Quarantined

This is pictorial evidence that Abby is not all sugar and spice. Sometimes even the sweetest of us don't want to share toys with our cousins.

Abby and I are continuing our downward spiral into the common cold. We are not getting much better, in fact I am getting worse. Complicating the problem is the fact that as a nursing mother I can't take most over the counter cold medications, at least according to the labels and our doctor. Bummer... So, Abby and I are quarantined for the day. Steve is going to have to head to bible study by himself, since we were cooking the main dish and all. And with the minimal sense of smell I have left I can tell that the ham I am cooking is going to be amazing. Abby and I will have to entertain ourselves with Finding Nemo or some other Disney flick while Dad is away tonight.

We got another dumping last night. I'm not sure how much fell, since there is just a big heap of snow in the yard. It looked like about 3 inches on top of the car this morning, but that may or may not be an accurate estimate. We are starting to look forward to spring, but I have to admit that I do love watching the snow fall.

Our Visit Rundown

As you can see, by the time our trip was over Abby was one tired girl. She did more adventuring and is a lot more friendly than she has been in a long time. So between all the playing, driving, test driving, visiting, and partying, Abby was wiped out. It was perfect for the drive home, which she slept through for the most part. Even after all that sleeping in the car little Abby slept all night (and in her own bed to boot).

Abby got to go see her Aunt Hannah play some basketball and it was really fun. We wish we could have checked out one of Auntie Em's games too, but it didn't quite work out. Before the game started Abby decided to practice her jump shot from way downtown. She was the star of the pre-game show for sure! And she had lots of fun pointing Hannah out as she ran up and down the floor.

We also were able to have a play date with Abby's cousins Connor, Noah, and Jacob. It was really fun! Abby had a good time showing off her new, bigger than ever vocabulary and trying out some new toys.

So Tired...

We are home, but I forgot how tiring a long drive can be. Abby had a great ride and only cried about 10 minutes total of the 6+ hour ride. We had really yucky roads for the last 120 miles, so it took a little longer than normal. Thank goodness for a safe new car (Dodge Journey, if you hadn't already heard or seen it in person) and for the portable dvd player that let Abby watch movies while she was awake.

So, that being said, I am going to catch you all up later, after I've unpacked the car and had a little nap.

This is what the new car looks like according to the Dodge promotional information. Ours has a roof rack and some dirt and salt from driving in the Lower Peninsula for the last few days. We'll have all that washed off soon with our Up North snow.

Standing Up

Our snow is still piling up - the bank along the edge of the driveway is as tall as our garbage can, so you can just imagine trying to back out around banks all that high or higher. We got about 6 inches total (I would guess) out of our latest snow fall. It just keeps mounding up.

Abby is still working on her standing and walking abilities. She has been standing up as much as possible and will take a step or two between things. It won't be long now.

And... we finally got almost a full nights sleep. Almost, because the city felt like plowing our road several times during the middle of the night. But little Abby slept until almost 6 a.m., which was a major improvement over her 2:30 a.m. episode yesterday. Now she will be all ready for her big trip to Hastings, which may be extended from a 3 day stay to a 5 day stay so that I can attend a meeting in Kalamazoo on Tuesday night. I'm sure Abby's grandparents won't mind, but her daddy is really going to miss her!

One Hot Bodysuit

Especially for "Shenekwah" - Abby's Sunday tights made for a great body suit :-)

The Infamous Laundry Theif Stands Again

Busted!

We caught Abby red, or should we say whites, handed pulling all the laundry out of our clean clothes basket. Even more impressive is her standing on her own - she's on her way now!

We have it all on video tape, but Blogger won't upload it for us. We will keep trying, because it is too cute not to share. The little turkey loves to pull clean clothes out of the basket as fast as I can put them in.

After 5 nights in a row of Abby waking up in the middle of the night, we are finally reaching wits ends here. I think the first few nights she didn't feel good, but I have a feeling now she just wants to have a little snuggle and sleep in our bed. Last night I spent over an hour trying to get her back to sleep and in her crib, but she would have none of it. Tonight she may just find herself alone and awake for a while to see if that will help break her of this new and not cool habit. Afterall, moms have got to sleep too!

Happy Birthday Great Grandpa!

Happy Birthday Great Grandpa Steve Osgood! We wish we could be down to help celebrate Grandpa's birthday, but we will hopefully be down in Hastings this coming weekend, so we can give him a birthday hug and kiss then. Until then, Abby taped a special birthday message for him.

Abby doesn't get to take her morning naps anymore, at least for a day or two while we try to figure out why she keeps waking up at 4 in the morning. We are hoping she is just sleeping too much during the day and not taking the morning nap will solve that problem. She is getting bigger, so we bet she can make it all morning just playing. I, on the other hand, may not be able to make it all morning after being up around 4 a.m. for the last 4 mornings. That is just too early!

Abby has survived one wicked bout of diaper rash. Something she ate yesterday morning must have been a bad idea because it make her little insides sick and she got the worst diaper rash in her short history. It went from nothing at noon to broken skin by 1:30. Luckily our great doctor's office was super helpful and got Abby some prescription diaper rash cream ("Magic Butt Paste"). She is now feeling good again after a whiny afternoon and evening. We are guessing that the yogurt covered cranberries were the culprit, since everything else she ate yesterday was previously eaten and successfully digested. I guess we'll have a whole bag of yogurt covered cranberries up for claims when we come to visit on Friday night.

Ten Months Old

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Abby partied all day yesterday, literally, to celebrate being 10 months old. First she went to church, then to a baby shower, then she had friends over to play Nintendo. And she did all of this with no naps. Not a good plan on her mom or dad's part. But since she is pretty darn cute and generally happy she pulled it off without too much crying or crabbiness.

Abby loves her newest hat, which came from her future Aunt Courtnie's mom and dad. It was very soft and warm. She's been wearing it a lot with her new coat and doesn't care if you don't think red and pink are a good match.

Today is Abby and Mom do laundry day - and boy do we have an abundance to wash again. We also have a ton of dishes to do after the partying yesterday. I can't wait until Abby is big enough to be a helper instead of a distraction or a pulling the clothes back out of the basket non-helper. At least she is the cutest kid on the block while she is preventing me from getting things done.

Abby typed the first part.

Bee Mine

Abby just has one request this Valentine's Day (okay... maybe two or three). Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!