Just Another Terrific Tuesday

Abby tried on her outfit from India today. She is still a little to small to wear it, but we still had a little princess party in it. As you can see our stairs are all wood now and they look pretty good. They could use some sanding and staining, but for having been covered with nasty carpet they didn't turn out too bad.
This is Abby pretending that she can't hear me telling her to get down from the shelf. She's figured out that she can climb onto almost everything in the living room and she has been taking advantage of that ability to the greatest extent possible. She's also been on top of the couches, cedar chest, and fireplace surround. We need to work on teaching Abigail that climbing is fun, but is not an indoor activity.
This is Abby's dishwasher box house. She's been having a fun time playing in the box with her chair. We cut two windows into the sides and she loves peeking out of them.
Abby has moved on to a new favorite doll. For a very long time, JoJo the water baby was her favorite, but now she especially loves playing with "Uncle Nate" the doll from Mildred. Nate comes with us all over the house and he even gets to wear his clothes, unlike JoJo.
Someone was having a great time with my sunglasses, right before she broke them into 3 pieces. Guess I can justify buying a new pair now. She thought she was hot stuff in my glasses.

Tot Swim Class - Day 1

Abby had her first day of Tot Swim Class today at Lake Superior State University. We wanted her to feel comfortable in the water, so we signed up. Luckily we actually were up and rolling before 9 am, since we arrived at the information desk to register 2 minutes after the class started. But we weren't the only late comers, so it was okay.

Abby HATED swim class. She was clingy and when she wasn't full out crying she was whimpering. No smiles for anyone. She did do a lot of the things they wanted the kids to be doing though, so it wasn't a total loss. She even jumped off the edge, but only because she really, really wanted her mommy. We'll be back every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next few weeks to see if we can make a water baby out of her :-)

Mirror, Mirror...

Someone has been enjoying the ability to stare at herself for hours (okay... maybe minutes) in her new mirror. She really cracks us up. There is a small stool that came with her vanity and she won't use the play set until you set her on the stool (she's a little too short to get onto it herself).

We had a long and busy day yesterday. Steve got up way early to go to Gaylord and pick up the load of Angel Food. I ended up awake at 4 am too. And when I tried to get up at 6 to shower and get ready I woke Abby up, so we all had a pretty early day. Abby and I helped out at the church wide garage sale (and got rid of a lot of stuff) and then passed out the Angel Food when Steve and our friend Kevin got back with the food. By the time we made it home we were beat.

We let Abby watch the Michael Jackson music video special last night, since we couldn't find anything else we wanted to watch and love him or hate him Michael Jackson made some very entertaining music. Abby had a great time dancing. She may have even learned a few new moves. She continued the dancing at church today. She's going to have to be enrolled in dance class as soon as she's big enough. Speaking of classes... tomorrow Abby and I are going to enroll her in a tot swim class. The class also starts tomorrow (we think), so we'll probably be hitting the pool as well. Steve and I thought it would be a great skill for Abby to learn early in life, especially since Grandpa and Grandma Hodges have the pool to swim in and we have lots of lakes to play in around us.

My Yardwork Projects

Hot pink peonies :-) I can't wait for the whole bush to be in bloom! I love flowers.
The trees post cutting - now I just need to haul away all the branches and limbs. Our yard goes all teh way back to the line of hostas/foliage in the back. If you click on the picture to expand it you should be able to see them. All we need is to get a fence going and we'd be perfect.
My newest flower bed and walkway. Some of my transplants aren't faring too well, but hopefully they'll get better soon.
Freshly trimmed shrubs and bushes. And mowed grass. The only problem is that our sod didn't transfer well from the back yard to the front yard. Could be worse.

I've heard that some of my cousins are trying for a mini-baby boom. For the record I have no intention of participating. Abby still wears diapers and still needs too much assistance. So don't count on us to add to the global population any time soon. Abby enjoys being an only child :-)

Fake Food

Abby's been playing with her fake food a lot today. She's especially enjoyed eating her fake pizza. That and learning how to use her little squirters in the pool.

We finally cooled off today and we really enjoyed the weather. So much that we baked and cleaned out the office. We are now done with boxes of stuff laying around :-)

Other than that, not much to update. We've just been playing and laughing. Abby says "hi" to all of you!

