May Flowers Please

As we wrap up April here in the U.P. I am hoping that the May flowers are not too far away. It's a gray day up here. Thankfully it's 60 degrees, but not the kind of 60 you'd want to be outside in. Luckily it was beautiful yesterday when we had the home inspection done, so we were able to see a lot and stay outdoors longer than we could have even a week ago.

The home inspection was overall a good thing, with the exception of two major and two semi-major items that need addressed. The wiring in the home is almost all original wiring from 1926, which isn't too surprising. The main problem is that the wiring itself isn't up to code and shouldn't be insulated around. The inspector said the wiring was in great shape and wouldn't be too much of a concern were it not for the fact that there is blown in insulation around it in the attic (a major fire hazzard). So we have a call in to the church to see if they have anyone who will take care of that before we start looking for an estimate on the cost. The roof, which is overall in almost new shape, also had some leaking around a dormer where the flashing was done improperly. Those are the major problems. We'll also have to have 2 cement windowsills replaced and there are leaks in the faucets and some drains, which should be relatively minor repairs. Ugh... So we'll see how the repair and estimate process goes and decide what we are going to do from there. I guess with old houses comes old everything.

Abby is back to being her normal, silly self. She has been playing extra hard with Maize and doing lots of extra eating to make up for her self-imposed fasting last week. She's just right back to our good little lady. She cried instantly last night when she saw her baby sitter Kitty come through the door, but was good and played with her while we were gone. She's got a pretty good memory, since Kitty hadn't been here for at least a couple months. And now, back to cleaning up. I've been doing loads and loads of laundry to catch up from last weeks siege.

Too Cute Not To Share

Courtnie's Shower(s) Photos

Smarty Pants

Abby and I made it safely home from Hastings yesterday with a very minimal amount of crying. It was a record, even for when Steve and I are both in the car and I can ride in the back with her. Some days we can really tell she is growing up.

Abby's Uncle Dan and his friend Zac Fay came and hauled away our old Buick yesterday so that it can be repaired and be her Aunt Hannah's first car. Dan and Zac got to enjoy Sault Ste. Marie's finest dining establishment (or not) - The Antlers. While we were having dinner Abby completed another one of those incredible little "firsts" that happen in these first couple years. She successfully fed herself a french fry with a fork. We were surprised that she was able to fork the fry and then for her to be able to eat it off the fork was even more impressive! She is growing up so fast.

Steve and I are heading out this afternoon to have our new home inspected. While I was down in Hastings for the showers I was able to sneak off to Home Depot for a few minutes to pick up some updated light fixtures. I am so excited about our new home and all the fun we will have decorating and making it our own.

Saturday Fun

Well, we've made it to Saturday and I think we just may come down to Hastings for Courtnie's shower. We got Abby to eat most of a stick of string cheese last night and this morning she had a few bites of melon. That's a pretty big improvement for her. Before we decide for sure we'll have to see how she does at the Angel Food distribution this afternoon. We'll have to head out soon to get things ready and help Steve unload the truck. I'm sure he'll be tired after his early morning drive down to Gaylord to pick up the food.

Abby and I picked up more paint cards yesterday. I am trying hard to figure out what color to paint her room and what color to paint the extra bedroom, which will probably someday be for a little brother or sister. Any ideas or suggestions would be helpful. I've been trying to to find a perfect quilt for a little girl's room too, but finding something cute, but that will grow with her is quite a challenge. Plus a lot of the "kids" bedding only comes in twin or full size and we have a queen size bed for Abby to use when she gives up on the crib. I didn't see the point in replacing a beautiful queen with a full just because that is what most kids use. Aah.... decisions, decisions.

Update Part 2

Abby is apparently on the downswing of a 4 to 6 day flu bout that is destroying this town. The doctor wanted to check her out, just to make sure she wasn't dehydrated, since he's already sent quite a few to the hospital from this bug. Luckily we checked out just fine.

Now we are airing out the house since it is so nice out. Maybe we should head out for a walk past our new house to check on the landscaping. It's a whopping 4.5 blocks away :-)

Going to the Doctor's Office

The nurse decided we had better come in to see the doctor after 4 days without eating. Our appointment is at 11:20 a.m. Hopefully we can get back on track soon.

