Caught

The truth about what I actually do with my daughter all day...

Breakfast Ideas?

First of all, thanks for all the congrats, friends!  It is so fun to share our exciting news with y'all!

This morning a little fantasy came true.  I was making some brownies to take to a friend this afternoon, and Abby Jane was wanting to see what was going on up on the counter.  So I explained the complex process of making brownies from a mix.  But then the best part... she helped me stir!  I know this is not a big deal, but it was really fun to have a first shared "cooking experience" with my girl.

Now, WHAT DO YOU FEED YOUR TODDLER FOR BREAKFAST??!!  Abby Jane has vetoed her oatmeal (even after having cinnamon, a bit of brown sugar, applesauce AND blueberries added to it!) and will only eat a few Cheerios at breakfast.  She has eaten pancakes OK in the past, but that's probably not the healthiest thing to have every day.  

She'll eat up any fruit I give her in the mornings and drink her milk, but I feel like she should have some sort of carb in addition to her fruit and milk. FINALLY, she did seem to like the multigrain waffle I tried with her this morning, but I'd still love your ideas! 

Abby Jane is going to be...

A big sister, sometime around November 15!We are so excited and thankful for this little one!  I'll be 11 weeks along on Friday, and we got to hear the heartbeat yesterday for the first time.  Such a blessing!

You can tell Abby Jane is already proud of her new role as big sister.

"Wait a minute... what does this shirt say???"  

14 months

Better two weeks late than never! 

Her vocabulary has exploded in the last month, so I won't go through the list.  But a few favorites are her most common word, "mow?" (more), "pees" (please), "flag," "beach," "poo" (pool).

-LOVES the beach- has just started in the last two weeks loving splashing in the ankle-deep crazy cold water- runs towards the waves, then turns and runs away when the foam comes up to her, thens goes and splashes in it

-loves playing with chalk outside

-points up and says some version of "airplane" every time she hears one

-can walk down small stairs independently, can walk down normal stairs if holding onto a rail

-LOVES the playground- the swing, the tunnel, the slide- and can do all of the above on her own

-eats a diet mainly consisting of veggies and fruits- but has also acquired a homing radar for any treats Jake and I are having... and automatically says, "nummy nummy!" even if she has never had it before

-still loves her books, Baby, the elephant we brought her from NYC b/c that's her favorite sound to make, boxes to sit on, Piggy, and her new Little People Noah's Ark

- has acquired three teeth in the last month and is really working hard on a molar

-pumps her arm like the Fight Song to get us to sing it, and waves her arm in the air for us to do "Waaaaar Eagle! Hey!"  Sometimes she helps with the "Hey!"

On that note, she was very atypically having a hard time sleeping last night due to the aforementioned molar, and I went in to rock her.  She snuggled in, then said, "Aubay?" So I said, "Yes, do you see your Aubie?"  Then she started pumping her arm like the fight song... while she's snuggled in my neck.  So I start to sing it, nice and quietly (who would believe the fight song is a bedtime song for a distraught, uncomfortable child?)  After several rounds, I stopped, thinking she was asleep.  She groggily lifted her head, still sniffling a bit, and said so sadly, "mow?"  So I sing the song another 10 times or so.  Then stand up to put her in her crib- she IS asleep- and she wakes up, turns her head toward me and says, "mow?" and pumps her arm (like perhaps I'm not sure what she wants more of.)  And that's how she went to sleep in her crib, listening to the fight song.  

That story delights our souls like few stories can!

Waterfall

This child grabbed a cup of water and dumped half of it on herself.  Much to her surprise!

Shockingly, this face never turned into tears!  The forehead muscles in consternation is my favorite part of this picture Jake took.

Easter Hoppenings

Before I go on to pictures, let me say that it has been so neat this Easter to think about the meaning of Easter through the lens of how Jesus loves my girl more than me... enough to give His life for her.  This year, this has made the whole celebration of Easter and the resurrection fresh to me, and it has been so sweet.

Easter egg hunt yesterday at the Malibu Bluffs park across the street from campus...

We had several friends who also went, but we did our hunting with sweet Jaxon and Tricia.
But it turns out that all a girl needs is two eggs, one for each hand.  I put two more in her basket for posterity, though!  Our little section was for 2 and unders, and some of those almost-3 year olds had overflowing baskets!  One little girl tried to take one of Abby Jane's two eggs out of her hand and put it in her big basket, but parents intervened before that tragedy transpired.

In between yesterday and today, though, she developed a passion for eggs and shaking them, especially after Daddy hid a few Puffs in some eggs yesterday.  So this morning's Easter basket was a thrill!  (Target sold Play Dough in eggs, and an egg-shaped etch-a-sketch- I was impressed with options for little ones!  The rest of her eggs got Cheerios.)

"Tell me again why we hunted eggs yesterday if today is Easter?"

The Roberts- Abby Jane thought Sammy's seersucker was really cute!

"Oh, I love Easter!"  This "O" face, usually with eyes open, is a classic face she makes a lot right now!

The Roberts invited us over with the Wades to host several Pepperdine freshmen for Easter dinner after church.  It was such a great time enjoying the day with each other and those precious students, and the three of us girls put together an absolutely fabulous meal if I do say so myself!

Here are Abby Jane and Sammy playing after their naps...

"Excuse us, Mama, we're playing here."

Hope everyone had a great day!  14 month blog to come...

The Big Apple

We had such a fabulous time!  It was so wonderful to just enjoy being each other's best friends.

We tried to narrow the trip down to our favorite three things, but we couldn't do it.  They were all favorites.  Here are a few of them... 

1. Dinner on our first night with Andy and Emily York, who were up there on business for the last few months!  We were so thankful that our trip overlapped with their time up there!

2. Ridiculously good dessert that same night at Cafe Lalo, where "You've Got Mail" had a scene
3. Poured rain much of Monday, but we had a really neat walk through Central Park in the rain, mostly alone... which was such a cool experience
3. Dinner at this brand new cute place in West Village and dessert at Milk and Cookies (I want to open one)

4. Empire State Building and the only 15 minute wait we had to get up there!
5. Staten Island Ferry- great view of Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and the city

6.  Financial District- more interesting than I expected- amazed by all the security around the NYSE- cool to see the Federal Building where Washington was inaugurated

7.  An AMAZING night that Jake planned of a fabulous dinner at Thalia

8. And great tickets to Wicked!!!!  Phenomenal, phenomenal show!

9.  Snow falling on us at Rockefeller Center- absolutely crazy!

We packed in much more than that (Soho, Little Italy, Chinatown, Museum of Natural History, etc.), but those are a few favorite moments!!  The only things we wanted to do, didn't get to, and will just have to happen next time are the Met (which was closed) and dessert at Serendipity (too late, too long of a line, too cold to wait!)

Abby Jane had a delightful time with her Mimi and Bop Bop, evidenced by asking for them multiple times and making "phonecalls" to them several times since they flew out yesterday morning.  The great time had here at home was even more impressive since we discovered a new tooth when we got home!  Thanks again, Ken and Sandy!