local Wal-Mart and have been enjoying yummy veggies and meats from it. It has two steaming trays, so we can fix multiple vegetables at the same time without doing the microwave juggle. And the food tasted so much better at dinner last night after a quick trip through the steamer.

Abby's new favorite thing is play-doh. She's played with it at playgroup before, but over the weekend she and Aunt Emily really got into it. Abby especially enjoys cutting and pretting things into the play-doh. We left the play-doh from the weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Hodges' house, but we replaced it with our own play-doh 4 pack. On the way home Abby counted the play-doh and then finished counting. I had no idea she knew how to count, so I was quite pleasantly surprised to hear "one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, two" from the backseat. We've since had to throw one of her new play-doh tubs away (I didn't think yogurt smoothie and play-doh mix would sit very well), but we are still enjoying lots of creative playing.

Getting Back On Schedule

We had a great time visiting family last week, but now it is time for us to get back on schedule. We have a lot to do this week!

We headed down to visit family last Wednesday night and enjoyed seeing Grandmas and Grandpas and Great Grandparents too. Abby had a lot of fun playing with Aunt Hannah and Aunt Emily. She especially enjoying having play-doh time with Emily on Saturday while everyone was busy. Emily made lots of good things and then Abby cut them up. We were cracking up. And Abby also had fun teasing Uncle Dan and talking to him on the pretend phone. She had so much fun doing it that she kept it up for a good part of the car ride home.

I think the highlight of Abby's weekend may have been visiting Aunt Ruth and Uncle Jim's puppies. Abby and I tried really hard to talk her dad into letting us keep one, but he is a stickler for the one dog rule. She had so much fun with the puppies that she talked about it into her sleep that night.

Abby also came home with some neat stuff, like a double stroller and a rocking chair. We test rode the stroller around our house this morning and it worked well. And we also brought home Abby's new favorite shirt - a monkey sweater. We have a lot of stuff to put away and so I'd better get back to it.

Our Baby - Week 17

How your baby's growing:

Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

(from: http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-17-weeks_1106.bc)

Next Wednesday is our next OB appointment. I get to take the lovely glucose tolerance test and we will be setting a date for our 20 week ultrasound. We've had several people we know recently who have been unable to determine gender from that ultrasound, so we are praying that Baby O. cooperates and Abby can settle on a name for her new baby. Last night's choice was Boy Sister.

In Case You Don't Facebook

This is Abby's singing debut. She needs some work on the rest of the lyrics, but it's not bad for a first timer.

New Phases

Our car dialogue after playgroup.

Abby: "Shoes off"
Me: "No Abby, please keep your shoes on big girl."
Abby: "Why?"
Me: "Because we are going to Subway and you need shoes to go inside" - in my head (oh man... I thought I had at least a year before we started this...)

Moon Boots

Hmm... Abby wonders. Who is cooler? Abby in her spandex and moon boots or Napoleon Dynamite? He does have sweet pockets on the side of his pants, but she thinks the stripes are a much bigger fashion statement.

Abby enjoyed a visit from Grandpa Roy, who was in town to train the staff at the local Department of Agriculture office. We got to have dinner last night with Grandpa and then visit afterward and had lunch together today too. And, tomorrow night Abby will be headed off to Hastings to do lots and lots of visiting with family and friends.

Today was Abby's playgroup day. We had a great time playing with the other kids and Abby enjoyed the lesson on making healthy fruit salad from our local MSU extension office friend Janet. Abby even got to help make the fruit salad by cutting up peaches (don't worry, it was a plastic knife and she is very handy). I am so glad she has a safe, fun place to play with other kids and learn things each week. And, it is nice for me to interact with other moms. Just this morning one of them was asking me how I handled staying at home when I had so much education and had an "important" job before having kids. It's nice to be able to share with moms like that how much Steve and I value the fact that we can give Abby and Baby O. a great start by letting them have a stay at home mom. Not that me working would have been a bad thing, its just too much fun to give up in exchange for extra income. And I get to witness all the firsts. Like the singing of twinkle, twinkle little star. We are up to "twinkle star how wonder are up diamond twinkle star how wonder are." Pretty soon she will have the whole song down.

Daylight Savings Time = BAD!

We are not enjoying daylight savings time. I have been getting less and less sleep lately from the pregnancy. So when Saturday night rolled around we tried to keep Abby up an extra hour hoping that would help her make the "fall back" switch. Wrong... Instead I was up an extra hour and still up at her normal time (8 a.m, which was now 7 a.m., on a Sunday morning when I don't need to be up until 9 a.m.). We are still fighting the fight. She was super sleepy and ready for bed at 8 last night, rather than her normal 9 or 10 p.m. bedtime and she woke me up at 4 a.m. this morning.

