A-bee

This year, our Abby is being A-bee for halloween (get it? :)  We decided to give the costume a test run yesterday and go on a little walk.  A few weeks ago, Abby didn't want anything to do with her costume. So, we hung it in her room and every day she would say, "Oh! A bumblebee!" but we wouldn't let her touch it (so mean, I know)  So, yesterday, when I got it down - she was pretty excited to put it on.  She kept calling herself "Soooo pretty"  Which, of course she is...duh. :)

my bee - and her "say cheese" smile

posing. ;)

We'll have many more pictures from over the weekend I'm sure.  Halloween and costumes have always been something fun for me - but having a kid just brings it to a whole new level. :)

some fall pics

Yesterday afternoon, Kyle had an appointment, so Abs and I decided to walk around BU for a while until he was done.  His meeting ended up taking about an hour, so we had plenty of time to explore.  The weather was unseasonably warm, so it was a really nice day to be out.  I've been wanting to get some good tree pictures lately, but we just have not had the chance.  Either, the weather has been super crummy, or I've been too busy.  And now, so many of the brightest trees have started to go bare. 

Anyway, we had fun and I captured a few pics of some fall colors to hold me over for a little while.  

Abs was having a blast walking around (running, jumping, climbing around)  She was not interested in being in the stroller.  So, she buckled in her doll Tilly and pushed the stroller instead.  It's cute.  When she got tired of that, she spent her time running from here to there and back again.  I took many pictures - all but maybe 2 or 3 came out blurry.  

This one was usable  - but just goes to show, capturing her in frame requires a bit of finesse.  

 I am sad that the colors in these pictures do not upload well to blogger.  The colors are so much more vibrant on my computer (and in real life!) than they are once compressed here.  So, just use your imagination to up the volume on those colors, and it'll help.

I love these old New England style buildings, especially with the autumn ivy all over.

 Abs spent 20 minutes going up and down the stairs of this building.  She was quite proud that she could go down without holding on to anything.  She still "climbed" up.  Every time she would get to the top, she would say "I did it!" and then she would go and pretend to try and open the door while turning to me and shaking her head saying, "nooooo, nooooo door"

last shot before my camera died.  Another new-englandy picture to me.

thank you for choo-choo

We started a prayer routine with Abby when she was about a year old.  We say the same bedtime prayer each night and she's had the hang of it for a while.  Well, not the words.  She crosses herself and says "Fava, son, howy spit" Then, she clasps her hands together and we say the prayer.  A little while back, we started adding a second part.  After the prayer, we say "thank you" for the various things in her day.  "Thank you for all the fun we had finger painting, and taking a walk with mommy, and eating dinner with daddy"  etc.  Then we say amen, she crosses herself again and we're done.

Well, tonight, after we said the thank you prayer, Kyle asked "Abby? Is there anything you're thankful for?"  At first, she just parroted back, "thank you"  And we told her good job.  But, then right as we were about to get up she starts saying "Thank you for leaves, thank you for choo-choo, thank you for jiberjaber..."

I know it seems simple, but we were so impressed!  Kyle and I gave her lots of praise and kisses.

We put her down after all our hugs and kisses.  She helps pull up the dropside, she tucks in glowie, then she cuddles with her blanket and says "nigh-nigh, sweet deems"

You Capture - Autumn

Sigh.  I wanted to get creative this week.  I intended to, really.  But, then it was raining and gross outside and I got busy and my husband was busy and then yesterday afternoon, with only an hour of light left, I thought "wow, I haven't picked up my camera all week"

So, while Abby played in a random yard of some Boston business, I snapped these shots for my submissions this week.

I can't wait to see what everyone else found. :)

I think these shoes are adorable. :)

On this one, I like how the first hole kinda looks like a  leaf shape too.   See it?

Go see what everyone else posted for this week's You Capture. :)

odds n' ends

Happy Wednesday folks.  It doesn't seem like Wednesday to me.  This whole week has been a little weird.  Kyle's schedule has been different this week, we've had appointments and meetings that we don't usually have, the weather has been in the 60s and 70s!  And, it's been raining lately which has made things crazy humid.  And, because October is so long this year, I keep thinking that it should be November already (except the weather feels more like May). All in all - this week just seems a little off.

So, let's see, what can we talk about?