House Update

We have ordered a new dishwasher and it should arrive in the U.P. within 5 to 7 days. Apparently it takes longer when they have to deliver by dogsled and snowmobile. It's too bad that the old one broke down so soon, but I sure won't complain about the nice, shiny, new unit that is on the way!

I've also got all my shrubs and hedges out front trimmed, the lower branches on the tree trimmed up, and the new flower bed mostly filled. Only a few more weeks of work and this place will look like someone actually lives here :-)

Abbeeeeee

Here are some photo highlights of Abby's weekend. We had a very fun time visiting with Grandma Von and Grandpa Roy and Great Grandma Joyce. Abby showed them around our neck of the woods including Tahquamenon Falls and Lake Superior. Luckily it was a nice hot day to be outdoors enjoying God's handiwork!
Grandpa Roy, Grandma Von, Abby, and Great Grandma Joyce.
Abby found the mini-rocking chairs at the visitor's center in the Tahquamenon Falls State Park. She loves little furniture!
Abby's grandparents brought her up a vanity play set. She was nuts about it. She is going to be a true girlie girl. She wanted to sit on her vanity stool and stare at herself in the mirror, talk on the play phone, and put on her necklaces for about an hour straight. It was a lot of fun watching her play.

Last night Abby perfected saying her own name. She'd been working on it for a while, but now it really sounds like Abby (emphasis on the "ee"). We left our digital video camera at Grandma and Grandpa Hodges house so they could make a dvd of Courtnie and Nate's wedding, so we couldn't get video footage of the hilarity that goes on around here. Here new favorite words are Abby and Daddy - she just walks around randomly saying them.

It was ridiculously hot here yesterday. We moved to the Upper Peninsula and were very excited to be leaving the major heat. Neither of us particularly enjoys seeing 90 degree weather, but that is what we've had the last few days. It is supposed to reach 87 today, so Abby and I made play date plans for the beach. We spent a lot of time yesterday in her wading pool. And we had a hard night going to sleep since it was so hot and humid! Hope you can all stay cool today - we will sure be trying any way possible.

Busy Weekend!

We've been very busy again this weekend. Steve's mom, dad, and Grandma Obreiter came up and helped us complete a lot of the little projects that we needed to get done. We've now removed all the carpet from our house, almost all the wallpaper from the half bath, put in a walkway and garden, fixed the outdoor spigot, removed the leaky dishwasher (water was coming up through the floor)... as you can see we've been very, very busy!

Yesterday we did Tahquamenon Falls and it was really, really hot for up here! We have some good pictures, but we don't have the time right yet to upload them. Maybe later...

Abby has been saying her name over and over and over. She must like the sound of it.

She Says The Darndest Things

Abby just brought me her shoes and said "stoee" - I think we may have a shop-a-holic!

Pool Party

We've been having lots of pool parties lately. At our pool parties you can swim in whatever you have on... shoes, shirts, pants, diapers, whatever.Steve's mom, dad and Grandma Obreiter are coming to visit tonight. It should be a great time. Hopefully our poor little fireball is feeling better quickly. She's been running a fever off and on for the last couple weeks. Either it's teeth, a virus, or allergies. I just hope she's feeling better soon!

New Words

New words of the day:

Door (pronounced dooy) and Tree (pronounce twee)

She even pointed to them when she said the new words. What a smarty pants!

