A Second Tooth

Abby isn't the one tooth wonder any longer. She sprouted the second tooth on the bottom today, 3 weeks and 2 days after getting her first tooth. This teething stuff is no fun!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am so thankful that I have my arms and legs. During a rare good nap by Abby yesterday I was able to watch Oprah. They had a mom on who gave birth to her daughter 13 months ago. After her daughter was born she (the mom) got an infection. The infection was basically from a flesh eating bacteria. She had to have her uterus, ovaries, gall bladder, and part of her bowels removed. The infection spread to her arms and legs and doctors made the decision to amputate the bottom half of both her arms and legs. It was so incredibly sad to watch and I balled though the whole show. This woman has never once asked why me. When the Dr. told her they needed to amputate she just said "OK, the sooner the better so I can get home to my girls". I just can't even imagine what a struggle everyday life must be for her, let alone with a 13 month old. It really helps put things into perspective.

Abby's 9 Month Stats

Abby had her 9 month well check last week. Are you ready for this? Holy Moly, what a little chubbette. She weighed in at 24 lbs 6 oz and she is already 30.5 inches long. She has grown 9 inches in 9 months. That is crazy.
Not much has changed in the last month. Abby is sitting extremely well now and can reach very far to get things without hesitation. She is also pretty good at getting on to her belly from sitting. Crawling is still not in the near future. She has been practicing trying to lift her belly off the ground more though. (Can't be easy to lift that pot belly up :) ) She can scoot around a little on her butt or she can push herself backwards on her belly. She mostly just rolls to get where she wants to go. The Dr. didn't seem to be too concerned about her development even though she has hit all of her milestones late. He said the most important part is just that she continues to make progress and learn new things. But you know us Moms....always worried!

Thankful Thursday

I have really been trying to focus on all the blessings that I have in my life lately. I thought it might be fun to share some of the things I am thankful for each week. So here goes....

Today I am so thankful for FRIENDS. You know someone is truly a friend when you can go for months without speaking and pick up where you left off like you have been in contact everyday! I don't know where I would be without my friends. It is nice to know that there are so many people in my life who would drop everything if I needed them.

Today I am also thankful for 2 NAPS THAT ARE MORE THAN AN HOUR!! Most of you have heard me complain about Abby's horrible napping habits by now. Well, right now she has been asleep for an hour and this morning she took an hour and a half long nap. It might have something to do with the fact that she was awake this morning at 4am. Not crying, just making enough noise every few minutes to keep me awake wondering if she was going to fall back to sleep. Well, she didn't and at 5:30 she finally started to cry a little so I fed her and she went back to sleep until 7:30. Thank goodness she is sleeping well for her naps today!

7 Years!

Hard to believe, but it has been 7 years since Marc and I met. We both worked out at the same gym. I had my eye on him for a while. Long before we ever even spoke to each other I told someone that there was this hot guy at the gym and he might not know it yet, but I was going to marry him. Then Marc finally stepped up to bat and introduced himself and gave me some cheesy line like "I see you around here a lot". Now here we are 7 years later. Our little family wouldn't exist if it weren't for that day in the gym!

Finally, a tooth!!!

Abby finally has her first tooth. The one on the bottom right broke through the gums on Saturday, 8 days before she turns 9 months. I cannot believe that she still doesn't have teeth on top. Her top gums have been SOOOO swollen for months now. You can even see one little white dot on the top where the tooth is trying to get through. So, needless to say, I was very surprised that she got one on the bottom first. She has been a little cranky, but not too bad. Tylenol and Hylands teething tablets have been her best friends for a couple days. Hopefully she doesn't start to bite mommy now that she has a sharp little tooth!

Patient Animals are a Must!

Thought I would share some pictures of Abby and her sisters. Good thing they are patient!

Tagged

I was tagged by skism.....

This is an easy and fun tag, it's one word answers.
1. Where is your cell phone? Couch
2. Your significant other? Marc
3. Your hair? Yuck
4. Your favorite thing? Food
5. Your dream last night? None
6. Your favorite drink? Pepsi
7. Your dream/goal? Travel
8. The room you're in? Family
9. Your hobby? Scrapbooking
10. Your fear? Failure
11. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Hawaii
12. Where were you last night? Home
13. What you're not? Sexy
14. Muffins? Yummy
15. One of your wish list items? Bottle
16. Where you grew up? Arizona
17. The last thing you did? Wal-Mart
18. What are you wearing? Grubbies
19. Your TV? Heavy
20. Your pets? Lazy
21. Your computer? Portable
22. Your life? Boring
23. Your mood? Anxious
24. Missing someone? Nope
25. Your car? SUV
26. Something you're not wearing? Shoes
27. Favorite store? Target
28. Your summer? Blah
29. Your favorite color? Pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? 1:30
31. Last time you cried? Recently

My FAVORITE Picture Ever!