Illness Update

Abby just threw up all over my leg and herself. We are not making steps in the right direction for making it down to Courtnie's shower.

Enough With The Sickness Already

We are still battling some bad diaper situations and we are not to happy about that. I'm not sure now if the problem is the flu, or the lack of solid food in Abby's diet the last few days. Either way Abby is on her third outfit for the day (the first was destroyed by the Mac and Cheese she had for breakfast). I'm hoping we are almost at the tail end of this! Either way she has had a wonderful nap today and has been in a pretty good mood all things considered. We are almost at the 3 hour mark for her nap, which is a first for this week.

We are busy trying to get things set up for a home inspection, getting the mortgage finalized, and trying to prioritize the renovations and changes we want to make at our new house. There is so much that could be done, but doesn't really need to be done at the same time. One thing that is certainly at the top of the list is a fresh coat of paint and picking the colors is proving to be quite a challenge. We are also planning to rip out all of the carpet that is currently in the house and hoping that the hardwood underneath isn't terribly damaged or stained. And then there is the fancy pink bathroom, which has a leaky sink. We may just get new fixtures and leave the major renovations of that room for later. Eventually we'd like to put a walk-in shower in so that we can have 2 full baths. And a fence around the yard, and someday a 2 car garage instead of the one and a half car garage that is there now. Like I said, a lot that could be done, but nothing that absolutely needs to be done before we move in. Either way, we are going to enjoy having our own space and will really enjoy the nice big deck in the back yard.

Sold

Abby finally talked us into buying her a house and we signed the contract today. She was most impressed with this nice big playroom and the big bedroom upstairs, although I think we will be changing her room from blue to a more feminine color before we move her in. Now all we have left to do is have the inspections, the appraisal and closing. Hopefully we will be in our new, permanent home sometime in June.































We are still battling the flu, but luckily the throwing up has ended for now, so we just have the other end to deal with. Still yucky! And poor Abby is still not feeling quite like herself yet. Hopefully she will be back to normal soon - I miss all the fun we have when she isn't clinging and whining.

Biohazzard!

We are in the midst of a terrible round of the stomach flu. Abigail went from playing and happy to blowing chunks of nastiness out both ends. I'll spare you any more detail, just think of the worst thing you've ever seen or smelled and double it. It was a pretty nasty night last night. And it hasn't really let up much today either. We are on to outfit number four for today so far. Yuck. And boy does this house stink!

If Miss Abigail gets to feeling better she and I are going to try and make it down to Hastings to attend Courtnie's two showers over the weekend. We wouldn't be leaving until Saturday and then would be making a quick trip back here, since Abby just can't bear being away from Daddy that long. We will have to see - I will definitely not be driving down if we have continued diaper explosions! Changing clothes is one thing, changing car seats mid-trip isn't really an option.

And so, I will now be back to the washing, scrubbing, and disinfecting. We are wishing and hoping health for all your family!

Barks and Balls and Books

I am doing an experiment today to see how many books I actually end up reading in a day (and how many times I read the same book). So far we are in the 20's, and I've been busy so I haven't read every book that's been thrust upon me. I hope Abby always enjoys reading as much as I do.

Now that our backyard is almost snow free we've cleaned it up and started playing outside whenever we can. Abby and Maize have a lot of fun outside. Maize loves taking naps in the sun and Abby enjoys walking up and down on the cement and petting her poochie. Last night Abby and I went to K-Mart and picked out some outside play toys. She was most impressed with the micro sized soccer ball. We had a great time playing with it inside and it should be lots of fun outside too. We also picked out a kids golf set so that she can decide whether to follow in her daddy's club swinging steps. We'll just have to be extra careful and make sure that the clubs don't get swung at dogs.

It is rainy and cold today, so we will have to wait a day or two before we can find out how much fun our new outside toys are. Stay warm and dry :-)

Helpful Helper

We posted a video of Abby doing dishes on flickr and linked to it here, since blogger will not let me upload video for some reason. It was too cute not to share. Abby is getting so big and helpful. On Friday she learned how to put books back on to the bookshelf, so now she puts her stories away after we read them. Such a good girl!

