Abba and Me

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-31T22:28:00.006-05:00

Christmas 2011

2011-12-30T00:06:00.001-05:00

My BEAUTIFUL 5 year old

2011-12-11T16:12:00.002-05:00

BD Girl

2011-11-14T22:14:00.024-05:00

Abby turned 5 November 13! She remembered last year and asked if there would be presents on the table when she woke up :) Of course there were :)

Sissy spent the night before her birthday with us and that made her birthday even more special!

Mommy's 5 year old!!!!

She was just thrilled to get roller skates :)

Sissy was happy to help her try them out.

And off they went :)

While Abby skated with Sissy Mommy made some birthday cake pancakes for breakfast.

My sweet birthday girl! Can't believe she is 5!

After lunch we had plans to go see the Chinese Acrobats that just happened to be in town. First Auntie L, Uncle Pete, Aunt Annetta and Cousin Josh came over to sing Happy Birthday and have cake.

Joshie made Abby a beautiful birthday picture :)

Making her wish :)

Auntie L and Sissy brought Abby the Moondough Snack Set she wanted!

Auntie L. also gave the Birthday girl 5 dollars.

Then we all minus Uncle Pete set off to see the acrobats.

My girl was so excited!

We even got a picture with an acrobat during the intermission.

Once we got home the birthday girl was all tuckered out.

After dinner and Jamies though and she was ready to play with her new Moondough.

On Monday Abby brought Birthday Big Cookies to school. She got to wear a birthday crown too :)

Happy Birthday # 5 my sweet Abba! Mommy loves you!

Referral anniversary day year # 4!

2011-11-05T22:04:00.000-04:00

4 years really? On November 5, 2007 I saw my beautiful Abba's face for the very first time. I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was amazing and one of many more amazing wonderful days to come thanks to the wonderful gift that China gave me. I am so lucky I get to be her Mommy. Life is just better with her here. She is everything that I hoped for and then some. I can't imagine life without her. Life is good and I will be forever thankful for the red threads that brought us together!

November 5, 2011

November 5, 2010

November 5. 2009

Unfortunately I did not take a picture for November 5, 2008 :(

Silly in the bath :))

2011-11-04T10:26:00.001-04:00

Cassie Love

2011-10-29T22:15:00.000-04:00

A glimpse of the future?

2011-10-21T00:06:00.000-04:00

Little Miss Abba talking on the phone to one of her most favorite people in the world. Her Meema :) Just a little glimpse of whats to come once she is older and on the phone with her friends!

Checking in :)

2011-10-12T21:56:00.012-04:00

Abby P is doing just wonderfully in her Kindergarten class. She jumped right in and acts as if she has always been there :) After the first week or so Mommy decided she likes it too. I am very impressed with all of the learning going on there. And not just in the Kindergarten class but I see it in the younger classes too. My little sponge is just soaking it all up! Here she is below in her extra small Tee shirt from Mommy's hospital and ready for the Heart Walk.

And a back view too :) We are growing out her hair including her bangs. So far so good. And back to Kindegarten. Abby has Gymnastics at Kindergarten on Mondays and Music on Fridays at Kindergarten. Plus they will soon start going to the Library on Thursdays where she will get her very own library card and get to check out her own library books each week. On top of that she is also back in Ballet again and goes Tuesday evenings after school. My girl has a busy week and is sleeping well at night (as is Mommy). The no nap day took some getting used to and she is still tired at night but making it through.

Abby did great on the heart walk although I'm sure it was a little rough on her riding in the stroller and all :) She also got her face painted and thought that was pretty cool!

Even slept with it on that night :)

After the Heart Walk we headed over to the Farmers Market / Fall Festival over at Yorktown Beach. We met cousin Josh there and good times were had rolling down the hills on what was once part of the Yorktown Battlefield.

Good times for sure :)

A nice beautiful fall day too. Now if it would just quit ping ponging up and down with the temps!

I had an extra set of clothes for her after the walk but she refused to change.

Blurry but cute!

I just can't believe my little Abba will be 5 next month! We are busy planning her Birthday Party:) She is excited about Halloween coming as well. She will be a Mermaid this year. Mommy spent way too much money on her costume but boy will she be cute!

Life is good :)

New School Days

2011-09-06T21:50:00.006-04:00

My Abba started a new school/ child care center today. It was a tough decision for Mommy, She had been at her prior child care center since she was around 19 or 20 months old. We loved it there and I felt really comfortable with her there. Unfortunately though per her late BD (November 13th) she missed the cut off for kindergarten this year. So if she had stayed at the prior child care center she would have had to repeat the pre K class. I was worried she might be Bored if she had to repeat. Plus almost all her buddies were leaving for Kindergarten this year anyway. So I found a child care center that offers half day morning Kindergarten. In the afternoon it changes to 5K straight child care. Abby and I checked it out and she has been excited to move there. Mommy on the other hand is having a much harder time with the change. It's just not what I'm a used too. She did have a good day but was exhausted when I picked her up. They don't nap in the Kindergarten class. She doesn't nap at home either but did at her old child care center. She knew she was tired and admitted she missed napping today. And overall I just don't have that good secure feeling yet about the new place. It's a good place so don't get me wrong. I also have several friends whose children attend and they have been very pleased with the program.... Anyhoo I will give it a chance. But I admit it. It's only the first day and I miss the other center :( I will give it a chance though. Time will tell if my gut is right or wrong.

Should add that I am SUPER proud of my girl who handled the change like a champ :) How I love her!!

Still here

2011-08-31T21:05:00.015-04:00

We made it through Irene. Thankfully she was not as bad as predicted for our area anyway. Not sure she was truly even a hurricane when she visited. It was windy and it was wet but the damage was really no more then what you would expect around here. Some trees down, some small signs. Lots of limbs and various debris, some local flooding but none for us and really no damage around my house :) We bugged out to my Mom's around 1 PM Saturday when the lights started to flicker pretty regularly. Mom has a generator so they were set. Cousin Josh and sis in law Annetta joined us there as well. Abby enjoyed the sleep over with her cousin. It wasn't even super Windy until around 9PMish. Even then still probably just tropical storm strength. The winds were loud though and enough too make you know that anything stronger would truly be scary. My heart go out to those who were not as lucky as we were....

Tried to get a shot of the tress blowing but didn't catch the affect.

Hurricane face painting :) (Mommy is by no means a professional)

Dinner picnic with cousin Josh at Meemas :)

Looking ugly

Mom and Hugh's Pier under water.

Sunday Am was beautiful! Abby and I went home to check on our house and the kitties around 11 AM. The house was fine. Per out neighbor the power had not gone out until 11PM Saturday night. And besides giving us the silent treatment and refusing to come out and greet us the kitties were fine too. Or neighbor had a generator and was kind enough to plug our fridge in to it so we didn't lose any food. The power came back on later that evening. And Abby and I headed back home.

