25 Things Tag About Abby

So I was tagged for "25 Things About Me" on Facebook, so I thought it might be fun to do "25 Things About Abby." So here I go:

1. She LOVES movies that are about monsters or have monsters in them. (Spiderwick, Wizard of OZ, Monsters Inc., Scooby Do).
2. She is a jokester. Abby will do something, then ask you if it was funny.
3. Abby has a sweet heart, she makes sure she says sorry.
4. She loves McDonalds chicken nuggets.
5. She is a night owl and is hard to get going in the morning.... Wonder where she got that???
6. She loves school.
7. Belle is her favorite princess, Ariel number 2.
8. Abby loves to wear dresses.
9. Her speech is clearing up.
10. She loves Diet Pepsi.... Wonder where she got that???
11. Abby is very independent; she likes to dress herself, decide dinner, open and close the doors on the house, comb her hair...
12. She is a big helper: helps me pick out shoes, helps me dust, helps Mike button his Sunday shirts, gets us soda out of the fridge, takes dirty clothes downstairs, fold clothes...
13. Abby LOVES wearing a ponytail.
14. Abby LOVES chocolate, but not with nuts or toffee.
15. Abby LOVES the color pink.
16. Anytime Abby wants to do something and me or Mike offer to help, she tells us to "Wait".
17. Abby loves getting pedicures with mom. So does mom!
18. Abby loves the polly pocket princess dolls.
19. Abby loves books.
20. Abby loves to boss the cat and the dog.
21. Abby loves to cuddle.
22. When Abby is happy, she will sing to herself.
23. Abby makes Dad play Barbies with her.
24. Abby is starting to know her letters by sight.
25. Abby loves to take baths.

Update: January 2009

Abby wearing her precious makeup!

I can't believe it is January. This month the Preas' family stepped up our signing. We now have what is called a Deaf Mentor, his name is Brandon. Brandon comes over once a week and we can only sign. I "think" he is profoundly deaf; he speaks very, very well.... but from our instruction through a translator (thanks Paula) we will never hear it. Both Mike and I agree that it will be stretching all of our skill but the end result will be us being able to sign fluently.

While Brandon, Emily (his supervisor), Paula, Mike and I were visiting (Mike and my heads' were swimming at this point), Abby came in and out of the room showing toys, her attitude was very blase'. I found it very surprising, I'm not quite sure how to read her.

This past week.... Well let me backtrack. Abby received from "Santa" some Barbie make-up. It was a free gift for buying so much Barbie brand items at Toys R Us. I realized during our Christmas Break, after she completely painted Grandma Phillips and herself in the translucent, waxy, and sparkle make-up that maybe it should just go away for a while.

Since Christmas Abby insists on excersized her independence to the point that she wants to do everything. Including letting the dog in from outside, helping herself to breakfast from the fridge in the mornings, and letting herself outside for a brisk walk by HERSELF! This also includes getting into MY makeup, so as a goodwill gesture to her, and hoping that she wouldn't get into mine, I gave back her makeup. The first couple days were pretty good. She put her makeup under my counter in the bathroom and didn't touch it after applying some lipstick and sparke to her eyebrows. When we went out, I would just take a wet wipe and wipe her face clean. Well today she got herself ready to go to the sitters. Abby didn't get her hair combed, but did make sure she had applied her makeup properly. I will be estatic when she finally runs out of her precious "Bobie" makeup.

Mike is in his final year of college. This term he has an spreadsheet class... let me correct myself, I HAVE A SPREADSHEET CLASS. I have gotten A's on all my projects, I only have 6 more to go. It's been kindof fun doing this class because I have been able to test my knowledge.

Lastly, a little funny. This week we went to the Olive Garden for dinner. I had to leave for a moment to use the facilities. We are trying to potty train Abby so I told her I needed to go potty. She wanted to go with, so as we went, Abby started skipping and chanting, "Mommy go potty! Mommy go potty!" I was just thankful that her words were not clear enough for the rest of the customers to understand. I am thrilled that that she is talking as much as she is, just not excited about some of her topic choices!

