Glassybaby Seconds Sale

It was mayhem, but it was fun and I got some really good ones (as you can see from the photo above). No color schemes, I just pick the pretty ones. I think I might be done now... but you'll have to check in with me when the sale rolls around again in June. There's something fun about having to get in line and wait and hope you'll get the BEST ones. It's kind of like an Easter Egg hunt for adults.

Babysitters Club

I started a babysitters club with a couple of girlfriends. Each of us only have one little baby, right around the same age, so once a month 2 couples get together for dinner and watch the 3 babies while the third couple goes out for a quick date. It's fun for everyone and even more fun to watch the little ones interact!


Woo! Hoo! Otto's toys are way more fun than mine!


Abby and Otto


It's not a party till you have a margarita and some formula.


Girl talk with Elliot


I wish I could wear my jammies to parties.

Give Me Five!

Abby has been giggling a lot more lately. We had her cracking up at dinner tonight when we celebrated her eating her whole dinner. She's a little picky so we get pretty excited around here when we can sneak some veggies past her... anyone want to join us for some breakfast of banana-mango-blueberry-spinach-and-yogurt? Yum!



or

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZRUZQHi9mQ

The Stairs and the Mailbox

She could play with the mailbox and go up and down the stairs all day if I'd let her...

Before and After

I finally got around to taking some pictures... It was worth the headaches. I love my new bathroom.

BEFORE:


So gloomy, so dark!

AFTER:


So much better!

Signs of Spring (SOS!)

Poor Abby may be confused by a lot of things when she grows up. Some of it may be by accident but much of it might be my fault...I like to make up animal sounds when the animal that we're looking at doesn't have a sound (remember Giraffes say googlegooglegooogle), also I tell Abby lots of stories and I fill in details the make sense to me but may or may not be 100% accurate and I like to make up acronyms, like SOS! Sign of Spring! Lately, on our daily walk we have been searching for SOS! and Abby likes it if I say this with a lot of enthusiasm, so I do... it's amazing how many we found yesterday when it was almost 60 degrees! To celebrate SOS! today we went to the conservatory at Volunteer Park. Have you been there? It's pretty cool. I didn't take any pictures because it said "No Professional Photography" and although I was fairly certain I could just show them my pictures and they would know that I was taking very amateur photography I didn't really want to cause a scene, so no pictures this time.

After the conservatory we played at home with the shopping cart. Yup... you see it too, right? She's a born shopper.




Like father, like daughter... I think we have another travel book/map lover on our hands.

Abby throws a dinner party

Notice that I am wearing Sammy's dog collar. Some one had to give the poor Doodle a rest. Abby is obsessed with Sammy's collar.



Abby invited her favorite Uncle Pete and Rachel over for dinner tonight. She was the life of the party. First, show off with the shopping cart. Second, constant babble at dinner. Third, take off the messy shirt and have some fun! Last, bath time. Thanks Peter and Rachel for being spontaneous and making sure that we weren't left with lasagna for days.

A Visit from Pappy & Nekko too!

Yesterday my Dad stopped by for a spontaneous visit. As you can see Abby and Sammy were thrilled to get some new playmates and I was happy for the surprise excitement too! What a great way to liven up a rainy day!



These two really wore each other out. Nekko may be small, but she's a brave and tireless little girl. Sammy and Nekko had a lot of fun together.



Abby and Pappy watching the excitement.


Nekko had to take a little break.


I think there's some Cougan in that little girl... those noses look pretty similar to me and uh-oh Abby, I think you got the Cougan eyebrows too : )


Abby getting a little jealous that Nekko's getting a little love... there's enough to go around, don't worry Miss Abby...


Ahhh... now that's better!

P.S.

I've been trying to talk to Abby a lot about "dog manners" as you can see, she's not understanding my lessons quite yet. Thankfully, Nekko is a gentle little pup and she allowed Abby to demonstrate her new pointing skill, right in Nekko's mouth...

10 Months Old!

Abby turned 10 months old on the 13th! I can't believe she'll be 1 in two short months... it just doesn't seem possible for time to go this fast. Abby is a delight. She loves people and smiles a lot. Pretty much every adult we see asks me "is she always this happy?. Of course she's not always the happiest baby you've ever seen, but she is most of the time, so I think we are pretty lucky to have such a darling little sunshine to wake up with every morning!

