Green Beans are the Best!

We introduced Abby to green beans this week. She has been eating Oatmeal, so she has the process of eating out of a spoon down. But imagine her shock when she expected the bland oatmeal and got Green Beans!! She thought it was the best thing in the world....she actually stuck her entire hand in the bowl of oatmeal trying to get to the beans!

Her shocked face just shows it all....she couldnt believe these flavors were out here and she wasnt getting them sooner! Next week, we will try another veggie.

Our weekend in Maryland

We had a wonderful trip to Maryland this past weekend to see the family. Lots of pictures!

Abby's first time in a high chair at Cracker Barrel on the way.

Stopping at a rest stop on the way to stretch our legs!

Abby with her Gram and Grandad. She was hungry, we were just trying to take a picture...


Grandad attempting to calm her down!

In the hotel in amazement at her toys.

Chilling in the hotel room waiting on the rain to pass!

Abby and her cousin Evan....BFF!

The family...Diane, her sister Grace and Carole, brothers Jimmy and Glenn, and mom and dad.

Gammy with her two babies...Chris and Abby!!!

Abby and Cletis

We went to friends' house last night for a cookout.

And just for the record, Mommy went grocery shopping while Daddy got Abby dressed. I normally do not put my baby GIRL in camo! He buys this stuff when he is alone, I swear. Then he and Mike thought it would be funny to turn her headband with a bow on it (my attempt to help the outfit) around and make her ninja baby!

But while we were there, she made a little buddy named Cletis.

It started with a staring contest.

Which I am proud to say that Abby won.





Then when he thought we werent looking, Cletis lazily stretched towards Abby. He thought she was "the other white meat"!

No worries, no babys were harmed during these pictures!

Our Little Water Baby

Abby is such a little swimmer! We knew that she loved bath time, so we assumed (correctly!) that she would love the pool as well. The only time she had a slight meltdown was when Uncle Steve blew bubbles at her. Her bottom lip popped out and she let out a huge wail. But after that she was fine again. I was too nervous to dip her face in - how old do they have to be to do that? But I did dip her head back which she was totally fine with. And dont worry her (and Mommy) wore SPF 50 sunscreen - no burnt babies!

She kicked her feet around too, but only succeeded in going backwards, it is a start!

Chilling with her hat and shades!

Abby's New Toy

We bought Abby this toy that has water in it a few months ago and I found it today. We really have too much stuff! So I blew it up and filled it with water. She found it fun for about 5 minutes, then moved on to other things.

Abby and Daddy practicing to sit up!


I also have decided I would like to try putting shoes on her. I always said that I would wait until she actually can walk, but they are just so darn cute. This pair is a size 2 (3-6 months) and humongous on her. Surely she will grow into them though. About 2 seconds after this picture was taken, they were kicked off and chewed on. Practice makes perfect!

More Pictures from TN Visit

I finally got some more pictures from our visit over Memorial Day weekend (thanks Mom!). We had quite a good time when we were there.

My parents' next door neighbors who graciously let us borrow their pool.

Abby's First Dip

Loving it!

Watching Nona do some cooking in the kitchen.

My brother, J.D. and his girlfriend Jessica. I am not sure who is more scared in this picture!

How adorable!

Mimi, who has completely put her to sleep!!

But no one (no one)! knocks her out as good as her Poppa!


Abby meeting her friend Bella. How cute is she!

I want to Crawl....

Abby wants sooooo bad to crawl...I can just feel it. Stuart was practicing with her last night and she made it about 2 inches before she got frustrated.

She also turned the big 5 months on Saturday. Many people take a picture with their little ones and a picture of the month that they are, unfortunately I was not organized enough to do this, so why start now??!! But here are some great facts about her.