*5 minutes have passed with me staring at the computer screen*

I got nothing really.  Work is fine.  Nothing too exciting going on, but things are picking up so my schedule is getting busy.  It'll remain busy till Thanksgiving (at least, ha).  But, busy is good.  It's not unmanageable yet.  The light at the end of that tunnel is that in 2 weeks our good good friends Billie Jo and her husband Ricky are coming to visit for a few days!  I took a personal day off work, so we have a long weekend to hang out and get in some good time together.  So, I'm very much looking forward to that.

Abby stuff.  She's such a fun kid.  Really.  She's been spending her days playing in leaves, jumping in puddles, finger painting and learning how to dunk cookies in milk with Karen.  We go to a weekly play group where she's made a few little friends her age and it's been so fun to see how she interacts with others.  I like watching her fun and caring personality emerge when playing with others.  She's still the border collie of our play group - she's constantly picking things up and putting them back on the shelf or in the bin or where ever they go.  If somebody does something wrong, she's the first to say "oh no!" and try to correct them.  Her new thing is when she puts books on the shelf, the spine must be facing the right way.  I promise you guys, I'm really not some clean house rule mongrel.  But, Abby, she just likes things to be where they're supposed to be.  *shrug*  I'm still not expecting that to last forever.

I need to get her walrus impression on camera.  Funny.

Ok, moving on.  Pregnancy stuff.  I feel fine.  I haven't gained any weight yet (although the doctor's scale is probably going to disagree with me - it seems to always work out that way)  I don't really feel like I'm showing yet, I just feel like I always looked a few months pregnant.  So - I guess I look a few months pregnant now - but I looked this way 6 months ago too.  Unlike with Abby, I'm trying to stave off "showing" as long as possible.  I can still wear my regular clothes, but....I can tell they're getting tighter. I'm really hoping to last till 5 months before I have to go full blown maternity wear.  But.  We'll see.  I'll be 4 months next week, and I'll try to take a belly shot I suppose.  maybe.

I still want mostly salty things.  I think crave is too strong a word.  Just "prefer" perhaps.  I can't eat a lot at a time.  So I try to snack more than eat a meal really.  I am still loving beets.  They're like really really good.  I'm happy that this time around, I seem to be eating healthier overall.  With Abs, anything green, homecooked, or healthy made me ill.  It was, shall we say, problematic.  With this pregnancy, things have been very mild.

Ok, that's probably enough odds n' ends for now.  I'll leave you with a silly little video of Abs.  We had a really early dinner together this afternoon.  Forgive her hair - with the rain and the humidity, it's just a curly hodpodge of locks that I didn't feel like wranglin'   Enjoy.

diaper friends

randomosity, continued.

Abby refers to her diapers by the characters on them.  She has pampers diapers with sesame street characters on them during the day, and huggies overnight diapers for night.  Now, at every diaper change, she asks, "Elmo?"  or  "Cookie?" (cookie monster) or whatever other character she's hoping for.  She takes whatever she gets.  Then, throughout the day, she'll tell you which one she has on, "Abby - big birt diaper!"  This is kinda cute.  But it gets confusing in public when she starts chanting "A cookie diaper! I have a cookie diaper!"  It's even greater when she starts proclaiming "Poopy cookie diaper!" or just "poopy cookie!"

(oh, and for those of you keeping track at home, yes, she's started saying "diaper" now instead of "dit-die"  I, however, still slip back to saying "dit-die" on occasion and have to watch myself.  ;)

At night, she runs into her room and goes to her other basket to proclaim "Mickey diaper!"  She picks one out, grabs a wipe, and give them both to me.  She'll, again, proceed to tell you for the next few minutes that she's now wearing a "Mickey Diaper!"  On occasion, although not as often as in the past - she'll refer to the Mickey diapers as "hot dog diapers"  Because, you see, on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - the characters sing a song called the Hot Dog Dance and she makes that association.

Another point to remember about her diaper lingo.  Since she was born, Kyle has enjoyed "flying" Abby around superhero style and proclaiming "Super Abby!"  Now that she's a little bigger, this usually consists of being tucked under Kyle's arm and "flying" - Abs sticks her arms out in front and everything. Well.  When she first saw Super Grover on sesame street (with cape and all) she proclaimed "Oh! Super Abby!"  She still won't say grover.  So now, if she wins a Grover diaper - she gets very excited and says "Oh, Super B!" ...which has become her shortened version of Super Abby/Grover.

