Baby Belly

****After reading Tiffany's comment, I got to thinking....this is a bad title for a post! I am so NOT pregnant. But at least it got your attention****

Abby has the most adorable belly in the world. Although I might be biased, I still think that it is true.Stuart taught her to stick her tongue out. She thinks it is hilarious.

Such a sweet little girl!

Who me??


I'm embarrassed of all of the picture taking....

New Shoes!

*****Let me just say that I am on Stu's computer and I HATE IT. It will not let me move pictures up and down the blog. It has a wireless mouse. I am in the bedroom watching Extreme Home Makeover and for some reason the cursor mouse thing started going CRAZY. Figured out that that fool was in the living room moving it. I swear. He is like a child. Unplugged the mouse thing....and now I can properly share pictures - although not in the order that I wanted!!!!*****

Here is Stu watching football. Although if I want to watch, say, Extreme Home makeover, I have to go in the bedroom???

I have been trying to find new foods to give Abby that are healthy. We are bad about having well rounded meals with veggies and fruits. But I bought a ton of grapes today and cut them up for her. She LOVED them. I think that I fed her so many bananas, she is over them, so I'm glad that I found a new fruit for her.

Per request (ahem...Justine), here is the full shot of the Christmas tree with all of the ornaments. The reason that it was not showed earlier (and thanks for calling me out) is because I didn't buy enough lights so only the bottom 2/3 of the tree was lit. But I fixed the problem, found all of my ornaments, and it is set. (but it does look a little crooked in this picture)

I will say that after her nightly bottle, Abby sat quietly in my lap. I thought she was enjoying the lights of the Christmas tree, basking in the spirit of Christmas. No. She thought the nutcracker on the entertainment center was the neatest thing she had ever seen.

Chex Mix Time!! Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I make BATCHES of Chex Mix. I cannot get enough of the stuff and it has honestly replaced meals for me. It is just the standard recipe with a few substitutes. But oh so delicious!

Abby used the boxes that I will use to wrap presents to "skate" in the kitchen.

She also helped me pull out all of the ornaments (told you this stupid post was out of order...urgh!!)

Helping Mommy pull out EVERYTHING.

Finally....the new shoes (betcha thought I forgot about the title).

Aren't they adorable???

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Some of my thoughts......

• When you are in the grocery store and you see a crazed lady with a screaming baby coming down the aisle, please do not leave your cart in the middle while you walk off to shop. She WILL shove your cart 10 feet away and probably throw things in your cart that you don't need.
• If it is November (almost December), don't take your baby to the store in a onesie. It may seem nice outside, but your baby needs to wear more than a freaking onesie.
• If your child smacks another person, don't say sorry, but then nothing to your kid. True story - I was in the grocery store today (in case you couldn't tell) and I felt someone SMACK me in the middle of my back. My first instinct was a friend that hit me too hard. So I whipped around and it was a five year old in the cart. He HIT me. Mom muttered sorry, but nothing to the little !@#$% (insert your own word here). I also heard her remark to another woman a few aisles over that her kid wouldn't stop hitting strangers. Really??? Buck up Momma and lay down the law.
• I do hate people that want to judge how others kids behave and say "my kid would never do that", but on some level I have to think that I would NOT allow my child to hit another person without severe punishment. Or throw a tantrum in a public place. I might be eating my words in a few years, but I doubt it.
  
  
  
  

Slow Saturday

We laid around all day, just relaxing. Abby and I did run a few errands to the library, Target (I truly might be addicted) and to get more Christmas lights.

I couldn't wait for Abby to see the tree up with all of the lights. She was pretty uninterested. I am hoping that once the ornaments are on, things might change. I keep saying that I want her to pay attention to it and be amazed by it, but I might live to regret this if I am constantly saying "No, don't pull the tree down!"

She loves the magnets on our fridge.


I put a whole bunch of them on there and she likes to take them off and put them back on.


That was pretty much the extent of our day.

Grandparents, don't forget to check out the list below!!

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is....

Clothes size 12-18 months

Play And Groove Table

Rocking Horse

Tea Set - An Example

Baby Doll - An Example

"Little People" play sets (preferably the ones that are age 1 and up)

Bath Toys - An Example

Always Believing,

Abby

Those are just a few examples of things that we know Abby would love.

