goodnight

It's been a busy day.

We woke to a winter wonderland. It snowed last night and the city was sparkling white this morning. It was nice because the skies were clear and blue and the combination of those two things always makes for a nice day.

I had hoped to take some Abby pictures in it - but we simply couldn't find the time today. It was a busy day.

I got a lot done, but not enough done. I never get *enough* done. There's always more. Always.

But, I got a lot done, and that's good. We set up a bed in the guest room so that our guests can now have somewhere to sleep - this included getting the bed which included me driving with a mattress strapped to my car.

I found Abby a birthday gift. It's second hand and I found it on Craigslist, but I found a few wooden puzzles that I just fell in love with, so I'm happy that she'll have something from her mom and dad. We went and picked that up after having lunch, which was after church and after driving aimlessly for 30 mins while Abby (and Kyle) napped in the car.

After all of that was done I went grocery shopping. I came home in time to put Abby to bed. Then I got to sit down and relax. Kyle and I watched a few shows and at 11pm it was time to start cleaning. An hour later, the dishes are going, the rooms are tidied, the counters clean, the trash is emptied and I'm tired.

This week is a very busy week. Very busy. Wish me luck. It doesn't help, of course, that I would rather spend my days concentrating on Abby's birthday or my brother and sister visiting. But, I have too much to do between now and then. I know it'll get done though - it always gets done.

Anyway. It's Monday now so I'm calling it a night. Sweet dreams y'all.

I was pretty excited to pull out Abby's santa hoodie vest today.

I tried like 20 times to get a picture of her looking at the camera - but she wouldn't stop looking at the snow. :)

randomabbyosity

my blog. my made up words. :)

It's a cold grey morning here in Boston today. I know, I know, big surprise, right? It was in the 60s a few days ago, and that was a big surprise. We soaked up the sun every moment we could spare because we know winter is about to strike. Aaaaaanny minute now.

In fact, it may even snow on Abby's birthday - which would be kinda neat in that "Oh, look, snow is so pretty, but I hope the guests can still drive in" kinda way.

I think the reason it takes a year to turn one is because that's how long us moms need to cope with the idea. :) I'm coming around. Honestly, I feel like Abby is already one - she's certainly no longer a baby. The party will be just that - a celebration to acknowledge the fact that she's growing up.

Kyle and I have had very busy weeks and I'm afraid that the next few weeks before Christmas are going to be my busiest yet. In sum, I have a month's worth of cases to get done in a week. And yes, it's just as busy as that sounds like it would be. We've found ourself discussing Abby whenever we get a moment to talk. I'll pick him up from work and drive him to class and we'll discuss when we want to start giving Abby milk and how to wean her off of bottles. I'll see him for 10 mins before I leave for work in the morning, and I spend that time telling him about all the cute things Abby did yesterday. Right before bed, I might remember to tell him about the party food plans. So, even though we still are mainly ships passing, we make a point to share as much as we can to each other.

Hopefully next semester will be a little lighter for us both.

Anyway, I forget what I wanted to say originally now....oh, about her party maybe. Just that I'm very much looking forward to it, and that she's grown up so much over the past few weeks.

Abby has added a lot of new inflections to her voice now. Really, it seems like she has the inflections of conversation down pat - we just need to work on words. And sometimes, it sounds like she's saying words, and then I'm not sure if she's *really* saying them or not. Like yesterday, she wanted me to carry her around and she kept pointing at things and saying "Whassis" - which, of courses, sounds like "what's this?"

She really tries to say "yellow duck" every time she sees the picture in her book. And we've recently discovered that she loves snowmen! Loves. She has a book with a picture of one and she tries to say "Sssssshoan" when ever she sees it. The other day, a picture of a snowman came on the tv and Abby FLIPPED. She was all bouncing up and down and pointing and yelling - making it very clear that what she was saying was "omg! Do you see it? Mom! Do you see it??? It's a snowman!" So, of course, I started looking through her books for other snowmen pictures and she points them out everytime.

I have NO idea why she likes them so much. It's pretty random... but I'm kinda looking forward to maybe building her one this year.

What else? She hates water. I tried to replace her juice with water and she gives you this look as if she's completely disgusted. She sticks out her tongue and throws the cup away. We're working on it.

She's also changing her naps -I'm kinda thinking she's trying to go down to one nap - but I feel that it's kinda too soon for one nap. Either way, she's going down later for her 1st nap - around 10:30 instead of 9. I'm trying to get her to go down again at 3, but she doesn't like it. I need to go look at my sleep book again.