Because she identifies her diapers by characters - she treats them as individuals.  She routinely shuffles through her diaper basket to pick one of each character (sometimes two Elmo's, because, well, Elmo's the obvious favorite) and she'll put them in a circle or feed them or invite them for tea.  She likes putting them in her big inflatable duck boat and taking them for rides around her room.

Luckily, she's very good about cleaning up her diapers and she's now able to even put them back in the basket correctly (instead of just piling them back on a shelf).  So, there's that.  And, she only plays with new ones.  Ha.  She'll often point to her diaper trash can and proclaim "Peeeee-yew"

I dunno, maybe I should be worried that she plays with her diapers so much?  Or maybe I should just remember that we're growing a sibling as we speak.  It'll all work out. :)

You Capture - Orange

This week's You Capture assignment was "orange"  Unlike some weeks, the problem this week was not finding something that was orange, but trying to refrain from taking pictures of everything around.  There is orange everywhere right now.  Orange is fall.

We went to a fall festival last weekend a few blocks from our house and I snapped several pictures from that occasion.

I actually took a picture of this entire flower, but despite my best mediocre editing skills, the flower was just too bright - too saturated - too orange!  So, I cropped it and am showing the part of the flower that was in the shadows.  I added an antique effect to further subdue this orange.  Man, it was bright.

While at the fall festival, my little pumpkin helped decorate this little pumpkin.  

(ok, so I put on glue dots and she threw glitter at it - but it's still a masterpiece, no?)

On the way home, we saw someone blowing leaves.  

It was actually pretty hard to get a good picture with my little camera, 

but I thought I'd stick it in here anyway.

And finally, I just had some fun at home with a few pumpkins and negative space. 

Go over to Beth's site, I Should Be Folding Laundry to see what other orange people captured this week!

Abby's great Uggventure!

I consider my life to be richer because I've been privileged to know two very special people - Auntie Kelsay and Uncle Ernie.  Kelsay & Ernie live in Australia - I know them through Kyle's family -they're the ones we went to visit just over a year ago.  I've said it before, but their warmth, hospitality, generosity and infectious personalities have left lasting marks on my heart.  

Well, today they sent Abby an early birthday present and we were just tickled pink to get such a fun surprise in the mail today.

what ever could it be?

A big Thank You to Ernie & Kelsay for Abby's very first pair of Uggs!  

....straight from down under even

Well, Abby saw her boots once she woke up from her nap.  She learned to call them "boots" and kept saying "So pretty!"  Sometimes Abby can be difficult about trying on new shoes, so I wasn't sure what to expect.  But, I was happy to find that once I put them on and stood her up, she was good to go. 

In fact, we decided that having your very own Australian boots should be celebrated with an adventure!  What better way to capture that wild aussie spirit? ;)

Getting ready to set out on our adventure...treasure box in hand.

aaaaaaaaaaaaand, we're off!  Off to find adventure!

(but we mustn't forget to stop and smell the flowers - even adventurers should take time to appreciate the finer things in life)

Action shot! Ugg power!

"Mama! Get all da rocks!"

Adventurers know how to collect important artifacts

...and tame wild beasts!

 It didn't take long before Abs refused to walk on the pavement anymore.  

Only off-roading for adventurers! 

We even explored strange and secret passages...

Oh, and we, uh...stopped to smell more flowers. :)

Dearest Auntie Kelsay & Uncle Ernie, 

Thank you so very much for my new boots!  My feet have never been warmer and they make me feel so big and brave!  Mom says that we will be getting a lot of use out of them, and that's cool with me because I think they are sooooo pretty. 

I love you both lots and lots

xoxo, 

your Abbykat 

(the adventurekat!)

twinkle twinkle

For those of you who didn't see it on FB already.  Here's Abby singing to us yesterday morning. :)

cweanup!

We're not really sure how it happened, or if it will last...but we're trying not to shake the boat too much.

Abby has turned into a bit of a neat freak.  Or, maybe that's not the right term.  She likes things to be clean and in their place.  She's developed a strong sense of order and rules.  It's interesting to watch.  Let me give you some examples.

Earlier this week, we hosted a play group at our house.  Two other moms came with their 2 kids each.  Ages ranged from 3.5 years to 11 months.  Abs woke up from nap, and shortly after we had living room full of kiddos who were happily helping themselves to her things.  You could tell she wasn't sure what to make of it.  She clung to me for a second, but before long she was following around the other kids saying "uh-oh, uh-oh" and frantically cleaning up after them.  One little girl got out the crayons and the paper.  Abby quickly started putting all the crayons back in the bucket we keep them in.  One little boy dumped out some blocks, and Abby put them back in the drawer just as quickly.  When another girl played with the number magnets on the fridge - Abby looked exasperated and went behind her to line them up in a row again.