The day after Irene. A beautiful Sunday morning.

Left over storm surge. Mainly pieces of the neighboring piers. Mom and Hughes thankfully held strong.

Pier boards were scattered up and down the river.

Hard to see but their neighbors lost their steps from the beech to the house.

Was thinking the thick heavy limbs had been blown onto the pier but actually it's more likely that they floated on to it. My parents were living in York County when hurricane Isabel struck 8 years ago. They were hit hard and had a lot of damage. Thankfully not the case this time around at their newer residence and sitting on much higher ground.

Goodness!

2011-08-25T22:09:00.006-04:00

Such a wild week so far. First we had this on Tuesday. Totally unheard of in our neck of the woods. I was working on the 4Th floor of my Hospital. Sitting in the doctors lounge at my computer with 2 of my other co worker buds. All of a sudden I felt really strange. It was like I was sitting in a hammock swinging and weightless at the same time. It intensified then settled then intensified again. Probably lasted 30 seconds tops and by the time it was over we were all in the hall with Pt's, visitors and various staff members asking WTH was that???? My first thought was a terrorist attack. But nope it was an earthquake? Really? A 5.9. It was my first quake experience and hopefully my last. I would say my knees shook for about 30 minutes after it was done. And little Miss? She slept through the whole thing. It was nap time at daycare :) We were lucky and had no damage locally. And now it's Friday and Irene is headed our way. I'm up and can't sleep. It won't be as bad as first thought. She has changed so many times. Looks like a weak category one will be felt around here. And most of the stronger effects won't be felt until tomorrow afternoon - evening. We are sure to lose power at some point so Abby and I will head to my Mom's later tomorrow.

And ending on a more positive note. I leave you with a picture of my sweet girl all dressed up for church :)

My little fish!

2011-08-14T14:53:00.011-04:00

I'm so proud of my Abba! She has come a long way with her swimming skills this summer. We spend a lot of time in Da and Meema's pool. One of her favorite places to be :)

Lifedog on duty :)

Had to end with another pretty sunset at Meema's.

Williamsburg and old BFF

2011-07-30T23:17:00.029-04:00

Mommy's old BFF from Junior High facebooked us to let us know she would be in town for a family reunion. We had not seen each other for at least 30 years! Their reunion was being held in Williamsburg, VA. Abby and I met my BFF and her family for dinner one evening. We were a little early so we walked around a bit and took some pictures in the historic area. I think this is a Bull maybe?

Abby wasn't sure but thought he looked a little silly.

Then we found some sheep.

We found this big old tree that looked like a monster. It was huge.

Sitting on the monster tree.

Monster feet.

Spooky!

Monster head.

After a quick wardrobe change we met Mommy's BFF and some of her family :)

Took this picture of the Moon on our way home. The picture doesn't show it but it was Giant.

Yes we have some tomato's

2011-07-26T22:27:00.015-04:00

Abby's Aunt Annetta gave us a little tomato plant to grow. It started out about 2 feet tall and then I thought I killed it. Once I re potted it it pepped up and grew and grew. Abby has been so excited as we waited and watched for our cherry tomato's to appear.

Our plant in early June.

Late June and finally some tomato's!

And now finally it's late July and we have red cherry tomato's! Abby was so excited and couldn't wait to pick them. She really doesn't like tomato's but so wants too :)

Our poor tomato plant. All of these upper 90's days we have been having with no rain and the occasional thunderstorm have really taken their toll. We water faithfully each day but our poor tomato plant is turning yellow :(

We brought our little crop in and washed them. Abby wanted to like them so badly that she even tasted one. I should have taken a picture of the taste. Unfortunately it was a no go but I was proud of her for trying. Next year we will definitely plant a little garden :)

Dress up Girl!

2011-07-19T21:47:00.018-04:00

Abby loves to dress up and gave me a fashion show the other day :) First up was Miss Kitty

Then Miss Lady Bug

Next was Her Royal Highness Princess Abby of China

This Princess can twirl :)

Princess Abby # 2 because a Princess can never have too many royal dresses :

Working her twirl :)

And then she was a Fairy :)

Testing those Fairy wings!

Not sure what she was here :)

And the fashion show is over :(

4 and 3 quarters :)

2011-07-12T21:44:00.003-04:00

Gosh it has been a long time! Miss A is growing and growing and anxiously waiting to turn 5. That's when she is sure her baby teeth will start to fall out so the tooth fairy can come :) She is having a busy summer having just spent a week with the whole family celebrating her Grand-fathers 70Th BD at Bald Head Island NC last month. More recently we were fortunate to spend 4Th of July week with her China Sister Abby 2. She and her Mommy drove over from Kentucky for a mini reunion. A grand time was had by all with lasting treasured memories. Abby's day care Pre K class transitioned to "summer camp" for the summer months. She is enjoying 3 to 4 field trips weekly and especially likes riding the school bus on these field trips. The pictures above of my brown as a berry daughter are from last month. And yes I promise she gets lots of sunblock everyday despite her tan. Mommy is doing okay and enjoying trying to keep up with her daughter. We had to say good bye to our blue 2000 beetle bug last month and are now the proud owners of a (new to us) 2008 Honda accord. Mommy is also starting a wellness campaign in hopes of finally losing all of the extra poundage Mommyhood has added over the last 3 or so years. Hope anyone still reading is doing well and having a great summer!

Tattoo Girl :)

2011-05-17T21:54:00.005-04:00

I personally don't care for the toy fake tattoos. I'm good for accidentally washing them off in the tub much to my Abba's dismay :) She picked up these dazzlers from a machine at Pizza Hut :) She wanted all of them on at once too. The better to use them up in my book I say :)
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Mothers Day 2011

2011-05-10T20:58:00.030-04:00

The bag on the right held breakfast on the go. Abby's school had a table set up and your child packed a bag they had decorated for their Moms to bring to work with them :)

Mothers Day was pretty low key this year. My Mom was out of town so we had family celebration plans on tap for another day. Uncle Pete and family were to meet us at the little beach about 7 minutes from our house but they stood us up. Abba and I ended up having a great time just the two of us :) It was a pretty day. Around 66 but just right with a jacket. We picnicked in style eating Hardees fresh from the drive through we hit on the way. We both had cheeseburgers per Abby's request. We played in the sand and made sand castles. We fed a seagull french fries. Took a walk on the fishing pier and took pictures of the two of us. It was perfect and Abby has told me several times since how much she enjoyed our fun at the beach. We will be doing this a lot this summer :) So below some pictures of our day.

