Moving Day

We've been in our new home for a whole two weeks! All boxes are unpacked (yay!), so now we get to focus on hanging all the things that make home even homier. It feels really wonderful to be settling in. We love it here.

We wouldn't have been able to do any of it without all the love and help of our friends and family. God pleasantly overwhelmed (and humbled) us with an outpouring of support from so many people. The Lord sent people to help care for every need. He is so good! From moving to meals to painting to installations to watching Abby...we're so blessed by all of you. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you all!

I might not have gotten it done without my cutest little helper:

Grammy came for a few days before the big day to help us finish packing and preparing the house. She helped with some of the toughest cleaning and took care of Abby on moving day. It was so great to have her here that we weren't ready for her to leave.

snuggling with Grammy

moving in.

Abby loved the excitement of the day. She got to spend time with Grammy, eat pizza, run around her new house and play with lots of friends who stopped by. Maddie hung out while her super strong mom helped us move all day. (Thanks Nichole!) Maddie and Abby even shared ice cream sandwiches in the cooler!

Hurricane Irene welcomed us into our new home on our first night/day. Before we lost electricity for a few hours, Abby did what everyone longs to do on a rainy day:

good movie + comfy couch + rain = leg up loungey bliss.

Ashley came to visit and to help us paint! She's our semi-professional painter friend who we love to have visit. Not only does she paint our trim with such care and enjoyment (total PERK!), but she's pretty much an adopted family member! Thank you Zsa-zsa. We miss you. Your soda is in the car waiting for you! Bring a straw!


Our friends, the Ritters, helped us a ton with moving in and they also passed on a sweet little housewarming gift to Abby. Abby and Baby love to play outside in it.

after I asked Abby and her Baby to say CHEESE

learning to save her pennies

One of the perks of Abby's new room is the special little reading corner I made in her closet. There's a little rug, lots of comfy pillows and stuffed animals. Abby takes her books in and sits reading one after the other. A little girl after my own heart! She also loves to invite people into her secret space. Every time someone comes to visit she leads them right into her closet. Something so simple can be so special!



Abby has been quite the helper when it comes to unpacking. She also knows how to stop the whole process when she feels like we need a break...

"time to rest, Mommy!"

And just a little more cuteness to complete this post:

I love you.

As we've been transitioning into our new home, I haven't been good at recording all of the sweet Abby stories that fill our days.

I have to stop for a moment and get this one down so I NEVER forget it EVER! Abby and I spent the morning playing with friends. When we got home, we got ready for lunch. Abby's baby had to eat too. So, Abby put her in the high chair with her and started feeding Baby everything I gave her to eat. Today, Abby decided all she wanted was cheese! She's becoming more and more opinionated and determined by the day. When we were done, Abby asked for a napkin to wipe her baby's face and then showed me that she wanted Baby to take a nap in the crib with her. Adorable. But, the best part of my whole entire day (and this might win out as sweetest moment of the week) was when I laid Abby down, covered her with the blanket and was leaving the room. She called out, "I love you!". I say it to her every time she goes to bed, but this was the first time she said it to me first and not in response. Ohhh baby girl, I love you so much. So much that I had to restrain myself from running back to the crib, picking you up and smooching you all over!

Weekend in NJ

With all the preparations for the house keeping us very busy, we welcomed some special events that got us in the car together as a family for a weekend trip to New Jersey. It was a much needed break from painting and packing and some much needed quality time in the midst of this big transition.

Daddy is so tired!

On Saturday, our friends Zakiya and Matt got married. It was lots of fun to celebrate with them. AND the night got even better because we got to spend the evening with Mom and Dad Cassel. You should have seen them on the dance floor! We had fun!

beautiful bride.

sweet date night

While we were at the wedding, Abby spent the evening with her new favorite babysitter, Alex. In the morning, Alex was one of the first people Abby went looking for to play dolls with. We are definitely looking forward to Uncle Bradley and Alex's visit this fall.


The next day, we drove to spend the day at Cory's race. It was Abby's first time at the track. Loud engines and lots of dirt to play in....my girl loved it all. I thought for sure she would be afraid of her Uncle Cory when she first saw him in all his gear. I mean my brother was afraid of Santa Claus' gloves when he was little. But, the minute she saw him, she wanted to stay with him as close to the line up as she could go.
We went to sit in the stands and the whole time Abby yelled for her "RA-RA" (Uncle Cory).

It's pretty amazing to watch my brother ride (even though my heart is in my throat the whole time). Hello adrenaline!

