20 months old

Abby rocking her skinny jeans

You wouldn't think one month makes a lot of difference, but I think the transition from 19 to 20 months was significant for us! Abby is the sweetest little toddler and with her sweetness comes a whole lot of sass. She also has a big sense of humor and not only cracks herself up all the time, but her parents too! Especially at all the wrong moments when we should keep a serious face and discipline her, not laugh hysterically. These days, Abby is quite the dancer and bookworm who loves being outside.

She also enjoys:

• mowing the lawn with Daddy
• bringing her backpack everywhere
• reading to us before bed after we read to her
• singing and dancing
• trying to climb in the shower with Mommy everyday
• cleaning up all her toys (Yes...REALLY!)
• testing all of our limits
• getting M&M's every time she pee- pees in the potty (not officially potty training yet, though she has shown us it's just about time to get serious and she LOVES those M&Ms)
• playing with friends
• slides
  
• the VeggieTales CD that I can't take out of the car CD player for longer than 5 minutes before she cries for it again
• Justin Bieber
  
• Barney
  
• jewelry of all kinds
• playdoh and coloring
  
• posing for the camera
• her Jesus Storybook Bible
  

Savoring this sweet time! :)

Sophie the Scarecrow

Abby and I spent an afternoon this week celebrating the arrival of fall. Fall in our first house = fall flowers and fun front stoops.

Beiber Fever!

Attention Aunt Mimi: Abby has caught Bieber Fever! (a few years too early!) Our little dancer specifically requests Justin Bieber "Baby" everyday. So...what else would this retired boy band loving dancer of a mom do but choreograph a dance just like I did 10 years ago! But, there's no mistaking who's the boss in this dance operation. Abby tells us to get in our places before the music starts. Don't even think of standing outside of that straight line! When Grandma came to visit, Abby even told her where to stand.

Here it is...the moment you have been waiting for: Abby's dancing debut!

Note: We put on the camera very subtly because the moment Abby knows she is being watched she usually freezes and/or refuses to do anything. We thought she didn't know the camera was on and she danced like no one else was in the room. You'll see at the end that really she had us all fooled. Listen closely...that's her saying CHEESE! She was very knowingly performing the whole time!

Sweet Moments

Just a glimpse at some sweet moments in our week:

Ready for some sidewalk chalk on a chilly fall morning.


But first, we stop to smell the roses...or mums!

love. love. love.

Joe came around the corner and found Abby reading to her baby.

Abby meets Damien the Dane. He just couldn't resist a picture with her when she was pointing and barking at him like that.

We love spontaneous play date mornings with friends!


Oh you know, just walking her puppy for a walk in her diaper. :)

Date with Daddy

Recently, Abby has become fascinated with muffins. I'm not sure that she had ever had one, but a book that she's been reading has pages full of muffins, so her interest was peaked. The whole day she walked around saying "muppin, muppin". So, Daddy took Abby (and stuffed Greeley) on a date to get a special muffin. What a treat!

Abby got to pick any muffin she wanted.

There were so many options! So, she put Greeley down for a rest while she chose.

Blueberry muffin and milk in a Starbucks cup. What a big girl!

Yum!

Of course, she couldn't leave Greeley out, so she fed him some too!

"Mom and Dad, I think you've been holding out on me! YUM! MUFFINS!"

Next up: baking muffins with Mommy!

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!