We Love You

I was planning on my next post being about our new little boy, but I want to take some time to remember Pap. We are all so sad that he is gone, but we feel lucky that he was in our lives and that we have so many wonderful memories of him to keep with us in our hearts. Here are some pictures I have from the past couple of summers. A few of them have probably been posted in previous posts, but they are some of my favorites. We love you, Pap xoxo.

Some of the family during a visit to Michigan in July of 2008.

Abbey was absolutely fascinated by Pap's watch, and he let her play with it, despite running the risk of it being dropped or chewed on!

Ever the patriot American, here he is hanging his flag (July 2009).

Wearing his cowboy hat (July 2009)

Swinging under the tree, where so many of us have such wonderful memories just hanging out together (July 2009)

A quick introduction to Dylan Patrick, born on January 6 (8 lbs, 7 oz...I grow big babies!) He is a blessing and a joy.

(Coming soon there will be a name change to the blog, since it's not just Abbey's world anymore.)

Times Have Certainly Changed

New Year's Eve in the Amman house certainly looks different than it has in years past...

Ok, to be fair, these pictures were taken during the day, not the evening. Colleen and Brendan came over for a New Year's Eve play date, and the kids had a great time as usual (as did the moms!) They did have a dance party to rival anything that may have happened later that night, from New York to Las Vegas. Here's to 2010!

Notice that Abbey and Brendan are happily sharing their cheddar bunnies and drinking out of each other's cups. For some reason, it is so much more fun to drink water out of a strange sippy cup.

Happy New Year!
Abbey and Brendan had so much fun hugging each other. They would hug, then fall down laughing, then hug again. It is so silly and sweet to watch.

Mommy's Boots

Abbey likes to wear other people's shoes, especially when they are too big for her. She came into the living room the other day wearing her diaper (what else?) and my Uggs (on the wrong feet.) She was so happy about it that I had to take a picture. She's going to kill me one day for taking all of these diaper-only pictures...

Thirty-Seven Pieces...

Ryan put together the crib for the new baby the week of Christmas. After spending some time in a cradle in our room, he or she will spend a couple of years in the crib, so we wanted to make sure we had something safe, attractive, and sturdy. Putting the crib together took four steps.

Santa decided Abbey should get a kitchen for Christmas this year. Unfortunately, Santa's elves were overworked, so they had to outsource the assembly to Ryan and me. The kitchen was thirty-seven pieces and took eighteen steps to assemble (most of the steps were actually multiple steps.) We decided to do this Christmas Eve. Big Mistake.

The reason we were up until about 2 a.m.

The reason it was worth it...(thanks to Aunt Jessica and Uncle Donnie for the apron and hat!)

Christmas Day

Merry Christmas! This is the second year that we had our immediate family over to our house for a Christmas celebration. It really makes things easy on Abbey, especially when she is too excited to nap at all! I love our family for being flexible with this plan. Ryan, Abbey, and I had a yummy breakfast/brunch in the morning and opened our presents. The grandmas, grandpas, Uncle Donnie, Aunt Jessica, and Honey Bear came over later in the afternoon. It was low-key, relaxing, and we all had fun watching Abbey enjoy herself.

I debated whether to include a picture of our morning present opening, since Abbey is clearly not dressed to impress. However, it is one of her favorite outfits (ha, ha, ha), so I figured we should let everyone see her in her element!

Opening some clothes, which she loves looking at and showing off...

She also loves her books!

Baby Abby Cadabby was another favorite gift this year.

Abbey likes to feed Abby Cadabby her little bottle.

Christmas Eve

Ok, I admit it; I have been pretty lazy about blogging lately. We've been super busy between finishing up school for the year, getting things ready for the holiday, and getting things ready for the baby. The family lost a beloved member this holiday season (my Aunt Bobbi), which really put the holidays into perspective. We tried to spend as much time appreciating and enjoying our friends and family as possible and to shower Abbey with lots of love throughout the season.Abbey LOVED the tree. In a way, I felt super guilty taking it down. I even tried to explain to her that it is even more special because it's only here for a few weeks each year. I'm sure she understood that, right??

Christmas Eve at my mom & dad's (0ur annual tradition). Abbey finally understands about opening presents and is pretty fastidious about it. She tears off the wrapping paper in little, tiny pieces, which is cute but not so time efficient.

Hiding the giant belly behind the chair...and I mean me - Donnie's been hitting the gym!


Abbey "helping" Great Grandma Rose with her shoes. Abbey's idea of helping with shoes is untying them.

Our little family in front of the tree.

Abbey stayed up nice and late, so we changed into jammies before going home. She is "shopping" in these pictures, one of her favorite things to do with purses and bags.