Great News!

Abby and one of her two best friends, A.J. - October 2008

This is an old picture of Abby - back from the days when she was 5 months old. It's hard to believe it was 10 months ago! We are posting it because we are happy to announce that one of Abby's two best friends, A.J. is going to be officially adopted by her foster family and will be a permanent part of Abby's childhood. We are so happy for the Hood family, who have been A.J.'s parents since A.J. was just a few months old. I can't wait until Abby and her best friends A.J. and Maddie are able to head to kindergarten together and celebrate all of childhood's milestones together. What a blessing best friends are - even at a young age. And what a blessing it is to see a child taken from a terrible situation find a loving home in a Christian family! I have a ton of respect for my friends Kevin and Andrea.

To celebrate A.J.'s adoption we are going to try and have a little play date and ice cream party today. Then we have to get to packing so we can head down toward Lansing for Adam and Anne's wedding. Adam and Steve survived dental school together and had quite a bit of fun in the process. We can't wait to see him, Anne, and the rest of the dental school friends who will be attending the wedding. And Abby can't wait to wear her new shoes or visit her Grandmas and Grandpas and practice her new word - more. Unfortunately it is going to be a very, very short weekend, with the wedding taking up most of the day on Saturday, so we probably won't get to visit everyone we want to. So if we miss you this weekend, it's not because we don't love you or want to see you - there are just so many hours in a day! And we have to celebrate Grandma Mary and Aunt Courtnie's birthdays on Saturday night (hopefully).

Time to get back to reality - the dog is barking at something outside...

Shoe Shopping

Here's the progress on the bathroom so far. We still have to finish up the floor, but we have the walls done and just need to repaint the white trim and radiators. Not too bad for amateurs.
Abby's learned how to kiss with her mouth closed (finally!) and loves giving out kisses, especially to mommy. Yesterday she learned the word elbow. I was trying to teach her where her elbow was and instead of mimicking me by showing me her elbow, she just said the word. She is too smart for her own good I would say!

Today Abby got to pick out 3 new pairs of shoes, since she'd outgrown all but one pair at our house. She was so funny - she has very particular taste in clothing and in shoes as well. She basically won't get dressed unless she gets to pick her own shirt out and she was the same way with her shoes. She was so proud of her new purchases - she very carefully carried one of the boxes all the way up to the cash register all by herself. We also checked out the brand new Wal-Mart Supercenter today, where Abby got to pick out her very own potty chair (all by herself of course). She also got a free shirt and magnet since it was the grand opening. It was so busy that we had to park way, way out in the lot and walk quite a way through the rain. I'll be avoiding that place for a week or two while all the gawking continues.

Best Buddies

Maize hides in the bathtub when she gets scared by loud noises. Abby decided to join her the other night. Poor Maize was freaking out, while Abby was trying to feed her with bath toys.
But even when Abby tries to feed Maize dirty bath water, they are still best friends. Abby's been practicing her dog mastering skills by telling Maize to "sit." I'm still not sure Maize understands what Abby says to her, but Abby is really certain that she is going to be the newest dog whisperer.

Abby has two new words that she learned yesterday. I'm not sure where she learned them, because we hadn't been practicing them. Her first new word is "more" and her second word is "girl." She also has been practicing "eye" a lot - complete with the poking of anyone's eye who is fortunate enough to be within arms length.

Demolition Girl

We finished tearing the tile up in the half bath yesterday. Steve and I have never been so sore. That tile was really stuck down good. Abby loved watching the destruction happen (from a safe distance of course). We are really making some progress on the bathroom now. I've got the mirror frame and toilet paper holder sprayed to match the new faucet and the walls all painted. Now we've just got to get the new floor laid down.

Abby learned quite a few new words this weekend including her current favorite "sit." She's been telling Maize to sit all weekend, although Abby's version of sit sometimes comes out a little like a word she shouldn't be using. She had a lot of fun playing with her dad this weekend and has become a professional laundry chute user. We've got pictures to share, but I have to wait until Abby's napping to get the camera out, so you'll have to wait until tonight or tomorrow.

An Observation

Swim class is over. It was fun, but I don't think we are going to register for session 2. Abby is a little too young to learn basic swimming, even though she was doing great at working on her swimming skills.

