Cup Training

We have been trying to teach Abby to drink from cups and/or straws lately. Here is how it is going. . .

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

We want to wish everyone a very happy Easter and hope your spring is full of fun!

Abby has loved Easter so far. She woke to an Easter basket full of goodies, got dolled up for church, and came home to have more fun. She loved going through her basket (not unlike a hurricane). She found a couple of pacies and some finger foods in the prize eggs. We tried to get some good pictures of her dress, but she was just too excited about all of the festivities. It didn't get out of the 40's today, so we stayed in and played with her basket. Oh well, that's what happens on an early Easter.

The basket pre-Abby.

"What's all this, Mommy?"

The basket post-Abby.
(This is her robe we put her in
so she could play and not mess up her dress.
Feel free to hum the Rocky theme aloud.)

Our sweet girl in her Easter dress.

P.S. I'm not sure why some things are publishing so large. I swear it looked right on the editor.
Oh, well. Happy Easter!

3-22

I don't usually put stuff about me on here; it is Abby's blog after all. However, I wanted to let everyone know about how popular this day is to our family. It was on March 22nd that Steve asked me to meet him for dinner. I agreed. He had been a friend since high school when we sat next to each other in band, and we had been a few times before but nothing serious came of it then. We went to Pizza Inn and were planning to just have a quick dinner, catch up, and go hang out with our friends (separately). We talked for three hours, and the rest is history. It has been 6 years since that night. I am the luckiest lady around to have such a fun and caring husband who supports me in whatever I want to do.

Our wedding day in 2003
(Believe it or not we planned the whole shin-dig
in about two weeks!

Also on that same night, I welcomed Phoebe into the world. In fact, I was meeting up with Aimee at my mom's house to meet the new kittens after Pizza Inn. (She had fallen asleep on the recliner by the time I got there.) So, Happy Birthday, Phoebe. You don't look at day over 30. :)

This is Phoebs about 3 years and 5 pounds ago,
but it's my favorite picture of her.
She's actually just yawning here...
she's too lazy to be mean.

This year we get to celebrate another event. Abby is... and I sigh as I write this... 11 months old today. WOW. I really can't believe that she will be a year old next month. She is so independent lately. She is learning to drink through a straw since sippy cups do not seem to amuse her at all. She is feeding herself (well, some of the time). She gets upset if you try to feed her without something she can help with, such as cheese or Cheerios. She is having so much fun learning all these new things. I can't wait for the weather to be consistently warmer so we can play outside more! She's going to love it.

Our little funny bunny exploring the great outdoors.

We celebrated this special day by going to Uncle Tom's house to fly a kite!! The wind really was probably too wild for it, but we still had a lot of fun!!!

Abby walked all over Uncle Tom's yard with Ethan
and Daddy's help.

Mathew did a great job chasing the kite
and getting it to fly again when it came
down.

Aleigh and Abby played many fun games.

Abby even got to meet Dale, Darky, and Leandra.
They are Ethan, Aleigh, and Mathew's baby chicks.
They are getting so big that they will be moving out
this next week.

Highly Mobile

Abby has been making strides (get it?!?) in her walking lately... Here's how our days at home are spent.


Near:

Far:

*********************************************

UPDATE:
Look what happened this morning! (Sorry they are so dark. I'm still getting the hang of taking videos.)

One small step for Abby. . .

One giant leap for. . .well. . .Abby.

Big Day with Little Ben

As you have probably noticed, Abby and I try to spend at least one day a week with Baby Ben and Aunt Tiffany. Tiffany and I like to get the kids out of the house, and it affords us a chance for some adult interaction during the day. On Wednesday, we went for a grand adventure. It started out by going with Tiffany, Ben, and Ben's Mamaw Kerr to Gondolier for lunch. Then, we headed to Rutledge to Ben's Nan-Nan's house. We went to feed kitties and Sadie, but ended up riding around on a golf cart and having lots of fun looking at the lake.

Ben enjoyed sitting up to see all that was happening. . .


especially the Abby vs breadstick show!
(Abby won!)

Here the cute couple get ready for their ride.

There was a bit of a breeze, so Ben put his blanket
to good use.

Abby just thought it was plain fun to ride around the yard
and not be strapped into the car seat. We
are actually on the lake shore here. In a couple of months,
when TVA raises the water levels, this will be covered by water.

Tiffany said it best on Ben's blog: Good times and no naps were had by all. She has posted some great pictures of both babies from our adventure yesterday, so drop by for a visit! I have been trying to get some video up of Abby playing with her walking toys all week. Blogger has thwarted my efforts thus far. Maybe today is our lucky day!

Stick Around 10 Minutes

If you have ever been to East Tennessee, I am sure you have heard the saying, "If you don't like the weather, stick around 10 minutes and it will change." Well, this week has proven that to be true. We stared off on Monday with bright sun, fluffy clouds, and warm temperatures. As I write this on Saturday, I am watching snow blow around. Midweek, we had lots of rain and really strong winds. March definitely came in like a lion this year.

Sunny Days:

Take away the cell phone and you have
Holly Hobby!

Since it was such a nice day, we met up with Ben
and Aunt Tiffany for a walk at the dam.

Sunny, but colder day. Here Abby is showing you two new

things that have been happening. 1) She has taken back
up with her pacie. It usually appears when she is sleepy.
2) She is standing on her own a lot. She even tries to
take a step or two.

Rainy Skies:

Since we didn't want to get out in the rain, Abby
decided it would be the perfect time to
do some much needed tidying of her bag.


The storm that came later that day took out our basketball
goal. It did hit the car, but luckily it only scratched up the
front end. Uncle Tom says it will be cinch to fix.


She decided to run a few errands despite the weather.


I know this one is a little fuzzy, and I'm sorry. I just
thought it was too cute. She goes around holding stuff in
her mouth when she wants/needs her other hands.

Snow Angel:

This is her first real look at snow. It was too cold to get out
in it, but she loved looking at it. She was amused at how
different things looked. She kept pointing and smiling.


If Mohammad can't go to the mountain, bring the
mountain to Mohammad. Or, in this case,
we brought the snow to Abby.


"Hmmm... this is different."

"This is pretty cool. HA! Get it!?"


"Yummy!"
She ate the whole bowl!
We thought it was really cute.