Two Teeth

Olivia finally got her bottom front teeth after days and days of crying and carrying on. Now let's hope we can get a full night's sleep!

Sometimes Happy...

Olivia, who has up until the last week been an incredibly happy baby, has had a very bad week. We can barely see her two little front teeth that just about have made it into her mouth. I'm praying they hurry up and pop through so that the poor girl can get some relief and I can get some sleep at night. She's been either happy or shrieking for about a week. I've been beyond exhausted for about that same amount of time.

We had a really fun week this past week. We got to witness the adoption of our friends' foster daughter and celebrate her adoption into their family. She'd been with them since she left the hospital, so it was exciting to finally (18 months later) celebrate that she was official. We also got to enjoy visiting with Great Grandma Lorraine and Great Grandpa Harley. They hadn't been up to see the new house yet, so we had fun showing them around and the girls loved playing with them. Abby was pretty bummed out when they left Sunday morning and has been checking for their car out the window just in case they come back. We took them to the must-do tourist spot in town (The Antlers Restaurant). While we were having dinner Abby fell asleep at the table. She almost fell out of her chair, but we caught her in time to let her sit up on my lap and sleep. It's amazing the places that little girls can fall asleep.

And... for the "Abby-isms" file of things I need to remember, we had the following play out this weekend:

Abby was playing with her dolls and wanted to put her doll's bottle into the fridge, since I had just put her milk into the fridge. Her toy fridge was upstairs in her bedroom. She took the bottle up and then came down and this conversation happened.

Abby to me: Can you bring my fridge downstairs?
Me to Abby: You need to ask your dad if that's okay.
Abby walks across the room to Steve.
Abby to Steve: Can you bring my fridge downstairs?
Steve to Abby: If I bring it downstairs you won't have any toys in your room.
Abby walks across the room to me.
Abby to me: Dad said yes.

Oh are we in trouble....

Whoa! Where Has Time Gone

Okay... so a week later, and I don't really know how the week flew by so fast. Except for maybe the fact that we were away from home for the holiday weekend and that I've had some extra crabbiness around here due to teething children (both of them - lovely). We had a great time down-state visiting family and managed to see all of the grandparents and great-grandparents again. Steve and I also went to our 10th class reunion. We can add that to things we will never do again - both because there won't be another 10th reunion for that class and because we paid a lot of money for bad food and no program or slide shows or anything. We did get to catch up with some friends, but it certainly wasn't 70 dollars worth of fun or food. Oh well...

Abby is officially over napping except on days when she has been really busy or she was up late the night before. I'm not sure I like this new phase of life. I need my naps too! But, we are learning to make it workable. Olivia, unfortunately, hasn't been napping well lately either. I think the travel threw her off her schedule, so she's been extra crabby since she's been missing her 3 hour afternoon naps (and she also doesn't want to miss out on anything anymore, so that complicates things). She's generally the happiest kid in the room, but with the teething and the lack of naps she's been off lately.

Now that we are home for a few weeks in a row again, we've been getting back into the swing of having friends around. Last night Olivia and her little friend Hugh discovered each other and rolled across the rug to get together. It was pretty cute to watch them discover each other and try really hard to get within reach of the other. Olivia also had some quality time with Wyatt (whom we've been told has laid claim to her, so apparently she is not available for your sons). It is great to have friends with kids the same ages as our daughters - they have such a great time with their little playmates.

A Bowl on the Table...

Is worth a mess on the toddler, right? It is in our house anyway. We have some bowls that have a handy little suction cup on the bottom. They work great for keeping little people from picking up their bowls of sloppy, wet cereal and walking all around the house. At least I thought they did. Then Abby tried to pick up the bowl to drink the milk out of her cereal and the entire bowl of cinnamon toast crunch ended up coming down on top of her. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe for a minute or two, then I took her picture, then we cleaned up the mess.

We also cleaned up a very big mess inside. We had a bathroom with a major ceiling mildew problem. Part of it was pre-existing, but the rest was our own creation from not running the vent fan so that we didn't wake up Abby any earlier than she got up on her own. Needless to say after scrubbing the ceiling with bleach and repainting the whole bathroom, no one in this house will be showering without running the vent fan. But, the bathroom went from a blah (and dirty) light blue to a fabulous "Tinkerbell" green, so I think it was well worth the effort in the 80+ degree heat.

Olivia and Abby are both cutting teeth. Abby has her last two molars just about through and Olivia has been chewing her fists for a solid 3 weeks. They both also developed snotty noses over the weekend, which for Abby has always been a sure sign that the teeth were just about through. No coughs, no sneezes, no fevers, just icky running noses. I hope their little teeth hurry in - Olivia kept me up most of the night since she couldn't lay flat to sleep and she is definitely too big to be crammed into an infant car seat, even if it is the most comfortable way for her to sleep. So, after keeping me up all night (I'm operating on maybe 3.5 hours of sleep today), Olivia took a big long morning nap. Of course, I had to stay awake to watch Abby who is wearing her big girl panties today. So far no accidents... I hope she can keep that up.

Cranky Pants

If you want to be in Abby's gang you'll need to practice the gang sign. It probably won't take too much practicing before you get it right. Abby kept practicing last night long after we told her that double picking your nose is not a good idea.

Abby has been super crabby today. I'm not sure if it is related to her molars coming in or if she is just being in a foul mood today. Either way we are not having very much fun today. We have been outdoors trying to get as much work done on the yard as we can before the weather gets bad. I've dug out a whole lot of day lilies and peonies and have been ripping the ornamental bamboo out by the roots. I'm hoping that ripping it out will keep it from coming back. Abby's been enjoying digging in the dirt with her bucket and shovel. She is keeping the ground nice and loose.