Getting Dirty

Some of us have been busy working. Others have been having picnics and taking naps with their best friends. That and making HUGE messes now that there is 5 times more space to mess up! This afternoon, after I put Abby in her room for her nap, I got down to work on a new garden. We have lots of old gardens on the property that are overgrown, weedy, and in desperate need of work. Instead of tackling one of those I ripped out a little section of grass that we decided we didn't want to mow and put flower in instead (and my bell pepper plants so we'd have lots of yummy peppers to eat this fall). I'm two-thirds of the way done with this side of the garden, then I'll have to rip out the rest of the grass, put in the brick pavers I found in the yard and finish the north side of the garden, which currently has two big, tangly bushes. On the bright side, all this gardening is pretty much free, since I have been relocating the plants from the yucky gardens into my new space. And Melissa and Mom also sent some beautiful guys to live in our flower bed too.Abby has been enjoying our new deck. We put a kiddie pool out on the deck and she's been exploring that quite a bit. She also has been using her bubble mower to keep the deck clear of any weeds or grass. And she has been enjoying being outdoors in the nice weather. She even has the start of a farmers tan from being outside so much the last 3 days. We've especially enjoyed the ability to eat outside, which we couldn't really do at the last house because the cement was weedy, unlevel, and too far from the kitchen to make it practical to carry everying in and out.Along with all the playing, Abby and Maize have been taking extra long naps to make up for all the energy they've been using. The other day they were both sleeping on the same pillow on the couch. It was too cute! Abby's adjusted well to her new room and house and is napping and sleeping perfectly. We've been very happy with how well she's adjusted to her new space. And since we've been in the new house Abby's picked up a new skill - climbing. She can now climb onto the futon all by herself. She loves being able to get up by herself and last night was taking books over and getting up to read them by herself. I'm not sure if any reading occured, but she sure thought she was hot stuff. She's also become a champion stair climber, since we now have to climb upstairs to do all the diaper changing. She is one quick little lady!

Quick Update

We've been busy, really busy. So we will just give you the quick update and then get back to work. We moved into our new house on Saturday and finally got our internet up and running Sunday night. Yesterday was a blur of unpacking, putting in the Angel Food order, enjoying the nice weather with our new kiddy pool, and other odd jobs. We have a lot of little projects to work on over the next few weeks, including a really neat garden that Abby and I are going to start.

So, we will give you more details later. But for now it is back to work. I have 6 boxes of slate tile for our bathroom floor that need to be moved from the car to the house.

Abby can now say "baby," "boy," and "daddy." She is still working on tooth number 8. She is also now a master of our new staircase.

Splish, Splash, Bath

Supplies, Check

Now we just need to get them installed and we will have working bathrooms again :-)

Abby has been into trouble all day - chewing on lotion bottles and things she isn't supposed to, running like a mad woman at the hardware store, unpacking boxes at the wrong house... Hopefully she will decide to be a better helper this evening and tomorrow, when we've got major work to do.

But, she did sleep 11 hours straight in her own bed so that Steve and I got a full night's sleep, and boy did we need it!

More Surprises!

New surprises to add to the fun:

Our oven is a convection oven! Oh the cookies we will make with that baby :-)

We have an even bigger yard than we thought and a nice 2nd shed. Lots of room to play dog chasing games!

So Much Work, So Little Motivation!

We have a lot to do, but it is yucky and gray and I have so little motivation! Abby and I did one big load this morning and got it all put away. I also mowed the back yard at the rental house (which was a jungle). I am never letting the grass go to seed again - that was back breaking work! Abby and her dad even found time to break in the new couch a little bit and read some stories at our new house.Here's a sneak peak at our hardwood from the living room. It is much better than the yucky carpet. It is super dried out though, and I've already had to mop it twice. I'll have a few more mopping sessions and hopefully we will get it back in shape. You can see where I've put down the floor cleaner because the wood sucked the stuff right in. So I'm hoping that if I mop again and again and again I can get it all shining and nice. Hard work...

And now... Abby and I have to move the food over to the new house. The dishes are already there and so are the rest of the kitchen supplies, so we've got to get the food there too so we can start eating at home instead of having fast food for every meal (which got old after the 2nd day).

Oh... and on the Abby news front she is learning more and more words. She can say Abby now and also knows that saying up and pointing to the stairs will probably get her carried up to the top. What a brainiac!

Surprises!

I need to shower, so I'm keeping this very short. Abby, Steve and I ripped up the carpet in our new living room and had a great surprise - beautiful hardwood floors in great condition. We also had some neat floors under the carpet in the half bathroom. It's vintage honeycomb tile from 1926, just like the entryway. Some of the tiles were damaged from the tack strips, but I think we are going to try and leave them at least for now. Maybe I can even get some replacement tiles to fill in the broken ones.

Abby was a good helper again today. We've got a lot left to move, but we made a good dent. We also bought the new toilet, new vanity and sink set, and a new set for the shower. Now we just have to figure out how to get them installed... that could be the tricky part. But we have leaks in the bathtub faucet, leaks in the half bath sink, and leaks in the kitchen sprayer, so they all have to be fixed. Otherwise the water will have to stay off because I am refusing to pay the huge water bill they will cause!

