Some Mackinac Magic

Some New Pictures

This is a happy girl wearing size 12 months pink pig pajamas ~ thank you to Aunt Hannah and Aunt Emily for getting Abby these really cool jammies. Abby is still spending a lot of time chewing on teething rings, but those little teeth don't want to come through quite yet. Hopefully sometime really soon. Abby is now wearing both 9 month and 12 month sized clothes and we've packed up all the littler stuff and all the summer gear (except for a few 12 month sized outfits in case we get our stuff together and get down to see Great Grandma and Grandpa Hodges this winter in Florida).

We had a crisis yesterday ~ we used up all the bibs except the Michigan State bib. We really didn't want to use it on our little wolverine, but we did need something to catch her drool. She had to yell "Go Blue" when we put the MSU bib on. Also... someone needs to let the engineering department at MSU know the real dimensions of a baby's neck, since we had to tie the bib in a knot to get it to stay up. We got right to work on the laundry and by lunch time Abby was back in a pretty pink bib. Now... we don't want you all thinking we hate Michigan State, since it is the great university that Great Grandpa Harley, Great Great Aunt Barb, and Great Aunt Denise went to. We just love Michigan more is all. And we really do cheer for the Spartans against any team except Michigan. But at Abby's tender age we can't afford team loyalty confusion. She'll understand when she is older that you can love Michigan and still like Michigan State sometimes.





























And... it is fall and Abby has her first pumpkin to carve into a jack o'lantern. We aren't going to get to it this weekend, but probably by next Friday it will be carved into a two toothed baby pumpkin. Abby likes her hard, orange buddy. Unfortunately the photographer couldn't get her to smile this morning without being silly, so the photo isn't centered quite right. And... Abby has a new trick she is trying hard to master. She is now waving all the time, but we haven't quite mastered waving on command. Coming soon though...

Now off to a fabulous Friday. Tomorrow Steve is taking us on a color tour to Mackinac Island! One of the dental hygienists in the office has some inside connections, so we should have a great day.

Tired Thursday Follows Wild Wednesday

Abby and I are tired. We had a very fun, very wild Wednesday with Bailey and Katelyn McDonald. Abby wasn't too sure about her big visitors at first, but after a few minutes she decided that having a 5 year old and 4 year old to play with wasn't too bad. Especially after they started passing Abby animal crackers (I was watching her to make sure she didn't choke). We also got a trip to Burger King and to the library. The big girls were really good, but Abby was so tired by the time they left that she slept for 2 1/2 hours and still went to bed early.

Today we are just hanging out around the house and resting up in case Steve decides to take us to Mackinac Island this weekend. Abby and I caught him checking rates for the different hotels on the island, but we know that he didn't book anything and that there isn't any plan to take Maize to the kennel - we think. Either way we are going outside to enjoy the great weather we are supposed to have this weekend.

And, since we've been too busy to take pictures, there isn't any lovely shots of Abby to post, but it is pretty outside and our leaves out back are falling now too, so maybe tomorrow there will be something cute to show off. Happy Thursday!!!

Not Easily Entertained

Abby was not being easily entertained last night, so our pie making endeavors lasted late into the night and we are all a little tired. But we do have two perfect pumpkin pies (my first attempt) and a dutch apple pie as well. Abby did get to watch some extra television last night and got to play in her exersaucer, which is our favorite baby entertainer. I think it would be on my must have list for new babies. That and a dog who likes to play with a baby. Maize was actually a very helpful distraction for a tired girl last night.

Hopefully she will be back on the right schedule today and will be happy and friendly tonight while our company is here. And tomorrow Abby is going to have two little visitors to spend the day with. Our pastor's wife is going down to Petosky to take the 3 hour glucose tolerance test to see if she has gestational diabetes. We are praying that her test comes back normal. We are going to be hanging out with their 4 and 5 year old daughters tomorrow so that they don't have to spend the day in the hospital lab too. It should be fun. Now back to cleaning... still have a bathroom to spiff up.

Clean Up Time

Abby is having company over tomorrow and again on Wednesday, so it is clean up time. We have been doing some major cleaning, not just our usual picking up and vacuuming. It isn't our favorite job, but soon it will be all cleaned up and we can enjoy a very clean house.