Now, it didn't last the whole time.  After a few minutes, she was playing too and we all had a nice time.  But, you could tell - she knew where things should be and was trying to maintain some sort of order (control?) over the situation.

Example two.  Abby is not all that tidy when she plays - our rooms end up with toys everywhere.  But, when we say "Abby, time to clean up"  She jumps up and says, "OK! Cweanup!"  And she does a good job.  We give her specific tasks and lots (and lots and lots) of reinforcement.  It's now at the point that if we forget to clean up, she brings it up.  If we say, "Ok, let's go get ready for bed now" she'll point at her mess and say "cweanup now?"

On that same note - she likes her room to have everything in it's place.  The other day, we walked into her room and she exclaimed "Oh NO! Book! Book go on shelf!"  She was emphatic. There was a single book in the middle of her room and she ran over to it and not only put it on her bookshelf, but put it vertically in the exact spot it came out of earlier that morning.

She loves to play with her diapers and routinely gets several out in the mornings.  But now she not only gathers them back up when she's done, but she tucks them back into the basket we keep them in just like they should be.  The other night, she had just finished putting up all her diapers and she stopped, put up her index finger and said "Oh! Big Birt!"  She took off into my bedroom where she opened my closet, moved some shoes, and found a big bird diaper that she had, apparently, left there that morning.  She happily reunited him with the rest of the diapers and said "aaaaalll better"

If we forget something - she reminds us.  "Mama!  The gate!"  When I forget to put the gate up that blocks the stairs.  Or, "Crib up!" if we don't raise her dropside quickly enough after putting her down.  She asks, "jacket? shoes?....PARK??"  if we start getting ready to go outside.

She knows and loves her routines.  At dinner, when I ask her if she's finished, she'll say "All done.  Wipe? Trash? Cweanup? Baf? Diaper? Teeth? Books? Nigh-nigh?"  If, for some reason, I tell her that part of the routine won't happen today "No bath tonight" She'll say in a very sad voice, "Nooooo baf, no no no baf, bye bye baf"

I'm sure there are many more examples, but these are the ones that come to mind right now.  I just wanted to document that this happened.  Because, I'm not entirely sure it will last forever....and maybe when she's 13 and her room is a mess, I can remind her that as a 1 year old, she was able to show responsible behaviors, ha  ;)

1st trimester

The hardest thing about keeping our little secret was not blogging about it.  There were moments and memories that I naturally wanted to record for memory's sake, but then couldn't because, well, it was a secret.

But, now that everybody knows about the new little one, I can go back and recap some of the past 13 weeks and answer some of the questions I've been getting from here and there.

So, let's see, where to start?  The beginning?

Unlike with Abby, this pregnancy was planned and expected.  It was a very different experience than the pure shock (disbelief, denial, despair, ha!) that accompanied our finding out last time.  This time, there was a lot of waiting and anticipation.  Waiting to test and waiting to test and waiting to test.  I had 4 negative pregnancy tests and had given up for that month until I tried that last one - and lo and behold, it was positive.

Because we had seen so many negatives and I didn't have any symptoms, it was a little unreal for a while.  Not in the same way that Abby was unreal - but just that we had convinced ourselves that I wasn't pregnant and so learning that I was took a little bit to sink in.  Not to mention, I was busy with Abby - and I think it's normal not to think about the 2nd pregnancy as much as you did the first because you have so much more going on.  I kept forgetting that I was pregnant.

...but I was ;)

I had few to no symptoms for weeks. My chest may have been a little sore, but nothing overly noticeable.  I didn't have any cravings, no aversions, no morning sickness, no crazy fatigue - I felt disturbingly normal.  This was one of the reasons I agreed to wait until the 12 week mark to tell this time, I really wasn't 100% confident that the pregnancy would last.  I just didn't feel pregnant -  at all.

Little by little, the fatigue increased a bit - but still nowhere what I felt with Abby.  I started to notice that I would feel queasy if I didn't eat frequently enough - but no morning sickness.  I started to develop food preferences, but not really cravings.  I completely lost my sweet tooth for a while.  Sweets did not repulse me - I'd eat ice cream if I had to - but it did not sound good.  I did not want sweets.  Kyle would ask if I wanted to make brownies and I'd say, "eh, if you want"  But, for what I lacked in a sweet tooth, I made up for in salt.  Now, if you know me, you know that I like salt - I'm not proud of that, but it's just the way things are. So, for me to want salt more than usual is....notable.