Happy Mothers Day!

Easter Fun

2011-05-01T13:57:00.034-04:00

Abby had a great Easter this year. Sissy and JP came over and helped dye some Easter eggs. Mommy really liked that :)

Oh the concentration :)

So much fun!

Cousin Josh :)

We love cousin Erin! Thank you Sissy :)

The Easter Bunny Came. He was quite generous this year. Someone must have told him how tight things have been around here lately :) Or maybe it's the bigger basket with more room :). Her old Easter basket got broken this year :(

Mommy didn't get very good Easter Morning pictures this year.

Yep she spotted an Easter egg the E Bunny hid for her :) That sneaky bunny hid eggs all over the den :O (Excuse the hair. We are growing it out)

Good stuff :)

After a family lunch we headed over to Auntie Laurie's for another Easter Egg hunt. Course Mommy waited to take Abby's picture in her Easter Best at the end of the day. After she was good and rumpled.

Easter Baskets from Auntie L.

I can't believe she will be 4 and a half on May 13th!

It was pretty toasty Easter Day. 90!

Looking for eggs!

Abby and Sissy

Abby and Cousin Christopher

Abba and Pete the dog :)

Meema and Da with the Grand Kids minus the Atlanta crew :( We missed them!

Happy Easter!!

Very Thankful............

2011-04-21T21:16:00.012-04:00

They are calling it the Historic April 16th Storms. Big storms with tornado's caused catastrophic damage to multiple states. They had been saying for several days there were severe storms headed our way for Saturday April 16th. Mom and I even discussed the safest place for Abby and I to go in our new home should the need arise. Of course the "It will never happen here" attitude was present during this discussion (on my part anyway). These storms were due to hit late in the afternoon and boy did they. Our county (Gloucester) was hit by a EF-3 tornado around 7:00 PMish that night. Abby and I were at my brothers around 630 PM when the severe thunderstorm warning sounded on the TV. My brother and sister-n-law had been listening to multiple severe Tstorm and tornado warnings for the last hour or so. None had been in our immediate area but as my brother said they were all around us. Then at 645 PM A Tornado warning for Gloucester was issued. We continued to watch the TV as our local news weather people were doing a continuous live broadcast on the severe weather in our area and the rapidly changing conditions. My sister-n-law and I went out on the back deck to search the sky. It was windy and stormy with lots of lightning. The clouds were really freaky stretching out and down like fingers but we didn't see any funnels. So what did we do? Take cover? Nope we continued to watch the news. At 700PM we lost power. Still we sat talking while taking turns checking the sky. The warning was due to epire at 730PM. We had lots of rain/ wind and lightning but no tornado's. After 730 things lightened up a bit and we figured we were in the clear. Then my brothers cell phone rang. It was his neighbor calling to tell him a tornado had just hit down the road and it was bad. Power was out in all of Gloucester for the rest of the evening so we had no idea how bad and how close it had been. Below shows the tornado's path through our county. A direct hit about 10 miles down the road from where we were at my brothers and about 15 minutes away from my house... We were lucky and I keep thinking and wondering if the people it got were like us. Just sitting and not taking cover. It will never happen here..

We stayed at my Moms that night as they had a generator. The next morning I learned it had been very bad. 3 people were killed and a lot of people were hurt. A middle school had been partially gutted with the roof torn away.

Debris field next to the school.

Homes were badly damaged. Some people lost everything...

It's amazing how a Tornado picks and chooses. We and all of our family are fine. None of us had any damage. I am so thankful. My heart and prayers go out to those in our community that were not as lucky. (posted pictures taken from the Wav*y TV 10 news web page and also from google)

Spring at last :)

2011-04-18T21:38:00.009-04:00

Finally some consistent warm weather. We have put away and gotten back out our winter coats several times so far. Looks like we are finally in the clear. We have had some 70 plus days and on this particular night we were home earlier after work and Abba had some play time before dinner. (Excuse the swing set that is in dire need of a makeover). I promise the camera shot angle makes this one above look a little scarier then it really was :)

Still trying to figure out the art of action sites on my Nikon. Yep blurry :)

We ate dinner outside after that. Abby thought this was a fabulous idea. It was fun until the flying beetles (I hate them!) chased us inside. We will do that again but need a bug light or something first. Nothing worse then a beetle tangled in your hair :(

After dinner we had an impromptu photo shoot :)

Loving life with my sweet one :) And feeling very thankful in many ways.

Random (mostly blurry) photos.

2011-04-10T08:49:00.014-04:00

She loves to dress up :) High up the bouncy house. Still loves her leapster :)

At the living museum with cousin Josh and buddy Devin.

Pretty girl wore her coat in China. I think this will be the last year she will be able to wear it and that makes me sad :(

My ABBA :)

Using up all of our expensive printer ink ;(

A girl of many talents :)

Sporting her green for ST Patricks day :)

Cassie loves to sleep with my girl :)

Remembering our sweet baby Emma Rose on what would have been her second birthday.

Still sleeping in Mommas bed :)

My Hula girl!

2011-04-06T21:29:00.022-04:00

Wow just can't seem to stay with this but am back to try again. My laptop died a while back and I lost all of my pictures that I have taken of Abby since we got back from China. Thankfully the China pictures were saved to a disk but I'm pretty sad about the loss of the others... So I went back to the beginning of my blog and copied and saved all the pictures from there. There are a lot and up until the last 6 months of last year I had done a fairly good job of documenting my girls experiences :) Between this blog and my face book pictures most of the pictures will be preserved for our memories. I need to get back to it as the scrap booking I planned to do will likely never happen. I do plan to print each year out in book form at some point :) So where are we now? Busy surviving and living life :) Nothing real exciting lately. We have been in our house a little over a year. I love the house, the neighborhood, we have the best neighbors and lots of kids that Abby has been getting to know now that the long winter is slowly easing up. Unfortunately financially things have been rough. So far we are hanging in there but we are the definition of house poor right now. It stinks but all the pluses for Abby here are wonderful and she is thriving. So that's all I have to say about that... Abby's teacher told me she thinks Abby is kindergarten ready now. She has only been in the Pre K class since January. They said she has mastered the social and learning that she needs. I am just amazed at how bright she is. She loves to learn and just soaks everything up lately. Unfortunately in our state you have to be 5 by September 1st to start Kindergarten. Abby wont be 5 until November 13. So she will repeat Pre K. Her teachers said they mix it up differently each year so she should be okay. They did point out though that most of the kids that she is developmentally caught up with right now will start Kindergarten in the fall. They hope she wont be bored. .... I feel guilty but I can't afford to pay for a private Kindergarten so..... hopefully it all works out in the end. We are excited because Abby's China sister and her Mama are coming to visit and stay with us this July! We can't wait to see them again and have the two Abby's together again. As for me just work, sleep and Abby/ house hold responsibility's right now. I really need to work on some me time... So am figuring out how to make that happen too. The no money thing has been pretty depressing and the pounds have piled on. I need to get back in shape for my girl so I can keep up with her. The couch to 5K is now loaded on my IPOD and I hope to start this weekend. Finally! China OPEN again to singles??? yes there are restrictions and I have said all a long that I am done unless Mr Right comes along. Lets not even talk about the financial aspect... That said though and how come my heart skipped and leaped when I found out? I have been feeling drawn to adopt again just not sure how. China says the youngest child at home has to be 6 so that gives me a couple years to see what happens. I would love for Abby to have a sibling so I have been checking out the special needs lists lately. Hey a girl can dream right :) And now I give you my Abba working her hula hoop. She has her own style :) She looks so much older and taller in these shots :( The top is actually a 2T dress and the Capri's are 3T.) Also ignore the bad haircut. We are growing out the bad bang job Mommy gave her hence the extra long pieces here and there (We usually keep them pinned up to the side). Oh and she is sporting stickers on her dimples :)