But since I have posted some specifics on here, if you want to let me know what you get, that is fine and I will take off the list.

Mainly, Abby will just be interested in the wrapping paper, so I would rather have something small that is wrapped fantastically then an expensive present!!!

Side Note - We are not in any way trying to solicit presents for Abby, it is just the experience that we want her to enjoy. But some people were asking for ideas and this was what I came up. Feel free to surprise her (me)!!!

If you are interested, here is a list of the top toys for this season. When did toys get so violent???

Gobble, Gobble

We had a FANTASTIC Thanksgiving! Great friends, great food, great times!

The day started with Daddy cooking. Ali did this the entire time that Stuart was cooking and preparing food. All she wanted was one bite of food.

Food cooking on the oven. Check out that turkey in the oven!



I had all intentions of getting Abby an adorable custom made Thanksgiving dress, but it didn't happen. Instead she got new pink suede boots! They were the ones that I wanted from Target, but since they were out of brown, we went with pink. Target is by far my favorite store, but they do disappoint me sometimes. (See previous post about the formula). We live in the highest birth rate county in NC and they run out of children's shoes??? Really???

They also don't have a maternity clothes store, but that is just another issue.



She got cranky waiting for food, so we stuck her in the Lazy Boy and rocked her for about 15 minutes - loved it! Better picture of the boots as well.


After Stuart slaved and slaved over the stove/oven, here is the result!


That is one good looking Turkey!


Abby loved ALL of it. The green beans, hash brown casserole, mashed potatoes, turkey, rolls.
She chowed down!!!

Abby's First Thanksgiving was a success!!!

Meg, Jared, Stu, Oz, Eric and Maria

After dinner, I put the boys to work. We don't really have room for a tree, but there was no way Abby wasn't getting one. So we decided that if we moved the gigantic entertainment center to the left a few feet, we could put a tree beside it.

I did put my tree up. Pulled out all of my ornaments and decorations. But discovered the lights were missing! Apparently my genius husband had pulled them out for his birthday and "lost" them in the packing of all of the boxes. Since he refuses to go through the 30+ boxes in the garage, he will be going out on Black Friday to buy more lights. It is his own fault!

This is our friend, Maria, that is due on December 7th. Isn't she so adorable? All of her weight gained is 100% in her belly. Some people are just so lucky.

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• I am thankful that my husband is home this Thanksgiving.
• (and that he did all of the cooking while I napped)
• I am thankful for all of the best wishes and love that we received from our friends and family today.
• I am grateful that we are able to eat a fantastic dinner today, as I know that many people do not get this.
• We are so worried about selling our house, but I am thankful that we have a roof over our heads to worry about.
• I am thankful NBC is showing the Office Wedding tonight. My favorite episode.
• I am thankful that 20 years later, I still have the Mariah Carey Christmas cd that I can officially start listening to.
• And NUMBER ONE...I am thankful that we have the healthiest, most beautiful, funniest, goofiest, loving daughter that I could ever hope for.
  
  

Thanksgiving Eve

Stuart, Abby and I went to Chuck and Peggy's for dinner tonight. I was so excited when I got there and they had their tree up. This is the first Christmas tree that Abby has seen. But she wasnt really into it. Hopefully, Friday when I put ours up, she will like it. But not too much...I am hoping that she doesn't pull it over on herself.

Daddy and Abby with the tree in the background. About as close as she got to the tree.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chronicles 16:34

Marine Corp Ball 2009

Stuart went to the Marine Corps ball last night. Apparently had a great time as I didn't hear too much from him! Just wanted to share some pictures....then on to Ms. Abby.

Stuart and one of his buddies.


The guys lined up ready to hit the ball.


We made a can of green beans tonight for Abby. I swear to you, that she ate at least half of it. By herself! She was double fisting the beans, couldn't eat them fast enough.

She looks a little "drunk" with happiness.

Stuart had a bottle of water tonight that Abby insisted on demolishing as well. Look how long that hair is getting....

Almost half of it ended up on her pj's, but that is ok.

Marine Corp Ball 2006

Tonight is the night of the Marine Corp Ball. Since I am not going, I thought I could at least re-cap the last time that I did go. 2006!

Stuart did go with his friends tonight and took the camera, so hopefully I will get pictures from that!

Here we are in all of our glory 3 years ago.

