Look what I can do!

We have been teaching Abby how to eat with a spoon, and now she has succeeded! The down side? She now doesn't really want to eat anything she doesn't feed herself.And, she would much rather use a "big girl" spoon.

This is why we don't let Abby watch too much TV. She is transfixed. Right now she only really does this for Sesame Street but I try not to watch too much tv because I don't want her to be like this all day. She really likes Elmo!

Bed Head

And here is Abby in her church dress last sunday. Yes she is holding a diaper. I had to give her something to get her stay somewhat still for this picture.

Also, I have to apologize. I have noticed that in pretty much every picture I take there are tons of toys on the floor in the background. I have come to accept that this is just part of having a young child and I just have to pick it up at the end of the day. It is still a little too early for her to comprehend picking up after herself.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera when we went out for Jason's birthday last week but we did have lots of fun. It is always good to eat great food and see friends. Thank you all for the birthday wishes that came his way.

I'm feelin' crafty!

So today I was watching Studio 5 (a local morning show here) and they had the coolest craft idea that I can't wait to get started on!! I have decided that I should watch this show more often because they always have some pretty sweet crafts that I want to try out (I am one of those people that is very uncreative. I can't come up with something on my own but once you show me how to do it, I'm all over it! ) So I know I have some very crafty sister-in-laws out there who may be interested in this one. Check it out at www.houseofsmiths.blogspot.com. Todays post talks about the show and at the bottom you can link to the tutorial. The are crepe paper roses that you can attach to styrofoam balls. I'm totally going to make some for Abby's room and maybe some to use as centerpiece for our dining room table!! If I get it done anytime in the near future, I will post pictures. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

S-U-C-C-E-S-S and a BIRTHDAY!

So today is Jason's birthday. Hooray! Can I just say that I am so thankful I married such a wonderful man (who I have to add is the greatest father to our little munchkin).For his sake, I shall not share with you how old he is. We are planning to go out to dinner with some friends to celebrate tonight. Nothing too big but that is just the way

he likes it, low key and with good friends.

Below is a picture of Jason and Ryan on his birthday 4 years ago. Coincidentally, we are going to the exact same restaurant that we did that night (Gotta love the free birthday meal at Tucano's). I will post pictures later of his birthday fun.

So along with Jase's birthday comes my deadline for weight loss goal #1 and I have to say I am pretty darn close. Instead of making one large weight loss goal, I have made small one's. Lose so much by Jason's birthday, by my birthday and then by our anniversary. Right now I am just 1 pound above where I wanted to be by today. Hooray! I also have to say that I am officially one clothing size smaller and 10 pounds less than when I got pregnant. Yes, I know this is bragging but I am pretty excited. I still have a bit of a way to go but at least I know I am making progress!

New Hobby

So the little hooligan has a new hobby. She loves to throw everything down the stairs. Here she is in action. We are hoping that she moves on to something new soon. It is quite embarrassing when somebody stops by and there are toys everywhere. Also, we have to make sure that we don't slip and fall if we step on one.

Other things Abby does lately:

makes monkey noises "oo oo aa aa" so cute!

she loves to hide things, we are constantly finding stuff in random places like toys in kitchen drawers and cupboards and shoes shoved in the door below the sink

she is a fabulous block stacker

she can put the rings on a ring tower

she loves to sing and dance!

Now, here are just a few of the fabulous pictures Allison took!

Abby the ham!

So if you are wondering why I don't have TONS of new pictures on my blog all the time, it's because most of the pictures I take look like the one below. Abby knows what the camera is and I think her idea of a great picture is one where her face takes up the entire frame. Actually, she will be doing something really cute and I will get out my camera to take the picture but she comes over to me instead because she wants to hold it.
Here she is with her favorite person, her Daddy checking out her reflection in the window

We had so much fun while Allison and Thomas were out here visiting last weekend, especially Abby. There were so many people to play with and Uncle Thomas is every niece and nephew's favorite Uncle, even Abby's now. He played blocks with her and taught her how to give a high five! I realized I didn't take too many great pictures while they were here so hopefully I will be able to get some from Alli and then share them!