Watch tomorrow (or the next day) for pictures of the awesome floor we found :-)

Treed

Working Girls

Abby and I spent all day yesterday working. We packed at the rental house in the morning and unpacked and cleaned the new house in the afternoon. We even let Maize come to the new house to check it out. She, of course, instantly peed on the carpet. Luckily the carpet is all coming out, so a little dog pee won't hurt it.

We moved the garage sale sofa in last night with some help from friends. It is just as nice as our current sofa, so it will work out great. We also hosted our first dinner party at the new house last night for the friend who carried in the sofa. We found a few more little things that we needed to fix by having company over and using the bathrooms.

Abby and I ran some errands this morning and worked on some additional packing. I think it is going to be a very busy weekend for us. We stopped in the local florist and greenhouse and remembered how spoiled we are having Grandma Jennie and Delton Floral in the family. The flowers and baskets at our greenhouse up here were almost double the price and not nearly as nice. I was definitely disappointed in the selection! We also stopped in Goodwill and found a great little picture for Aunt Carol (it's a whole row of Raggedy Ann's and Andy's). I love the half price tags - we got the picture for $1.99 and a winter weight infant car seat cover for $2.49. THIS DOES NOT MEAN WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER BABY - I just figured for such a great price there was bound to be someone who could use it and it is the fancy, normally $40 or $50 dollar kind.

This afternoon has more packing, moving, and cleaning in store. I am waiting for the last load of curtains to finish washing so that we can see how they cleaned up and decide whether they are moving back into the house or moving down the street to Goodwill. There may be a few in there that would be bad enough that no curtains would be better than re-hanging them.

Official Homeowners

We signed all the paperwork and have the keys... we are now officially homeowners. Yippee! Abby and I have even done some major cleaning in the cabinets. We only have a few left to clean before we can start moving our dishes in.

Other than the big closing we've had an uneventful day. Abby was wonderful for her babysitter Kitty and even smiled and laughed while playing with her. She also had a play date this morning while I was at a local United Way function. It was a very eventful day for her. And tomorrow she has another play date planned while I sneak out to my first official lawyerly function in the U.P. - the local bar association luncheon. Hopefully she continues to be a well behaved lady.

We have lots of gardening to do, lots of cleaning to do, and lots of moving to do. It's going to be a monumental task, but hopefully it will be the last big move we make. That's what we keep telling ourselves.

Closing Time

We are closing on our new house tomorrow - we hope. We are still waiting on USAA (our bank) to get the closing documents to the title company, but we are on the books to close at 3 pm tomorrow. What an exciting afternoon and a huge relief to have this all behind us. And I personally can't wait to get into the house and start making it ours.

Abby learned a new trick in the last day or two. She can now nod yes and knows when to use it. We are constantly cracking up at this little girl, she is so full of character. Here's one great shot from the last week's adventures. You'll have to check flickr to see the rest.

One Very Busy Week

Well, I guess we can say we survived the last week. Unfortunately this week will be just as busy, if not more! But we managed to squeeze in the Toledo Zoo, a trip to Rustic Glen (Grandpa Harley & Uncle Greg's golf course), a trip to Zeeland to visit new baby kittens at Aunt Sue's house, a rehearsal dinner, a wedding, and a stop at Hartwick Pines on the way home. It makes me tired just thinking about it!

We had hundreds and hundreds of pictures on the camera - too many to share here. To see them you'll just have to click on the flickr link in the right column. I'm putting the best photos there as we speak. There will probably be 150 or more there by the end of the week.

Our little girl was exceptionally well behaved the whole week. She was great at the zoo, althought she was pretty sure she wanted to walk the entire way. Not just walk, mind you, but also walk without any adult touching her or holding her hands. She only cried at one pen of animals (the baby orangatans, who were fighting). She was on best behavior. We were kind of disappointed that the petting zoo was closed for renovations, but it was still really fun.

The wedding was lovely - it was beautiful and Abby was very good during the wedding, did lots of visists at the reception, and was super cute in her beautiful dress. We are really excited for the new sister we gained and can't wait for many happy years for Nathaniel and Courtnie. And... we have only 3 sibilings left to marry off - half way there :-)