I really need a nice long nap, and this string of icky weather we've been having has been just what I need to help with napping. Now I just need to get rid of the rest of the things I need to complete, so that I can actually take advantage of the nice napping weather.

Abby has been singing to us lately. She is really funny. Today she was singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It went about like this... Twinkle star wonder are. She is pretty much adorable. She also loves to sing Jesus Loves Me to me, mostly in the car. She insists that the radio be off before she sings. And, if she doesn't like the song on the radio, she sticks her fingers into her ears and yells out "change, change" until I switch songs. It is hilarious!

Trick or Treat

Alright... I know this looks like she is crying, but I swear she was not. She did not like getting the candy from costumed people, but she didn't mind asking older people for a treat. Abby's friend Maddie went with us and was way into trick or treating - she even walked straight into the first house.
Mom and the ballerina trick or treating - she had cute little tights and a shirt on, but at 40-ish degrees you get to wear extra pants and a coat to trick or treat.
Abby and Dad trick or treating. Abby only took a 30 minute nap at 5 pm (we had to wake her up at 5:30 because people were here and ready to trick or treat). She did pretty goo for being tired.
Ballerina before the party. She was way cute :-)

Pumpkin Fun

Of course, pumpkin carving wasn't nearly as fun for Abby as it was for Steve and I, but we are pretty sure she still had a good time. Abby and I made her pumpkin a Blue's Clues pumpkin, so she was excited about having a dog in her pumpkin, especially when we lit it up with the candles. We also made a traditional-ish jack o'lantern. Of course, it couldn't be totally normal so we gave it a Michigan "M" for one eye and Steve gave it teeth for ears (an incisor and a molar, in case you are wondering). He didn't have that pumpkin done in time for us to take it's picture, so we only have Blue to show you today.

We left Abby with her babysitter Kitty on Tuesday and she has been talking non-stop about it. She must have had a great time because she keeps telling me about Kitty reading her books and keeps asking if Kitty is coming. I'm so glad we have someone to watch her that we all like a lot.
Here is Abby's pumpkin lit up. Carving it was quite a trick. I have a lot of knives and drills to wash as a result.

Abby exploring the insides of the pumpkin (after I had done all the yucky work).

Pumpkin Carving

We are carving up Abby's pumpkin tonight and she and I already gutted it so that it would be ready to go when Steve gets home. Now we just have to figure out how Abby is going to carve it. She said it had to be a girl pumpkin, so it will need to be something cute. I'm sure we'll have lots of cute pictures tomorrow - that is if Abby will actually do cute smiles instead of her cheesy ones.

We had a first last night - Abby's first time wetting through the diaper and soaking her sheets and mattress. I'm glad we made it over 18 months before it happened, but it was still no fun to clean up. We just put the last load of blankets into the dryer, so hopefully by bedtime we can get the bed back together. It was not the way I wanted to start a busy morning, but hey... sometime you just can't make it all night.

Our Baby - Week 16

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

Fall Fun

Abby is still working on her molars, so it is still hard to catch her without a hand or two in her mouth. And, this morning she fell and bit her lip pretty badly, so she's been checking it out. Luckily her Dad was home for lunch and he was able to check and make sure all of Abby's teeth were still in working order.
Abby helped me rake the yard yesterday and again today. By the time I was ready to quit today we had a pretty good pile started, so we tried the bury the kid and throw leaves trick. Unfortunately she wouldn't open her eyes and smile nicely for a picture. Oh well...
I'm not even sure she enjoyed being buried, but she did like throwing handfuls of leaves into the pile and kicking loose leaves too. Sometimes she was too helpful though and was pulling handfuls of leaves out of where I have raked and throwing them into areas that were already cleaned. Sometimes her helpfulness is too helpful. She also liked having me rake leaves into her, which made raking without whacking her pretty difficult.
Evidence of the "helper" throwing leaves from the pile into the place I had already cleared. Abby had her friends A.J. and Maddie over to play today. They had a good time, mostly. Since they are all approaching the terrible two age we had some sharing issues and needed to do a quick search for enough play phones for everyone, but for the most part they have a good time together and it is nice to have some adult company during the week.
Happy fall to you all and good luck raking up your leaves! We still have about 1/2 the yard to go, so I'm pretty sure we will be back at it again tomorrow.

When Pigs Fly

Abby and I got our swine flu shots today, so our family is basically protected (we hope) from catching the H1N1 virus. Abby still needs to go in again for a booster, but at least we know she has some protection. Now she and I are just relaxing after being pincushions this morning.

