I'm back!

Watch out! Abby is growing up super fast!


I guess I took the summer off. Sorry about that. I am back now and here it is, a hodgepodge of pictures that 100% does not tell even half of what we did this summer. But it does give you a glimpse...

Let's see, Abby experienced a lot of angst at not being able to swim, wear goggles and/or water wings in a pool instantly, whenever she wanted.


We played ballerina, princess, photographer a lot and Abby used to word booooootiful a lot too.


Had boootiful parties with friends.


Perfected a very dramatic pout.


Discovered a new LOVE for tattoos.


Oh and bootiful ballerina crowns.


We had a lot of picnics.


And a few hikes.... and now I guess Summer is over.


It's also been a big Summer for Abby because she now sleeps in a big girl bed (actually this happened in the Spring, but I kept thinking I'd get and angelic sleeping picture of her to document it and it never happened). But she's pretty proud of her big girl bed, so here it is:


And look at the cool tent that Anne-Lise Hurn made - check out her amazing goods on her site here: http://www.littleorangeroom.com/

Also this little wonder is potty trained!!! Here she is with a celebratory lollypop.


And, last but not least, she started preschool! She LOVED her first day and is so excited to go back. She's been talking about it all week. Here she is on her first day. She picked out this outfit (I had to dig the 'telephone' shirt out of the too small pile - we haven't worn it in weeks so it must really be a favorite since she asked for it directly) and I told her to act excited for the picture and this is what she did. I'm not sure what to make of it, but just so you know, she was really, really excited - so maybe she's just a little confused on what the word excited means?

Fourth of July!

We had a great 4th of July. The weather was perfect and we had a super fun brunch and parade with my family. Our neighborhood has a kid's parade every year and this is the first year Abby has really been able to participate and participate she did... look at Abby and Eli, so excited and so cute.

The parade people recommend decorating your bike, so why not the dogs too? Here's Penny getting ready for the big parade:


I told them to make silly faces, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em and these two cannot smile at the same time.


So serious and determined. I love it.


Happy family.


Even more happy family.


Let's get this parade started!


Abby got tired so she ditched her bike and walked Penny.

May and most of June

Ugh... for a little while I lost the will to blog, but I think I can do it again. I find it harder to take pictures of Abby now. She's cuter than ever, but you can't capture her cuteness as easily because she's fast and she is always moving and talking. Always talking. She really never stops. But she says some very funny things so it's worth paying attention to all of it. I don't know where she comes up with a lot of it either, like how things are either happening "next week, on Monday" or something happened "last week, on Monday". I don't know where she got it, but ask her when her birthday is or when she last went to the zoo or something and that's what she'll say. She also loves to play ballerina and she sings the word ballerina in such a serious way that you really have to see it. I keep trying to get it on video because it would be really embarrassing and cute when she's 13, but so far she is smart enough to clam up whenever the camera comes out. In other news, she moved into a big girl bed and she's getting very good at going potty in the toilet... who is this girl? She's getting so big, I can't believe it!

Have you seen those Popsicle machines at William Sonoma? We got one ages ago and until this spring I'd never really used it, but now Abby and I make Popsicles all the time and Abby loves them!


Senior Picture.


Abby has really found her inner drama queen lately. I don't remember what this episode was about, but it pretty much captures her pouty face and I'm sure you can imagine the whiny voice that goes with it.





Abby and Zoey play ballerina.


Abby and friends along with Abby's number one obsession, ice cream cones.

Sunday Fun

Oh how I wish it would be sunny like this for while. I need to stop looking at the 10 day forecast and just enjoy each sunny day as it comes... we'll see if I can stick to that. Anyway, we loved the sun today and yesterday. Today we even took a hike. Abby loved it too, although I told her to keep an eye out for animals and we saw zero animals (not even a squirrel) and that was pretty disappointing to her, oh well, there's always next time!

I'm pretty sure she's not eating bugs in this picture, but it looks so much like she is that I can't be sure.


Abby cannot take her eyes off the little stream.


Thanks for your hard work Daddy!


Abby loves to throw rocks!



So tired...

Ready or not...

Abby is ready for a big girl bed, she has been requesting/demanding pillows, blankets tucked around her, pretty much anything to make her crib just like Mom and Dad's cozy bed... so that combined with her crib escape in Hawaii has me sort of scrambling to get her room ready for a transition to a big girl bed. I'm not really sure I'm ready, but part of me thinks she's so excited about it that it might make some things easier, we'll see. I took this picture of her today while we were cuddling before nap time. She looks like such an angel that it makes me sort of excited to see her cuddled up in her very own big girl bed. I guess that focusing on that makes me feel a little better about losing the certain safety of her crib. Change is always hard at first, right? : )

Easter Weekend

Easter was a big hit. I guess that's not a surprise when you consider that Abby loves chocolate and bunnies, but still, it's fun because the last 2 Easters she had no idea what was going on and now she finally gets to have fun too! Here are the action shots of her really loving Easter.

Look, I found an egg!


What?! It's for me!!


Hunting for more. My Mom's dear friend B-Z put on quite the hunt, filled with eggs, candy, toys and more, but Abby is a purest and would only pick up eggs.


Still very unsure about the Easter bunny, even though that package is filled with Abby's new favorite books (4 or 5 new Caillou books that she cannot get enough of) she still says periodically "Abby no like Easter bunny". Oh well, next year, right?


And the grand finale? Celebrating Meme's birthday! What a weekend!!

Babysitter Club Easter Party

Anne-Lise hosted an extra special babysitter club Easter Party last night. Look at how much fun those little kids are having! Also Eryn sent me these pics from our first babysitter club. It's amazing how much they've grown up! And look at how cool Otto's shirt is! Anne-Lise makes them and they are really great, check them out:
http://www.littleorangeroom.com/shirts.html