Come On Ring Those Bells

Abby LOVES bells. Really loves them. She has a jingle bell and a traditional bell, so we get lots of "music". Enjoy!


We meant to put this up yesterday, but we had company and had a lot of cleaning and cooking going on. Abby hammed it up for our guests and was in general a crack up. She also had a little diaper disaster (aka blow out), so we decided she is going to have to start eating at least a little baby food, whether she likes it or not.

One Last Thing...

I forgot the funniest part about the shot experience. After we were all done and I was holding Abby so she'd stop whimpering, she looked right at the nurse and waved bye-bye to her. It was as if she was telling the lady to get away from her, please and thank you... What a joker :-)

One Last Shot

Abby got her last shot for a while today. We are all glad that she is done for a while and hope that the flu shot serves its purpose (or it will have a lot of torture for nothing). I guess the only way to know it works is for a flu free season, which means it may have worked or we may have just not been exposed. Poor kid... either way Steve and I both think it is better safe and sore than sorry when it comes to getting shots.

It is still bitterly cold in the U.P. and the snow keeps falling a little at a time. There was a good 3 inches on the car when I cleaned it off, so since Monday afternoon we've had at least that much snow. It's a good thing I enjoy it or it would be getting downright depressing.

Abby is making great strides on eating big girl food. We keep reducing the amount of mushy baby food she gets each day since it is a struggle to get her to eat it at all. She has an amazingly strong little jaw when she wants to keep mush out. I think the biggest problem with the baby food from her perspective is that she can't feed herself. She just wants to be miss independent already, so anything that she thinks she can do herself, she must do by herself. I will take all the blame for that... So anyhow, she tried real chicken for the first time last night and liked it. She takes her sweet time eating when it is real food, so we had to spend quite a bit of time at the table watching her mash up chicken. Eating real food also allows Abby the chance to be a chipmunk - her little cheeks get packed with stuff and she forgets to swallow it until her mouth is extra full. Luckily she has very developed control of her mouth and tongue, so we haven't had any problems with all this new big kid food. Now the problem is going to be getting Steve and I to eat better so that she isn't mad that she is eating vegetables and fruits while we are having bread and other calorie (and carbohydrate) rich foods. Bummer...

Photo Diary of Last Weekend

Here are a few more photos from in front of the Christmas tree this past weekend. On Sunday, since it was above freezing for the first time in a long while, Abby got to wear her fancy fur coat and hat to church. She was a real hit. She also tried out her "Kiss Me" shirt - although she wouldn't smile for any pictures when we had her in it. Oh well...

We had some of Abby's friends over today for the "Time Out For Moms" Christmas party. We had a nice time doing the reindeer paint project, playing, and watching a Christmas movie. Abby really loves playing with other kids, especially her friend A.J. We didn't have as many kids over as we expected, so there are a lot of extra cookies for Steve and I to eat :-)

Only 9 days until Christmas... Yipee!!!

Finger Paint Fun

Abby made some finger paint art today so we could remember how little her hands and feet were this Christmas. She was somewhat helpful, as you can tell by Rudolph's crooked antlers.

It was another super cold day in the U.P. It was so cold that our car locks and doors were frozen shut when we tried to run to the store. Luckily I was able to blow on the lock and get the doors open with a lot of tugging. Burr.

We are hosting a Christmas party tomorrow for the moms with preschool and young elementary children from our church. It should be a lot of fun and Abby always enjoys playing with other children. Her good friend A.J. should be there and we are praying for a snow day so that her other friend Maddie can come too. We hope you all enjoy yourselves tomorrow and hopefully you can have some yummy Christmas treats too!

So Much To Do, So Little Time

I think the above statement would accurately describe our weekend so far. We have been running, running, and running some more. First we were out late Friday night at bible study, and Steve was home late from Lansing. Then we had a cookie baking party Saturday afternoon, Steve went to the Lake Superior State U. hockey game Saturday night, and Abby and I spent the evening with a friend. We are all wiped out from that big day!

I don't know if any of you have the same problems at your Wal-Mart, so if this doesn't sound like your average trip be glad. We have an abundance of Canadians who cross the International Bridge to shop at our Wal-Mart (even though there is one on their side of the bridge as well) and so no matter the time or day, our Wal-Mart always seems to be unusually busy. Today was no exception. I think I waited in aisle gridlock for at least 5 minutes in the dairy/soup aisle. I cannot wait until the Super Wal-Mart opens - at least then there will be more space for all these people to fit into...

Abby is still working on perfecting her crawling skills. She was getting around the McDonald's house pretty well last night before she fell asleep. She still hasn't figured out how to get the knees and hands moving together so that she doesn't end up in a faceplant, but I bet it won't take her too long to figure that part out. She's already figured a lot of new things out in the last couple days. And she only has one scrape so far, so we should still be having a photogenic Christmas.

