Tag!

I'm It, I'm It! My first tag. Hmmm, this is opposite of playing tag when we were kids, when no one wanted to be it. Now it's kind of fun to know that people care about what I'm up to. (Of course I LOVE reading other people's more.) Oh, I was tagged by Sandy, my wonderful cousin from Tampa. Go Rays!!

1. A picture of Abbey & me...Well, I don't have a ton of them; moms seems to be the main photographers in most families. Many of the ones I do have are already on this blog, so I will post the most recent one of us. We were at the zoo, just the two of us, so I tried to take a "self portrait" type shot. She wasn't exactly cooperative.

2. How many children do you have ?

Just one for now. She is the light of our lives.

3. What is her age?

8 months (I can't believe she is 8 months already. Crazy!!)

4. What time do you start your day?

Sometimes it feels like I never really end my day, since Abbey still wakes up at night. (She did sleep 8 hours on Monday night, yeah!!) Usually I am in the shower around 5:45-6:00, and we are on the move from that point forward.

5. What do you eat for breakfast?

Sometimes granola, but when I go to Whole Foods (like this week) I have Lara bars.

6. Does she watch TV?

Nope

7. What are her favorite activities?

She loves being outside and being around people. It is so sweet to watch her light up and start "talking" to other kids (or adults.) She also loves her books (reading them AND eating them.)

8. Do you get a break during the day from her?

I work full time, so she is at home with Grandma Sharon during the day. I guess it is a break, and it pays the bills, but I miss her tons and wish there was another alternative :o(

9. How do you end your day?

Tired and with a ton of stuff un-done on my "to do" list. I recently joined the gym and do that some nights after Abbey's bedtime. It's great for my sanity, but it's not so good for my stack of papers waiting to be graded.

10. What is your best parenting advice or tip?

I am still looking for advice and tips more than dispensing them! I guess just to love them and enjoy them, since they are truly a gift. Oh, and to make them laugh a lot. I don't think there is a sound I love as much in the whole world as Abbey's little giggle.

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far. I will add a picture of Abbey just for fun. Oh and I tag Stacy to do the survey next, since she is one of my favorite moms in the world.

Back at the Zoo

Ryan had some serious studying to do today, so Abbey and I headed out to the zoo. It was a little chilly today, but also quite sunny, so it was really a great day to walk around outside. I think today might have been the first time Abbey really noticed the animals! We, of course, spent a ton of time in the Polar Passage. One of the polar bears was hanging out and swimming in the passage for a long time, and Abbey noticed him and seemed pretty interested in all of the commotion surrounding his every movement.

We went onto the giraffe platform, although we didn't get to feed them. We were still very close to the giraffes, and she noticed them when one of them started to flick his tail all over the place. She got excited and started smiling at them and babbling away.
Here's Abbey watching the polar bear swimming around.

Still watching the polar bear!

I know we spend a lot of time here, but I didn't know Abbey felt THIS at home here, ha, ha. She kind of thought she could touch the water, but she has to settle for crawling around next to it.

Although she is too young to play in the play area, Abbey and I hung out there for a little while today. She likes watching other kids playing around. I think she would love to be out of her stroller where the action is, but there aren't any swings or anything there appropriate for kids her age. (I think the suggested age is 2 years or something like that.)

Something else new at the zoo that Abbey noticed...the leaves are changing and falling from the trees. A couple of times, the wind would blow and leaves would fall and scatter. Abbey seemed to love watching them blow in the breeze.

Thanks Great Aunt Carolyn

Great Aunt Carolyn sent Abbey a really cute Halloween outfit. It has a little witch on it and says "Mommy's Under My Spell" in case the picture isn't that clear. Great Grandma Hageman sent some Halloween socks, and the pumpkin pair matched the outfit very well. Abbey is getting in the spirit a couple weeks early! (As you can see, I might be under her spell, but she is pretty easily distracted by the shiny baskets under the desks.)

Hard at Work

I had parent-teacher conferences this week, and I had to be at school until 7:00 two days straight. My mom was kind enough to bring Abbey to visit and hang out for a couple hours. I only saw a total of 12 parents between the two nights (and 16 on Friday morning!) so Abbey and GMa Sharon were a wonderful treat and not a distraction at school at all! As usual, she enjoyed playing with the keyboard of my computer and exploring my classroom.

My Goddaughter!

The beautiful star of the day!

