June's Random Ramblings

I need a place to write down all the random funny stories and things Abby does and says so I have decided to try to make this a monthly post. This will be more for me than for the readers, although I am sure you will kick out of some of things Abby comes up with. I am just going to keep a running list through out the month and publish it at month's end. Hope you enjoy!!

• We were driving in the car the other day and Abby was inspecting her legs. All of a sudden she said, "Mommy, I have fur just like Daddy!"
• Abby has been very sweet to her little sister and will sometimes give my belly a kiss or sing the baby a song.
• Abby has been very into the whole princess thing lately and the other night at dinner she said to me, "I am all done with my dinner your highness". I could get used to that!!
• Abby and I were at open gym and she was playing with a little girl who was about a year older than her. She asked the little girl her name, and told her "my name is Abby". And then she pointed to me and said "this is my Cheyna and she is very friendly."
• We went to Orlando this month and stayed in a hotel. Every time we were out and I said it was time to go home, Abby would correct me and say "Mommy that is a hotel, it is NOT our home!"
• If I ask Abby what color hair she has she always replies, "golden". The other day I asked her what color Daddy's hair is and she looked at me like I had 4 heads and said, "He doesn't have any hair!"
• Abby has pretty much boycotted breakfast. She just doesn't want to eat in the morning and I am past forcing her to sit in her chair and listening to her cry and still not eating anything. I still ask her if she is hungry or wants to eat anything in the morning to which she replys, "No thank you, my tummy is not grumbling." I just can't argue with that logic!
  

Q: What is more fun than helping Mom or Dad?

A: Helping Mom or Dad and making a mess at the same time!!

Here is Abby helping Daddy paint his beer pong table.

Abby and I made chocolate peanut butter bars and Abby "helped me clean" the dishes. i.e. she licked them clean!

Quick trip to Orlando

Andrew had yet another TDY in Orlando and after him being gone TDY 3 weeks in a row, Abby and I decided to join him. We had a good time, we swam, went to Downtown Disney, the worlds largest McDonald's, the outlets, and to a few good restaurants. We didn't do any of the big theme parks. I would never attempt this without Andrew's help or in the dead of the summer with all the crowds and the unbelievable heat!! Here are some pictures from our little mini-vacation!

These were taken the first night we arrived at Cafe TuTu Tango. It is a really yummy tapas restaurant and the atmosphere was really cool too. They had live music, art all over the place, a psychic, sometimes they have belly dancers, and Abby's favorite...a balloon clown!

When Andrew and I first saw this guy we thought Abby would be afraid of him. But, he was really good with kids and Abby thought he was very funny. Plus, she liked the balloons he made.

Not only did he make balloon animals, he did magic tricks too!! Very entertaining!!

Abby enjoying some ice cream one night after dinner. We were going to go putt-putt but decided against it when we found out it was $10 per person and there was no price break for kids. We will go somewhere around our house instead sometime.

Mmm, Mommy likes ice cream too!

One of Abby's favorite things about our vacation was the huge bed she got to sleep in all by herself! She loved getting it out at night and thought she was a really big girl sleeping in such a big bed.

Outside the Bibbidi Bobbibi Boutique with Princess Aurora

Giving Cinderella a big hug

Checking out the Lego dragon outside the Lego store at downtown Disney.

Petting the Lego doggies

Playing with the legos

This is at the huge McDonald's, I just think the expression is funny!

Mommy and Abby at the big McDonald's

"Look at all the tickets I won!"

Here is the sleeping beauty dress Abby picked out at WalMart. We were going to get one at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique but they were $70. We found this one at Walmart for the bargain price of $19.99. Its great having a toddler that doesn't know or care about the difference and while the dresses weren't the same, the one from WalMart was just as cute!

Abby and Daddy splashing in the pool one evening after Andrew got down with work!

Abby's got on her party dress...

...and she was ready to dance at the reception. Here are a few more pictures, these were taken at the reception which was a lot of fun and very beautiful. Erik recited a beautiful speech to his new bride and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. Abby did a wonderful job and was an angel all day long. She was finally ready to take off her dancing shoes and party dress and go to bed around 10 PM, which was fine by me as I was probably more worn out after the days activities than she was!!!

Playing the piano, the DJ just wasn't cutting it all by himself!!

Bustin' a move on the dance floor

I knew she had some ballet moves, but I didn't know she could break dance too!

The beautiful cake. The photographer caught Abby sticking her finger in the frosting before the cake was cut! Shhh, don't tell anyone!

Andrew was told the night before at the rehearsal dinner that part of his duties as best man would be to learn and LEAD a traditional Greek dance. It was very entertaining to watch Andrew try this after only about 20 minutes of practice. The dance is not nearly as easy as it may look on My Big Fat Greek Wedding!

And....she is spent. I tried to get one last picture of the flower girls and Abby was NOT having it. I was afraid it I waited any longer to take her to bed she her dress would turn to rags and her stroller into a pumpkin. We left shortly after this picture was taken, but we had a fantastic time!!

