Christmas

We had a really nice Christmas this year. I baked (or attempted to bake) in the morning on Christmas Eve. Then we took some goodies with us and took Abby to see Grammie. We then had dinner at Panda Express. After Abby went to bed Marc and I watched The Polar Express, which we have made a Christmas Eve tradition. I can't wait until Abby is old enough to take interest in it and watch it with us!

Christmas morning we got up and opened presents before breakfast. After Abby's nap we headed out to my sister's house. It is a very long drive (usually about an hour and 15 minute drive). It was pouring rain the whole way there. Lynette and Dan cooked a very yummy dinner and Abby got to play with her cousins. The ride home was a little rough because Abby was tired and she HATES being in the car. She pretty much lost it about 20 minutes into the drive home, but I jumped into the backseat with her and was able to keep her calm for the rest of the ride home.

It was a great couple days. It was sad to see the decorations start coming down today!

Highlights of Abby's Day

Hanging out in my jammies still

Getting into stuff as usual

BUSTED!!!

Finding leftovers from breakfast

BUSTED AGAIN!!


Checking out Layla's home



Pulling on mom's legs to be picked up (happens quite frequently these days)

Trying to look so sweet that Mom won't be able to resist picking me up

Pretty Christmas Dresses

My Mom got Abby the cutest Christmas dresses. I had to share pictures of them since she won't get much wear out of them (she grows way too fast!).

One Year Stats

Abby went to the Dr. yesterday for her 12 month check up. It went well. We went to a new Dr. and I like her a lot better than the Dr. we had been going to before. Abby got 3 shots...MMR, Chickenpox Vaccine, and a Flu Shot. She screamed as soon as the first shot touched her leg. I was able to calm her down quickly afterwards though. All I had to do was give her my cell phone. lol. She loves it.
She weighs 25 lbs 10 oz (96th percentile), is 31 inches tall (93rd percentile) and her head circumference in 45 1/2 cm (64th percentile). She hasn't gained or grown much since her 9 month check up. I suspect her weight gain slowed a lot because she is so active now. It is also nice to know she won't have an abnormally large head! :)
She is cruising the furniture pretty well now and pulls to standing on everything (including my legs). She likes to point a lot and has recently started waving bye bye. She is also doing the sign for more but I am still not sure if she is associating it with getting more food or not because she does it at random times. She still has not said her first word but she has many conversations with herself that I cannot understand. Hopefully she will be walking in the next couple months because my back could really use a break from carrying her everywhere!

Abby's 1 Year Pictures

We had Abby's 1 year pictures taken a couple weeks ago. They turned out really cute. We took them at 8am and it was extremely cold and windy. Abby was a real trooper. She did great and never complained. I couldn't pick just a couple to post so I am posting a slideshow. The pictures were taken by a friend of mine from high school. She does beautiful photography. Her portfolio is posted on her blog. I highly recommend her! http://www.photosbynatalie.blogspot.com

Lunch with Auntie Brenda

My brother's wife, Brenda, comes in to town every now and then for her job. We were lucky enough to meet up with her for lunch. It was great to see her as always. Abby was full of smiles for her throughout lunch and kept waving to her across the table. I couldn't get a big smile out of her for the picture but it still turned out great!

Party at 3:30am

The night before last I was woken at 3:30am by the sounds of a 1 year old who was ready to party. She was in her room just yapping away. Not sure what she was discussing or who she was discussing it with but it seemed to be interesting. I rolled over and turned on the monitor of the video monitor. She was standing in her crib just chatting away, chewing on and hitting the railing of her crib. Even in the middle of the night I could not help but smile and chuckle a little. I mean what a good baby... awake in the middle of the night and happy as can be. Not sure how long she was up because I fell back to sleep fairly quickly. Two more teeth have cut though her gums in the last 2 days so that may have had something to do with her late night party. I just LOVE my little Muffin!

1st Birthday Pictures

Here are some of my favorite pictures from yesterday...

This is Abby's present from Mommy and Daddy...

Abby is helping me put it together :)

Here she is enjoying all our hard work

The cake I made for her

Enjoying her cake

Happy Birthday Muffin!

Today my little princess celebrated her first birthday. Wow, what an amazing year it has been. I am in shock that it has already been a year since we were given the most amazing gift of life. I have to admit that the thought crossed my mind more than once that there was no way I was ever going to make it through the first year. Somehow I survived :). Somehow I made it though the postpartum recovery after giving birth to a 9 lb baby, sleepless nights, gas, reflux, 3pm-10pm fussy time, 30 minute naps, numerous medical scares, refusal/inability to take a bottle after 5 weeks, etc. The best part is that it was all worth it. I can't even begin to describe how amazing the feeling is that I get every time Abby smiles or I hear that soooo cute hysterical giggle. Do I sometimes miss the freedom of my life before I was Mommy? Absolutely! Would I change a thing? Not a chance! I love that little girl more than words could ever describe. I always heard people say that you can't describe the love you have for your child and that you have to be a parent to "get it"! Well, it is so true. It is the hardest and most stressful job I will ever have. Being responsible for another human being's well being is intense, but wonderful. I love you so much Abigail and look forward to being your Mommy for the rest of my life. I can't wait to see what fun the next year brings!

1st Birthday Present

Abby will be one on Sunday! Last week she got her first birthday present in the mail from Auntie Heidi and Uncle Tony. They sent 3 VERY cute dresses from Children's Place and a way cute pair of tights. Thanks Heidi and Tony!!!

Hitting the Trails

We took Abby out hiking a few mornings the week of Thanksgiving. At first she is not sure what to think about being in the backpack and whines a bit but then she is fine. Marc and I have always really enjoyed hiking (okay I only enjoy it when I am in really good shape). Anyway, we used to do a lot of hiking, especially when we first started dating, so it was nice to get out there and see some resemblance of what life used to be like pre-baby! We had lots of fun. Big thanks to Chad and Terese for the backpack!