The girls that went.
The crazy part is that only one of these "girls" is still around. The tall babe in the back, Megan, is married and living in Cali with her hubby.

Me and Stu, Jared and Melissa (getting married June '10), John and Wendy (married, living in VA - he just got back from Afghanistan last week - Praise!)

Mario and Liz (married, with an adorable little boy in Cali), Me and Stu, and Melissa and Jared.

Although I have only been to two Balls, this one totally rocked! The first one, I didn't know anyone, but this one EVERYONE was there. There is nothing like bonding in your ball gown.

I do have a funny story about this night. We went back to the hotel and hung out with everyone, then a few of us went to a club downtown. On the way back, Stu decided that Waffle House sounded delicious. I was excited, but really wanted to go back to the hotel so he decided to drop me off, then go get it to-go. Well.....apparently I was more "tired" than I thought. He came back to the hotel and I wouldn't answer the door or the phone. He had to go get a 90 year old security guard to let him in the room. I am a deep sleeper! I just remember waking up and seeing hash browns about 10 inches from my face. My first thought was "uh oh". We still laugh about it (well I do).

You may be wondering why I didn't go, but we just made the decision that it would cost too much money (the dress, the hair, the nails, the hotel, etc.), plus finding someone to take care of Abby would be a pain. Plus I have court in the morning for my speeding ticket. To be quite honest, it is nice to sit here and watch WHAT I WANT for once!

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For the 2005 Ball, it is a continuation of our lives starting. The 2005 ball was the weekend before our wedding. I flew to VA with my ball gown, suit for an interview, all in my luggage. This was the first time(but not the last if you have read before) that my luggage was lost. I had a late flight on Friday night, needless to say I was balling my eyes out over my lost luggage. I had the Ball the next night, an interview in about 14 hours, I was falling apart.

The poor guy on the phone must have sorry for me, because my luggage was delivered at 3 AM that night to my hotel. Enjoyed the ball, didn't have to wear my pj's to the interview!

Then on Sunday, I flew home. That following Friday, Stuart flew in (see previous post about our wedding). We were married, then drove back to VA on Tuesday to live.

Very busy time in my life, but I learned that I can survive alot more than I thought I could.

Sunday Fun

Yes, I know my previous post also was called Fun, but we really had a great weekend.

Abby started the morning with a "cherrios face".

She really had no idea that it was there as she continued to put more in her mouth.

Then she wore an Adorable outfit (even though they are all adorable). I got the princess castle shirt at Target, my favorite place, for $4. Much better than the $12 shirts from Old Navy.

One of Abby's favorite "toys"- a pack of gum. She did almost have her first piece of gum though, as she spilled it without me knowing. Pretty sure that Ali got a piece before I could stop her though. I was able to stop Abby thank goodness.

We watched football this afternoon with lots of friends. Justine, Steve, Coffee, Hester, Michelle, Toni, Tambo, Jess and BEAUTIFUL little Riley. We haven't had a chance to hang out with Ms. Riley and her family in about five months so it was great to catch up with them. Riley is 18 months old and her parents just found out they are expecting their next one!!! We are so excited for them and found out they might be moving to Oak Ridge, TN.

I will also say that Riley and Abby played pretty well together. There was a little jealousy over the cell phones, but they were both civil. I truly think that Abby being in day care has made her awesome around other kids. One day (far, far away) she will be a great big sister!!!!

Saturday Fun

Abby, Stu, Justine and I went to the Jacksonville Parade today. The weather was beautiful, although the wind was a little chilly.

Julie and Mike took Cash to walk the parade with the Great Danes of Jacksonville. Cash is such a BIG dog! Abby just "chillin" watching the parade. She was so great and just took it all in.

At one point, I look over and I guess she found the ground more interesting!

The Marines in the parade.

Abby loving life. The only thing that scared her was the fire trucks. But as soon as I picked her up, she was fine.

Stuart and I had my work Christmas party at Logans. Justine and Steve watched Abby for us.

She apparently had a blast and didn't miss us at all.

Her and Uncle Steve eating dinner together. But she had too much fun and didn't go to sleep until 11:30 last night. She was asleep when we got her from Justine and Steve's but then refused to go to bed after that. Luckily, Daddy stayed up with her while Mommy went to bed.