Playing Catch Up...

I so didn't think I was this far behind, so I'm sorry about the picture overload this post will be...

Back in February my mom was watching Abbie while I was at school I came to pick her up to find her like this. I thought it was quite funny 1- She was all ready to go, shoes, coat, etc 2- She NEVER falls asleep on anyone 3- My mom was talking on the phone haha

For Christmas my sister got Abbie these play dress up shoes, Abbie finally figured out how to wear them and keep them on her feet. You can find her stomping around in these all day now.

For Valentine's Day Devin got her this frog and she LOVES it. She carried it around with her saying Ribbit Ribbit and still to this day has to have it in her bed with her before she will go to sleep.

One of the biggest changes/accomplishments was that we finally got rid of the binky! Abbie had been chewing on them for a few months but was so attached I didn't know how we were ever gonna rid of them. One day she bit through the end of it. I quickly took a picture of it and made her go and throw it in the trash.

I told her it was broken and the binky had to go bye bye. She said bye bye bink and that was the last of it.

I couldn't believe it was that easy, well until that night and the next week to follow. It was rough getting rid of it but I just had to keep telling her that the binky was broken and went bye bye and she would understand. It was perfect timing too since her sister decided to come a month early so we got rid of Abbie's binky just in time to get Grace's out. :)

I was going grocery shopping and as we came out of the store it had started to rain and Abbie just automatically stuck her tongue out and started catching the rain drops on her tongue.

When she was little one of her favorite things to do at G-ma's house was to put buckets on her and other people's heads. She now tries to stack them on top of each other on your head. When she did it to herself she thought she was soo cool and was way excited (even though her face doesn't seem like it).

She has learned how to undress herself and every morning she is naked. One day she came running in like this screaming. I guess she had tried to put the swimsuit on and it got stuck. She didn't like that very much. lol

At grandma's she found these bunny ears and made my dad put them on with her. It was too funny to see them hopping around the house acting like bunnies.

I was trying to get a picture of them and kept saying "smile" and she finally looked and me and did this face. Yes she is sticking out her tongue and has her fingers in her ears. What a stinker.

She has this huge stuffed animal dog that she loves to snuggle up with. I couldn't resist taking this picture when I went in to check on her during nap time.

Along with undressing herself she has now decided that she gets to pick what she wears.

It makes for some interesting outfits.

And finally she has found the joy of stickers.

She was having so much fun sticking these stickers to her arms, tummy, and face.

I was laughing so hard at her.

It's been interesting to see how she has adjusted to having a new baby at home but overall she is doing so great. Within the last week she decided she really likes to help me out with the baby and so she goes and gets the baby's diapers and burp rags for me and loves to put the baby's binky in her mouth (even when the baby doesn't need it, such as when she is fast asleep). She really is quite helpful though and I can't believe in just a month that she will be 2 years old! Crazy how time flies!

First Hair Cut

I've been putting off Abbie getting a hair cut for too long poor thing could hardly see since her hair was always in her face.

We went to Cookie Cutters and they did a great job! They have toy cars that the kids sit in and than individual TV stations for the kids to pick out their favorite shows to watch while they get their hair cut.

She only cried when they sprayed down her hair.

Watching Elmo

She had to hold my hand while they blow dryed

I think she looks so grown up now

Definatly the BIG sister now. :)

Coloring

Abbie has lately been all about coloring, when the room goes silent for no reason I can now expect to go in there and find her sitting on the floor with her coloring book and crayons, which is a nice surprise instead of her getting into something she shouldn't be which is normally what happens when it goes suddenly quiet.

Devin has repainted our house this last week and Abbie had to tell me all about how "dada olor wawl" I guess thats why she thought it was okay to color on the wall as well...

She did clean it up very well with a sponge and it luckily came right off. She now says "uh oh wawl"

Lets hope she learned that coloring is for coloring books and paper only.

Happenings this week

Here's proof that Devin plays Xbox too much...Abbie has learned to put the headphones on and hits buttons on the controler while watching Devin play. She also will randomly take the microphone and talk into it saying "hi! hi!" lol

With Abbie staying home with Dad all day she sure does get excited to see Mom when I get home from work. :)

We rearranged her bedroom and put away the portacrib so she could start sleeping in her twin size bed we have for her. I was afraid that she was going to just start crawling out of bed and that night time was going to start getting rough but so far things have been great! She is such a good sleeper and is way excited about her room everytime she walks in there she says "Wow! Wow!" and loves to show anyone and everyone who is over her "big girl" room. She is even sleeping great during naps for Devin! I couldn't be more surprised with how well she transitioned. :)

Sick and Silly Girl

Devin hasn't had any work these last few weeks so Abbie has been staying home with him and loving it for the most part.