PJ encore :)

Birthday Part Recap (December 2010)

2011-03-12T20:51:00.014-05:00

Abby and her BFF Mackenzie had a joint birthday party. They both turned 4 within weeks of each other. We had their party at the Virginia Living Museum. They share the same daycare class and we invited the whole class. Unfortunately that essentially filled the slots allotted to us for the party. So if your reading this and a friend of ours we wish we didn't have to leave you out :( The girls had a blast at their party. The party package included lite decorations, a room for an hour and an animal show of 2 animals (the girls picked a rabbit and a screech owl). After the hour the guests had unlimited access to the museum. All in all a super deal and well worth it :)

The BD girls!

Pizza

Cupcakes

Yummy!

Presents (everyone was very generous and the girls received and loved their wonderful gifts).

Time for the animals! All of the animals at the museum have some sort of injury that results in their inability to survive in the wild.

Exploring the museum

A very tired BD girl :)

Conversations with Abby

2011-03-10T11:15:00.002-05:00

So while riding in the car this morning on the way to work :

"Mommy boys marry girls." Abby
"That's right." Me
"But Mommy boys don't marry boys." Abby
"Nope." Me
"Well I'm going to marry Cameron (a classmate). " Abby
"I see." Me
So I'm thinking she is probably wondering why I'm not married. I figured I might as well throw it out there.
"Well Abby some people don't get married because they can't find anybody to marry." "That's why Mommy isn't married." Me
"Well Mommy you could marry Da (Grandpa)?" Abby
So I then explain to her that Da is already married to Meema.
"Well Mommy are there boys at your work?" Abby
"Yes there are." Me
" Well then you can marry one of them." Abby
Me Laughing (If it were only that easy....)
"Well I haven't given up yet." "Some people don't get married until they are older." Me
"Oh" Abby
And then she moved on to the next thing :)

I expected the Daddy question but really did not expect the Husband question. That's my girl though. Looking out for Mommy :) And no I haven't given up but Mr Right will have to be someone SUPER FABULOUS because my Abba deserves the BEST!

Backtracking to 4

2011-03-08T21:43:00.026-05:00

This little blog certainly fell to the ways side the last part of 2010. Thought I would go back and document some of the moments that should have been blogged about. Starting with Saturday November 13 2010. The day Abba turned 4 :) Her extended family party was planned for the following week since Meema and Da were out of town. Her BD party with her friends wasn't to happen until early December (we had a joint party with her best friend also turning 4). So I decided we would have a BD breakfast just the two of us. On the menu were chocolate doughnuts (her favorite) and powdered (for Mommy). She also had her first taste of hot chocolate :) This was what was waiting for her when she woke up that morning.
My BD girl :)

Pretty BD princess :)

Opening her presents from Mommy :)

What she wanted most of all.............

A Disney princess magic rise oven! She played with it all day so definitely a hit :)

I'm 4!!!

First hot chocolate was YUMMY :)

Modeling her new dress up dress and YES Mommy went a little over board :)

That night Auntie L and Sissy came over for cake. No pictures of them though :( Here she is blowing out her candles.

On Sunday night she made her gift bags for her class party. We made cupcakes with lots of sprinkles :) Evidently I neglected to take any pictures of them though :(

My tired Four year old! How I love her!! I love how she lines up all of her buddies :) And yes that would be my bed :) Getting just a little bit crowded but I wouldn't have it any other way :)

Abby Now

2011-02-22T21:09:00.005-05:00

Thought I would share 2 videos of My Abba live. These were taken in November with the third taken on the eve of her 4th Birthday. These really show her as she is now :) Okay had to re edit. The second video was posted on accident but still cute. She was so tired and had a cold :)

Abby and Josh

2011-02-19T23:14:00.011-05:00

I love how things just work out. Abby could have easily been the only little cousin in our family. Luckily for us Cousin Jushua (AKA Joshie) joined the family just a few months after Abby got home from China. These two are about 18 months or so apart and truly just like "peas n carrots" :) I love that they will grow up together and they have plenty of Awesome older cousins that will look out for them :=O

I love them both :)

MY funny Valentine

2011-02-15T20:26:00.018-05:00

Miss A was pretty excited about Valentines day. On Sunday we made a pink Valentines day cake :)

While it baked she worked on her Valentines for school.

After the cake cooled it was time for frosting and Valentine sprinkles :)

Yumm :=Q

So proud of her creation! (and really sporting some serious bed head) :O

Modeling her Valentines day attire.

This was after school. If you look closely she is sporting a red Hawaiian punch mustache :-O

Showing off her loot from her school party! I totally don't remember getting so much candy when I was a kid?

Sorting her loot and opening Mommy's Valentine bag :)

I think she likes her Tinkerbell flashlight :O

Time for some Valentine HUGS!

Silly girl!

How I love my funny Valentine!

School Valentine for Mommy (evidently she was not in a smiling mood :( And another Valentine for Mommy made at home :)

Glasses girl

2011-02-12T13:12:00.006-05:00

Abby put on my reading glasses the other day. Doesn't she look cute? They really look better on her then on Mommy:)

She has taken over:)

2011-02-10T21:27:00.009-05:00

She is most definitely not technically challenged :)

Happy New Year

2011-02-07T22:19:00.032-05:00

And so it's been a while again. I really want to be a better blogger this year. I feel like I lost most of the last 6 months of 2010 as far as documenting goes. Abby is doing great. Growing like a weed and amazing me daily with all the things she has learned or does. I need to do a 411 post :) so I don't forget it all. below some shots of our house all decorated for CNY. We don't have much but all of what we have (minus the red garland) was purchased while in China. I plan to get more decorations from China Sprout in the future. They have some beautiful things.

