Abby Chillaxin!

This lil girl is so cute! Everyone loves our big marshmallow couch especially Abby

Abby chillaxin

A work in progress

Hey everyone, welcome to our new blog. In time larisa will make it pretty!

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we stopped by Founders Day at one of our local parks, it was the anniversary of our lil town. Lifehouse was scheduled to play that night but we didn’t stay that long, it got sooo cold. Hooray for the cooler weather – we just weren’t prepared for it. That weekend we also went to a Pumpkin Patch thing that some local landscapers set up. It was pretty cool, there were those inflatable bouncy things that the kids could play in, there were pony rides, a petting zoo, and of course pumpkins. They also had it set up pretty neat with a portion for their nursery, then everything else was landscaped to kind of advertise what they have. For example, near the bbq where they were selling hot dogs, they were displaying their outdoor bbq’s with built in counters, and their firepits and stone benches. This is also where they displayed the different kinds of textured and colored cement patios. There was another section where they laid out different pavers, then another for their rocks, and fake grass, and cement outlines, etc. It was fun cuz our yards not finished and it gave us lots of ideas! Then we picked up a few pumpkins for later carving! On our way home we stopped by the Pulte office (where we bought our house), and looked at this two-story, 5 bed, 3 bath + bonus room + den starting at $169K! Makes me sick!!

Anyway, last weekend we also had our friends Kellyn & Derek & baby Camden over along with Don & Ashley & Ashley’s very pregnant belly. It was so cute cuz Abby and Camden were laying down side by side under the Baby Einstein Gym and were totally holding hands! Haha!

It’s the little things…

I told you about how she’s rolling over the other way now. Well, every time I leave the room and come back, she’s on her tummy. I just put her on the floor and she’s a little roley-poley. Tummy-back-tummy-back! And when she’s on her tummy, she’s scooting! And turning! My little breakdancer

She’s talking a lot more lately too. Obviously not words, but something like, “gooaaaah, kkkkeee, ah bpbpbpbp!! allaaaaa, booooo” it’s so sweet!! And I swear she says hi, “HIAAAAY”. She loves to talk while we’re reading our bedtime stories too, or right when I put her in her crib for nap or bedtime.

Abby’s of course grabby everything, and has been for a while. Lately when I hold her in front of me, facing me, she’ll grab my face and try to eat me! I like to think she’s kissing me For a while now, she’s been touching my face while we’re nursing, and she fish-hooks my mouth and grabs my chin, it’s so funny.

The pass few weeks it’s been hard to keep Abby concentrated on nursing. Even when she’s hungry, if she hears a loud noise or somone starts to talk, it’s a no-go. Especially when daddy sits down next to us! She is just all smiles and starts to talk to him as she arches her back so her little face is smiling upside down at him. And when she’s done with her snack, she either bites or arches her back to the point of almost falling out of my arms, or starts chatting and smiling and laughing at me.

Her newest sound is this screech/deep breathe in or out. She thinks it’s the funniest thing.

OUR LITTLE ANGEL! WE JUST LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!

Milestone! Rolling from back to tummy

Yesterday (10/12) I was in the kitchen as I watched Abigail in the living room roll from her back to her tummy by herself! I’m always trying to get her to do that by holding toys up, etc, and she can do it easily with help, but hasn’t done it on her own! I was so proud. I’ll post a video when I get one

Also, the Twilight series is all the rage nowadays and all my friends are reading it. I wasn’t sure about it because it’s about vampires, but my friend Amy talked me into it, assuring me it’s not scary. So I ordered it online and started reading it the other day. I don’t have tons of time to read so it’s probably going to take me a while, but I did start it.

The portraits we got done the other day are finally in! A few of my favorites are posted on the left here. Here are a couple more that I love. I know I’m mean

Grandma and Grandpa Hall come to visit!

We were so happy that Gma and Gpa Hall were able to come visit us for about a week! They had so much fun meeting little Abigail.
It was great having them here and having them share parenting and grandparenting stories. Their 25th grandchild is on the way, and Abigail is their 3rd great-grandchild! And many more to come!

Abby Update

Abby’s 4 month check up went very well. I told the doctor that she had a horrible experience with the shots last time so she said that she’d give this different option for a shot that’s multiple vaccines in one. Plus I gave Abby some Tylenol before the shots so she did much better, yay! She’s 26 1/2 inches long now – that puts her in the 100 percentile! And she’s 14 lb 9 oz (75 percentile).

