Thursday, September 25, 2008

My Favorite Things

I'm so grateful for the beautiful, sweet little spirit which has entered our home. I know that she is literally a gift from our Heavenly Father. There's no way we mere mortals could have created such a wonderful person. Every day, I find myself looking at her in awe. But time is flying. Abigail recently had her six-month doctor's appointment. I've discovered that parent time goes about 100 times as fast as nonparent time. It seemed like in the space of about a week, she started crawling, got her first two teeth, and began holding her bottle. When I first saw her holding her bottle, I said, "Sheesh! Slow down kid, before long you'll be heading off to college!" And that's the way it feels. I'm afraid her entire childhood will go by at warp speed and I will spend my later years struggling to remember all of the special moments. So, to that end, I have decided to write down my favorite things about Abigail so I can look back and remember the dear, cute things about my Abi.

1. I used to hate mornings. Now I look forward to them. When I go into Abigail's room at about 6:30, she's usually sitting up in her crib quietly, playing with her doll. When she sees me come into her room, she lights up like a firefly with a big grin and bounces up and down. We then share hugs before getting her changed and ready for the day.

2. Abigail's big grin. Especially now, with those two bottom little teeth. Sometimes she sticks her tongue out while she's smiling and that brings a giggle from me every time. What a cutie.

3. I spend about half of the day putting Abigail back on her quilt next to her toys in the livingroom. But if mommy leaves the room, she follows. And even if she does stay put, she periodically looks around to see if I'm still in the room and if we make eye contact, she smiles.

4. "Blah, blah, blah. Da da da!" These are Abigail's favorite "words". She loves nothing better than to bounce on her tush and talk loudly to herself. I've often found her doing this and having a ball. (I still can't convince her to say ma ma.)

5. I'll be sitting on the couch and she'll come over to me, pull herself up, and put her arms up to be picked up. Of course, I'm more than happy to!

6. She often puts her arms up toward the sky for no apparent reason. When she does this in public people thinks she's asking them to pick her up and get a real kick out of it. I keep quiet. :)

7. Raspberry blowing contests. She usually wins.

8. She often tries to put my entire face in her mouth. I know it's because she's teething, but I choose to think of it as a big, wet kiss. When I then gum her cheeks, she giggles.

9. She is fascinated with toes. (But we don't let her put them in her mouth!)

10. She likes to sit on my lap as we "read" a baby book together.

11. She's incredibly curious and tenacious. When she discovers something of interest, she stays with it and goes back to it, no matter how many times mom takes her away from it.

12. She makes friends with strangers at the grocery store, the library, restaurants, Target, Costco, etc.

13. She's very independent, but if I catch her when she's tired or has just finished a bottle, I can get her to cuddle with me.

14. Mostly, I just love her sweet, even-tempered, precious personality. Yes sir, that's my baby!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Six months and crawling


Here she comes . . .

Abigail is six months old now and is celebrating by exploring every nook and cranny of the house. That's right. She's crawling! A whole new world has just opened up for her.









She's discovered the office, the hallway, the kitchen (including the trash can), the glass entertainment center, mom and dad's shoes, AND all of the electrical outlets.





Now mom, who was previously spoiled by an easy baby, must continually watch Abi to make sure she's not climbing on something or putting something yucky in her mouth.




But's she still the cutest thing in a onesie!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Blonde or Brunette?



Annette went brunette! Tell us which you prefer in our poll.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Happy Birthday, Annette

Click to enlarge

Monday, September 8, 2008

Father-Daughter football


Dad and Abigail watched their first USC game together a week ago against Virginia. Chris really got into the game and Abi learned to motion with every touchdown, with both of her arms high in the air. After SC shellacking the Cavaliers with a victorious score of 52 to 7, her arms were pretty tired. Abi and Daddy are looking forward to the 13th when the Trojans host the Buckeyes of Ohio State. Good luck to Kurt Bailey a diehard OSU alumni. Fight On!