My New Tent!

Abby got a play tent and tunnel for Christmas from Nana & Papa...she LOVES it, just as these pictures show!

Hmmmm....

Jackson and Abby have been playing together peacefully for about a half an hour now. They shared a yogurt all by themselves, have been going up and down the stairs, sharing Abby's new necklaces and running back and forth between the kitchen and living room. Matt and I have been sitting back and watching the action, hesitant to bud in. They just came running into the living room and Jackson says, "Come on Abby, do you want to go upstairs where they can't see us?" Hmmmmm....

Snow Day!

Yea! It's a snow day! Ok, well, not an official one. Jackson does attend a CPS school afterall. There needs to be 3 feet of snow and a windchill of 25 degrees below zero for CPS to call a snow day. But who cares? I'm the mom, and today, I decided it was a snow day! I didn't want to bundle up the kids and fight traffic, snow and slush just so Jackson could go to preschool for two and a half hours. So we decided to stay home and play!

So what do you do with an entire day when you just declared it a snow day? Well, you have a big waffle breakfast, and build an entire little people village. You then build a train track that encircles said village so the people can easily get from the carnival back home and then to the barn. You jump off of Jackson's bed into a pile of pillows. You play Dairy Queen and sandwich shop and break up several arguments about who should make sandwiches and who is in charge of the ice cream cones. You play naptime (yes, this is real game at our house!). If your name is Abigail Ann, you brush your teeth 6 different times. You chase the bad guy and then you become the bad guy and get chased. Then, after the bad guy game as incurred one too many injuries, you have a pizza picnic in the living room while watching Magic School Bus.
Hurrah for Snow Days!

Ringing in the New Year in Door County

We spent New Years in Door County with Nana and Papa, Aunt Katie and Uncle Mike, and Eli and Ephraim. Jackson said today on the long ride home that his favorite part was playing with Eli in the basement. They played Legos, chased monsters, watched movies, and even cuddled up in one bed together to sleep one night(so cute!). They had so much fun playing together, and despite some tattle-taling and a few meltdowns, the 5 days were near perfect. We ate, we rested, we played, we sled, and then we ate some more. Abby's new favorite word is cookie, after eating more than her share of Nana's Christmas cookies. She even named her new doll, "Cookie".

We rang in the new year with family friends and had an early celebration with the kids at about 9:30. I've never seen noise makers get such good use! After ringing in the new year a little early, the kids were sent off to bed so we could all party, uh, I mean fall asleep on the couch before midnight!


Jackson sporting his new train necklace, that he made all by himself.


Abby showing off her new tutu that Auntie Katie made. She loves it. When we took it off of her, she screamed and screamed.



Good-Bye 2009!

Hello 2010!

I had good intentions about writing a long post describing each and every wonderful moment of our Christmas, but time just got away from me. Here's a short recap: Jackson and Abby got way too many gifts, ate way too many cookies, and had way too little sleep! It was perfect!

On to 2010...

Christmas Highlights

All About Abby @ 20 Months

My baby is 20 months old! 20 months old, how could that be possible? Just yesterday Matt was racing to finish Jackson's big boy room so we would have room for the "new baby". Just yesterday my mom and Mary Ann danced in the hospital waiting room at the news of our new baby girl that was named after them. And wasn't it just yesterday, or maybe last week, when Dennis and Mary Ann brought Jackson to see his new baby sister in the hospital and he didn't want anything to do with me? (Oh, yeah, and then I cried for over an hour.) Didn't we just bring our Abigail Ann home from the hospital? No. No, we didn't. That was a full 20 months ago. You don't truly know the meaning of "time flies" until you have children!

So what is Abby up to at 20 months old?

1. She loves loves loves Santa! She runs around the house pointing at all the santa decorations yelling Santa! Santa! Santa! Of course, when we went to visit Santa, she refused to sit on his lap and cried hysterically when we tried to get her to just sit in front of him for a picture. Loves the idea of him, loves his picture and books, but not the actual guy. So, our Santa picture this year is Matt and I sitting in front of Santa with Jackson and Abby on our laps. (In a surprise turn from last year, Jackson also refused to sit on the big guy's lap!)

2. She is very particular about certain things. For example, tonight she was eating yogurt at dinner and when she spilled it on her shirt, she flipped out. We had to clean it off her shirt immediately. This happened over and over again. She also has a thing about apples on her plate. Don't even think about putting sliced apples on her plate. She will make sure they are removed immediately before she will eat. And it's not just food things...Every time she takes her socks off, she immediately sits down and inspects inbetween her toes, picking out any traces of lint she finds. If she can't quite get a piece, she insists on your help, immediately! She's funny!

3. Abby's elephant and pacifer have become increasingly important recently. We never never leave the house without either one of them. When she wants her pacifier, she will go over to Matt or me and pull at our pockets, assuming that is where her paci is. We are going to attempt to break her of the paci habit over Christmas break. We'll see!

4. She loves the bathroom, and everything about it. She will stand at the sink forever washing her hands, soaking herself and everything around her. She will sit and go through the bandaids, wanting you to put one on her finger, or hand, or foot. Then, just minutes later, insists that you take it off. But bandaids and handwashing have nothing on brushing her teeth. The girl loves to brush her teeth. She will use any toothbrush in the house, or every toothbrush in the house. She loves it. She does very little actually brushing, but sucks the water out of the brush, puts it back under the water and repeats. and repeats.....

5. Recently, Abby has warmed up to people other than Matt and me. On Thanksgiving, she went to both of my brothers and Sara too. She has realized that her Nana and Papa are a ton of fun and even went to spend the day with them a few weeks ago. She will go into the daycare at the Y and let me work out for an entire hour. She doesn't even cry when we leave her with a babysitter . She is still pretty apprehensive when new people come over to our house, but has really warmed up to the people that she sees on a regular basis.

6. She has discovered bookd! She will bring you book after book, sit on your lap looking at the pictures and listening intently one while you read it. Sometimes you might only get through 2 pages before she decides it is time for another one. A tall tall stack of books piles up next to us while she empties the bookshelves. It's pretty darn cute.

7. Weekly speech therapy begins in January, despite Abby's growing vocabulary. Dada, snow, santa, up, off, oatmeal, tree, ball, book, see....she has really been working on new words lately. We had a speech evaluation at the recommendation of her pediatrician, and she qualifies for speech therapy since she is about 30% delayed in speech for a 20 month old. We're not too concerned, but figured that the therapy can't hurt!

She's adorable, hilarious and a ton of fun! I can't imagine what we ever did without her.