Abby has a new favorite movie, Pocahontas. We've watched it twice in the last 24 hours. Steve and I laugh and laugh at her while she watches it. She can't quite say Pocahontas, so she calls it "pokey-gun" and actually watches very intently for such a small girl. I'm hoping she has a new favorite movie soon or I will know every line to Pocahontas within the week.

Pepsi Please

We are really behind and have no good excuse. This weekend seemed to get away from us and we sure didn't get things done like we planned. Oh well... it was fun. Abby got her 6th tooth yesterday. She now has 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom. Quite a set of choppers they are and they are very good at biting and eating.

Most of our blogging dysfunction this weekend is due to Abby's new found love of the computer. If it is out she is trying to mess with it, pushing the buttons, pulling out the power cord, and in general being a little bit of a pest. So, that limits my ability to distract her with toys and get things done on the computer, which may cause quite a problem with all the Angel Food things I have to do this week. Abby's very favorite thing to do is open the cd-rom drive and smash it closed. Obviously not a good choice.

Abby's also pretty into pop cans. We may have to start pouring soda into a cup because she is like a heat seeking missile when it comes to pop cans. She found a closed Pepsi can this weekend and went crazy for it. But since she's already cut her finger 3 times on open cans that were left within her reach, we have got to find a better toy for her to play with.

In the last week Abby also began playing a newer, rougher game with her dog. It's a mild form of wrestling, with lots of kicking by both Abby and Maize involved. Maize will lay on her side and kick her legs at Abby while Abby, who is standing, kicks back and her. Then Abby laughs and Maize wags her tail. Apparently I am not enlightened enough to understand the joy of kicking and being kicked by your pet dog. Oh well...

And on a final note, Abby walked all the way across the living room at our Pastor's house last night. We had a nice visit with them and we were super proud of her long walking skills.

Where Is My Week Going

It's Wednesday already, where has our week gone? I just started doing our laundry, which is going to be a monumental task, and there is still a lot of cleaning up and putting away to do after being gone a week. And Abby just keeps pulling things down and dumping things out and being a very silly girl. It's a good thing we aren't neat freaks or we'd be going bonkers!

Abby and Maize are back onto their normal napping routines, with only minor changes. Abby has been staying awake until 11 am and then only taking a one hour nap in the morning. I'm glad she is getting bigger and needs less sleep, but that leaves me with a lot less time to get things done without having to worry about what she is getting into. I am going to have to learn to be super efficient.

Tooth number 3 is all the way through and tooth number 4 (in order of arrival, not the technical tooth numbers for you dental types) is not going to be far behind. Abby also woke up this morning without a runny nose for the first time in over a week - Hooray!!! We were definitely ready to be done with her cold.

Our family has been busily enjoying our new Wii Fit in the evenings (thanks again Mom and Dad Obreiter) with one unpleasant side effect. It is hilarious to watch the other person use it and fun to play yourself, but we are both so sore and achy from using muscles we haven't used in a while. Last night I was considering sleeping on the couch so that I wouldn't have to walk up the stairs. Apparently we are a bit on the un-Fit side! But hopefully by the next time you see us in person we will be trimmer, toned, and in shape.

Sunday Funday

Abby has been in a much better mood today and we are really thankful for that. She now has her second tooth, so I'm sure that alleviates a lot of the discomfort and whining. She was probably also sad about Michigan's loss, but we will never know.

Abby tried out a new version of riding in the shopping cart today. Instead of sitting up in the seat she decided to lay down where our groceries normally go. It was a very relaxing ride for her. By the time we checked out she was almost asleep.

And now... back to laundry so I can have clean clothes to pack for our trip south for Thanksgiving!

It's an... Incisor!

The first tooth is through - it is not all the way in yet, but you can feel the top of it if you allow Abby to gum you. She is going to have to find a new hobby - no more chewing on family members! And she has been remarkably well behaved and not a bit crabby the last few days. We will sign up for more teeth if they come in while she is being a perfect little lady.

Abby had lots of fun with her cousin Jack last week. They are going to have even more fun as they get bigger. Abby gave Jack's cheek a big pinch the other day, just like she gets all the time. It is amazing how kids see us adults do something and try it themselves. It makes me think I have to be very careful about what she sees me do and what she hears me say. Yikes...

Steve is off today, so Abby and I may make him take us over to Canada for something different. We still have a lot to explore over there. But first we'll have to check the exchange rate to see if purchasing things there is as cheap or cheaper than purchasing them here (which was not the case last time we visited). Steve and I may also go pick out some new glasses today - we are both needing new lenses, since our sets are both at least 2 prescriptions ago. We will have to make sure Abby approves of any new glasses so that we can actually wear them.

Happy Ocotober!

We are working on a couple of baby teeth. They are not coming easily. Poor Abigail has been having lots more crabby time, lots less napping and is about to pull her poor little ear half off her head. We hope those teeth get in soon!

The only thing that is keeping us sane is playing in the bathtub. We've been letting Abby have a lot of extra baths this week. She usually only gets a Wednesday scrub and a Sunday scrub, but so far she's had two baths this week already. It doesn't help that she smeared prunes all over her head since she didn't feel that great during dinner last night. Poor kid.

Abby is getting really good at sitting up and now takes her baths sitting up instead of laying down. This is a great thing because it makes it a lot easier to get her rinsed off without giving her a mouthful of soapy water. And it makes it easier to clean under her little chin, which is impossible if she is laying down. After the water park she is really into swimming, so the bathtub is the perfect place to practice her new skill.

It is going to rain here again today. Hopefully one of these days it will dry out enough so we can take Miss Abigail to the park and get some pictures of the pretty fall leaves. Otherwise our pictures may go straight from beachy summer to snowy winter. That may just be the most realistic view of the weather up here. Hope you all have a wonderful October!!!