Abby's 3rd Birthday Pictures

This year I amazed myself and was totally on the ball with getting her birthday pictures done. Normally I'm close to a month after the big milestone day, but this year I was almost 10 days early. Go me!

Abby had an appointment for a quick haircut (just a trim so it's really hard to tell that there's any difference) and then on a whim I decided to stop by JC Penney to see if they had an opening for pictures. I had an appointment for the next morning, but she was in such a good mood that I thought I'd risk two big appointments right next to each other. We were so fortunate to find out that they were totally open for pictures when we showed up!

What happened next was just precious. The last few professional pictures we've taken Abby has basically just stared at the camera, or given one teeny, tiny smile for all our effort. That's it. So I was pretty much expecting the same this time around. Instead, the photographer worked some magic.

Isn't she just an adorable little ham?! Totally posing it up for the cameras. :-) This time we got some really cute shots. And here they are: Abby's 3rd Birthday Pictures. Enjoy!

Sportsman's Show with Grandma, Grandpa, and Cousin Haylee

Abby had a very exciting day with Grandma, Grandpa, and Cousin Haylee today. This weekend was the Sportsman's Show at TRAC and my Dad really wanted the girls to attend as the booth he was helping out at was one where the girls would be allowed to help make bird blinds and then later follow up on what birds nested in "their" blind. Nate and I were completely okay with this as it meant an Abby-free house for a few hours in the morning. We love our Abs very, very much but neither of us could remember the last time we both were at home without any pressing matters to attend to and no Abby. So it was a win-win for us all!

Abby LOVES her Haylee! I love how the girls act so sweetly with each other and do things like hold hands in busy places to keep each other safe. Miss Haylee does not like her picture taken so that's the reason for her face. :-)

My giggly girls on a very expensive boat!

Here the girls are signing their names to "their" duck blind.

Safety first! Those glasses look adorable on her if I do say so myself. And just in case anyone wonders Abby loved her monkey backpack. Mom was worried about Abby wandering off in the crowd but didn't want to take a stroller as the venue wasn't really stroller friendly, so this was the solution. When they were stopped at a booth the backpack's "tail" was tucked up so that it didn't drag on the floor but as soon as they left the booth Abby pulled the tail out and handed it to Grandma or Haylee so they could keep her safe. :-)

Abby is NOT a fan of loud noises right now, so we see the 'hands over ears' position a lot these days. Haylee is helping to build the girls' duck blind.

Mom said Abby wanted to do the bow and arrows so badly that she happily waited in a decently long line just to get her turn.

I have no idea what type of animal that balloon is supposed to be. Or even if it's supposed to be an animal. But she's liking her balloon creation!

A 'selfie' of the girls. Haylee is so her mother's child with her dislike of picture taking and her Uncle's niece with the sticking out her tongue during the photos she allows.

Abby entertaining herself before the tiger show.

I'm actually sorry I missed this as seeing these big cats would have been really neat. 

Grandma bought the girls stuffed tigers after the show and when Abby got home she raced over to tell me all about her new tiger!

I'm so happy that both Abby and Haylee had a lot of fun with their Grandma and Grandpa at the show. Mostly because I love how they have such a great relationship, but there's also a part of me that knows that the more fun they have the more likely it is that Grandma and Grandpa will take Abby out of the house for a few hours on another adventure. :-)

Abby-isms

Abby's been saying a few funny things lately (at least funny to me!) that I really don't want to forget, so I thought I'd write them down here for your enjoyment and my prosperity.

* We were in Walmart grocery shopping when we walked passed a full-length mirror in the shoe aisle. As soon as we passed it Abby started crying and saying "Go back, mirror. Go back, mirror." Once I figured out that she wanted me to go back to the mirror we backtracked. As soon as we pulled up beside the mirror Abby smiled her sweetest smile and said "I so pretty". Hee. I burst out laughing right there. Here's hoping that her vanity turns into great self-esteem. :-)

* Without adult interference she's decided that the Grandmas are called Gama. And the Grandpas are called Bapa. Gama makes sense as the Ns and Ds are hard to say but Bapa is a bit of a stretch. It's like her own special twist on Papa, but every time she says it both Grandma and Grandpa get a smile.

* Abby has taken up Nate's way of saying "sure" in response to everything but with her little girl lisp. "Abby, want a snack?" "Chure!" "Abby, want to clean?" "Chure!" "Abby want to go to bed?" "Chure.....no, no, no, no, no." :-)

These are the big ones I want to remember for now!

ETA: I forgot another favorite! Every once in a while Abby will ask where Nate is and I'll tell her "Dad's at work". Her adorable response every time is "Dad go work make money!". Love it!!!

Christmas Just Kept Happening

This year Christmas just kept going and going and going...but in a good way!

We started the Christmas season with a gathering at the Akers' house on the Saturday before Christmas. We had a lazy start to the festivities with people showing up (or waking up) as they could and grazing on munchies instead of a real meal. Eventually the girls decided it was time to open presents by walking over to "their" tree (Mom puts up a tree every year and has the grandkids make and color their own paper ornaments), grabbing a random present, then trying to open it. :-) With that we guided them towards their stockings and started passing out their presents.