Baby Does Dishes

Baby Does Dishes
Originally uploaded by Jen O.

Not So Much A Swinger

Abby wasn't too impressed with the swings at the park the other night. In fact, she wasn't too impressed with the park in general. We'll have to try later in the summer to see if her opinion changes any.

Abby had her one year check-up and shots today. She is right on track to perfection. She was 22 1/4 pounds (75th percentile) and 30 1/2 inches (75th percentile). She also really impressed Dr. Mackie with her waving and smiling skills. If it weren't for the shots she would have had a great time at the office. She especially enjoyed ripping the paper off the examination table. By the time we left they didn't have any paper that needed to be changed over for the next patient. They were also 2 diapers heavier, since someone decided to relieve herself on my lap a couple of times. She must have had a few too many drinks of water before we left. Luckily the diaper didn't leak, but it was sure warm.

The Party Pictures

Here are a few of the pictures from Abby's actual birthday. The weather was so wonderful yesterday that we went to the park after having dinner and cupcakes. And today was great again, so we played with Abby's new bubble mower outside, but it wouldn't bubble. So we have to see if we can trouble shoot that mower when Steve gets home tonight.

One Year Old!!!

We survived the first birthday - here's to many more! We have new pictures to upload tomorrow, but for now Abby is demanding mommy's full and complete attention. Or ELSE!

First Birthday Tomorrow!!!

It's hard to believe that exactly one year ago today I was in labor just about to have a small, sweet baby girl. What a difference a year makes! Abby has gone from 8 pounds to over 22 (we will get the official weigh-in on Friday at her 1 year checkup). She can walk, is starting to talk, feeds herself, and is a wonderful friend to Maize and her dolls.

Abby took her birthday money from Great Grandma Jennie & Great Grandpa Steve and her gift card from our friend Erin and went to Wal-Mart this morning. She picked out a dog groomer little people set and we also found some new Dr. Suess books, since they are her favorites. And she also got new t-shirts and socks since she has outgrown her 18 month sized onesies. What a huge girl! She also got a Crayola color wonder set, so she should be able to color without wrecking any of our things. We can't wait to test them out and show off Abby's art skills.

It's a great day in the U.P. today - almost 60 degrees! So nice that we will probably take a little walk when Steve gets home. Maybe we'll even have a little birthday dinner downtown for Abby tonight since our tomorrow is going to be busy. But we have to make sure that we have enough time to make the birthday cupcakes for Abby to enjoy tomorrow. We are planning to share the extras with her Dad's fellow employees. For now I'd better get back to playing - Abby is climbing her chairs trying to get to the coke can on the end table, could be dangerous!

A Wonderful Weekend

We made it home last night after a wonderful weekend visiting family and friends in Hastings. Abby had some great birthday parties (3 of them) and enjoyed her first Easter egg hunt. We have lots and lots of pictures, which are going to be posted on our flickr site, since it is much faster than posting them here. Here's one of the pictures of Abby eating her second birthday cake. She mostly just picked the M&M's off the bunny's bow tie.

Abby got fun gifts and we got a new baby horse. She still needs a name, but we are pretty sure she is the most beautiful horse we've ever had!

Happy Easter!

The Easter bunny stopped here this morning and let Abby have her Easter basket early, especially since she was not feeling very good at all and we needed a new book to read. So now we have a new Easter book and a touch and feel bunny book. When Abby isn't feeling well she really wants to be held and have books read to her. She loves reading books - especially the same one over and over and over. I know at least 3 of the books by heart. Hopefully Abby's teeth come in soon because we need a break from the fussing, runny nose, and general whimperish behavior.

We are all packed up and ready to go - and Abby is shoving a new book into my face, so I'd better get back to reading (or just quoting) her favorite book.

Update

My jaw is back to normal (-ish). Not that it won't pop out again in a day, a week, or a month at some random time when I'm least expecting it. It took both Steve and I about ripping it off for us to get it back into place.

Abby is currently laying on top of Maize, who does not seem to be too thrilled about being a pillow. She has a little runny nose, but doesn't seem to have any other symptoms, so I'm pretty sure it is just from getting teeth into her little mouth. I hope she never has the jaw problems I've suffered with for the last two years.