Abby is going to learn how to make pies tonight. Her dad is the expert pie crust maker, so she will probably have to learn how to peel apples and make the dutch apple pie topping. Yum. We love having company because it means we get to eat deserts! Maize has been very unhelpful and has been making big messes. So, on that note it's back to cleaning!

When Are We Leaving?

Abby got mail today. She enjoys getting mail because she is too little to get bills. Today Abby received her very own U.S. Passport. We were amazed to receive it after only 1 week. And we didn't even have to pay for expedited service. Now we are ready to get vacationing. Maybe to some island in the Caribbean or Europe or Mexico. Hmm... lots of interesting options available to Abby now that she has a passport.

Abby has been enjoying her solid food feeder (see picture). So far she has eaten a slice of pear, a slice of frozen nectarine, a slice of apple, animal crackers, and a slice of pumpkin spice bread in her feeder. Based on that list she is sounding a lot like the very hungry caterpillar story. She really likes gumming up stuff in the feeder and giving her cold or frozen fruit seems to make her feel better and whine less, so we're going to keep trying new fruits, like bananas and honeydew melon. Yum.

We tried to get some cool fall pictures at the park by the Soo Locks today, but it was sprinkling and the ground was too wet. We'll have to try again tomorrow. But Abby did look cute riding around in her new pink hat in her big girl car seat. Now she is getting ready to watch her favorite football team - Go Blue!

Regression

Someone needed rocked back to sleep at 1:30 in the morning and another furry someone wanted to go out and pee at 6:00 this morning. I am tired. Abby and Maize need to get back to the sleeping all night pattern or I am going to have to start taking naps again!

Abby is awake and watching Noggin this morning. For some reason they are showing the exact same episodes as were on yesterday morning, except that the 9:00 episode from yesterday was on at 9:30 and the 9:30 show from yesterday was on at 9:00. Don't they realize that adults are forced to watch these terrible shows too in order to keep an eye on their little guys? I may have to find the address for Noggin and give them a piece of my mind. Maybe that is the tired and grouchy part of me...

Abby and I are going to try and make an apple berry crisp today. I'm not sure how that will taste, but we've got apples to use and not enough for an apple only desert. We are getting pretty good at cooking. Hopefully the sun will be out enough tomorrow to take Abby to the Soo Locks to get her picture with some pretty fall leaves. Happy Friday!

Crazy Night Owl

I am tired this morning. Very tired. I don't recall approving a late night party, but Abby was sure that it was on the agenda. So, until 11:30 we had a party that was fun for her and not so fun for Steve and I. She had like 3 full bottles, we tried rocking, singing, putting her into bed and leaving, letting her lay in bed with us. We finally gave her a little tylenol since she is working on some new teeth and she went right to sleep, but I doubt that is because of the tylenol. And... she was up 1 whole hour earlier than yesterday. Not that 7:15 is too early, since Steve had already been through the shower, but still a short night for our normally long sleeper.

It is cold here. Yesterday we didn't make it into the 50's and we are expecting more of the same today. We will be wearing lots and lots of sweaters for a long while. That and staying inside - especially because a skunk was outside and making the neighborhood way stinky last night.

Abby's been eating some great new things, like animal crackers. We bought a solid food feeder, which is basically a netted bag that she can gum foods through without big pieces choking her. She is happy and we are happy not to be picking food out of her mouth every few minutes. She had mushy cookie all over herself and her clothes yesterday. Not only does she love the feeder, Maize loves it too. We've had to disinfect it and Maize has been lectured about her position as a dog and how she is not allowed to eat people food or use people utensils.

And so, time for Thursday in the chilly cold, U.P. We've got to make some yummy foods for our bible study tomorrow. I'm thinking pumpkin bread :-)

Life Lessons

Prunes do work, very well in fact. I would highly recommend you think twice before giving them to a baby three days in a row. Very highly recommend it. Diaper explosion up to her shoulders recommend it, if you know what I am saying. That was one big mess!

And... for Grandma Jennie... Abby doesn't have any water in her ears or ear infection. Apparently the ears and mouth share the same nerves, so pulling ears is a sign of teething and helps distract her from the mouth pain. And I know this is true because I had a slight dislocation of my jaw last fall and it made my ears hurt like crazy and I thought I had an ear infection, but when Steve reset my jaw the ear pain went away fast. Crazy how the body works.

I don't know if I can eat dinner after that diaper disaster, but I guess it's that time so I better give it a try.

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!!!