Sleepover!

Abbey had her first sleepover. Mommy and Daddy had tickets to Rent, and Abbey spent the night at Grandma Sharon & Grandpa Don's house. Despite having a little cold, Abbey had a wonderful time with her grandparents. She even slept pretty well there (well, so they say!) And why wouldn't she? She slept in the crib that Mommy and Uncle Donnie used.

Ryan and I missed her like crazy but had fun hanging out with adults! We had dinner, went to the show, and then met up with some friends to celebrate. Mike and Carolyn got engaged on Friday! All three of us survived in one piece, and I am sure that will not be the last sleepover.

Snowman jammies on Saturday night
Looking at pictures Sunday morning

The Birthday Girl

Abbey had a fun time at her birthday party, and we all enjoyed watching her enjoy her toys and her friends. Here are just a few pictures from the big day; I will post more later. I had the week off and loved spending time with Abbey at home. You would think that would have given me plenty of time to do important things like update her blog and write thank you notes...I have actually been working on my master's thesis and tearing my hair out over that. Thankfully I turned the rough draft in this afternoon and hope that the revisions are minimal. Keep your fingers crossed! Despite having tons of her own toys (and getting more at the party), Abbey felt it was necessary to borrow Madison's toy. By borrow, I mean pull out of Madison's little hand. Thankfully Madison was happy to play with one of Abbey's toys.
A drum and a doll. What do you want me to do with this?

Surprisingly, Abbey had fun making a mess with her cupcake but no real interest in eating it!

End Scene

It is almost incomprehensible to me that this is the last night we have before Abbey turns 1! Last year on this date, I got a manicure and pedicure and wondered when she would be joining our lives. Now it is impossible to imagine life without her.

I took these pictures yesterday when Abbey and I were playing around in the den. There are some pictures in my August 14th post that have her sitting on the same chair. She has grown so much since then.

I guess I also have to take full responsibility for her laptop fascination. I guess she is too young to understand the difference between typing on a keyboard when the computer is off and when it is on. Maybe next year...

Thanks for following my story. Stay tuned for all of the adventures of my second year...

xoxo,

Abbey

A Few of My Favorite Things

She has yet to discover raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but Abbey definitely finds joy and delight in some wonderfully simple things.playing under the table and dreaming

(lyrics courtesy of Dave Matthews Band)

I wonder if DMB had to worry about being too tall to play under the table without bumping their noggins. Hmmmmm.

Grandma Sharon bought Abbey two balloons after Abbey went bananas over them in a store one day. Abbey adores the balloons, and I am pretty sure she tries to say it, too. Of course, it comes out more as "ba-oo". It's definitely one of her favorite things!

I can't say that her own hat is one of her favorite things to wear, but she had a great time with Grandpa Don's Carhart hat.

By the way, many thanks to my Dad for helping us with a plumbing issue. One day Ryan will be able to pass along all of the help to Abbey & her husband!

Last, but certainly not least, Abbey is playing with glasses. These particular glasses are sunglasses, but she is not particular. She will grab them off my head or take my dad's reading glasses out of his pocket.

Happy Birthday Brendan!

Brendan turned one on the 27th, and we went to his party on the 31st. Abbey had so much fun socializing with a lot of new people. I enjoyed seeing friends and (Colleen's) family that I don't get to see very often. The birthday boy was asleep when we arrived, but he was quite the dynamo when he woke up. I don't think of Abbey as a particularly calm baby until I see her with Brendan. He is such a whirlwind and so funny to see. Abbey and I love spending time at the Beland house.

After the party, Ryan and I went out on a date, whoo hoo! Grandma Sue & Grandpa Ray watched Abbey while we went to dinner and the movies. We saw Revolutionary Road, which was excellent but also depressing. Thankfully, we started the night at the Melting Pot. It's hard to stay depressed about much when you remember that you had cheese and chocolate for dinner...yum!

All in all, it was a great day.

Brendan and his grandpa are getting ready to listen to the always well-harmonized Birthday Song.

Abbey spent some time playing with Brendan's toys.
Later, she relaxed with a beer...just kidding, just kidding. As many of you know, Abbey LOVES bottles of any sort...hers, water bottles, glasses, etc. I think she liked the colorful label on the beer bottle and made it her toy for a little while. Some of you have seen the baby picture of Ryan holding a beer bottle, so I guess it runs in the family.

Pampered

After what seemed like months of pulling Abbey's bangs back with a barrette, I finally broke down and decided it was time for the first hair cut. I took her to my lovely hairdresser, Jodie, who was so sweet and kind about cutting Abbey's baby hair. Abbey sat on my lap with her own cape, which was so funny, since she is so little. She was really calm and relatively still the whole time. It helped that Daddy was there to hold her attention and that Jodie sits right near a window looking onto downtown Royal Oak. Looking at the pictures is hilarious, because she looks so solemn, as if she can't believe I am cutting away her hair. We decided not to do anything drastic, so it is just cleaned up and evened up. The bangs are already getting a little long again! Good thing she looks cute in clips and bows!