I'm Watchin You!

I'm posting this video because it makes me laugh. Abby started doing this one night... we didn't know where it came from until I sat through the movie "Tinkerbell" much later. I guess she was sick of Mike bugging her. It was so funny, that I ran down to get the video camera and we had her do it again.

"Not the Official Christmas Dress"

I haven't posted for quite some time. Before sitting at my desk tonight, I was thinking that it would be hard to post new items. I was completely unfocused, however, upon looking at all the videos and pictures I have taken these past weeks, it looks as if I was mistaken. I have been meaning to post the following video for several weeks.

Spa at the Preas'

First off, I have to say, "Sorry family... I had quite a bit going on during the holidays, that I didn't get many pictures :(". We did get a few... so this post is going to be mostly pictures. Abby received one of those Barbie Styling Heads and robe for Christmas. The styling head came with lots of accessories... Instead of styling the Barbie head, she has been using the accessories for her own use...
Abby was upstairs in my room that afternoon enjoying her "nails". I went looking for her and found her watching QVC, she was deeply engrossed watching the mineral makeup application. It was so funny I had to take pictures!





P.S. She loves the robe SO much, that she didn't take it off for THREE DAYS! Even then, I had to coax her out of it.

Christmas Morning 2008

2008 Christmas Letter

For those of you who I don't have addresses for:


Dear Family & Friends,
I can’t believe we are at the end of one more year! This Christmas season has been especially fun with Abby; Mike and I have been laying groundwork for her meet Santa. She has yet to meet him (this year) but in her excitement to do so; she calls out “Santa” to any older man with white facial hair, including the book she looked at today in church. She seemed to think God told Santa to gather two animals of every kind to ride in a boat and weather a flood. I am hoping her excitement doesn’t clam-up when the big “event” happens!
Abby started preschool this year and LOVES it. It’s a total communication preschool, which means they speak and sign at the same time. She leaves on a bus and everything! I love seeing her paintings, craft projects, and notes from her teacher. She has gotten so mature for her little 3 ½ years. I still feel somewhat cheated out of a “toddler” year, but the benefits of her going to preschool have been unmeasureable. Abby is starting to really express herself with language. I can understand her at least 50% of the time, which is a HUGE improvement. If I don’t understand, I can usually read her signs. Since starting school, Abby’s signing has gotten better than mine.
Just recently, Abby had a hearing test. Her left ear tested 15 db lower than her previous tests. Because of the drop, we went to Primary Children’s Medical Center for an MRI and found out she has “Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome”, meaning her hearing will continually decrease until she is completely deaf. The syndrome isn’t the cause of her deafness, but it is common in children with congenital hearing loss. We are sad to learn the results, but feel so blessed to have her. She continues to dazzle us with every move she makes. Unfortunately, her gymnastics have become a casualty of the syndrome. We fear a head bump might speed up her hearing loss. I am hoping she will like dancing just as much.
Abby isn’t the only one busy this year. Mike has started his final year of school. This time next year, he should have his bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. I’m not sure how he has been able to keep his grades above a 3.75 GPA, but he has. He is still working full-time installing audio/visual equipment in Park City for Lifestyle Electronics. With the soft economy, I hope next year’s update doesn’t have a job change mentioned.
As for me, I have more jobs than I know what to do with. In August, I started working at Mueller Park Junior High, as a resource room paperwork aid. I didn’t realize my new job had perks! I haven’t been able to diagram a sentence, add, multiply, and divide fractions since high school, but now I can! I am also still working on weekends at Gymboree, the children’s clothing store. I keep telling myself, I need to drop something, but their discount has come in very handy.

With the political, economic, and geographic unrest in the world, it has become a huge reminder to us what is really important in life. Mike and I feel very privileged and blessed to have a warm home, good jobs, wonderful family, and special friends to share the true meaning of Christmas with. As you read our holiday “letter”, please know that we love each and every one of you. Our wish to you is that your holidays are also filled with what is most important.

With Much Love, The Preas Family