Erik and Danielle's Wedding

Here are some pictures from Erik and Danielle's wedding that we attended while we were in Wisconsin. Andrew was the best man and Abby was a flower girl. It was a traditional Greek wedding and even though I couldn't understand most of what was being said, it was a beautiful wedding. I have lots of pictures (mostly of Abby) so I am going to keep the words to a minimum. I will say that Abby did a fantastic job as flower girl. I was very worried that she wouldn't walk down the aisle in a room full of strangers. But, yet again, the girl proved me wrong!! I think it was all because of the dress she was wearing ;)

Getting ready to walk down the aisle

Walking down the aisle. A little birdie told me that Andrew got a bit choked up seeing his little girl walk down the aisle just with the anticipation of things to come. (I thought it was sweet) And no, I didn't cry...I was too busy making sure that she didn't turn back around or start screaming and crying and refuse to walk any further!

The beautiful bride and groom.

The back of the dress, it was absolutely beautiful

Doing some ballet moves

Andrew and his brother Josh

Family photo

I am about 19 weeks along in this picture.

Happy Father's Day

I tried to find a poem online to express how we feel about Andrew, but none of them were just right. He is a man I take for granted on a daily basis, although that is something I am working on. He does so much for our family, with little complaint or nagging from me. He is our breadwinner, he goes to work everyday while I have the pleasure of staying home with Abby. I love being a stay at home mom but I often lose focus of how lucky I am when the day to day grind gets monotonous and I often find myself complaining to Andrew. He listens without judgement, offers advice when needed and keeps his mouth shut when appropriate. All the while, he doesn't complain about his job, or all the traveling he does, or the fact that I sometimes spend too much of our hard earned money at Target. He never makes me feel guilty for not contributing financially and reminds me that my contribution is just as important. He walks in the door from work and immediately goes into Daddy mode. He doesn't ask for anytime to unwind from his busy day but goes straight to playing with Abby or taking care of things around the house. There are days when he is in his uniform till after dinner because he is so busy with our family he doesn't even take time to change.

I knew when I met Andrew that he was a special guy. He's sweet, outgoing, protective, smart, and handsome. I knew that he would make a good Dad, but I had no idea how hands on he would be and how much he would truly enjoy it. He has no problem playing dress-up, playing with barbies, or being surrounded by pink. From day one he has changed diapers, soothed, rocked, bathed, looked for missing paci's, warmed milk, read stories, and most importantly snuggled, hugged, kissed and loved.

As we prepare to bring another child into this world, I am not worried. I know Andrew will help make my life easier in any way possible. I also know that our new little bundle of joy will also be the apple of her daddy's eye, just like Abby is. His 2 little princesses are very lucky to have such a wonderful Dad! Happy Father's Day Andrew, we love you!!!!

Love,
Chey, Abigail and Nonnie

In the beginning...

...and now!

Another milestone in the potty training mission

Abby has been day-time potty trained for a while now and I knew the next step would be working on night-time training. I have been lazy about it and haven't be very proactive. But, I noticed that she was keeping her night-time trainer dry about 98% of the time all on her own. She has woken up in the middle of the night occasionally and said she had to go pee and sure enough I would take her to the bathroom she would do her business and go right back to sleep. I finally realized that she could probably go without a trainer but I wanted to wait for a time when Andrew would be home in case we did have an accident he could help with changing the sheets and so on. So, last night I asked Abby if she wanted to wear a trainer or her big girl underwear and she chose her underwear. When she woke up this morning I had completely forgotten that she wore big girl underwear till she said she needed to go to the bathroom. It was then that I realized she didn't have an accident and kept her underwear dry all night!!! I am so proud of her and thankful because she pretty much did this on her own. There was nothing I did to prepare her for keeping dry at night, it is just something she does. I count my blessings in the potty training department because it has never really been a struggle for us. I guess we can say she is completely potty trained now. I am prepared for the occasional accident. Come on, I am realistic, but it is nice to know that I won't be buying diapers or trainers for about 4 months and then the cycle will start all over with Nonnie!

Wisconsin trip continued...

Before I go through all the pictures we took at Erik's wedding I thought I would try to finish up the rest of our trip to Wisconsin. Here are a few of the highlights.

Andrew and Abby feeding the giraffe at Tibavati Wildlife Park

Feeding the goats

Abby and Grampa checking out some animals

Abby's dream house at Storybook Gardens :)

Abby and Andrew checking out the Polar Bear at the Madison Zoo.

Abby eating a Popsicle at Devil's Lake.

Playing in the sand at Devil's Lake.

Abby and Daddy at Devil's Lake.

We did have some down time while we were in Wisconsin, though not very much! Here is Abby playing with play-doh on Grammy and Grampa's front porch.

The fairy princess and her playhouse.

Helping Grampa cook. They made stir-fry this particular night and Andrew and I were actually in Madison having dinner out with Josh and Laura.

According to Abby the stir-fry didn't have enough ingredients and she insisted that what is was lacking was bananas and magic. So, in went the bananas and Abby waved her magic wand over the dish for a little dash of magic. I guess it worked well because from what we heard dinner was very yummy!

Family dinner on the front porch