They both got a cold this last week and I've come home many times to this:

Laying in jammie's watching TV with dad in bed at 4 O'clock in the afternoon.

Luckily they both have been feeling better this week.

Abbie has been cracking me up with her different faces and outfit combinations.

She has such a silly personality already, I love it.

She REFUSES to wear shirts lately. If we put them on her they end up coming off within 10 minutes, this has resulted in many shirtless days. (don't mind the messy house!)

She loves saying "CHEESE" and smiling so big whenever she sees a camera.

I was trying to get her to hand me one of her binky's so I could put it in the diaper bag so I knew where one was and she kept saying No, I said something along the lines of "what are you going to do with 2 binky's?" and when I turned around next she was giggling and looked like this.

She loves wearing Devin's hats and lucky for her he has such a variety. This picture reminds me of a deer in headlights. lol

It seems like everyday is a new adventure for her and I'm really loving seeing her become more silly and her personality shinning through more each day. I really do love this girl!

The joys of having a Toddler

Abbie has been quite the handful lately, with school finals and the holidays both Devin and I have been at our wits ends trying to find patience some days. We had her 18 month doctor appointment and she has yet another ear infection. We are hoping that they will start becoming less although if we have any more this season the doctor wants to discuss having tubes put in. She is finally getting some more teeth in, she has 3 coming in on the bottom and 2 more on top. Besides that we are getting more things ready for her sister to come and I think she is realizing that changes are about to happen. I'm nervous for how she will do with a new baby around and really hope she doesn't freak out too much.
Her vocabulary increases everyday and I am constantly amazed (and shocked) and what she can say and understand. Although we have to really watch what we say around her now as she has already said a few unchoice words. lol

Devin had scouts the other night and as he said bye and left Abbie came running out of her room saying "Dada bye bye" with her coat and shoes in hand. It was too cute. She wasn't too happy when she had to stay home with mom though.

I love that she has hair long enough to do cute things with now, and every morning she will run into the bathroom saying "pretty" and let me do her hair. Its fun and a nice bonding time. She also loves taking the comb and brushing her baby dolls hair.

She finally said "Love you" the other day which was adorable and brought tears to my eyes. Its amazing the joy kids can bring to you and how with one word they can melt your heart.

I'm so excited for Christmas this year and can't wait to see the excitement of opening presents and getting new toys/clothes. When you ask her what Santa says she says as loud as possible "HO HO HO" and loves pointing out any Santa's she sees in stores or on decorations and clothes. She also LOVES all the Christmas lights that are out. She is constantly saying "ligh ligh" and pointing out the window every time we drive anywhere.

Even with as much of a pain she can be I seriously am loving this stage of her life and watching as she learns new things and develops new tricks. I still can't get over that my 'baby' is a toddler.

Rough Night

Let me start this post out with a little about Scentsy We got one a little before our wedding and have absolutely loved it. We've gotten many scents and the burner stays in our living room in the corner. Scentsy warmers have no open flame and the specially formulated wax melts at just above body temperature with the use of a 25 watt light bulb. Not only is the risk of fire eliminated, so is the risk of serious burns to the skin if the wax is accidentally spilled.

Never have I been more grateful in my life for that last sentence.

We started out the day good, this is Abbie on the way to daycare (cheese! as she likes to say)

I picked her up from daycare, we went home and I was cleaning up the kitchen doing dishes and cleaning off the counter while Abbie was running around the house. I thought Abbie sure is being quite, so I went into the living room to see what she was up too as quietness is often a bad sign as it means she is getting into something she shouldn't be, and sure enough as I walked into the living room I watched her grab the cord of the Scentsy and all the wax spilled all down her head, face, and body.

I panicked and picked her up and put her straight into the tub under cold water making the wax all harden. I called my mom in tears and started rubbing off the wax from her face, as my mom reassured me the Scentsy wax wouldn't burn skin and she said to just rub the wax out of everything. As I started doing this Devin got home from school to find the house and both me and Abbie a mess. Luckily she wasn't burned anywhere but her hair was quite the mess.

The front

The back

Living room wall

After about an hour and a half of combing through her hair, washing it 3-4 times, and many tears from both me and Abbie we finally got all the big chunks out her her hair, although it still has the texture and smell of wax.
After all the commotion she was quite tired and got her giant teddy bear, layed down on it and fell asleep in about 10 minutes.

I have never felt more blessed and emotional after everything last night, it was really scary to think that she could have been burned all down her little body. I'm so glad that she wasn't and that everything turned out okay in the end. I'm so thankful for such a beautiful daughter and for how much love and joy she brings into my world, and for a husband who is there to help keep me calm and clean up my messes. We had a rough night but its nothing compared to what it could have been.