Happy Birthday, Mr. T!!!

He's highly mobile!

Talmadge Russell turns one year old today!!! It is hard to believe that it has already been a year. We had loads of fun at this party over the weekend. He had an Elmo cake, which he thoroughly enjoyed!! He's getting so big, and he's a pro at crawling! Happy Birthday, Tal! We love you!!

Tal loved his loot!!

And his cake that Mommy (Aimee) made him. Here
he is sharing wih Daddy (James)!

More Details Later. . .

We tried this type high chair for the first time at Talmadge's
birthday party. She loved it and did really well in it! I
guess she's getting ready to use her new chomper!

I will update more later, but to help you through until then I will tell you that we had a surprise when we woke up this morning. Abby's first tooth has broken through!! It is still barely visible, but you can definitely feel it when she chews on your finger!

Check-up = Check Plus

The dreaded appointment is over. We got a wonderful report today. Abby weighed-in at 17 lbs 4 oz. Her head is 17.25 inches, and she is 27 inches long. She is 98th percentile on height, 90th percentile on noggin size, and 75th percentile on weight. Basically, she is tall and skinny, as if she needed to be any more like Steve. She received 4 shots today, including a flu shot. Her cry was heart breaking. She has to get a flu booster in a month, but after that she is finished with shots until 12 months. We go back in January to just check in and see how she's growing. We have the green light for juices, water, sippy cups, and a bunch of other stuff that makes me nervous.

I feel clueless. Does anyone know if she can have cheerioes before she gets a tooth? Won't she choke?!?

1/2 Birthday!

Abby is 6 months old today. We have had so much fun and learned so much in the past 6 months. It has really flown by. We celebrated today by going out to eat with Grandma and trying on our Halloween costumes. I will post pictures from Halloween when we go trick or treating next week. Poor Abby hasn't got a clue that she goes to the doctor in a couple of days. Hopefully, it won't be too bad.

I played dress up with her this morning. Thank you, Allison, for the idea of hanging a blanket (or sheet). It was great. Some of these were taken in her rocking chair while others were taken in the floor. She is getting to be a pro at sitting up!

Here's our little butterfly. I actually made the
purple part. Abby seemed impressed.


Photo shoots are exhausting for any model!


Even the cutest butterflies need a rest.
(I love her eyes in this one.)


Luckily, Grandma and Grandpa gave her
some really neat "Baby's First Boo" PJs.


During the afternoon session,
she was a bit distracted.


Even her toes were more interesting than the camera.

Grandma and Grandpa came over over for cake to celebrate 6 months of Abby!

This is as close as we let her to her own cake.
I felt a little guilty, but I still ate some.

While we ate, Abby chewed on a frozen washcloth.


But that apparently got old, so it was back to
chewing on her toes. Our little contortionist.

Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner

Nobody puts baby in the corner because she will just squirm out of it anyway. Abby has become very active lately. I will use that as an excuse for not posting. We have been busy visiting Baby Ben , Aunt Tiffany, and Uncle Mike. Abby thinks Ben is really neat. She has already been stealing kisses from him (see the picture below). She is rolling over from back to tummy a lot (but she hasn't started rolling from tummy to back yet). She will also sit up by herself for a little while before toppling over. After an unscientific weigh-in at Aunt Diane's (Uncle Mike's mom), we found that she weighs about 17 lbs. now. I will do a more extensive update next week after we go for icky 6 month shots next Thursday.

Stealing kisses from Baby Ben!

We had Fall last week for about two days, and it gave us a chance to bundle up a little.

Dressed to visit Ben!

This outfit looked like a blast from the past when I put it on her.
Eat your heart out Debbie Gibson!



The hair bow made the look complete so we could have
lunch with Grandpa.

Our Funny Girl!

Sweet Potato-- it's the veggie all the cool kids are wearing this Fall!

Daddy needed all the help he could get!

Abby got her own remote so she can chew on it without
reprogramming our TV.

Grandma is so fun to play with!

SpongeAbby Pantshead

This is how I sometimes keep up with her
pants when changing her.

Welcome to Baby Ben!

Mike and Tiffany welcomed precious Benjamin Samuel to the world last night at 12:21 am. He is a sweet, sweet baby. He weighs 9 lbs and 2 oz and is 21.5 inches long. Mommy, Daddy and baby are doing great and resting. More later on "Big Ben."

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Steve's 28th birthday! We celebrated by watching movies and hanging out with Abby, which is our new past time. She is so much fun these days.

Abby and Daddy. . . BFF!

Abby loves it when Daddy helps her fly.

Abby catches some quality Daddy time before he leaves for work.

In other birthday news. . .

Cousin Mathew turned 5 last Wednesday.
Here he shows off his birthday cupcakes with
GREEN icing. (Green is his favorite color!)


Hopefully by this time tomorrow, Baby Ben will be here!
Uncle Mike and Aunt Tiffany came over earlier this week.
Abby gave Mike many pointers on babies!
We love you guys and can't wait to meet Ben!

However comma

She has made peace with green beans and moved on to much tastier treats. She has also tried carrots and squash. She loves them both, but the squash seems to be the current favorite.

Okay, Mommy, I'll eat them if I have to.

Carrots. . . YUM!!!!!