G-diddy came to the race too, so Abby got to hang out with both of her grandpas and eat hotdogs. What a treat!


Cory's going to buy Abby her first power wheels quad someday soon! It's how he got his start at the age of two and he's convinced Abby will be a rider too. We'll see!!

stud.

help me up Papa. Let's do this!

#87

Looking forward to next season RA-RA!

Packing it all up

Our last days in our apartment (and Abby's first home) looked like this:




When we weren't packing up our life, we were over at our new house getting it ready for move-in day! Grammy and G-Diddy came up to help us with some projects. (Thank you guys!) Abby kept herself busy following G-diddy around and getting into his tools:


But, her favorite part of the day just might have been chasing Greeley around enjoying all of his kisses!

Where's your Grammy? There she is!

family photo in front of our new house

Then, out to dinner after a day of hard work.

G-diddy teaching Abby about finance

watching her Daddy cut the grass

19 months old

19 months old

Favorite foods: cherry tomatoes, grapes (a.k.a. balls), broccoli, peas and noodles (a.k.a. noo-noos). Of course, she has also been introduced by various people to things like chocolate and chips, so if we're honest Abby would tell you that when she sees someone with a cheesy doodle or M&M of any kind she wants at it! We don't even keep them in the house. She eats so many deliciously healthy things that it's fun to see her enjoy these treats every once in a while too!

Favorite books: The Belly Button Book, Pajama Time, Snuggle Puppy, Where's Spot? and anything with flaps on the page she can open.

Fave activities: swimming, going to the library, play-doh, mothering every baby and stuffed animal she sees, coloring, brushing her hair, playing with blocks, SINGING and tap dancing.

New words/phrases: "I love you", "Thank you Jesus", family members name, elephant, "Bar-bar" (Barney). Those are just a few. She is learning and saying new things everyday. Often at amazing and unexpected moments.

Songs: That would be songs on REPEAT in the car. Abby's current faves are Twinkle Twinkle and The Wheels on the Bus. She sings them all the time (precious!) and literally tells me as soon as the song gets close to the last verse to start it over. I never knew why there was a repeat button on the CD player because really who wants to listen to a song that many times. I totally get it now. The person who invented that totally had a toddler. If I put the song on repeat, she sings and dances along happily all the way to the store without yelling at me! Repeat button or not, I would willingly play them over and over again just to hear that sweet noise from the backseat and see her dancing away! She also sings the Barney "I love you" song.

In the DVD player: There is just one thing. We currently have four versions, but only one thing in the DVD player. BAR-BAR! Abby wakes up asking for him. We started to see hints of her fascination with Barney in Colorado. If he came on the TV in the morning, she would stop everything she was doing, climb up on the couch to sit and watch him intently until it was over. Amazing! I bought a Barney DVD when we got back to NY and the rest is a love story. I think you have to see it to fully believe it. We totally have to limit her intake because I think she would watch Barney all day if we let her. So, now she looks forward to her special one time with her purple friend each day. If you are familiar with Barney, you know that he is a stuffed purple dinosaur, but when the kids come to play with him it's their imagination that makes him come to life. That means at the end of every episode, Barney shrinks back to a little stuffed animal. Would you believe me if I told you my tender hearted little girl starts crying (at times hysterically) and calling for Barney when he turns back into an inanimate object? From Elmo to Barney...singing lots of new songs and learning lots of new things.

Other things to remember:

• Abby has a flair for all things dramatic. When she doesn't get her way, she tends to drop to the ground, put her hand over her mouth and fake cry (so hard not to laugh when she does this). Not sure where she learned this, but she definitely has lots of emotions and wants everyone to know about them. Not like her parents are emotional or anything...
  
• She is fascinated with "boobies" and bras. When she stopped nursing months ago, Abby paid no attention to this part of the body anymore. It was all about the belly button. Now she identifies (and touches) them every chance she gets especially in the most amusing/awkward situations. Like when we were in Target passing the bra section and Abby started yelling "Mama, Bra-bra" while trying to lift up my shirt OR when we were standing in our new front yard meeting the neighbor and Abby starts grabbing and sticking her hand down my shirt! Ohhh the age of exploration! :)

My little joy and the best 19 months of our lives!

P.S. I had the sad realization when Abby turned 19 months that it was just about time to stop telling people how old she is in months. Don't you think? After 18 months, it starts to sound kind of funny. Anyway, I might start saying she's a year and a half, but I'm definitely going to keep monthly updating on here until she's 24 months! :)