She is crawling and exploring as fast as her little arms and legs will take her and lately she loves to crawl up the stairs. I crawl behind her and it's fun to listen to her excitement as she gets closer and closer to the top. She also loves to walk behind her little shopping cart. She did stand for a few seconds unsupported the other day, but I think we're a ways off from real standing or walking, since I can't get her to do it again.

She continues to think that Sammy is the best toy in the whole world and for now Sammy continues to indulge her. She is getting a little picky with her food... I'm distressed since I love to cook and try new foods and am already conjuring up visions of having to make noodles and butter every night or something similarly boring so Abby won't starve. She does have some favorites: mangoes, toast, and cheese. Pretty much everything else gets spit out. We're working on it...

Boy Crazy Stacy

Abby had her friend Otto over today. As I've said before, she's not shy and she's not shy around boys either.


Dressed up and ready for her playdate!


Let's play house!


Hmmm... how should we make Otto feel at home? How about a nice big kiss?

2 Hr and 45 Min Nap

I think that's a new record for Abby. I wish I could say that I was super productive during the nap, but I mostly wasted my time. I kept thinking she was going to wake up any minute and should only do short (and pretty insignificant) chores. Oh well, now I know that it's possible and will be more productive in the future.

After she finally got up she was a zombie for a while:


So groggy...

But then she finally realized that she had Mommy's full attention and Pink Fish in her hand and brightened up to her usual cheerful self.



We love you Pink Fish. Whatever you do, don't let Sammy chew you up.

Today's Highlights

1. Daffodils are open and look tastier than ever.




2. The new espresso machine that Charlie got for Christmas (and I use everyday... oops, next time my gift will 100% Charlie) makes my morning coffee practically free and even more fun. Today I topped it with left over shavings of the fancy Belgium chocolate that I bought for New Year's Eve. So good.



3. Abby discovered 3 new loves: Playing under the dining room table, the mail slot and the picture game that Kelsey made her.



4. We had a fun lunch with Pappy... sadly no pictures, but I am now accepting lunch dates at Vios in Ravenna. There's a little pen filled with toys and a bar around it so you can sit there and eat while watching your child. I wonder if they have happy hour?

5. Costco has my favorite brown rice bowls back! Done in 90 seconds!

Baby Party

The party goers.


The party was at a lull and Abby really only cared about her favorite toy Pink Fish.


Abby loves crawl up to other babies and to grab their faces. She is not shy and she cannot read social cues... yet.


So Abby, did you have fun?

Abby had her PEPs friends over for a party. She had a great time... this little baby girl is the life of the party. Although she wasn't too thrilled when all the kids wanted to play with her shopping cart. Something tells me we may have some problems learning to share... uh-oh.

My Little Daffodil

Mmmm... it looks so yummy!


I am a sucker for daffodils, they seem to be the first sign that Spring will be here eventually and today, there they were, at the store! So it may be a long ways off, but it's a sign, Spring will be here soon(ish). Anyway, because Abby was born in March and it seemed there were daffodils everywhere when she was born, I think of her as my little daffodil. I tried to get her to pose with one of the daffodils we bought, but she just wanted to eat it, so I had to give up and take it away. It was nap time, so maybe after her nap she'll be more cooperative? Not likely, but if she is, I'll post more (hopefully better pics then).




Looking cute and angelic while she eats her new favorite, mangoes and blueberries.

I feel like a new woman!

Maybe it's because we've been cooped up in the house with all this rain, maybe I'm taking this new homemaker role too seriously, I don't know, but I do know that I feel like a new woman now that my favorite sweater is pill free and all thanks to... are you ready? A SPONGE! Did everyone else already know about this? It was news to me, but somewhere (I think Real Simple) I read that a new sponge can remove the pills from a sweater. Today I found a new sponge in the cleaning closet and looked down at my favorite sweater (full of pills) and tried it. Lo and behold! It works! And I can't wait to try it on all my second favorite sweaters! Hallelujah!


Who knew? Just this plain old sponge could provide such magic?


Look at all those pills!