This picture really is my favorite ever taken. It so accurately shows the love between daddy and daughter. Most of you will probably not appreciate this as much as I do, but if you look at Abby's hand, she is doing the sign for "I love you". I didn't even realize she had done it until I was editing the pictures on the computer. Marc and I have always done this sign to each other but have not shown it to Abby yet. I am convinced that she was telling her daddy she loves him though!

Abby is 8 Months Old!

Wow, where does the time go? It is hard to believe that my little angel is already 8 months old today. Before I know it we will be celebrating her first birthday.

The last month has been fun. Abby is finally sitting up a little better. We still have to put the boppy pillow around her because when she decides she is done sitting she will just hurl herself backwards. She is capable of sitting and playing on the living room floor for 10-15 minutes at a time though. I didn't sit well until I was 8 months old, so I guess it should be no surprise that she is a late bloomer. Not to mention all that extra weight that she has to support and balance. She is now up to almost 23 lbs, which is about what an 18 month old (50th percentile) would weigh. She is also wearing 18 month old size clothes already. She is has completely off the charts for both her height and weight. She will thin out as she gets older and starts moving around more. After all, she is the next Keri Walsh, and will be bringing home gold in the 2028 Olympics!

Another new development is the sippy cup. We have been working with Abby on drinking out of a sippy cup. She actually does the best with the straw. She loves to practice drinking out of a straw. We still only get about 2 ounces of water in her total throughout the day, but at least she is trying. As some of you know, Abby won't drink out of a bottle, so the possibility of her drinking proficiently out of something other than me is extremely exciting. I am hoping that with enough practice she will be downing the sippy cups full of milk in the next few months.

I finally figured out a nap routine that works for Abby. Now our days are somewhat predictable. Hurray! We really went through a rough patch there for about a month. Looking back on it now, I think she needed to transition to two naps a day and I was still trying to get three out of her. When I finally figured out that she was ready for two naps it still took a while before her body adjusted and she could handle being awake longer. I think we have it down for now. Her naps are still shorter than most babies, but hey, I will take what I can get! But, as we all know, babies are good as throwing you curve balls just when you think you have them down!

I can't wait to see what new developments the next month will bring.

Happy Birthday Marc!

Today is Marc's 36th birthday! I hope this next year brings him all the joy he deserves. He really is a wonderful husband and daddy. Abby is so very lucky to have him as her daddy. There are so many dads out there who do not fully participate in raising their children. I am proud to say that Marc is so involved and always helps with Abby. He spends one on one time with her every day when he gets home from work and does not ever miss her bedtime routine (bath and stories) unless he is out of town. He is so wonderful with her. I definitely married the right man to father my children!

Happy Birthday Sweetie. I love you so much.

Fun with Cousins

Last week my sister, Lynette, came over with her kids Sammie and Christopher. Abby had a great time watching the kids play. She loved it when they talked to her or played near her. Here are some shots from the day...

The kids decided that Abby might like to play with ALL of her toys at the same time and they loaded her up. She wasn't sure what to play with first.

Wow, it is challenging getting 3 little kids to look at the camera at the same time!

Sammie is 3 1/2

Christopher is 2 1/2 (His birthday is 6 days after Abby's)

Marc got home from work in time to spend some time with his niece and nephew!

My Little Dandelion and Stranger Danger

We have been trying to take Abby out into public more because she has developed major stranger anxiety. Anytime someone talks to her she will burry her head in my shoulder and cry. If she is in her stroller she will cry as soon as someone bends down and makes eye contact. She leads a pretty sheltered life just hanging out with Mommy all day. So, we are trying to work on getting her out more.

Saturday afternoon we took her to the mall. She does great as long as nobody stops to talk to her. Well, two ladies approached us to tell us that Abby's hair is just like one of their son's hair when he was a baby. They used to say he looked like a little dandelion. I thought it was very fitting. Her head definitely looks like the top of a dandelion. Her hair looks like it could just blow away in the wind.

And yes, as soon as the two women bent down to talk to Abby in her stroller she started crying. Let's just hope she grows out of this phase quickly.

Here is a picture of my little dandelion

Abby's Nicknames

I thought it would be fun to share the many pet names our little girl has....

• Bean - My little jumping bean in her jumparoo
  
• Muffin - I started this one right after she came home from the hospital, not sure why


• Muffin Top - Daddy started this one because her belly hangs over the top of her diaper


• Muffasa - Somehow Muffin morphed into this


• Baby Bird - Kristina gave her this one


• Turkey Bird - Because she is one


• Little Wolf - She gets a little restless and cranky right before and during the full moon


• Barracuda - For the way she would ferociously latch on to eat when she was a newborn


• Baby Bear - She can be kinda grizzly sometimes