There are only two instances so far of extreme food cravings/aversions.  The first one is sushi.  Even typing the word makes me gag a little.  One day, we were at whole foods and decided to pick up something for lunch.  I decided some California rolls sounded really good.  When we got home, I ate one or two and couldn't finish them.  And then, I couldn't smell them.  And then, I couldn't look at them.  And then, I couldn't even think about them without that gag reflex setting in.  This is sad, because normally, I really enjoy sushi.  But, for now, no can do.  And that's all I'm going to write about that because it's upsetting my stomach.

The only crazy craving I've had was for sour candy.  Kyle and I were driving out to wal-mart to pick up a few things and on the way I said, "doesn't sour candy sound good?" Kyle said, "um, sure..."  From that point on, it's ALL I could think about.  We did our shopping, and I was scanning shelves for sour candy.  I eventually found the candy aisle and grabbed several boxes of sour patch kids candy.  Then, a little voice of reason broke through and I put them all back and only took 1 box.  As soon as the cashier had scanned it, I said "I'll take that" and I started to open it before we had even finished paying.  By the time we got to the car, I'd eaten 1/2 the box.  And my mind could only think one loud and repeating thought "I CANNOT GET THESE IN MY MOUTH FAST ENOUGH!"  I finished the whole box in a matter of a few minutes.  At one point I asked Kyle if he wanted one, he looked frightened and said, "umm, no that's ok, you, uh, you go ahead"   It was almost as if I wasn't even in control - like I HAD to eat those candies RIGHT then or I would explode.

But, that was the only time that's happened.  I had a terrible stomachache the rest of that day, ha.

We had our first doctor's appointment when I was 9 weeks.  It was too early to hear the heartbeat - which didn't exactly encourage my theory that all was going to be happy and healthy, so we decided to continue to wait to tell until we got confirmation that everything was ok.  On a happier note, I was officially at the same weight I was when I started my pregnancy with Abby.  The nurse asked me how old I was and I thought about it and said, "um, 26?" I really couldn't figure it out right then.  It didn't dawn on me until I'd left that I told her the wrong age.  So, when I went back at 12 weeks I told her that I said the wrong age.  "I'm actually 27, and I'm gonna be 28 next month"  She had a good laugh about that and told me I was too young to be lying about my age.  ;o)

Around 7/8 weeks?, school started back and with my increased activity I noticed I was a little more tired in the evenings.  It's taken some adjusting to get used to balancing work and home, wife and mama, down time with errands and chores.  In fact, I'm nowhere near figuring it out.  But, I do have my priorities and, like my friend Jen wrote the other day - I'd much rather spend my time playing on the floor than sweeping it.  Once I started back to work - I started cooking less, much less.  It was one of those things that got sacrificed in the name of exhaustion and time. But, that has to change.  And, I'm making it a higher priority now that I'm getting into a better work groove and my tiredness is letting up a little.

I gave up caffine completely for the first 10 weeks or so of this pregnancy, but work eventually convinced me to give in a little.  I now usually have a cup of coffee a day - the doc said that's more than fine, and that's a good thing, because MAN does it help!

Our 12 weeks appointment was nice.  We spent a long time with the ultrasound tech and it was neat to see the little one in there - so human like.  He/She was hiccuping and waving and punching and swallowing.  We watched as it put it's hands on it's face, and back down, and back up - it's *really* amazing what you can see.  It was at that point, that things started to become real.  For all of us.

Abby is too young still to understand what's going on.  And I'm ok with that.  I've asked her if she'd like a new baby, and she politely answers, "no"  So, I figure we'll be revisiting that in the future. ;)  My dad reminded me of when my grandmother asked him and his brothers if they'd like a new baby brother or sister.  They took a vote and told her "no"  Funny story :)  I imagine as I start to show, it will be easier to "explain" things to her.  And although it's months away, and I know the transitioning will not be easy, I am ever so optimistic that Abby is going to be an amazing big sister.  You know, we knew when she was born that she was not only the "first" but also the "oldest"  I told Kyle when Abs was just a few weeks old "Isn't it weird to think that she's the oldest child too?"  We've always known we wanted more kids and I'm (at this point anyway ;) excited to see that happen.