I also asked the doc about the rice cereal. Before the appt I had tried a couple times giving Abby some rice cereal mixed with breastmilk (very runny) with a bottle. She wouldn’t take it, and apparently she doesn’t even take regular bottles anymore. She would take a bottle her first 3 months, now not at all! A/W, the doc said to keep trying, but a friend said to try giving it to her with a spoon. It worked – she made really funny faces, but it worked! I did two days, one feeding each day of cereal, and she had 1/2 – 1 oz each time. BUT, then it started messing with her schedule!! So I stopped giving her the cereal, but she still hasn’t gone back to normal with her schedule. It was like that all last week: she was barely eating, her napping was just everywhere, and she was more fussy than usual. She’s slowly getting better. It’s hard on me though because having her on a schedule made so I could actually get things done!

Cute pics…

What are we going to do tonight Abby?
The same thing we do every night mommy…try to take over the world!

This is what happens when you’ve had too much to drink!

Check out the mullet, the Mohawk and the chubby wubby cheeks!
Does this diaper make my butt look big?

Cheesy smile!!

Abby’s new squishy, holder upper, thingy…that she loves!

4 months old and a nursery…FINALLY!

So we finally have Abby’s nursery set up! Well it’s more of a corner in the nursery, we don’t have much room in our house. Here’s the story: We waited for Crib #1 to be available online…we waited and waited. Finally, we decided to go for Crib #2, a little more expensive, but she was 2 months at the time and we knew we needed to get it. Crib #2 arrived completely damaged, box torn to pieces! So I call Babies R Us, they sent someone to pick it up, then I waited for it to get to their return department, then waited for the refund, then called to order it again. Well crib #2 was now not available online, so we go for crib #3. Crib #3 arrives damaged. This time I call and ask if we can return it to the store (for sake of a quicker refund), then we’d just buy one at the store so it doesn’t break! So going off of Abby’s schedule, we happened to leave our house in the middle of a dust storm. Joe’s trying to strap this crib to the top of the Jeep in the middle of this storm, then drive 30 minutes to the store. We get there and they say we can’t return it to the store. We fight and tell them we called customer service AND the furniture department of that store and they said we could! Fine, they give us store credit. We wait a few more days for my 20% off coupon to be valid because the cribs are twice as expensive in the store. So finally, on Saturday the 20th – Abby about 4 months old – Joe put together crib #4 and her little corner is set up. (Our friends Kellyn and Ashley made the ABIGAIL plaques and our friend Chrissy helped us decorate).

The transition was easier than I expected, too. Since she was born she’s been sleeping in her bassinette next to our bed. The two times she was sick though, she slept in our bed at night. It was sometime between 6 and 8 weeks that she started sleeping through the night (5-8 hrs) every night – though there were a few times that she slept through the night before that. I didn’t try to put her on any schedule before she was 3 months old because I read that it’s pointless to try. Then at 3 months, we were on vacation, so I wasn’t about to try then. After we got back from our vacation, I started her on her schedule and she immediately took to it! We have a bed time routine (bath, lotion massage, pj’s, nurse, story, swaddle with arms out, lullubies), then I put her down and she “soothes” herself to sleep. Nap time is a mini-version of the routine. I thought it would take a while to work, but it didn’t. She’s up at 4:30 AM for a feeding, then she usually comes in bed with us (sometimes I’ll put her back in her crib) and sleeps til 8:00 AM, then she naps (1 hour each) at 10 AM, 1 PM, and 5:30 PM, then bed time is at 8:00 PM.

We’re trying to start Abby on rice cereal mixed with pumped milk, but no luck so far. I read it might take a few tries, so we’re still working on it. She just doesn’t like the rubber nipples as much as me. But I’m really trying to make this work cuz she’s been nursing every 1 to 2 hours for the last couple weeks! Her 4 month check up is today so I’m gonna talk to the pediatrician about it.

(I know a lot of this isn’t very interesting, but this is my journal keeping and I’m just trying to write everything so I can look back and remember)

Speaking of her 4 month check up, she gets shots again today I hate this part!!

Yesterday, we went for her 3 month portraits (at 4 months old, yes I’m behind). And they are so darn cute, I’ll post them as soon as they’re available online. I’m going to print out a bunch of 8X10′s and send them in to modeling agencies. I already submitted some pictures to the gap casting call (gap.com/castingcall). So cross your fingers.

Oh and Abby met her uncle Dan the other day (9/14). He came for a 2 hour visit. He was in town for some game and decided he could squeeze us into his schedule We got some cute pics of him with Abby.

Abby’s ears pierced / rolling over!

On Friday the 12th, we took Abby to get her ears pierced. I felt so bad! She only cried for a little bit though then she was fine. And it was worth it cuz she looks so darn cute!

Last Monday, the 8th, Abby rolled over from her tummy to her back all by herself! We were so proud. I do exercises and tummy time with her everyday to motivate her motor skills, and she’s so close to rolling over from back to tummy by herself! Below is a video of her rolling over.