Where's The Baby?

Abby knows. As if it wasn't obvious. To everyone. :)

This was taken a week ago... now we have only 3 weeks to go. Knowing that Abby was born a week from now freaks me out just a bit...but I'm going to focus on getting through Easter without a hiccup. Come on, baby... cook a bit longer!

I got a "reminder" card from Abby's cardiologist this week. Time to head back in there and make sure everything is looking good. I'll keep you posted!

205. the ever increasing tendon/ligament pain in my leg that reminds me how thankful I am to be pregnant again
206. not being out of breath every minute of the day (only about half the time)
207. thinking about abby's 2nd birthday -- that's crazy!
208. looking forward to family visiting

A Day At Descanso

It was a beautiful 80 degree day today so we decided to meet Gracie at Descanso Gardens. It was fabulous! Abby & Grace sat next to a babbling brook,


fell down amid the roses (which gave her scratched knees but no crying), ran through the grass with no shoes on, stared longingly at a fountain,

and explored to their hearts content. We finished off the day under a lilac tree (heavenly!)
and a croissant turkey sandwich. This girl loves to be outside. All. The. Time.

201. super close gardens like this
202. holding hands (see last picture)
203. no bib and no mess at lunch
204. walking. not always being held

First Date

If only her first date could go so well. A little bible reading before dinner... a nice view in the back ground...a nice cold cup of milk and playtime to follow. Oh, how we love to hang out with our friend Caleb!

197. open windows, fresh breeze, perched on a little hill
198. groupons with great memberships to great parks nearby
199. sleeping in till 8pm
200. a super duper handy hubby who can pull anything off

Calling All Babies In The Womb

Ways to communicate with your unborn brother...

1. try to shove feathers into mommy's belly button to give to "baby ford"
2. pat mommy's tummy and say, "milk? like it?"
3. hug and kiss mommy's tummy when it's bed time (in a supreme effort to stall and not to go bed) saying, "ford...ford..."
4. run through the house saying, "eddy ford! are you?!" -- as in, come on out, it's time to play!

and on a sick day, watch TV glassy eyed and forget he exists at all...



193. spring, spring, spring
194. new babies being born across the country (hi, baby rose!)
195. neighbors that care
196. a washer and dryer inside the house -- it takes half the time!

Outside!!!

Most days Abby is screaming to go "outside!" Either that, or she's running through the new house saying, "Mommy! Are you?" meaning, "Mom! Where are you?" It never ceases to be cute. Probably because I'm doing laundry in the back of the house, or organizing a box that has yet to get unpacked and hearing anything other than the sound of my own pregnancy-swollen nasal passage breathing is a delight.

When we do go outside, she spends most of her time exploring...or dumping all of her favorite things in a "hole"...



189. a 24-hour cold. Who had heard of such a thing! Thank you, God!
190. Have I mentioned the joy of a self-rimming sink? Oh yeah, I did. But it's worth a repeat.
191. having church on the patio
192. conviction

Who Am I?

In the last two weeks, I've gone from "mama" and "mommy" to...

Mom (weird!)
Mommsy (where did she learn this?)
Momola (seriously. what?)

She'll pat my arm and call me any one of these ... all day long.

Usually the "mom" name comes out in the following forms,
"no, mom."
"fine, mom." (meaning, "i'm fine")
"mom!"

all are weird. i much prefer mommy or mama!

She's adjusting great to the new digs, as you can see -- out front blowing bubbles with grandma.



185. not waiting 10 min for hot water
186. morning sunlight
187. literally seeing abby grow
188. her new love for milk

Moving & Coloring

Ahhhh.... a sweet little blog hiatus. Sorry about that. We've been moving. 8 months prego with a toddler plus moving boxes doesn't make a for a pretty picture. Not. At. All. Whew. It was a long few days...and now that we're "in", we're so happy to be here! Abby started truly coloring before we moved.

Example here :



And today, when I left for literally three minutes, I returned to find this on our freshly painted kitchen cabinets.


It's our first "holy moly, what did you DO?" event. I'm sure with another little one coming (and therefore my eyes not able to always be on her) this is the first of many. Should I invest in that miracle eraser thing? And I just want to add.... there isn't one color going on here. There's five. Five. I know. She's creative.

And just in case you need the magic combo for erasing the damage -- it was baby wipes and rubbing alcohol, Problem solved.

180. wipes and alcohol (duh!)
181. a creative girl
182. a full size dishwasher
183. a self rimming sink in the kitchen
184. 80 degree days