So, now we're entering the start of the second trimester and I'm feeling pretty good about things.  I take my vitamins (most days), I'm not showing at all and still have not gained any weight - but unlike the first time around, I am in NO hurry for that to happen.  I'll keep wearing pants that button and zip for as long as I can get away with it.

Thanks for all the well wishes - things are quite good around here. :)

sharing

Today was a pretty good day.  Although, it wore me plum out.  I suppose, being worn out at the end of your day is a good thing - it hopefully means that you squeezed as many moments as you could into the time you were awake.  I woke up a bit before 5:30 as usual and am finally sitting down.

I won't bore you with too many details about work.  I had my first meetings of the year today and they went off well.  I had a bit of extra time at the end of my workday and so I stopped by the thrift store to relax and browse for a few minutes.  Found a little step stool for Abs, so maybe now she can just watch me cook and will stop insisting on being picked up ever .2 seconds.   ....Maybe I'll start cooking again, ha.  

Wednesdays are the days that Kyle has class, so I'm only home for about 45 mins before I have to have Abs packed up in the car.  We pick him up and drop him off and then it's just us girls for the rest of the night. 

I've blogged about this before.  Wednesdays wear me out, and on one hand, I just want to go home and veg.  But, on the other hand, I know that having just me and Abby time is just so special - there's so much potential in those few hours of being together to create bonds and memories.  I just can't bring myself to waste them.  Which is good of course.

So, tonight we headed to the mall to play in the indoor playspace.  Several things happened that I want to remember.  Most notably, I watched Abby make a friend.  Just a short-term friend.  But, I watched the process from start to finish and it melted my heart into a little puddle.  This girl who was probably 2 and a half or so came into the playspace.  She and Abs just so happened to be wearing very similar outfits and had similar hair - although hers was longer.  

Abby watched her from a distance for a while.  The little girl, who was not shy, came up and said "Hi!"  Abby said, "Oh, a baby!" and pointed to the girl.  She corrected Abs with, "No, I'm a big girl"  Abby understood and repeated, "Oh, a big girl!  Abby big girl"  

She then started asking the girl to play with her - in her own way.  She said "Want Slide? Share slide?" The girl understood and they two ran off and took turns sliding.  Abby asked her to share the rocket with her and some other toys.  The older girl "taught" Abs how to play hopscotch (jumping on the numbers) and while I watched them both haphazardly jump on numbers together and giggle, I just couldn't believe how grown up Abs seemed. Not grown up as in an adult of course - but so kid like.  

They had fun and eventually some other kids joined in.  Abby kept asking the others to "share?" and it was really cute. She had a blast.

Eventually, all on her own, Abs said "food?" and I asked her if she were hungry.  "Yes"  So I asked her what she wanted to eat.  She thought about it and said, "pizza?" I didn't really expect her to give me an answer, but since she did - how could I refuse?

We went to the cheesecake factory for a small mommy-abby date. It was nice.  Abs was being good and in a good mood. But, right when the food came, she started frowning and rubbing her stomach.  She kept lifting her shirt and saying "uh-oh, boo-boo!" I couldn't find anything wrong with her, so I have to assume her stomach was just upset.  Maybe she was hungry?  There's no telling.  I lightly rubbed her stomach for a bit - and that put her into a bit of a trance (she comes by that honestly).  When I stopped, she quickly grabbed my hand and put it back on her stomach and said "more" We wrapped up dinner and came home.

After an episode of Mickey to wind down and another snack (she apparently found her appetite) and some very silly/overtired toddler time, we went upstairs and I put her to bed. 

I know, this is all quite mundane to most.  I agree.  This is just a normal Wednesday that is relatively uneventful and unexciting.  But, to me, it was so full of moments where my heart swelled a little bit, and I laughed, and I hugged and cuddled and kissed boo-boos, and listened and talked...and did I say laughed?  It was just nice. 

I have SO much to write about in my head.  I want to write about Abby's emerging neat streak, the playgroup we hosted, about this new pregnancy, and about little abbyisms that keep us laughing.  But, I'll spread it out.  For now, I'm probably going to find my favorite blanket and give these eyes a rest. 

22 months!

I'll update with the usual list of stats and milestones later - I'm tired tonight.  But, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I figure a video may be able to capture a good bit of what Abby is like at 22 months.  Enjoy!