And here is Abby with the Eyeore Jason got her for Valentines! Abby did have a special valentine's outfit but unfortunately it got dirty before I could take a picture. Hmmm, I seem to remember that happening last year too.

We miss Alli and Thomas already and wish that we did live closer! Hopefully someday...

In other news.. there isn't too much going on here. Abby has her 1 year checkup tomorrow with the Geneticist. Also, Abby is learning tons of new stuff all the time. As I mentioned before, Thomas taught her how to give a high five. She has also started stacking blocks and her favorite thing is to "talk" on the "phone" (there isn't really anyone on the other end and she will use almost anything like a phone, usually the remote control). She also likes to dance and the other day she was singing along with the Elmo song. This kid loves music and I won't be surprised if someday she wants to dance, sing or play an instrument.

That is about it for now, hopefully soon I will be able to get some really good pictures for the Grandma's. We love you all!

Abby had a birthday, Shout Hooray!

Over the years, I have been to a few different birthday parties for one year old's of different cultures. If you have ever been to one of these parties, you may know what I am talking about. The parties are HUGE! There are TONS of people there, family comes from other countries and there is a GIANT feast. All of this is to celebrate the fact that the child made it to their first birthday! Well, in comparison, Abby's party was tiny. Just Jason, Abby and I but the celebration and emotion was probably just as big if not even larger! It was a year ago today that Abby was put in the NICU because her blood sugar dropped to 23. When she was released 3 days later, there was no explanation as to why this happened. Then, 2 days after that was when our lives forever changed. That was the first time that we had ever heard of MCAD. All I have to say is that a lot has changed since then. For the first few days, Jason and I took turns sleeping so that one of us could keep an eye on her and make sure she was okay. That is what happens when you are told that your child has a disorder that is life threatening. It took me many months to really feel confident that Yes, this is something that is treatable, and Yes, she is going to live a normal life. Here it is a year later. She is walking (sometimes on the verge of running) laughing, smiling and "talking" away. Best of all, we made it through the first year with zero hospital trips. She is the picture of health. She IS going to live a normal life, just with some special care and precautions, and that is something we are very VERY THANKFUL for! Not a day goes by that I don't thank Heavenly Father for this wonderful child and the blessing we have to be her parents.

On a lighter side, here are the pictures (as you can see from the picture above, my cake decorating skills need some work!)

Abby wasn't loving the birthday dinner. I got this recipe from Giada De Laurentis when she did her child's one year birthday party. Giada, your kid may love it but mine just likes to moosh it around on the high chair. Also, when we were in California, We learned that Abby loves pineapple. Unfortunately, the pineapple I bought wasn't that sweet.

Abby really wanted to touch the flame on the candle.

She didn't really want to eat the cake either but she did a pretty good job rubbing it in her hair!

Present time, she was more interested in the camera so this was the only decent picture we got. She got stack able rings, the movie The Rescuers and the cutest outfit that I can't wait for her to wear! Also, her Auntie McKenzie, Uncle Carl and cousin Clover got her the coolest blocks that have pockets for pictures. Right now we have pictures of the Joseph side but I need the Albert side to send on some Family Pics so I can put them in the blocks too. That way, she can get to know all of you as she plays. Thank you so much for all the cards and Happy Birthday wishes that came her way!

My little munchkin!

As Abby gets closer to her one year birthday on Wednesday, you can definately see her personality come out more and more each day! It is also amazing to see the new things she can do each day. It seems like each day she does something different! Here she is in the cute outfit her Great Grandparents got her for Christmas and one of the headbands my mom got for her. She knew that we were about to go out on errands and as you can see, she wasn't too happy about it!
She is sneaky and loves to get into places she knows she shouldn't, like this corner!

This is her kitchen drawer. I knew I couldn't fight the fact that she would open a drawer and pull everything out so after some reorganization in the kitchen, she has her own drawer of things that aren't too dangerous and I don't use too often.

And this is her first walking related injury! She is walking all over the place now and unfortunately, she fell on the kitchen tile!

She has also learned to climb up stairs but going back down is another story! She has also seemed to say a few real words but they don't happen that often (mama, dada and uh oh)! Anyone who has met her though knows that she loves to talk and make noises!

Right now we are just counting down the days until her birthday and we will post all about that then!!