Oh Christmas Tree

No, you are not seeing things. Our tree is up already. Actually, Marc was late putting it up this year. It usually goes up the day after Halloween. Our house is always turned into a Christmas wonderland this time of year. Marc LOVES Christmas. This year will be much more fun for me than last year when I had an 11 day old and was in a complete sleep deprived fog. Not to mention I was still in a lot of pain (see tailbone post below :) )

Abby's New Favorite Sleeping Position

Abby has been sleeping on her tummy with her butt up in the air lately. I think it is so stinkin' cute. It doesn't look comfortable to me, but hey whatever works for her is fine with me. Sometimes she doesn't even bother to turn her head to the side and her face is just straight down into the mattress.

Here are some pictures I took of the video monitor while she was napping. She is all cozy in her sleep sack (One of the greatest inventions ever).

Pain in the Butt

It is official. Giving birth to Abby was a huge pain in the butt, literally. After my epidural wore off I was in extreme pain in the tailbone region. I could barely move for about a month afterwards. At my 6 week check up my OB said that it was possible that my tailbone was broken or fractured during the birth.

It has been almost a year and I still have a lot of pain in tailbone, especially when sitting for more than a few minutes and when going from sitting to standing. I went to the Dr. this week and had x-rays done. It appears that my tailbone was broken and now a cyst has grown there from the trauma.

There is not a whole lot I can do about it. The Dr. recommended starting with some physical therapy to see if it helps. If not the next step would be an injection with a large needle. If that doesn't work surgery would be a possibility but they go in through the rectum and that doesn't sound like too much fun to me.

This is a picture of a tailbone. The very bottom part is where the break occurred. The end of my tailbone now curves the other way from the break. I guess that is what the 9 lbs of baby can do to you.....

I have dealt with the pain this long and I will probably continue to just deal with it. However, it does make me sad to know that if I were to get pregnant again I would probably have to opt for a c-section in order to avoid further injury to the tailbone.

We Have a Babbler

Last Wednesday Abby finally started babbling. Whew.....one less thing for me to worry about. I am telling you, this little girl is stubborn. She is on her own timeline and could care less what the "experts" think she should be doing when. I was driving to the store and out of nowhere she just started saying gaga gaga gaga gaga. It was pretty darn cute. The next morning when I went in to get her up she was just sitting in her crib smiling at me saying gaga gaga gaga.

Here is some video we got last night when she decided to be chatty. I didn't want to get in front of her because I figured as soon as she saw the camera she would stop...

Abby's First Halloween

For the first year in a long time I actually didn't hate Halloween. It has never been one of my favorite holidays. However, I think as Abby gets older I will love it more and more. We had a little fun yesterday and put some little devil horns on Abby. We took her out for our usual evening walk but no trick or treating. She had fun watching some of the kids that were out early. We didn't trick or treat for 3 reasons....#1 She goes to bed at 6:45pm these days, #2 I think it is pretty obvious that she wouldn't be the one enjoying the candy, #3 She is too young to even know what the heck is going on. Hopefully next year she can enjoy her first trick or treating experience. Here are a few pics we took.....

Abby is the little devil and I dressed up as scary mommy with no makeup!

Before we went out for our walk

In front of our house

This was outside one of our neighbor's houses. Thought it was hilarious!

Getting dark....headed for home

No More 20s

Well, I am officially out of my 20s. I turned 30 yesterday and I have to admit I feel pretty old. I can remember how old 30 seemed when I turned 20 and now I am already there. 40 still seems pretty old to me (no offense to all of my readers who have passed 40 long ago :) ). I am sure 40 will be here before I know it. I know the next 10 years will be amazing though. I will get the pleasure of watching Abby grow and change. I have a feeling the next 10 years will be some of the best years of my life.

We have a crawler!

I thought it would never happen. Saturday Abby decided that she was going to give crawling a try. Of course she did it when I was in the shower. I am the one who is home with her all day long 7 days a week and she decides to crawl when she is hanging out with Daddy. Marc was on our bed reading and Abby was on the ground by the bed. She went after my breast pump of all things. Marc came in to tell me that Abby was crawling. I didn't quite believe him so I had to see for myself. I put my cell phone on the ground and sure enough she went after it. It took her over 10 months, but she finally figured it out.
Here is a little video I took yesterday. She will always go for the cell phone.....

3 Year Wedding Anniversary

Wow, it has been 3 years since Marc and I were married. It has been amazing. Each year has been better than the last. I thought I would take a look back at what we were up to on October 14th the last 3 years.




In 2005 we were married at The Wright House in Mesa. It was a beautiful day that I will never forget. These are just some of my favorite pictures from the day...

My brother walked me down the aisle and I absolutely love this picture


This is a picture from the ceremony
Look at the way I just took control of that smooch

Another smooch

Ariel shot

Just hangin' with the boys

Surrounded by beauty

Ready for the reception


In 2006 we went to Kauai to celebrate our 1st anniversary. We had an amazing time and can't wait to go back again!

This was the view from the balcony of the condo we rented

This was at a sugar plantation

This was at Spouting Horn Blow Hole

This was on the North Shore somewhere

This was after an awesome helicopter tour of the island

Last year was our second anniversary and we were just excited to be expecting our sweet angel

Look at that belly! I still had 2 more months to go!!

This year we celebrated our anniversary with a dinner out as a family. It was really nice. Abby is getting to be a lot more social and had a great time squealing, fake coughing and smiling in an attempt to get the attention of the table next to us.

Here we are before going to eat