Fair-Skinned Sun Baby

Here are a few snapshots of Abby's first day at the pool. We went up to Dana Point to celebrate Jimmy (my brother's) engagement to Nicole, and used the pool party as an excuse to FINALLY get our baby into the water. She loves her baths so much that I was sure she would dig the pool . . . .and she did! But not the sun too much :( As soon as we go outside, she always slams her eyes shut . . . definitely my tendency as well, so I tried to protect those blue eyes with a BIG floppy hat. Anyway, I still managed to at least dip her in for a second. She LOVED it, was totally relaxed, but then got too cold. So, our little adventure was cut short -- but it was fun while it lasted!!!

Ewwwwwwwwwwww!

I know it's uber gross, lol, but this was what greeted me the other day when I took Abby out of her baby seat. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! I was wondering why she had been so darn content and quiet for the last 15 minutes while I was cleaning, so decided she needed some love. What a treasure she had left me!!!! But boy oh boy, did I have a happy baby afterwards. :)

George Kastanza

Oh my goodness! Do you guys remember that old poster of George from Seinfeld???? The funny one where he's posing in his underwear with his socks on . . . anyway, it's hilarious . . . and these pics totally remind me of that picture. And being the Seinfeld fans that we are, these pictures are even more hilarious. :) If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, it's all good . . . cuz they're stinkin cute either way!!!

This was taken during our nightly bathtime ritual, which we affectionately call the "Baby Spa." It's part of Abby's new daily schedule (sooooooo excited that -- our days are finally a bit predictable), and involves bathtime at 7ish, followed by baby massage, lotion, and all-around baby pampering. Then bedtime at 8! (Yes!) She loves her baby massages, and it's actually the one time of day she doesn't fuss during tummy time. I also have to brag . . . Abby started sleeping through the night the week before I started back to work, and has been sleeping through the night since then!!!! I pray that this continues smoothly, though I of course expect some hiccups. In the meantime, I am reveling in her 8pm-6am sleeping pattern. Thank you, Lord!!!!!!!!!!! That was a HUGE answer to prayer!!!

Baby Legs!!!

Ok, so I am totally in to baby legs. They are the cutest baby leg warmers . . . if it weren't so dang hot, the poor child would be in them every second! Of course, maybe that's a good thing, lol.

On a separate note, can you believe our little red-head???? It's amazing. And it seems to be getting even redder! Too fun!

Baby Stars and Stripes

Okay, these are too cute!!!! Our tiny bundle of stars and stripes! (Yes, it is the cutest 4th of July outfit EVER.)

Uncle Brian, Aunt Desiree, and Cousin Dianna -- and Guitar Hero!

Jim and I decided to take Abby for her first road trip over 4th of July weekend -- yikes! I was a bit nervous about it . . . I mean, she did great on the plane ride to Seattle, but she obviously didn't have to be strapped into a carseat for the entire time. Anyway, we were anxious to introduce our little Abigail to Jim's brother, Brian, and his wife Desiree and daughter Dianna ("D"), and therefore, packed our little family up for the six hour drive to Phoenix. (Of course, this normally would take 4.5 hours without a three-and-a-half month old baby.) Abby was once again a total champ on the trip. She slept for awhile, and was overall a perfect baby on the trip. The child doesn't cease to amaze me!!!!
We had a great time with the family. We spent the majority of the weekend playing Guitar Hero on Wii, as well as bowling, baseball, boxing, etc, etc. It was a great way to pass the time indoors since it was 115 outside! We had such a great time, Jim and I went out and bought ourselves a Wii yesterday. Yes, we are totally addicted!!!!
In conclusion, I have to say, it is definitely a blessing when people love your baby . . . and Uncle Brian, Aunt Desiree, and D obviously loved Abby to pieces. She had so much fun with them, and as you can see, she loved them right back. It was great to watch them all together . . . and to see Abby's reaction to their three wiener dogs. Abby thinks dogs are much more interesting than our boring cats!

Ga-ga for Zebras

"What makes Abigail's eyes get so wide?" you ask. Zebras. Yes, zebras. She seriously LOVES her zebra toys. Whenever she see one of them (she has three -- one on her bouncer, one on her swing, and a rattle that her daddy bought her), her little legs start kicking and her eyes get super wide with delight. In fact, her first attempt at reaching for something she wanted was the zebra on her boncer! It's still a bit far for her to reach, but she will sit there for a long time with hand outstretched and smiles on her face. Each of her zebras is affectionately called "Zoe." It will be fun to see if she still loves zebras when she's older :)

We Love Visitors!

Some of our most fun days are when we are surprised with friends who come by even though there's no parking around here. What troopers! We have had particular fun with Mylee who likes to practice being a new big sister with Abby. Whew! What a trip that's gonna be for her mommy, lol. Speaking of which, Brittany is already practicing being a mommy herself and did a great job feeding Abby so I could get some cleaning done . . . I think Brittany even managed to escape the spit-up monster!

Abby has been getting much more generous with her smiles lately too, and thus has been making a TON of friends. Even waking up from a nap, little Ella got special smiles!

Of course, Grandma is Abby's favorite visitor! :) Abby's precious little smiles are still pretty hard to catch on camera, so I was elated to get these pictures. They are definitely keepers!

Favorites

Just to catch everyone up, I wanted to share a few of our recent favorites.

And just for the record, Abby is definitely a Daddy's girl! Evernight when Jim comes home, she gives him the sweetest smiles and is content to snuggle with him for hours. And he patiently lets her spit-up her dinner on his shirt too. Jim is definitely a great dad; he is full of smiles, playfulness, expression, and love -- all the qualities that our little Abby needs! I love to see them together. It makes my heart warm :)

Reminiscing

I just was organizing old pictures, and came across this one . . . HOLY CRAP! I can't believe I was this big. Freakin' crazy!

A few of you that are far away had been asking for prego pictures, so here you go! Whoa!