Sporting her China duds for CNY at school :)

CNY presents from Mommy after school.

red envelopes with chocolate coins inside and old Chinese coins.

They were told to bring a rabbit to school for year of the rabit. They made lanterns and marched in a parade :)

Eating long noodles for good luck :)

The week before she went to a local CNY celebration with Meema. Mommy had to work but we are hoping to see some pictures soon HINT HINT Meema.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!!!

Didn't get it Lindsay

2011-02-02T21:36:00.001-05:00

Can you send it again? jennyl3 @cox.net

Message for Lindsay Mom to Hannah and Sofia

2011-01-30T20:40:00.003-05:00

Hi, Can't get your email link to work and I lost the link to your blog. Can you please email me the link to jennyl3@cox.net? Would love to see how you all are doing!

Holiday Pictures November 2010

2010-12-06T01:09:00.001-05:00

Fall Fun

2010-11-22T23:24:00.012-05:00

I love Fall and Winter. My two favorite seasons :) Below are two of the reasons I love having a house. Abby's first experience jumping in the leaves. Forgive the picture quality. Took these with my Camera phone.

Love the tongue sticking out :)

Blurry but I love this one :)

Being silly on the swings.

Joy just beams from her :)

Loving 4!

2010-11-21T23:04:00.003-05:00

So I have had a four year old for a little over a week and I am loving it :) I swear she is four going on 14 though. On her birthday she was so cute. We were at the store and she would say."Do you think everyone knows that I am four today?" I would say no unless you tell them :) Her response, "You tell them!" She also wanted me to sing to her over and over :} The Monday after her birthday as we were getting in the car she asked me if I thought she would still fit in her car seat because, "You know Mom! I'm four now!" She has always been a talker but boy now she is even more chatty and if she isn't talking then she is singing :) She is taking ballet and loving it. She also loves to pretend to be an acrobat. This girl has abundant energy for sure! She is set to move up to the four year old class in January. She is more then ready. She wakes spouting letters. She loves to write and can name most all of the alphabet by sight. I got her a sight word learning DVD and she loves it. And if she isn't trying to write then she is coloring or crafting. My girl can craft for hours if you let her. Her imaginary brother is also still alive and well :) She has such an imagination too. She makes up story's and scenarios and always wants us to act them out. She can be quite dramatic at times. I see acting in her future I think. She is also quite opinionated. I love that about her and I love that she feels secure enough to stand her ground. And yes she can be frustrating too at times. When she is mad everyone knows it. Thankfully she does usually apologise on her own eventually. I could gush on but it's late. I have lots of pictures to share but unfortunately my hard drive crashed and I have a borrowed computer for now {Thank you Sissy!}. Praying the IT guys can save my pictures since I never backed them up... I did save my China photos to disks thankfully. Fingers crossed they save the rest for me!

And were back

2010-11-10T20:55:00.007-05:00

Hi! Anyone still out there? Looks like about 3 months or so since my last post. Didn't mean to be gone so long. Seems like the longer away the harder it is to come back. We are fine though. Just busy living life these days :) Time seems to be moving at warped speed. We love our new house but owning a home sure adds to your chore list. It's unbelievable but my Abba will be turning 4 this Saturday the 13th!!! My baby is growing up way to fast. She continues to amaze me each and everyday :) November 5th marked our 3rd referral anniversary. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. Go here and here for a recap :) Such an incredible day that was! So I give you my Abba in all her glory :) How far she has come since that referral picture.

Catch up posts coming soon :)

Special dress

2010-08-22T01:00:00.000-04:00

Abby posing in her special dress handmade by cousin Wendy. We love it but we love cousin Wendy even more :) Thank you XOXO

How I LOVE that smile!!!

Dinosaurs and more

2010-08-21T12:12:00.000-04:00

We joined the Virginia Living Museum again this year and Abby loves it! Mommy loves that a good chunk of it is air conditioned. Currently they have a dinosaur exhibit for the summer. Here was our first visit earlier this summer. A little intimidating. They were pretty big and kind of loud. She wasn't sure what to think at first.

Curiosity won out though.

And she decided they were pretty cool.

Until we found some that had BIG teeth.

Then not so much.

Cave women on the loose.

Once we finished with the dinosaurs we moved on to the aquarium and Mommy's favorite the starfish.

Such cute and graceful little guys.

Being eye to eye with a turtle is pretty funny stuff!

I think they liked her.

Bummer. Her eyes were closed.

Much better.

Oyster shell path.

A makeup less Mommy and Abby with a big scratch (self inflicted) on her nose.

Pool time

2010-08-20T01:05:00.013-04:00

It has been so blasted hot this summer. Way above average most of the days. The heat leaves doing anything for a considerable length of time outside impossible unless it involves water. Thankfully Meema and Da had their newly remodeled back yard up and running. Most importantly with a pool perfect for cooling off and fun fountain spouts in each corner. On this particular evening we had Atlanta family and Syracuse family in town making for some extra special fun :) Beautiful sunset on the York river.

Killy enjoys the pool just as much as the rest of the family :)

Handsome Joshua

My Abba

Loves the fountain spouts :)

Night Night :)

And she SWIMS!!!

2010-08-14T23:41:00.009-04:00

Someone is now swimming! I'm so proud of Abby that I could bust :) We had a play date about a week ago with 2 little girls that Abby likes and looks up to. They are both pretty proficient in the water. The day after the play date Abby started jumping off the side and going under willingly. The day after that she was swimming with her face in the water. All this with her life jacket still on but still a huge step for her. Today she had her swimming lesson with instructor Miss Betty. And today she started doing even more this time WITHOUT her life jacket!!! GO Abby :)

She is really swimming and not touching the step at all :)

My HAPPY little girl!

2010-08-10T23:33:00.018-04:00

Brownies

2010-08-05T10:02:00.000-04:00

Random Summer pictures

2010-07-30T10:05:00.001-04:00

Not a happy camper :(

Definitely not !

Summer Picnic with Cousin Josh on her swing set moved to our yard from Meema's.

Always coloring :)

Bath time at Meema's with cousin's Sissy and Josh.

Mommy and her girl :)

So silly :)Trying out Cousin Josh's scooter.

Trying out Da's ride.

I see trouble in the future Da :)

Playing in the sprinkler :)

Worken the Boa!

Oh yeah :)

Places to go :)

Loving on Porsha P.

Artist in the making :)

Oh so limber!

Yep!

Showing off :)

Future Gymnast?