Abbey & Daddy

Madison's baptism was last Sunday, and we all enjoyed it very much. The day was just gorgeous, especially for the middle of October, and Abbey behaved much better than she did at her own baptism. Well, she was a little squirmy, but Ryan kept her entertained, and I didn't hear a peep out of her from the front of the church. By the end of the ceremony, she was sleeping on Ryan's lap - so cute! It is always great to hang out with Stacy, Eric, Connor, and now Madison.

West Coast Buddies

Our friends Eric, Vicky, & Nora came to visit from San Jose a couple of weeks ago. We had a great visit with the Sochas, but I forgot my camera...whoops! Abbey was fascinated by all of the fun toys and the other kids to play with; it was really sweet to watch them all. Later in the week, Eric, Vicky, & Nora came over to hang out for a little while, and Abbey really got a kick out of Nora. Nora was absolutely adorable with her, and is such a fun and cute little girl. It was crazy to think that the last time we saw her, she was younger than Abbey is now! Hopefully not so much time passes before our next visit with the Modicas.

Sleep Tight

Abbey is many wonderful things, but a great napper definitely isn't one of them! However, she had a nice, lazy Wednesday with Grandma Sharon and napped a ton. After her main nap, she fell asleep again as GMa was carrying her down the stairs. Thinking she would only sleep for a few more minutes, GMa laid her on the papasan, where Abbey proceded to sleep for another half hour!

Ta Da!

Just when we thought crawling was pretty impressive, Abbey has decided that standing up is pretty fun, too. The laundry baskets are the perfect height for her to grab and pull herself up. She folded all those clothes for us, too! Ok, not really...

My Buddy Brendan

Swimming was cancelled this week, so Abbey and I went to Colleen's house for a relaxing evening. Well, a fun evening, at least. Brendan is starting to crawl, too, but he has basically bypassed that stage and wants to run, run, run around the house. If you hold his hands, he is a little dynamo speeding around; it is so cute. And tiring! You can see his walker toy in the background, but Colleen seems to be his preferred source of support!!

Here he is taking a break. Abbey LOVED his wooden standing toy, and I think I am going to have to get her something like that soon. She is starting to pull up on everything, and we don't have much that is really meant to be playing with standing up.

There were lots of fun toys to play with at Brendan's house!

Uncle Donnie, I'm ready for my soccer lesson!

On a more serious note, please keep Brendan in your thoughts and prayers. He is having some major acid reflux issues. Going dairy & soy free helped for a little while, but he is still having problems. He is going to have some allergy tests next week, and we really hope that he's able to get some relief soon. He could one day be my son-in-law (smile) so I want to make sure that he stays nice & healthy. We love you Brendan!

Cruisin'

We are officially on the move. I looked back, and I was shocked to see that the date of Abbey's first "crawl" was September 16th. It's really hard to believe that it was almost a month ago that Ryan and I saw her take her first, tentative movements. Lately, however, she has really picked up speed. She is still a little hesitant to really move on the wood floors, probably because it is so slippery now that she is wearing pants more frequently than dresses. I am amazed by her daily and feel so lucky to be her mom :o)
The crawling was followed closely (September 19th for those keeping track!) by the first poke of her little teeth. They're finally getting more visible, and you can kind of see them in this picture. What a big girl, huh?

Just Like Daddy

We knew that Abbey inherited Ryan's eyes, but it looks like she has also inherited his love of movies! Hmmmm, what to watch? There are so many good choices in Daddy's collection!
She's not even 8 months old and already a Quentin Tarantino fan? Mommy and Daddy both really like his movies, but I don't think Resevoir Dogs is an appropriate first film. Maybe in fifteen or sixteen years...
Look what I did! I figured out how to get the movies off the shelf!
That was hard work. Getting the movies back on the shelf doesn't look nearly as fun.

Abbey Rose & Great Grandma Rose

September 29 was GPa Don's birthday! Happy Birthday GPa! GMa Sharon took Abbey to her house last Friday, and Abbey got to visit with Great Grandma Rose. I think she was boycotting a smile in this picture since she isn't allowed to have any of Grandpa's birthday cake!

Abbey had a wonderful time entertaining Great Grandma. Abbey is definitely on the move and getting into everything. We have a very curious girl on our hands!
Abbey just loved the cardinals on Great Grandma's sweater and kept crawling towards her.
I love Abbey's expression in this one. She is looking very intently at Great Grandma.