And now for the weather update... it is the first day in about 3 weeks above freezing, but we are getting a snow/sleet/freezing rain mix, so I think I'd rather have the fridgid temperatures and snow that that yucky stuff. There was at least 2 inches of slush in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We've got about a foot of snow in most of the yard (more where it has been shoveled and piled). So if you are dreaming of a white Christmas, I know where you can find one. I'll gladly trade if you can guarantee me 75 degrees and sunny...

Dear Miss Manners...

Abby has been working hard on her table manners. Sometimes they work and sometimes an entire animal cracker gets jammed into her mouth (and then hangs out of her mouth while she gums it). She is, unfortunately for Maize, getting much better about not sharing her food with her dog. That is a very big step!

We are still home alone until 10 or 11 tonight, so Abby and I are headed off to bible study by ourselves. We also have to remember to bring the bacon and sausage for our weekly potluck dinner, which is breakfast foods tonight. And the birthday present for Abby's friend Madison who turned 1 year old today! Wow... I am going to be making several trips to the car. And we are going to start that car early - it is less than 10 degrees outside today. Brr....

Home (Almost) Alone

Abby and I are hanging by ourselves tonight while Steve is down in Lansing for a dental conference. But do not fear, we have an extra guard dog tonight to help keep us safe. Actually... we are dog sitting for a friend, so Maize and Jessie are having a dog slumber party and Abby and I are chaperoning them. And since Abby enjoys dogs it works out well for everyone, except maybe me who has extra dogs to watch and no one to help entertain Abby so I can wash dishes and such tonight... That must mean we need to go out for dinner and Abby would especially enjoy watching kids at the McDonald's play land.

Anyway, Abby has one Christmas outfit that is not a beautiful dress, so she wore that the other day and we took some Christmas tree pictures. She is mostly trying to figure out how to get the candy canes off the Christmas tree and then how to get the candy cane taste into her mouth. Luckily for us she can't get the wrappers off, yet. Today Abby was working really hard on crawling on her hands and knees and I was working really hard on taping her, but she is a ham and quit trying as soon as I turned the camera on. She also pulled herself into a standing position all by herself, but then she let go and took a nose dive right into the side of the couch. Ouch... I guess it's a good thing that we have hard skulls - Abby's seems to get a lot of use lately.

Hopefully by tomorrow we have some great crawling footage. If not you can just imagine this... Abby on her hands and knees, followed by Abby extending her legs straight up (think triangle, since that is what she looked like), followed by a second attempt to get on her hands and knees, then bouncing up and down on her hands and knees, but all with no forward or backward movement...

Breakthrough

We have had the first definite use of a word in reference to something! Lucky for Steve it was him. Today when he came home from lunch and looked around the corner into the living room he got a shout of "dada" and some excited arm waving. It was really, really cute. Too bad I wasn't taping it... Abby is going to be a daddy's girl for sure.

We also had a first yesterday - Abby's first freak out moment over something she saw on t.v. We were watching Pinky Dinky Doo (if you haven't seen it, avoid it), which is one of the few shows Abby will concentrate on, when a dinosaur came on the screen. Now you would think a girl who loves to roar and growl would appreciate a dinosaur, but not this girl. She went into hysterics and we had to shut the t.v. off, even though the dinosaur wasn't on anymore. Poor kid... I guess we won't be watching Jurassic Park with Abby anytime soon.

Our high was supposed to be 10 degrees farenheight today, so you downstate friends and family "suffering" with 20+ degree weather can just remember that you are at least 2 times warmer than we are here...

Jen's 10 Reasons Why Living In the Soo is Just Like Camping

1. It's an old house - I am washing dishes by hand, just like when we camp.

2. Again, old house, cold - sleeping in our bedroom is about as warm as a tent in the fall.

3. Bathing - shower no bigger than a camp shower or an old iron tub, just about the same as camping only with a little more consistent (sometimes) hot water.

4. Smells - did we mention that we've had skunk spray twice behind our house in the middle of town?

5. Shopping - when Wal-Mart, K-Mart and JC Penney are the high end shopping in town (and the best for about 200 miles), you are basically "roughing it"

6. Security - old house, unsquare doors... probably can't withstand repeated kicks. Hardly better than our tent.

7. Food - when the only option for reliable sit down service (that isn't a bar or stuffed to the rafters with roadkill) is Applebee's, you mightas well eat at home. And with the improved camping stoves, my at home cooking is basically the same as my camping menu.

8. Dirt - We have a yard, we have a dog. Our floors are probably cleaner in the tent camping than in here...

9. Noise - Old house, paper thin walls and windows, we can hear it all and some of it is not good.

10. All of the places we wanted to visit on our family camping trips are now a stone's throw away. Mackinac Island - just about an hour, Tahquamenon Falls - a hour and a half, Lake Superior - 20 minutes...