We bought Abby a board book Bible on Saturday, since we were buying the same one for her friend's birthday party. She has been very excited to read it right before bedtime and nap time. She even reminds us to read it to her and knows that her Bible is about Jesus. She is such a fun kid to have around. Steve has been particularly enjoying the benefits of her new found bossiness and talking. She has, for the last several days, insisted on first her kiss from Daddy and then that Mommy has to kiss Daddy too. I think he must be paying her on the side for this deal. Maybe that evening when they had the bubble bath playtime...

Ninja Baby

Baby O. is apparently a ninja. It took over an hour for me to get to sleep last night. I'm glad this baby is moving and healthy, but I would love to fall asleep without being a punching bag.

Abby played all weekend with her friend Maddie, who is now sick and throwing up. Icky... I can hardly wait until it hits our home. We've had a really busy weekend and will have a crazy busy week, so I don't really have time to be giving you much of an update. But either way, I thought you all should know how crazy the new baby seems to be.

Happy Monday.

Translation Please

We need someone to tell us what in the world Abby is saying to us. We are pretty sure she isn't meaning to say "dollar-six" even though that is all we can make of it. And there is no context for her phrase - it is used throughout the day and when doing many, many different activities.

Favorite Things

I wanted to take a moment and write down Abby's favorite things at 18 months so that we don't forget how cute some of them were at this age.

Favorite toys: her Schleich farm animals, Penny the American Girl Bitty Baby, and puzzles

Favorite activities: coloring, chasing Maize, reading books, and getting her picture taken

Favorite color: pink

Favorite foods: chicken nuggets, grapes, carrots, milk, cheese tacos and string cheese

Favorite t.v. shows: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Olivia, and Dora the Explorer

Favorite movies: The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Monsters Inc.

Favorite books: Cuddle, Hop on Pop, Dr. Suess' ABC, and Tom's Tail

Best Friends: Maize, A.J. Hood, Maddie Dodge, and Jordan Doghmi

She also loves bubble baths, looking at herself in the mirror, putting on hats and taking them right back off, and playing "Super Abby" with her dad. She also loves getting her hair done into pony tails, but only if she can take them out immediately. She has lots of big person words in her vocabulary and a few words that only she knows.

Bubble Bath Time

Steve took Abby upstairs to "put on her pajamas" last night and after 30 minutes they had still not emerged, so I went to see how they were coming on the change from play clothes to pajamas. Somehow Abby accidentally fell into the bathtub, which evidently filled itself with water and bubbles in the process. And Abby and her dad were having a great time making bubble beards, bubble shirts, and doing bubble high fives. Abby even made a bubble beard for Steve. It was pretty funny! I am glad that I don't have to worry about my girl when her daddy is around.

Abby has been practicing her reading skills a lot lately. She can tell what the title of the book is and will often say the title to us when she brings the book over to be read. She can also read quite a few pages from "Hop on Pop," especially the "All Tall" page. We obviously are a little biased, but we are pretty sure she is way smarter than most kids her age. She even has been practicing her good manners lately and has been using the phrase "excuse me" after she has a little burping or tooting going on. And because she has been using her manners she also now knows that "me" refers to her, so last night when we were playing ball and I asked her who I should throw the ball to, she said "me" instead of Abby. Again... this girl is way to smart.

Our Baby - Week 15

How your baby's growing:

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of an apple). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut, she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the goods.")

See what your baby looks like this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

You've probably gained about 5 pounds by now (a little more or less is fine, too) and are well into the swing of your pregnancy, but you may still be surprised by an unexpected symptom now and then. Actually, I've only gained 2.2 pounds according to the Wii fit, which I hadn't used since July (whoops), so I guess some Halloween candy is in order. And maybe some pumpkin pie... If your nose is stuffed up, for instance, you can probably chalk it up to the combined effect of hormonal changes and increased blood flow to your mucous membranes. Stuffy nose... check. This condition is so common, there's even a name for it: "rhinitis of pregnancy." Some pregnant women also suffer nosebleeds as a result of increased blood volume and blood vessel expansion in the nose.

(from: http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-15-weeks_1104.bc)

Abby's Baby Name

Abby has decided, quite definitely, that she wants to name the new baby Sister. So hopefully the new baby will be a girl or it will be very difficult to explain to Abby that we can't call a baby boy "Sister".

Some Ham To Go With Your Eggs

When Grandma Mary came over Abby learned about how fun it can be to make funny faces for the camera and then see the pictures. Since then she has been hamming it up and begging for us to pull out the camera whenever possible. She's done some pretty funny pictures lately. One night she had to take off her pajamas just so she could model her new boots. We didn't coach her on any of her modeling poses or faces - she is just a natural talent.

Abby enjoyed playgroup this morning. She got to make a place mat with her picture on it and had a lot of fun coloring it with all her favorite colors. She also got to do some dancing and singing, which she really got into. We have a great time playing with Abby's friends every week. And, as a special treat she had lunch with dad at his office afterward. It was lots of fun.