The first video is of Abby playing the drums and singing a bit.  My budding starving musician.  ;)

The second video is just of Abs being a little silly.

oh baby!

We have some exciting news to share...

Abby's going to be a big sister!  We're happy to announce that we're expecting baby Shachmut #2 to join us in late April 2011.  We are just starting our second trimester and everything has been going well. :)  

So far, this pregnancy has been much easier than Abby's was.  Although, I didn't consider Abby to be difficult.  I had such a lack of any symptoms at all for so long, that it was hard for me to even remember that I was indeed pregnant.  Just a little queasiness over the past few weeks - but nothing that a small snack and maybe some gingerale couldn't handle.  On Thursday last week, we got our first ultrasound and heard the heartbeat for the first time.  So, it was nice to have confirmation that everything looked great.

Here's the little one's first picture at 12 weeks.

We are excited about our growing family and are happy to share the news with everyone.  Keep us in your thoughts.

:o)

Oh, and Happy Columbus Day people.  ;)

experience.

What a week it has been.  Is it only Wednesday?  That's odd.

I'm tired and don't really feel like writing right now, but I can't quite figure out what else to do at the moment, so here I am.

Yesterday there was a small crisis at my high school.  A student had been shot the night before.  It was gang related activity and the student is in stable condition.  I say "small crisis" because the student was not well known and not many in the school were affected.

Nevertheless, people seemed a little more, what's the word - on edge? frantic? stressed? Than usual and even though the day was not a bad day really - things ran smoothly - by the time I got home, I was kinda worn out.  Part of it is probably the weather - it's been raining for days (weeks? months? I dunno)

But, then last night, I got another call from our crisis team leader.  A 10-year old girl had committed suicide.  This is a very rare combination.  It's in the papers if you want more details, but that's enough for me to share here.  I spent the day at that school helping as part of the crisis team. 

A few things to note.  

1) I work in an amazing department.  They are so good at what they do and I honestly feel lucky to be part of that group.  There were a lot of us there today, as it was a pretty major crisis.  But that meant none of us felt alone either - we all supported each other as well as the staff and students.  Considering the terrible circumstances, the working atmosphere was very good.  I just felt so thankful for the commodore in our department.

2)  This goes along with the first.  This was my first major crisis to be called to.  I've been involved in many others, just none quite like this.  I was, I think the word is, surprised at myself.  I was, if not comfortable in that roll, confident in it.  A lot of that has to do with my awesome co-workers, but I was happy to find that I was capable and comfortable leading groups and speaking with students, fielding questions and the other things that the crisis team does.  And I felt like my experience belt just got like 10 new notches. 

3) The past weekend we had a crisis/psychological first aid training.  Talk about perfect timing?  My co-workers agreed that we came in today feeling good about our roll and as ready as we could be.  The training was great, and I'm really thankful we had it before this -because it armed me with an entire repertoire of skills to use in these circumstances. 

4) Kids are amazing and they are resilient.  They are curious and insightful and strong.  I enjoyed seeing that side of things too.

So, I dunno.  The circumstances are sad and tragic.  But, if I could go back and be somewhere else today, I don't think I would.  I was happy to be involved in the healing process.  I guess that's what this job is about a lot of the time.  And as for me?  I'm fine.  An extensive part of our training last weekend was on self-care.  And, although I'm tired, I'm fine.  I'll probably chill a bit tonight, maybe go to bed early.  But mostly,  I'm feeling thankful for the good that happened today in spite of the bad.

sox vs. yankees

Today was the last game of the season for the Sox.  They played the Yankees, so that's always fun.  Of course, we had to buy our tickets about a year in advance, so it's too bad that this season turned out to be a bust, but hey, sox v yanks is always a good time.

And, we got to bring Abs.  So, yay. :)

Even though the Sox were out of the playoffs, we still had the chance to keep the Yankees from being 1st in the division.  So, that was enough for us.  We beat them, I think 8-4 in the end.  We left before the end of the game due to Abs being so tired, Kyle being so tired, me being so tired, and our admitted desire to beat the train crowds.  

But we stayed for 7/8ish innings and had fun.  We had coke and pretzles, hot dogs and fries.  Abs clapped every time the crowd did and looked concerned when they booed.  She copied the sing-songy tone of those around us chanting "jeeeeeeter, cheeeeater..."  She entertained those around us and was really very good.  Especially considering she didn't get a nap and hadn't eat much when we got there. 