Ballerina girl

2010-07-29T11:24:00.000-04:00

Some nights Abby likes to pick out her own PJ's and surprise me. On this particular evening Mommy was treated to a surprise ballet ballerina show too :) She will be taking ballet and tap this fall. I can't wait!

Summer Showers

2010-07-28T00:12:00.014-04:00

Still Alive and Well

2010-07-20T22:35:00.025-04:00

Abby and I are doing well. Can't believe she will be 4 in November. Where does the time go??? Been meaning to do an update for a while but you know how that goes. Soooo some quick bullets and a lot of pictures :)

***Our heat wave of a summer continues. For at least the last 4 weeks it has been 93 or above More than it hasn't. And often it's the upper 90's or 100! Makes it pretty miserable unless your in the pool,

*** Swimming lessons continue for my little bean. Progress is oh so slow but we actually has a break through last week when little Miss swam about 3 inches without her life jacket. Still working on getting her face in the water willingly though.

***Her 4 brothers and 1 sister (baby) are all still living with us and per her doing well :) 1 brother goes to school with her every day and seems to be disrupting nap time. Brother evidently chooses to ignore the no talking during nap time rule and keeps getting Abby in trouble :)

***Abby still wears a pull up at night. Should I be concerned? Although she has been dry the last 3 nights. I'm sure I just jinxed myself.

***We have passes to Busch Gardens but have yet to go because it has been so blazing hot! If anyone one wants to go some late afternoon let us know :)

***New house is coming along. So much to do and so little time. A lot of outdoor chores that just can't be done right now because of the heat. I am so ready for fall!!!

***Looks like no vacations this summer for us either. Mommy is broke. New house has about exhausted all of my savings. Hoping that money tree pops up in my back yard soon!

***Work is Work.... And that's all I have to say about that.

***We haven't seen any of our FCC buddies this summer. Miss you guys :(

***We have been fortunate to have lots of OOT family visit this summer.Abby has enjoyed spending time with them :)

***Really hating working 5 days a week :( Where is my Prince anyway?????

***One of my cats has decided to boycott the litter box. Evidently cat poop does not belong there? Only Cat Pee. Whats up with that? It could be worse though if she was peeing on my carpet.

***I introduced Abby to Slurpee's this summer. She loves them and thinks she needs one every time we pass a 7*11 ( AKA The Slurpee Store).

***Abby is really recognizing a lot of her letters these days ad points them out during our drive to and from school each day :)

***Abby has been fighting her baths lately. Not fun! Fine once she is in but it takes a long time to convince her she needs to take one. (she never used to mind) Hoping this phase passes quickly.

***Anyone worried about 12/22//2012? Just wondering.... Contemplating asking off for that day.

***Abby needs a dentist appointment. (her first) Dreading it.

***What a riot she is. The things she comes up with :) Course I can't think of any right now.

***Really hoping RQ's latest predictions pan out for all of you still waiting!

Happy Birthday America

We celebrated like we do each year at my sister in laws parents home on the river. The fireworks come from right across the other side :) Below - boats a gathering for the show.

Abby and cousin Josh

She would have jumped the whole time if I had let her :)

Jumping Joy :)

Cousins waiting for the show to start. Back row Erin (Sissy) and Josh (JP) Front row Jack, Abby, Virginia and Zachary.

Sweaty Mommy

Sweet shot! Zachary, Abby and Jack :)

Then back to Meema's for sparklers.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

RIP Fishie

2010-06-10T23:23:00.000-04:00

Abby's Betta fish passed away last night. He had been with us about 6 months and we really enjoyed the little guy. She took the news well when I told her this morning. I had a feeling he was on his way out this past weak since he had been acting funny so I had been paving the way. She wanted to know who had taken fishie to heaven so I told her the angels. She didn't ask for another one yet either. There are (sadly) plenty more to save so we will see.

Water Baby

2010-06-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

So this picture was actually supposed to be at the end of the post but I accidentally deleted it and had to re post it out of order.

Abby and her Da.

Concentrating :D

There she goes!

Hanging with Auntie L on her first boat ride pm Uncle Hughie and Aunt Elizabeth's boat.

Sleepy girl :)

So small and totally out!

Abby's Meema and Da put in a pool this past winter and Abby has essentially been in heaven. She was a little timid at first but once she figured out she wouldn't sink in her life jacket she became fairly confident and started swimming the length of the pool on her own. I on the other hand have been pretty nervous. Meema and Da don't have a pool alarm yet. It has been ordered I'm told. I have been afraid to leave Abby there without me then decided she would just have to wear a life jacket all of the time when ever I wasn't there. Okay a little extreme so have settled for when she is out by the pool or on the dock WITH EMPHASIS that she must never go out there without a grown up. We chant the rules every day. Often per her request. She will start, " Now Mommy tell me the rules for Meema's." Then starts with, "What do we always have to do?" Then waits for me to say Never go outside without a grown up and always wear your life jacket Then she adds and a bathing suit. Plus we have also added no running. She seemed to have a healthy respect for the pool and knew her limits. Meema arranged for a swiming instructor to come over and give the Grand kids swimming lessons too. Last Saturday was the first one. Abby and I were outside talking with my step sister. The instructor was due any minute. I took of her dress while talking to my stepsister. Did not put the life jacket on her per the lesson due to start any minute. I was 2 feet from the steps and while talking I look down and see that Abby had very quietly and quickly decided to go down the 4 steps on her own! She was facing us ant the water level was just over her eyes! She was bobbing a little and than sunk right in front of me.! Holy S#$T. I jumped in fully clothed and got her. She was quiet while I pounded on her back. She didn't seem to have swallowed much if any water but boy did she finally let out a scream. It's true it just takes a minute and though my step sister swears it was less than 30 seconds for the whole event to transpire it seemed like forever to me. She is fine but the episode while giving her a healthy dose of much needed fear and respect for the pool also kind of hurt the first swimming lesson. I had to go in with her and she cried and didn't participate much. After the lesson was over though she settled down and again became fairly comfortable in the pool as long as she had on her life jacket. Meema scheduled 3 extra lessons this week in addition to this Saturdays lesson. Monday and Tuesdays lessons were still rough although she did better on Tuesday. Time will tell. Also what I feared the most happened on my watch! Not my most proud parenting moment. Lesson learned too. I will never take my eyes off of her again. And now some swimming pictures ending with her first boat ride. Actually her second boat ride but she doesn't remember her first since it was so long ago so I'm calling it her first. She was pretty nervous but settled down and took a little nap.