Oh - this was funny. We don't have cabinet locks (yet) so we've been telling Abby "no" and shaking our head when she tries to get into them (or anything else she's not supposed to get into) So now she does this thing where she will point at it, look at you, and slowly shake her head. And she won't touch them. So yesterday, I'm getting out a pan from our cabinet and it's kinda stuck, so I've got my head in the cabinet and Abby comes up from behind me and slams the door on me. I get out and look at her and she's sitting there pointing at the cabinet door shaking her head "no" Hahaha. Hilarious. She's like a guard baby.

All righty, enough random ramblidge for one morning. We're going out later today to look for cabinet locks and some other muchly needed things. I hope you have a great Saturday.

Oh, one more thing - my blog friend Tanna lost her sister in law last night to a hard fought battle with cancer. She was very young and its very tragic. I now many of you follow her blog as well, and even if you don't, I know she and her family would appreciate your thoughts and prayers during this really difficult time.

Ok. I'll leave you with a few pictures off the phone.

Kyle picked out this adidas suit for Abby when she was 2 weeks old. He's been looking forward to the day she can wear it for a year now - and today it made its debut. We just thought the wii tennis racket was the perfect touch.

diaper head

bed head. :)

You Capture - Your happy story

For all the people who visit my blog on days other than You Capture days - these pictures are all repeats. But, for the You Capture audience, these are the pictures I took this week. This week's theme is "your happy story".

Obviously, nothing makes me happier than my baby. It's a given. And something that makes her happy is playing peek-a-boo.

she grabs a towel

pulls it over her head

hides from mommy

and then shows herself again. :)

now go get happy with everyone else's stories here.

Alex

I've probably been told the story a dozen times over the past few years. About how they found the kittens in the attic one day. They couldn't keep them all, so they decided to keep two.

A white one they named Marshmallow and the runt of the litter - named Alex.

Alex was originally short for Alexis, after Kyle's then girlfriend, but once they discovered that "she" was a he - they just stuck with Alex.

And that little runt of the litter made quite the comeback. It wasn't long before he had outgrown his white furred sister. In fact, few people would probably have guessed at their relation. Marshmallow - who is often called Puffy for short is a thin, skiddish, yet oh so cuddly kitty and Alex grew to be, well, a big guy. :)

I'm not really sure Alex ever thought of himself as a cat. When most cats run away when someone knocks on the door - Alex always came to greet them. Alex played with the dogs and was fearless where most felines would find fear.

My favorite thing about Alex was this reflex he had. You know how dogs will shake their leg if you scratch just the right spot? Alex would lick his fur if you did the same thing. I spent most of my time with Alex scratching his back and watching his tongue reflexively groom himself.

As previously mentioned, Alex didn't wear his runt status for long. In fact, his sister helped bathe his back where he couldn't reach. Just thinking of this makes me smile. His girth was the topic of many a-comment by family, friends, and strangers alike. And Alex did nothing if not entertain with his quarks and personality. His laid-back demeanor was always a calm and comforting presence.

And tonight, we say goodbye to Alex. We will all miss him. I dare say that he probably left an impression on anybody who met him....and, for a cat, well that says a lot. Losing Alex creates a small hole in this tapestry of a life, but the years of laughs, cuddles, entertainment, love and memories will help us patch it up with colorful threads.

Alex, where ever you may be, may your pains be gone, your belly always full, your back always scratched and your window sill always sunny. There's no doubt in my mind that you know how much you were loved. You picked one jackpot of a family to adopt for sure.

Rest in Peace sweet Alex.

Daylight

I must wait for the sunrise

I must think of a new life

And I musn't give in

When the dawn comes

Tonight will be a memory too

And a new day will begin

~ from CATS

December

I always check my e'mail first thing in the morning, before I even get out of bed. This morning, I turned off the alarm and opened my inbox to see what junk mail had accumulated overnight. The first thing I got was an email that said "Abigail, it's your birthday!"

it took me a second.

But then I remembered signing up for some kid store promotion and I rarely put Abby's real birthday down when they ask for that kinda thing. I dunno why, paranoid I guess. So I always use December 1st. And they had sent me this coupon for the occasion.

It was, however, a bright reminder that today is December 1st and in less than two weeks, Abby will reach that big milestone of turning one.

Right now I'm not feeling sad about it. I'm feeling happy - and even excited. I'm in planning mode. Not that we're going to have anything elaborate, but I do want to give her a nice first birthday party...even if its small. We can't really afford gifts for her, and that's ok. She won't remember them and I can give her things like pictures and letters for the future that are free.

Of course there is, and probably always will be, a part of me that wants to go spend hundreds of dollars on new things for her. New toys that I know she'd enjoy, new clothes that would look adorable, and so on. But I keep having to remind myself that it's not the gifts that are important.

I just want her to have fun and be happy. And I just wanted to acknowledge the first day of this very important month. Have a good day everyone.

If cold December gave you birth,

The month of snow and ice and mirth,

Place on your hand a turquoise blue,

Success will bless what'er you do

~ Anonymous