We are doing the last load of laundry so that we can get to packing our bags for our Easter trip! We can't wait to see our family and friends :-)

Dislocation

Abby must have punched me in the mouth while we were taking our nap yesterday because my jaw has been dislocated ever since. The jaw dislocation unfortunately isn't a new phenomenon for me - the first time it happened was about 7 weeks into pregnancy and it has happened regularly since then. It just normally is something that Steve can ease back into place. Unfortunately that wasn't the case this time, so I am on a soft food diet and waiting to see if it can resolve itself in the next few days. Plus, when Steve did try to manipulate my jaw back into place last night it sent Abby into hysterics - she must have thought her dad was trying to kill me or something because she wouldn't even look at him for a good 10 minutes without crying.

Abby and I thought about watching the Spartans last night, but we were too tired and fell asleep before halftime. According to SportsCenter we probably didn't miss a whole lot. They still had a good season, so Grandpa Harley and our other Spartan family and friends can at least be happy about how far they got. Unfortunately our Maize and Blue didn't do quite as well, but we are still very proud of their performance.

Today we have the big job of deciding what outfits Abby should take to Hastings to celebrate Easter and her first birthday, which is a week from tomorrow. She has grown up so fast! And she has so many cute outfits to choose from - this is going to be one tough decision. And now, back to playing dolls - Abby is at this moment trying to swaddle them to put them to sleep in the bouncy seat. She is going to be a wonderful babysitter someday.

Abby Loves Shopping

Abby was a busy shopper this weekend. She bought Easter candy, some yummy snacks for herself, new pillows for her second bed (also known as mom and dad's bed), and some cabinet locks. Oh... and she also tried to buy this house, but we are still waiting to hear if her offer was accepted. She tested all the closets while we were there and we had some help from a local friend to make sure this was not going to become a money pit. So, maybe in the next month or two Abby will be having her first room that she can decorate any way she wants. There are more pictures of the house on my flickr page - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jd_jeno/.

Today Abby and I are going to enjoy playing inside and looking at the nice sun outside. It is deceptively beautiful. Lots of sun, but only 28 degrees. And we have to prepare our snacks to watch Michigan State play for the national championship today. Even though we are definitely Michigan fans all the time, we will cheer for the Spartans tonight. We may even let Abby wear her MSU bib.

The Girl Who Loved Her Dolls

These are from yesterday and too cute! We spent most of the day caring for 9 of Abby's favorite dolls. They even got to play with Abby's toys.

13 Days

Abby's birthday countdown is on :-)

Mom's Been Busy

...And Abby has been playing with her dog and her favorite doll JoJo. I decided I'd take advantage of the massive amount of time I spend in the living room with Abby by scanning in all the old photos I have in the house. So far I've managed to scan in 88 during nap time and a small amount of playing with Maize time.

Here is one of my favorites. It's Hannah around age 2 or 3 with the baby goats.

















It has been really fun looking back at so many old photos and remembering the good times. It's like our almost daily looks back at Abby's photos (since she loves looking at herself in photo albums). And we can't wait until Abby is big enough to meet some baby goats or ride a horse or do some of the many, many things I found in the pictures. I am going to be putting the best of the photos onto my flickr page, so you can check them out there.

No Internet Worms Here

Apparently we were not victims of the internet worm, or maybe we were and we just don't know it yet. Either way, the computer is still working and Abby is still trying to play with it.

I slipped covered an old chair today - the quilted one from all the pictures. I'm not 100% happy with the result, but I am about 90% okay with how it looks, so we're just going to leave it at that. For an old $5 garage sale chair it's been through a lot. And considering I made the slip cover from scratch without a pattern, I think I'm doing pretty well. I just need to hem the bottom and then we will be ready to photograph it (with Abby in it of course).

So it is again April Fools Day. There was no white pony in my driveway this morning. I didn't even have the energy to try and trick any of you today. Abby already used up all the tricks in this house when she woke us up at 1:15 this morning and then continued to cry intermittently (both while awake and asleep) for the rest of the night. It was the first night in months that Maize did not wake me up, so of course Abby had to make sure I didn't get any uninterrupted sleep in.