Easter Egg Hunt

This is of Abby's "FIRST" Easter Egg Hunt. Our neighbors had an activity at their house and invited everyone. I had intended Mike to take Abby around, but she wouldn't have it (we went to the Dr's yesterday, Abby has a bladder infection). The hunt was pretty easy, she was done in a matter of seconds. She was overwhelmed with all the people, but I am hoping next year will be more fun for her. I keep thanking Mike, over and over, for all my back-side shots, just what I needed! With that, enjoy!

Abby's Christmas Dress

This is another of my posts that is LONG over-due! This is Abby's Christmas dress from her aunt Hilary. It is completely GORGEOUS, but I have never snapped a picture of it. Today, to quote a movie we saw yesterday (Monsters vs. Aliens)... "I don't have a brain, but I had a thought." to take a picture, that is. Here is some of my favorites...

BTW, we LOVED the movie Monsters vs Aliens. I don't think Abby even blinked through the whole thing!

New Haircut

I asked Abby last week if she was interested in a haircut, much to my surprise, she seemed really excited. I expected her to say, no... thinking all her favorites have long hair, i.e. Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Barbie, etc.

I set up an appointment for Abby's primary teacher Sue to do it, and Voila'. I thought it turned out really cute. Here are some pictures from this morning.

I also took some pictures of Abby and me, together. Don't be too harsh a critic: late night, early morning, concentrating on keeping my eyes open for the flash, holding up the camera, making sure we were centered, and smiling was just a tall order today...

Remember When?

To borrow from one of my favorite songs (one of the few country songs I really love)...

Remember when thirty seemed so old

Now lookin' back, its just a steppin' stone

To where we are

Where we've been

Said we do it all again

Remember when

So thirty-five (YES 35!) is coming fast. It's a very hard number to swallow. I remember my mom being 35, I remember "middle aged" women being 35. I don't feel like I am "middle aged", but am starting to see it in the mirror. On the inside I'm still singing and dancing youthfully with Britney Spears... I guess it's a good thing I am relating to "Remember When" and not "Womanizer!" That would be a whole new blog entry entirely!

Since my last post, I have a ton of "stepping stones" to report. I feel like I need a trumpet to announce this but.... Abby is completely potty-trained. I didn't want her to know I was worried. I was in the process of accepting that my child would be going to kindergarden or junior high wearing a pull-up. Every six months I would see if she wanted to give the panties a shot. She did, but promptly peed in them. To simplify the story, about a month ago, I had a talk with her and let her know that I was okay if she just wanted diapers, I would be supportive. I guess Abby didn't like my talk, she went upstairs and put some panties on and well, it is now history! She hasn't had one accident at all!

Mike has survived another lay-off with his work. His work has cut a third of their employees. It has been very worry-some, Mike now thinks that the amount of employees vs. work available has stablized again and we are through the worst of it. Our prayers for it to be true will not stop, though!

We had a HVAC guy come out to "green sticker" our furnace and give it a tune up. The technician took a look at it, he immediately turned it off and explained that it had cracks in the pipes and was also leaking gas. My first thought was, "Exellent that's all we need!" Through research and multiple bids we found a fantastic HVAC company. In two days we had a new furnace running in the house and it didn't break the bank. I can't believe the difference it has made. Our house is more evenly heated, our usage is down, and we are not breathing fumes! Mike and I knew our furnace was ancient, but thought if something were wrong with it, it would just stop working, not poison us slowly!

Two weeks ago, we bought Abby's new hearing aids, it has been an interesting journey. I thought she would be excited about the new ones being pink, but she didn't want to switch. She started crying when I explained that she would be getting a different pair. I also thought her responding would be much like a light going on. In fact it was just the opposite; because of the new "top of the line" technology being so different from her ancient ones, she has had to adjust the way she hears. For two days we had absolutely nothing. I was very worried we had made a mistake that cost as much as a compact car! The third day she began to respond again. I am now thrilled to report that her speech has begun to clear up noticeably, her teacher think she turns a smidge quicker, and she LOVES them being pink! The world is right again. :)

Abby is in a very fun stage. Some days I wonder who the parent is. When she accompanies me in the restroom, she ALWAYS monitors my paper usage. Sunday I had both my purse and my scriptures in a different bag. Abby put her hands on her hips and said very demandingly, "Which one?" "You get one to go! Which one?" I guess she knows the rule is only one accessory or toy when leaving the house. Mike looked very "cute" carrying my purse to the car. Abby is definitely still my shadow. She has been my biggest challenge and also my greatest pride.

As far as learning sign langauge, every Thursday we have a deaf mentor who comes and teaches us. His name is Brandon. Brandon is in his early twenties, from the Boise area, and with his wife is a foster parent to three darling kids. He has taught us quite a bit in a short amount of time. Thursday has been a day we look forward to in our house. We have several close friends come over to attend. They have also made it a priority. We learn, laugh, and PRACTICE with each other. The night usually ends with us either grabbing dinner together or a quick treat. It has helped us form a close bond with these friends and now they are family.

My dad had emergency surgery last week. His stomach had assimilated his Lapband. His Lapband was put in 1 1/2 years ago, and had lost about 100 lbs. Thursday, they went in and cut his stomach away from the Lapband to remove it. He was in ICU for several days, but yesterday he was discharged. He is needing to stay in the Seattle area for 10 days to make sure he is okay and to continue antibiotic and nutritional IVs. It was very scary for a few days, but as of now, he is doing well and is sounding more like himself every day.

I am still, yes still, working both my jobs. I think I work about 45+ hours a week between the two jobs. I decided to hang on to the store until after the new school term starts in the fall. I definitely couldn't keep my schedule if I didn't have Mike to help and support me. Between helping me, working and doing school work I'm not sure how he does all he does and is still an excellent dad and husband. Sunday, we took separate cars. Abby wanted to go home with him, so I drove behind them. I could tell Mike was smiling, even from behind. Abby makes him radiate with happiness. I could tell they were having a fun conversation. Probably with Abby showing off her bean planted in a dixie cup.

Remember when we said when we turn gray

When the children grow up and move away'

We won't be sad, we'll be glad

For all the life we've had

And we'll remember when

Life right now is very good.

Abby's Three Year Photo's...

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!