It was cold today.  The high was in the 50s, and with the wind in the stands, we were happy to huddle together.  It's really really hard to take good pictures in the stand because you're right on top of the person next to you, so everything ends up being way too close.  But, hey, we tried. 

After we watched the game for a while, we walked around and let Abs play in the kids area.  She experienced her first bounce house - something we weren't sure if she was ready for or not...but decided to let her try.  She had a blast!  She was just toppling over everywhere and laughing until she could barely breathe.  It was fun to watch.  

Anyway.  Here are a few pictures from the afternoon.  It was a nice day.  I'm happy to have spent it with my little family.

Abs pretending to watch the game through Kyle's monocular.

I like this shot.

narrative from the monitor

I just put Abby down - about 90 mins before her usual nap time.  Why?  Because we're taking her to the last Sox game of the season this afternoon.  The game starts the same time her nap usually does, so I thought I'd try to see if she'd go down early - and maybe get at least 20 or 30 mins of rest in.  Every bit helps, y'know.

But of course, she's not at all sleepy.

This is the narrative I hear from the monitor:

*singing* la la la la LA la.  Tweekle tweekle wittle star, how I wonda what you are.  Oh, hi gowie!  Oh, hi blanket!  *rustling noises*  Oh, gowie, where are you? Oh, there he is!  Boo!


Oh, hi cat! Weeeeeeeee!  Weeeeeeeeee!  *thud*  Oh no!  Oh no cat fell down!


Oh, hi sheep!  la la la la three bags full.  Yaaay *claping*


*thud*


Oh no!  Sheep!  Sheep, are you ok? you ok? you ok?  Oh no.  Sheep ok?  you ok sheep?  Sheep, are you ok?  Oh no sheep - boo boo.  Sheep boo-boo.  Boo-boo, oh no!


Here.  Abby kiss it.  *kissing sound*


All better! Yay!  Yay Sheep!


*jumping on mattress*  Weeeeeeee!  Weeeeeee!
*rattling crib rails*  Jump! Jump!
*silence*
*happy chirping toddler noises*
*yawn*
*fake snoring*
nigh-nigh gowie
*glowie starts playing music*
*more fake snoring*


*laughing*
Goo morning gowie!  




This all has been going on for about 20 mins now.  She keeps repeating similar scenes.  She jumps around, she discovers one of her stuffed animals injured and fixes them.  She plays glowie, fake snores, and sings.  She laughs and jabbers away.  Right now - she's clapping and cheering about something I can't quite make out.....oh, and making noises with her lips.

Just thought I'd share this clip from our afternoon.  I'm sure I'll have some pictures from the game to share later.  For now, I suppose I'll go get the rest of her stuff ready before I have to go "wake her up"
(rolling my eyes)

oh no, paper!

It's Friday night and Kyle and I are catching up on a few TV shows we recorded during the week.  Abby has had a little bit of a cold today - really just a runny nose, but a noticeable one.

So, we gave her a hot bath and put her to bed.

Just a few minutes ago, I heard her crying.  The monitor is in another room tonight, so she was crying loud enough for me to hear her downstairs - with the TV on.  So, I told Kyle that considering she probably doesn't feel well, I wanted to go check on her and give her some medicine.

I went up stairs and found Abs standing in the crib, arms outstretched ready to be rescued.  I picked her up and rocked her for a second until she calmed down.  I asked her, "Abby, what's wrong?"  She sat up and looked at me - her eyes barely even open - and said "...mumblemumble....the paper.  Oh no, the paper."  I asked, "the paper?"  She repeated "paper! Oh no, the paper!"  The whole while she's shaking her head side to side - eyes mostly closed, "paper, paper, paper..."

I rocked her for a bit longer, got her to take some medicine and water, and rocked her a little more.  Soon she was asleep on my shoulder.  I stood up and she woke up just a bit - with her eyes closed she pursed her lips for a kiss and fell into my face with hers.  She whispered "nigh-nigh mama"  I put her back in the crib and she sat there - eyes still mostly closed, obviously mostly asleep.  I rubbed vicks on her, gave her her blanket and glowie.  She just sat there.  So, I gently nudged her and she slowly toppled over, yawned, hugged glowie and sighed.

It was sweet.  I doubt she remembers anything in the morning, I'm not entirely sure she really woke up the whole time I was in there.  But, hopefully she doesn't have any more bad dreams tonight - about paper or otherwise.