I was in bed with Abby last night playing toys and this thought struck me. Abby was hugging and snuggling her little teddy bear. Why is it that we teach kids that bears are nice to hug and play with? They watch Winnie the Pooh on t.v. When Abby sees her first bear in the wild (and it's bound to happen since we live in the U.P.) I'd rather her think, "Oh no! That's a bear, I'd better run!" Not, "Oh look, a cute cuddly bear. I wonder if we can eat honey and sing songs."

Just a thought...

Pig Tails

Curly pigtails today :-) I love curly pigtails!

The shirt is a size 2t. I can't believe how fast this girl is growing up. Yesterday she learned two new words - key and pool. I think she also said five this morning, but I may have been hearing her counting toy. We are enjoying our nice weather today with the windows wide open - Abby is staring off into space out one of them. She loves watching for birds.

Tot Swim Class - Day 5

We had another great time at swim class today, except for the fact that the pool was icy cold. Friday is the last day of this session, then we will have to decide whether to re-enroll in the next session. Abby is getting to be a real water baby and has been having lots and lots of fun!

I got the half bath primed today, but the paint is slow to dry and we have friends coming to play video games today, so I probably won't be getting to the actual color for a day or two. Tonight Abby's friend Maddie is coming over and tomorrow she is going to play at AJ's house, so she should be all socialized and ready to enjoy some additional company this weekend in the form of Steve's co-workers.

We bought our first "Michigan" blueberries at the store today - yummy! I can't wait to break into them at dinner!

Big Girl Play Date

Abby had a big girl play date today with other kids who have stay at home moms. She seemed to have a really good time once she finally stopped clinging to me. It's a regular Tuesday play group, so we'll have to check it out again and see if she likes it just as well the second time.

Abby got her 8th tooth on the 4th of July. She's got all her incisors now, so we'll be working on the molars next. She also chipped her top central incisor, but just a little bit. Her dad said it wasn't a big deal, and with as active as she is she will probably do it a few more times. I just can figure out whether she chipped it chewing on ice or whether it was from playing.

I am going to be working on the half bathroom again today, once my arms get the strength up. I scrubbed walls for an hour last night and still have about one-third of the bathroom left to scrub. Then it's on to painting and floor removal. This has been back breaking work! But I can't wait to see the finished result. It is going to look great.

Tot Swim Class - Day 3 and 4

Abby was not too happy last Friday at swim class. She could see Grandma, Grandpa and Daddy from the pool and really, really wanted one of them to save her.

After a wonderful weekend of company (Grandma Mary, Grandpa Scott, Auntie Em, and Auntie Hannah) we are back to the normal routine, and back to updating you all on Abby's latest escapades. We had swim class on Friday and again today. Friday was a long class since Abby could see Grandma, Grandpa, and Daddy during the class. She really, really wanted one of them to come and rescue her from the pool. But she did make it through the whole class with only a few whimpers and did everything that I asked her to do. Today's class was great - she was happy, smiled and waved to everyone, and was having a blast. She was being the star of the swim class show.

We had lots of great adventures with my family this weekend. Abby took them on a trip to Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. We checked out the mall so that Hannah and Emily could have some new clothes for school that no one else would have. We also checked out Crystal Falls, a really beautiful fall right outside Sault Ste. Marie, Canada. Abby went all the way to the top of the waterfall (on my back). We also checked out the casino buffet in town, watched part of the pow-wow, saw the fireworks, watched boats coming through the locks, took Hannah and Emily to stick their toes in Lake Superior, and saw the fireworks. Needless to say, we were pretty well exhausted by the end of the weekend. But it was definitely worth it.

Tot Swim Class - Day 2

We had a better day at swimming today. Abby was a lot more comfortable and actually did most everything we asked her to do. There was a lot of leg kicking going on! She kicked her legs while floating both on her back and her belly. Big improvement over last session. She also even tried blowing bubbles in the water, but she didn't quite get the blowing part down. And she again jumped off the edge - but it was only because she really, really wanted her mother. We had a much more enjoyable swim. Still quite a bit of crying, but at the end I threw her up into the air and caught her. That got a few smiles and laughs out of her.

Another great development from swim class was meeting another doctor's wife who stays at home with her 21 month old boy. We even got invited to the playgroup that she is in on Tuesdays, so it should be a great way for Abby to get more exposure to other kids and help me meet some new friends. And, most importantly, swim class has tired Abby right out, so she's been sleeping for almost 2 hours now :-) I've cleaned the entire living space, swept, and cleaned the kitchen. Hooray for free time!