Their stockings basically included lots and lots of candy with a few toys. :-) Haylee's "Grandma" stocking is Tinkerbell and Abby's is Pebbles.

Abby took a "selfie" of the two of us. I must say she did really well with this one. Normally she snaps a picture that's just her nose and up (or the ground). I feel the need to add that since this was a relaxing day we decided not to worry about hair and clothes. Hence the mop of unruliness with the sleeveless dress in wintertime.

Abby's big present from Grandma and Grandpa were elbow, knee, and wrist pads to go with her new roller skates! She loved the body protectors but threw a screaming fit when we tried to put on the roller skates. 

Bringing over Haylee's "big present" a pogo stick!

After opening up all the presents the girls went outside to play while we adults turned on the New Mexico Bowl between WSU and Colorado State. Sadly my Cougars once again "coug'd it". Not familiar with that phrase...lucky you. Per Urban Dictionary (yes, it's that famous):

coug it

Refers to the Washington State University (Cougars) football team:
1. To snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
2. To lose when there is no possible way to do so, and to do it in a particularly spectacular manner

It looked like WSU was going to win the game, but they decided to coug it.

This year that meant losing a 15 point lead with three back-to-back fumbles. Ugh. Next year!

Once the game was over my part of the family decided to head home and within minutes of walking into the house Abby raced to put on the roller skates that just hours before were the worst gift on earth. Kids, I tell ya. She spent from the time we got home until bathtime skating around and around the house. Only two falls on the linoleum so she was actually doing a good job of getting the hang of them. 

Roller skating around the living room. 

Our Christmas celebration continued Christmas Eve as we drove down to Portland to spend Christmas with Nate's side of the family. It was a little crazy that first night as we opened the front door of his parent's house and were greeted by his parents, grandparents, Tim (the family's foreign exchange student that we visited when we went to Taiwan in March), and Tim's girlfriend, Iris, getting dinner on the table with opening presents following as soon as dinner was over.

Abby getting serious on the business of opening everyone's presents. :-) After opening her own she just randomly walked around the room finding other people's unopened presents and helped them open them. 

 

"Reading" Daddy's book after helping him unwrap it.

Tim and Iris. I think Tim was trying to get a picture of Abby as she opened one of Grandpa Dave's presents. Those two were so adorable with how many pictures they took of Abby the four days we were there.

Little Miss received a few candy canes in her stocking. After asking me so sweetly to open one she hooked it onto the Christmas tree and then proceeded to try to lick it hands free while it hung from a branch.

Abby LOVED being around Iris. I don't know if she remembered Iris from our trip earlier in the year but at almost any moment you could find Abby in Iris' presence. 

Tim and Iris working so hard at putting a cover on David's new camera. After I messed up the first two sets of cover sheets they took over and were successful at finally getting it on with no bumps. It was the kind that was super sticky on one side (almost glue-like) and needed to be cut to size so it required their diligent precision to get it on. It took almost 30 minutes!

Abby decided that the bear that Miss Connie gave her needed to be put night-night. She tucked her bear in the bed covers, turned on her turtle light, and turned off the overhead light before coming to grab my hand and show me what she'd done.

The rest of our time in Portland was spent hanging out with the family, going to the park, heading to our favorite steak restaurant (Sayler's Old Country Kitchen) for a yummy steak dinner, Mcmenamins for Nate's favorite beer and my favorite salad, visiting the Great-Grandparents at their house, and eating lots and lots of food. :-)

Abby loves to swing on Grandma's triangle.

Then Nate showed Abby that he can swing on the triangle, too.

Finally, the two of them swung together. I don't know if the triangle has recovered yet. :-)

Friday night we drove back home and had our own Christmas celebration. Prior to leaving for Portland I put the two presents Nate and I gave Abby under our Christmas tree. When Abby walked into the house and saw her presents her eyes lit up with joy! Unfortunately I forgot to snap any pictures. :-( We got Abby a two-wheeled scooter and furniture (little crib, carseat, backpack, highchair) for her babies. She took to her scooter like a duck to water. She can't go very far but she's got great balance for the distance she does go. Now her doll furniture is another story. I think I've caught her in her doll crib as much as I've seen a baby in it. sigh. I just hope she gets a bit more use out of it before she completely breaks the thing.

Almost all of the Christmas cards we received this year (we got about four more after I'd snapped the picture). I got the idea to tape them to the wall from another friend and really liked the idea. Previous years the cards just hung out on a table until I threw them away, but I liked being able to look at all the cards every time I passed the kitchen. I'll definitely do this again next year!

Abby's first homemade Christmas ornament. Her preschool teachers were so sweet as they helped wrap this ornament up so that it was truly a surprise for Nate and I.

Our final Christmas celebration occurred on January 5th, The Feast of the Epiphany (or at least the Sunday celebration of the Feast). Our church does a great job with their nativity scene and I love getting Abby's picture in her Christmas dress here.

A close-up of my beautiful, precious daughter in her Christmas dress.

A wider view to prove she was actually in front of the manger (although my scrapbooking self is a little disgusted at my camera angel - seriously, cutting off Joseph's head? sad, sad photo).

Lastly a blurry picture of the cousins. :-)

And that folks ended our Christmas celebration(s) of 2013. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year (a few weeks late! :-))