Imaginary Friends

2010-06-01T23:32:00.002-04:00

So tonight Abby comes up to me and says, "Mommy is this my home?" Of course it is I tell her. (Abby)"But he keeps telling me it's not."(Me)"Who is he?" (Abby)"Brudur." (Me) "Who is Brodur?" (Abby)"My friend Brudur." So she has an imaginary friend :) A few minutes later and she comes back again, "Mommy. He is still saying it." (Me) "Well you tell Brudur he is wrong and this is your home."Than I asked her what Brudur looks like?"(Abby) No answer. (Me)"How big is he?" Based on the measurements Abby indicates with her hands brudur is about 6 inches tall. As the conversation progresses I learn that Brudur also has 3 brudurs (brothers). 1 brother is 3 feet tall (again based on her hand measurements) but the other two are small like Brudur and they all sleep in the bed with us :) Later I catch her talking to herself at the table while coloring. When I ask her she tells me she is talking to her brudurs. And later while taking a shower she yells, "Hey Mom? Can you call my brudurs in for me?" Such an imagination :)

She is my Sunshine :)

2010-05-20T13:05:00.006-04:00

My new back yard! JUST KIDDING :) Mothers day at my Mom's.

Still Here!

2010-05-06T22:54:00.032-04:00

I just can't seem to give this blog the time I used to. Even my laptop has been used far less since we moved. Being a home owner makes for a lot more chores in comparison to condo living. Our new digs are coming along slowly. So much to be done! This house was pretty neglected. Thankfully my Dad was up for a week and tackled some of my to do list :) Abby had a great time with her Grand-dad and was really sorry to see him go. We still have a lot to do and right now I am living for weekends that we have nothing to do but hang out at home all weekend. They go by so darn fast that I feel like I can never get anything accomplished.

We have settled in nicely though. I couldn't ask for better neighbors! The neighborhood is great. Lot's of kids. We really haven't met anyone out side of our cul da sac yet but everyone waves when we drive by. We will start taking some walks soon ad hopefully meet some new friends for Abby :) Here are a smattering of pictures over the last several weeks. First up planting flower seeds. Ignore my nasty driveway. A weed kill was in progress and I have more gravel coming for the driveway.

We took a little road trip to Syracuse NY for my Grand-mothers memorial service. 12 hrs long and the longest little one has ever been in the car. She did great though. Bringing her own little potty was the best thing I could have done :)

Playing lacrosse with cousin Josh.

Meeting new cousins in NY :) Abby and cousin Gracie.

Posing in Cousin Wendy's yard with all the pretty flowers.

Posing with cousins Josh and Ben. You can see she was quite thrilled during this Kodak moment.

More cousin fun :) Abby loves to talk about her cousins in NY and misses them a lot.

Back at home reading to her stuffed animals.

Reading books with Grandad.

Meema and Da moved the swing set over to our back yard from theirs. It need some spiffing up but little miss is thrilled to have her own swings (despite this non smiling photo)

Sprinkler fun. We have has some scorchers lately.

Ist school production

2010-04-18T11:10:00.012-04:00

In celebration of week of he child Abby's school had a little program. It included 2 poems and 2 songs :) I was able to sneak away from work long enough to see the show. It was too cute! Below Abby in her class waiting to put on their costumes.

My sweet little flower :)

Lining up.

Studying the crowd.

Mary Mary quite contrary. How does your garden grow?

All done :)

Sweet girl

2010-04-15T22:40:00.010-04:00

Wahoo! Just finished my taxes. Yep I'm a last minute kind of gal. We are loving spring time. And little girl especially loves her back yard. It needs some work big time! I would say it is about 98% weeds and 2% grass. The fence needs to be expanded and totally changed out for that matter. We have a pretty view with horses all hidden by that tall fence. Trying to decide if I want to part with my tax return and get the new fence done with. Anyhow today was especially nice after work. I gave Abby a bucket of water and a paint bush and let her go to town. (had seen this cool idea on other blogs). She thought it was great fun too :)

Serious catch up pictures and posts coming soon. Thanks for everyone still following :)

Howdy

2010-04-04T21:30:00.006-04:00

Wow! Unintentional bloggy break. Abby and I have been busy. We are all moved in and loving our new house. I'm totally broke but it's worth it because we really like it here. Abby loves her new house. We still have boxes here and there and pictures leaning here and there so no real pictures yet. My parents had the main rooms painted and replaced all of the carpeting for us as a gift before we moved in. All I have left to paint are the two Bathrooms and the laundry room. There are plenty more things to do as well. Our yard is a disaster but my Dad will be here soon to help shape it up for us. Boy does it need it. Have to say it is super hard to unpack and settle with a three year old assisting but we are getting there ever so slowly; Little Miss has been quite sassy since we moved in and having some serious tantrums. I'm sure some of it is the move but I was worried it might be attachment related as well. Thank goodness for the Rumor Queen forum. I put a post there and found out it seems to be mostly just age related. Yikes she can throw a fit. We were averaging about one an evening since we moved. Over little things like no pop sickle before dinner or being told she couldn't do something. Thankfully after about a month of these she seems to have settled. (Knock on wood) She has been tantrum free (of the big ones anyway) for the last four days. Will catch up and update more soon. Here are a few pictures of my growing fast little girl :)

Happy CNY Year of the Tiger!

2010-02-15T20:15:00.017-05:00

We didn't go to our usual Chinese New Year celebration this year because our host had other plans. We did go to a smaller gathering though this past Saturday thanks to a last minute invite :) It was a small group. Just 3 other families. These families are all from the same agency (not mine) so they get together every year. The Mom that organised it works at my hospital. She brought crafts and party favors including noise makers to ring in the Year of the Tiger loudly. Abby was the youngest little girl there. She had a good time being one of the girls and enjoyed the extra attention as the older girls doted on her :) Really not in the mood to pose Mom!

Unless of course it's with my Da :)

Making crafts with the girls. They decorated fans and made fancy dragons on a stick.

Taking a quick desert break :)

Good Times :)

I loved watching her with the older girls :)

Sunday getting ready to open her CNY gift from Mommy :)

She got a musical ensemble packed in a drum along with a red envelope containing money and some chocolate gold coins and some candy. Happy CNY my sweet Abba! Mommy loves YOU :)

And more SNOW!

2010-02-11T23:52:00.005-05:00

Crazy weather. Tuesday morning they were calling for a few flurry's. Just as Abby and I were leaving to head to work and school it started snowing. It was really windy as well. We took a little video before we left. ( In it you will see some of the snow left over from last weekends storm) As we drove to work/ school the snow became heavy and the winds really picked up. We were driving in literally whiteout conditions. It was really bazaar. We got about an inch before it stopped a few hrs later but the winds kept on. By the time we got back to My Moms on Tuesday night they were howling with 50 mile an hr gusts at times. Luckily no more snow (that day anyway). My Grandmother used to always say when ever snow hangs around it's waiting for more....Believe it or not snow is in the forecast again for Saturday and Monday. Poor Abby! She told me on the way in that day that she likes spring best :)

Winter is SNOW much fun!

