So Many Responsibilities...

Ok, Ok, Ok, I must admit that on top of all the other responsibilities she has around our home, Abby has to do the grocery shopping for the family too...it may sound like a heavy burden for such a little girl, but it will make her a strong woman someday...

More Household Chores

On the top of Abby's list of favorite activies is helping with household chores... laundry, cooking, vacuuming... and here's a new one... raking. With lots of help from Abby & Daisy, I am VERY slowly making a dent in the leaf population in our driveway and backyard... if Abby is not busy using her rake to flatten my piles of leaves or taking the bag out of the can, then she is off provoking Daisy to play and then hollering for Mommy to rescue her from Daisy... or after seeing Mommy's work gloves, she is running into the house to fetch her mittens and insisting Mommy help her put them on...but, of course, once we wrestled them onto her hands, she had a fit to get them off ASAP! Oh how I wish there were still two naps around here everyday! She says she is TWO when you ask her how old she is... and I am more persuaded more every day... I think I will pull out her birth certificate today just to check...

Laundry Lessons & Laughter

The bad news is that our washing machine and dryer both broke within 24 hours of each other... the good news is that I got to pick out a brand new washing machine and dryer set that is as quiet as can be... given that they share a wall with Abby's room, I can now do laundry when she is sleeping... just in time for Baby #2's arrival when laundry takes on a whole new meaning. I love the new "machines" (as Abby calls them)... they are super quiet, clean great & supposedly save us a bundle on water and electricity... all with the added bonus of playing great music at the end of each cycle (Abby dances every time). The only drawback is that Abby can reach the doors to both & I have caught her putting laundry... and all other kinds of stuff... into the washer. Here's the first day with the new "machines"...



...better check the warranty to make sure it covers a worn out door hinge...

High Maintenance?

Two quick stories about our little girl with a rapidly growing vocabulary... and rapidly growing expectations!

A week or so ago, the three of us had gone out to breakfast & the waiter had just left our table after taking our drink order. Abby said "agua", which made me realize I had not brought her sippy cup like I normally do. So I told her we would ask the waiter for water when he came back. She shocked us both by immediately turning around in her highchair toward the direction the waiter had just gone & yelling pretty loudly "Abby, agua!" Both of us nearly fell out of our chairs laughing. Once again, she took us by surprise... how quickly they grow up & understand the way the world works...

Sunday morning, I was in my closet trying to find something to wear... Abby came in & started pulling out Dad's socks, boxers, etc. and holding them up while calling out to him "Dada"... we figured out she was trying to motivate him to get dressed too. Finally, after coming up with something to wear to church, I asked Abby if she was ready to go eat breakfast... she turned to Jake and said, "Dada, tacos!" Already, our less than 2-yr-old is ordering Dad to go fetch tacos for the family. Unbelievable!

Oh, and here is a random tip from our home to yours... if you are married to someone who snores & you are thereby forced to wear earplugs every night, then you will certainly want to know about this... check out this oh so logical place to store your earplugs during the day when you aren't wearing them... gets em clean and keeps em moist... and, as an unexpected bonus, makes the plugs about 5 times as big as they were the night before... just a free tip from us, compliments of Abby...

Naptime

I was standing at the stove cooking lunch today when I realized that I had not thought about or heard from the puppy in a few minutes. Being the Mom of a toddler, I have been trained to feel alarmed at the sound of too much silence. I asked Abby "where is Daisy?" and she instantly started looking around the kitchen... I was starting to feel panicked that the puppy had galloped off down the hall to a bedroom to chew shoes or furniture (not happened... yet)... then as I moved away from the stove to begin my search, I nearly tripped over the missing puppy. She had cozied up right behind my feet while I was cooking and fell fast asleep... reminded me of Abby's very early days of falling asleep anywhere under any circumstances. After I told Abby "shhhh, don't wake Daisy," she disappeared in her room for awhile and came back with her Blankie...which she generously shared with her new little sister....


Then she got down on the floor and shared the nap too...



Unfortunately, Abby's nap didn't last as long as Daisy's... but I was still counting my blessings... one out of two babies napping is better than none!!! whew!

Meet Daisy!

I'm overjoyed to introduce to you...


...my new little sister... DAISY!

Christmas 2008

For Abby, Christmas 2008 was about seeing all of her favorite people! Oh, and there was the fun of being little Santa Claus to deliver all of the gifts & the thrill of gifts & new toys too! Not to mention a new electric Elmo toothbrush & "MMs" in her stocking (what a perfect combination)!



Abby was a fabulous "Santa" handing out all of the gifts... when she got to one for herself, she would just sit down & open right then & there... when she got to one for "Baby Suess", she set it down in front of her Baby!

Epidimic Hits Sesame Street!

Even protective Moms typically think Sesame Street is trustworthy..