Sitting Up

That's right!  Abby Jane turned 5 months this week, and she decided she'd kick off the month by sitting up!  Granted, she looks like a weeble wobble as Jake kindly pointed out, but she stays up for a while before this starts to happen...

...and apparently falling over is funny here!

We went for a beach picnic last night to have a little more family time before Jake leaves for school tomorrow morning.  He'll be gone for two weeks, but we'll get to see him at least twice between tomorrow and when he comes back at the end of next week.  As you can tell from this picture, the girl loves her daddy.  I don't think there's any risk that she'll forget who her daddy is in that time period!
I find this one so funny- she's like- "OK, Mom, that's perhaps the 9 millionth kiss today. Enough's enough, you know?"

Summer Days...

We've had such a fun last week and a half!  "Aunt" Beth came out for business last week and had dinner with us one night- we love her business trips!!!

Abby Jane had her first two trips to the pool last week!  I have become a bit of a sun Nazi, so she's sunscreened up in her rash guard suit and looks a bit greasy, but I love this shot of her "that's my Daddy!" face...

Jake took Thursday off last week, and we had the greatest family day, going to the beach in the morning...and to the Pepperdine pool in the afternoon after naptime!  She's funny in the pool- not really smiley, but not fussy... she just looks around, taking everything in.  Jake was "waterskiing" her in the water, and her expression looked like, "yeah, this is no big deal, I do this all the time..."

On the Fourth, we went to the Will Rogers 5K/10K in the Palisades with our dear friends Jake and Lesley Roberts.  Yes, Lesley is due in three weeks, and she walked the 5K!  Jake R. and I ran the 10K, while my sweet Jake and Abby Jane spectated- it was so fun!!

We had a normal afternoon of naptime and playing outside... then went back to the Roberts' place to grill out and watch fireworks.  Abby Jane had just been put down when the fireworks started.  She woke up from the noise, but was quiet and very interested to watch the fireworks with me from the patio!  We were so proud!

The highlight for her this weekend was probably when Daddy put together her exersaucer!  She LOVES it and keeps being surprised by discovering new things that it does!  Here she is examining a flip toy...

Perfection

We had the most perfect anniversary yesterday!  Jake dropped by mid afternoon with a pot of these...

My favorite flower in the most beautiful blue!  After he came home from work for good, we had our favorite dinner with flank steak in my mom's fabulous marinade.  I gave Jake a remote meat thermometer, so he loved trying it out and got a good bit of respect from the other guys out grilling!  

We had the bottle of wine that we had been saving due to pregnancy constraints since wine tasting in Jan. 'o7... and Peachy Canyon red zin continues to be our out-of-this-world favorite wine.  We first tasted it during the best meal we've had in California, in San Luis Obispo at Buona Tavola's back courtyard.  I digress.

After dinner, we bathed our little girl and put her to bed.  As I turned on her mobile, it played Canon in D, and it struck me that I was walking down the aisle to the same song on the evening of June 26 four years ago.   How much has happened between that night four years ago and last night!  So our sweet neighbors, Jarrett and Katie, came down and stayed with Abby Jane while she slept... and we went on our first real date in four and a half months!  We went to the beautiful Geoffrey's...

and overlooked the water from our cliff-side table while we had dessert (and Jake sampled the port).  It was AMAZING to know that Abby Jane was fine and sleeping- our two other times away were abbreviated and somewhat distracted as it was while she was awake and we knew she was having a few bouts of drama in our absence!  But last night, we had the most WONDERFUL time talking, sharing, thinking out loud, discussing how we've never been more in love.  It was funny to be the parents who love their child more than anything in the world... and yet so excited to be just Jake and Em for an hour and a half!  We came home refreshed, delighted with where the Lord has us right now, and looking forward to what He has ahead.  I read in Psalms yesterday, and it said, "I will sing to the Lord, for He has dealt bountifully with me."  So true!  Perfection, indeed.

WAR EAGLE

Just wanted to mention that we have definite plans to be at the Tennessee game on Sept. 27th! We would love to see as many of you as we can that weekend! We've been singing the fight song to Abby Jane, and Jake's teaching her a censored version of Bottagetta to get her geared up for her first experience of Heaven on earth.  This was from Abby Jane's last trip to the Plains...

Bathing Beauty

I invested $9.99 in a blow-up baby pool, and we tried it out last weekend!!  Once Daddy added in some nice warm water, she was a big fan and loved splashing around and playing with the various things I threw in the pool for her.  I think we're going to hit a big pool next week!

Father's Day, Rice Cereal, and Grandparents...

Father's Day was so fun- I'm still amazed that I'm married to Jake Gross, much less the mama of his baby!  He is such an incredible daddy, and I am so grateful and amazed by how he makes our family his first priority, even when he has tons of Ph.D. work to do on top of a busy job! We had such a sweet day on Sunday celebrating him and just enjoying some family time in the middle of a busy month for Jake.

On Saturday, we started the child on rice cereal and expected big drama, since Abby Jane has definite tastes and opinions on life in general.  We were amazed to see her enjoy her cereal!  She doesn't eat a whole lot before she decides she's done, but she sure enjoys what she eats... and enjoys grabbing the spoon to hurry mama up with the whole feeding process...

Sandy and Ken (Mimi and Pop Pop) came in town this week to play for a few days.  Jake and I were thrilled to see Abby Jane be HAPPY with someone other than us for the first time since this clingy phase started.  She was very settled with them both, which we all enjoyed!  We had a great time having them here.

I've tried to avoid the semi-naked pictures, but I couldn't resist- I had taken off her nightgown while she was playing the other day to start some laundry, and she was just so cute playing that I had to capture my blue-eyed baby.  Sorry Abby Jane!

Here's one of my girl just happy and playing while taking a break from tummy time.  Jake says I think I'm Abby Jane's personal trainer (when she's trying to roll, I say, "Push, girl, push!") Maybe I'm living out a fantasy or something.

Four months and getting ready for Sammy...

On Saturday, we had Lesley's baby shower- Sammy is coming next month!  It was such a sweet time and perfect weather, fabulous food, great fellowship with a wonderful turn-out of friends, and such precious gifts!  We missed our dear friend Kathryn, who's on staff with Crusade and on summer project in New Jersey until next month- she's the only thing that would have made the day better!  Below are Lesley with the hostesses.  

On Sunday, Abby Jane turned four months!  She is getting so big- her legs kind of hang off our laps now.  Jake thinks she doesn't look like an infant any more.

My mom sent this outfit- notice the personalized tulips- I love it!
Outside continues to be her happy place...

I have also been meaning to tell about Jake's fabulous babysitting last week.  I had a meeting at church, and Jake and Abby Jane had a WONDERFUL daddy/daughter night.  They played outside, had dessert with our neighbors Jarrett and Katie, drank a sippy cup, took a bath, went to sleep, and she slept through the night!  Sleeping through the night is thankfully no longer newsworthy, but doing it with only a sippy cup as her pre-bedtime nourishment definitely is!  YEA!  Jake is such a wonderful daddy.

The other great thing that happened last week is that she laughed without us trying to make her laugh for the first time.  What was so funny to be her first independent finding of humor?  I sneezed while we were getting her ready for bed.  She thought it was hilarious and laughed and laughed.  Which made us laugh, which made her laugh, and it was generally a very funny moment.  

One challenge we do continue to have is Abby Jane's "clingy-ness"- she frequently does not tolerate being passed around or even held by folks other than Jake or I very well at all.  Sometime she does great, especially if we're within sight, but often she hits amazing decibels if she's not with one of us.  I am open to any suggestions!