2010-02-08T22:06:00.042-05:00

We get good snow about every 10 years or so. Looks like this was our year! We had 2 storms 1 week apart. Both on a weekend. Good times :) Abby really liked it and did really well. We are waiting to see what this weekend brings.......

Wouldn't the Chinese clothes police be proud :)

First Snow Angel :)

Abby's Snow Angel Bunny

Touching the snow.

Sunday was beautiful. Da and his helper :)

Abby's first Snowman :)

Snowstorm # TWO! Last weekend.

Again making the clothing police proud!

Abby's Snow Angel Bunny:)

Snow Princess

MUAAH :)

Waiting for the Snow!

2010-01-29T16:56:00.003-05:00

Yay! We are in the pink! I can't wait to play in the snow with Abby! I'm praying the forecast holds. In other news....The closing on my condo was Tuesday :) Also had the home inspection on the new house Tuesday. There are a few issues so we asked the seller to knock some money off of the closing costs to allow for us to fix the issues instead. Just found out a little earlier that he said okay. So waiting on the appraisal results but looks like my dream house is mine. Things are moving right a long so still aiming for February 19Th as my closing date. We are mostly settled at my Mom's now. Abby continues to do well. A little anxiety about her things we packed being there when we unpack and a little sadness on missing the old house but she will love the new one once we are in. As anticipated our cat's are having a harder time with the transition ;(

Now off to find some snow boots for my girl. Hope to post some fun snow pictures soon:)

Deal accepted!

2010-01-19T21:21:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it! They took my deal! My dream house is mine. I close February 19Th! Didn't want to post an outside picture but here are a few of the inside :) Below is the office. I'm so excited. My own office. Finally a chance to be organised. I can't wait :)

Very open floor plan which I love. The door to the left of the kitchen leads to the master bath, bedroom. Not pictured but also to the left of the kitchen is a laundry room with cabinets and a closet. Again so excited! Never mind that I don't have a washer or dryer to put in it :) Also through the laundry room is the garage.

Wood floors. The fireplace has gas logs (woot!). The left sliding doors lead to a deck and a fenced in back yard. The yard backs up to a field and there were 2 horses grazing while we were there. Abby is going to love that :)

Gotta buy a fridge too. Plus the place needs painting and new carpet. Hope my tax return is good this year. I have big plans for it :)

On the left are 2 more bedrooms and a full bath. The extra bedroom will be a playroom/ slash guest room.

Busy packing right now The movers come this Friday so we will be staying at my Mom's after that till the new house is ready. I'm exhausted. I have been packing every night after work. It seems endless. I have manage to cram a lot of stuff in this little condo. Abby is doing surprisingly well with all of this. I still don't think she gets it completely. She liked the new house and told me she wants her room to be pink and purple. She is also excited to be closer to her Meema and Da. Well on to pack a few more boxes.

The great house hunt

2010-01-17T10:00:00.003-05:00

WOW! We close on my condo on the 26th. The movers come this friday and I haven't started packing yet... Abby and I will be staying at my Mom's until we find a new house. I have to have our stuff stored. I have actually found my dream house and I made an offer yesterday. Now I wait until Monday to find out if they will accept. Their asking a little more then I wanted to pay so fingers crossed they will come down.... Boy this is stressful!

Abby's fish

2010-01-13T23:48:00.010-05:00

Abby's teachers in the two's told her they would buy her a fish if she started using the potty. Just when I was ready to give up she finally decided to get serious and do just that. That was back in December and she hasn't stopped since. We have has very few accidents. I would say less then five. She still wears a pull up at night though. She is not always dry in the morning when she wakes. She changes to panties as soon as she gets up. There have been a couple times where I have forgotten to change her to a pull up before she goes to sleep and she did stay dry but don't know if I'm ready to chance it yet. Anyhoo back to her fish. They did get her one. He is a Betta and she named him Fishie :) I have never had a Betta but have to say they really are perky little guys. They have a lot of personality and seem to really look at you and follow your movements. They almost remind me of little puppy's. Okay maybe I have gone to far there but they are quite cute and low maintenance. You just have to keep their water clean and change it every one to two weeks. I always feel sorry for the Betta's I see at W*almart and P*etsmart all cramped in those pitiful little cups. Contrary to popular belief they really don't like that and prefer larger tanks. Ours is 2.5 gallons. So go ahead and save one of the little guys next time your a W*almart or P*etsmart. They always have way to many for sale :( Below are some pictures of Abby and Fishie :) Kind of cool but would have turned out better had I used my better camera.

Giving Fishie a kiss :)

Life in the threes

2010-01-11T23:42:00.004-05:00

Abby moved up to the three's class at school (day care) last week. It's going better then I expected but she has cried every morning at drop off but one since she moved :( She rebounds quickly as soon as I'm gone and is always happy and fine when I call to check and see how she is. She is also happy as can be when I pick her up so I think she will be fine. Change freaks her out a little bit so I'm sure that is part of it. The classroom she is in is much bigger and has a lot more to do. They have the room sectioned off for different activities. There is a computer section where they get to work on real computers, a library section with comfy spots to lay and read, a puzzle section with Lots of puzzles (I think that is her favorite), a home living section with a big pretend kitchen area (another favorite), An art section filled with art supplies and more. They even have home work to work on during the week and turn in on Fridays. She is really showing more interest and motivation with her letter recognition and numbers too since she moved. Coincidence or not but she has also started throwing things when she is mad during the same week that she moved up. Haven't heard of her doing this at school yet but she definitely chucks things when she is mad at home. Hopefully this phase passes quickly.

2 years a family!

2010-01-06T22:59:00.023-05:00

Has it really been two whole years since this sweet little sunshine and I became a happy family?? And is she really three? In some ways it seems like just yesterday that she was just a little pipsqueak. Now she is a full fledged little girl. My life is so much richer with Abby in it. I'm filled with contentment and a sense that things are as exactly as they should be :) So how did we celebrate our "Happy Family Day"? We took pictures :)

While in China I bought a bunch of tiny little gifts to give Abby on our Happy Family Days. This year she got a Hello Kitty chop stick set.

We had cake :)

We read I Love you like crazy cakes before bed and of course there were lots of HUGS and Kisses, Don't know that she really gets it yet but I know I do! I am still in awe of the gift I received two years ago today and of how lucky I am that I get to be Abby's Mommy! We truly are a Happy Family. Thank you China :)

Mirror Mirror

2010-01-02T23:02:00.016-05:00

Happy New Year to everyone still reading!

Santa Baby

2009-12-30T22:42:00.015-05:00