Exersaucer Excitement!

Are you sure about this Mom?


Ooooh what's that!


Hey, this is fun!

Look who has a new toy! Abby is just barely big enough for the exersaucer. It's hard work and a little overwhelming for her, but she loves it for about 15 minutes at a time. She can't quite reach the toys but as you can see from these pictures she is plenty fascinated just staring at them.

Best Friends

I happen to catch this loving moment the other day... Sammy LOVES to sniff at Abby and give her "kisses" on the hands and feet and Abby doesn't seem to mind, that makes them best friends, right? Well at least I can hope...

Happy Father's Day Charlie!

Abby loves her Daddy! Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures to prove it, but you know Charlie so you know it's true and how could he not LOVE her with a face like this...

Tummy Time

Abby is really starting to enjoy tummy time. She even rolled over a few times. I have to prop her up on her elbows, show her how it's done a few times, and then she does it by herself. We're a ways from spontaneous roll overs I think... oh well, practice makes perfect and she seems ready to practice!

New Seat...

Check out Abby girl in her big girl seat! These pictures can't possibly capture the curiosity, excitement and fear that she seems to experience in rapid succession when she sits in this seat. You just have to see it, it's too cute.

Abby and her binky...

This is the way Abby is most of the time.

But if she starts to cry...

All she needs is her beloved binky. Such a sweet girl!

(I know I'm mean to take her picture when she's crying... I promise it was only for a tiny second)

7 Glorious Hours...

I slept for 7 hours straight!

For weeks Abby was sleeping 4 and 1/2 hours and then a couple of 2 hour stretches. I was pleased with this, but like any new mom I was longing for more... well, I am excited to announce that on the night Abby turned 3 months old she slept 7 hours and has been doing it every night since. Sometimes she adds a 3-4 hours stretch after that first wake up. I am overjoyed!

Abby in the Monkey Jungle

I took a cute little video of Abby playing and posted it to You Tube for the world to see. I am pretty sure that she won't be the next Susan Boyle or my favorite "Inspired by Kittens!" girl, but that doesn't mean that you won't enjoy watching her play. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72FOO3G29Io&feature=channel_page

Happy Birthday Peter!

My brother turned 28 earlier this week, but his party is tonight. It is medieval themed so in an attempt to make costumes easily and without much expense I am making the Malley family knight costumes. Here's Abby defending the family with her shield and knife... doesn't she look funny?

If only the whole world had air conditioning...

Poor Abby has no idea that June is not usually this hot. She has been fussy the last few days and it has to be the heat. I took this picture of her today as we were getting ready to go on a car ride... I think she was thinking exactly what I was thinking "Yippee for A/C!"
PS - How did I get such a blue eyed baby? I wonder if they will stay?

Don't they look alike?

I know it is a little hard to tell because Charlie looks so corporate and Abby is ready for the beach, but there is something about those eyes and that little smile. She looks like a pretty little Charlie to me!

Fun in the Sun!

I know that these are all pretty much the same picture, but I just couldn't decide and doesn't it look a little like she's dancing? Pool party at Abby's house tomorrow!

That's right, Abby's baby pool arrived today! We really wanted to try it out but it requires one of those fancy electric blow up things so we will have to go to Fred Meyers tonight to get one of those and we'll use the pool tomorrow (and take lots of pictures of Abby's first pool party). As you can see Abby didn't care, she was super pumped just to lounge in her "lawn chair" in her bathing suit and look cute.

New Favorite Salad

I've got the herb garden up and going and with all this summer-like weather all I feel like eating are salads, so here's my new favorite. It's from the Mayo Clinic cookbook and it's very healthy (only 109 calories a serving). I hope you like it too!

Tabbouleh
1 cup veg stock (although I used chicken)
1 cup bulgur
2 cups cherry tomatoes
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 green onions chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 clove of garlic, minced
salt
pepper
1/4 teaspoon of allspice (I didn't have this on hand so I skipped it)
Boil the stock and pour it over the bulgar in a heat proof bowl. Let it sit while it absorbs all the liquid (about 15 minutes). Add all the remaining ingredients, mix, cover and chill or just serve it up as is. Tastes great as leftovers the next day!