Monday, September 26, 2011

Fake Football Draft Night

Back in August we hosted a Fake Football (aka Fantasy Football) Draft at our house.  Andrew's parents flew in for the event and his brother, Laura and Tyler drove in too.  It was more fun than I thought it was going to be and we all got in on the action, even the kiddos!


William making some careful picks

This is serious business.

It was tense at times.

Laura, Olivia and Tyler doing some serious playing during the draft.

Josh concentrating hard.

The girls helped me make my picks.
We picked based on team and uniform color.

Andrew had a super-secret binder full of stats....not fair!

Olivia and Grampa Peep making some joint decisions.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Ribs.....




....enough said!!!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Always surrounded...

...by a sea of pink!  Gladly taking donations for all things boy!!!


Trip to DC

Andrew had a TDY to San Antonio back in August, and while we would have loved to have of gone with him we just couldn't make it work.  So, I called up Susan and asked if she wanted to come out to Dayton and take a road trip to Virginia to visit Becca and the kids.  We loaded up the van and made the 8 hour drive to Virginia!  We had a wonderful time visiting with Becca and John and the kids always play so well together.  We went into DC twice to do some of the touristy things and laid low, hanging out at the pool, relaxing on the other days.  We all had a fantastic time and can't wait to go back!

The kids were not too cooperative with the picture taking.
It was nearly impossible to get them all to look at the camera AND smile at any given moment, oh well!

In front of the Lincoln Memorial
The kids were more interested in going up and down the stairs then seeing the statue....go figure!

Hailey, Becca and Wesley

We played musical strollers all day!

The highlight of the day for the kids was seeing the police horses drinking from the fountains!

The White House
This was the only thing Abigail was adamant about seeing while in DC

Trying to get a glimpse of the President or First Lady





On our 2nd day in the city we visited a couple of the museums.
Here are the girls looking at the ruby red slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

They LOVED the gigantic dollhouse and could have spent hours pointing out all the little details.

President Abigail

President Olivia

Playing with some of the hands on exhibits



...and here we are relaxing at the pool.
William loved the floaty!





Saturday, September 10, 2011

Happy 6th Birthday Abigail

My Dearest Abigail,
Six years ago today my life was changed forever!  It was the day you entered the world and made me a Mommy.  These past 6 years have been an incredible journey with both of us learning a lot along the way. I am thrilled with the little lady you have become.  You are so sweet, sensitive, nurturing, and outgoing.  You are creative and love arts and crafts, you can spend hours painting and coloring.  But, by far, your most favorite thing to do in the world is play with your friends.  You will be gone all day long playing with friends and the minute we get home you are on your way to see if the neighborhood kids can play.  You are constantly asking what we are doing next, if anyone is coming over for dinner, and you and your friends are always planning play dates and sleepovers.  If this is any indication of the social butterfly you will be as a teenager I guess I can plan on you only being home to sleep!

While you are on of the most friendly and outgoing little girls I know, I still see a bit of shyness in you when you are in an unfamiliar situation.  You approach things with caution, take them in, and evaluate things before you jump in.  I saw this most recently when you started kindergarten last week.  You had been talking about school all summer and you were so excited to start.  I, on the other hand, was still living in denial that my first baby would be taking that next huge step in life and starting "real" school.  I kept my mind off the reality by keeping us crazy busy over the summer, and of course, the day finally came despite my best efforts!  Somehow we managed to be ready, your backpack was ready, your lunch was packed and your new outfit was laid out. But, as excited as you were, you admitted to me a few times with big eyes and a shy smile that you were a "little nervous".  Taking you to the bus stop and watching you get on that big yellow bus and then having it pull away into the morning darkness with you on it and knowing you wouldn't be back for 7 hours filled me with anxiety.  I knew you would be fine, but I didn't see a little girl on the bus waving from the window, I saw my baby.  How was I supposed to protect you and take care of you when you are gone all day??  But, I worried for nothing because as the bus pulled up after that first day of school you came hopping down the steps with a huge smile on your face and excitedly told me about your first day of school and all your new friends.

Kindergarten wasn't the only big change for you over the past year.  Our family grew in January as we welcomed the arrival of your brother.  And, I was once again blessed to see you relish and blossom in your role as big sister.  You are so sweet to your brother and always helping by trying to keep him happy when I have things that need to get done.  You LOVE when you are able to get him to smile and laugh at you (which is all the time) and you take it personally if he cries when you are around.  You have also been great with Olivia during this transition and have taken it to be your personal mission to help her feel included.  Don't get me wrong, the sister spats have definitely become a part of our regular day but you girls truly are best friends and I am so happy and proud that you always include her and let her play with you and the big girls.  You are her biggest cheerleader and she looks up to you with crazy love and admiration.  Its a big job being the big sister and sometimes you get the short end of the stick, but you take on your responsibility with pride and I couldn't ask for a better girl to do the job!

Abigail, you are an amazing girl.  You have made our lives fuller, richer, happier, and brighter.  You have given me the best present in the entire world, you made me a mommy, and for that I will forever be thankful!  I love you my sweet girl....Happy Birthday!!

With all the love in my heart,
Mommy


Thursday, September 01, 2011

August's Random Ramblings

ABIGAIL

  • Abby was eating a bagel one morning and her tooth is ever so slightly loose.  She told me that her tooth is sensible and she may not be able to bite into the bagel.
  • Abby has taken to calling William "bubby"
  • Abby came home from her first day of school and informed me that "kindergarten rocks!!"
OLIVIA
  • Abby was helping Olivia get her shoes on one morning and asked if she wanted to wear her hot pink ones.  To which Olivia replied, they are not HOT they are cold!!
  • Olivia likes to help push William's stroller and she asks if she can help "shop him".
  • We went to the zoo and they have an incredible cheetah show which showcases the cheetah's running ability.  While we were sitting there waiting for it to start Olivia kept asking when we were going to see the cheetos run!
  • Olivia tells William to hurry up and finish eating his booby!
WILLIAM
  • William has learned how to do the pterodactyl screech which he loves to practice in the car.  He's not upset, just likes to listen to his own voice.
  • When he wakes up in the morning, Andrew gets him and changes his diaper and then brings him to me in the rocking chair so I can feed him and he reaches his arms out for me and practically leaps into my lap with a big ol' smile on his face....its a great way to start the day
  • William has got the rolling over thing down!!  He can roll to where ever he wants to go.  Its so cute and funny to watch, especially since his sisters rolled over a few times and called it good, not really rolling to get places.
  • He is very strong, he gets his but way up in the air and lurches forward...crawling is not far behind and then I'm really in trouble!!  In fact, he is now rocking on all fours all the time.


 
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