• She knows her name and grins when it is said.
• She knows both her mommy and daddy from strangers, although she is so great about being held by anyone.
• When we go anywhere, she is just so wide eyed taking it all in. We get compliments all the time about what a great baby she is.
• Her favorite thing to do (today) is flick her wrist. I dont really know where this came from, but it is just so funny to watch. The other morning, I had her propped up in bed and she took her pacy and flicked it over and over in her lap and laughed like it was the best thing she had ever seen.
• When I am feeding her her last bottle of the day, she insists on rubbing my chin even though it tickles the crap out of me.
• When we are "snuggling" in bed on Sat or Sun morning, she likes to rub my forearm before she drifts back to sleep.
• Her daddy can make her laugh more than anyone in the world.
• She likes to "talk" but has started screeching now. It was cute at first (well ok, it still is) but she does it ALL the time and it is extremely high pitched.
• No teeth yet, but still crazy drooling.
• We are still working on the oatmeal (as you can see from the pictures below). I think she is getting more down as her bottle at night is less now, yet she still falls dead asleep. A few more attempts at this and we will move to other foods. Although apparently her fingers are still the food of choice.
• Her daddy and I could not imagine our lives without her!

Random Pictures

When I went home to TN, I completely forgot my camera. I am still waiting on people to send me pictures (ahem, Mom, JD).


But I did buy a 7.99 disposable camera to take pictures. That is quite an experience to hold the little button in, way for it to "charge" to use the light and then have to wind it after a picture. But I think the worse part is not getting to see the picture right away. You have no idea if eyes are closed, lighting is right, etc. What did we do before digital cameras???

We enjoyed a great lunch at Miller's Grocery.

Abby and Gammy at work.


Abby's first bathing suit.

My what a big ole head! So many brains in there!

Took a walk on the Greenway.

And this one was from this morning, trying to use the rest of my roll of film. But it is also Abby's first time to wear jean shorts. I found them in a drawer. She looks like a boy in this picture, but I swear her shirt is pink.

Jon and Kate Plus 8

Jon and Kate Plus 8

TLC (The Learning Channel) has a show about a husband and wife that have 8 children (a set of twins and sextuplets). I occasionally would catch an episode if I just happened to see it on. Right after I had Abby, one of Stuart’s cousins had a comment on Facebook about Kate’s book Multiple Bles8ings and how fantastic it was. I immediately went to Barnes and Noble (my favorite store) and bought the book.

At a time when I was feeling overwhelmed with having a new baby (as well as Stuart being overseas), reading this book about a Christian woman who had 6 at one time and how she kept her faith really made me feel better about my situation. If she could have 6 babies with 2 3-year olds as well, who was I to complain about one relatively good baby?!

So after reading this book, I started watching this show more frequently. TLC was running it about 4 times a day and I was on maternity leave, I had lots of daytime on my hands – it is truly amazing the junk on television during the day. I also started trying to catch the Monday night premieres.

This was a great show!! The kids are incredibly adorable and it is amazing to see them growing up. My thoughts of Kate were that she was very organized (as I imagine you would have to be with 8 kids!), didn’t take anything too seriously and constantly ribbed her husband. Jon was so laid back, yet really helped out. He took apart and put back together every kids bed in one day. In my opinion, they were just a normal (although large) family. Who doesn’t joke with their husband and give him “love pats”?

Then all of a sudden, the media frenzy begins! Jon is seen with friends that are girls. Kate is spending too much time with the bodyguard. Usmagazine.com has a post every other hour about every single comment that is “overheard” by this family. Every day there is a new story more horrifying than the rest. Us Weekly has had her on the cover for 5 (yes, 5!) weeks in a row. This week is “Mean Mommy”- the story is about an “onlooker” that heard a five year old say Mommy is Mean. What in the world is going on that paparazzi is quoting 5 year olds?


Attached to these posts are some of the most vicious comments that I have ever read. Kate is a media whore, monster, mean mommy, those kids should be taken from the family, she should have been cheated on etc. Jon is lazy, dumb, a whipping boy. The worse are the ones calling the kids stupid, retarded, spoiled, ruined. These are children that will one day have to hear about all of these comments and the way their parents were raked through the media. My anger towards the morons that post these comments is too strong for me to even put into words. If you don’t like the show, DON’T WATCH IT! If you don’t like the family, DON’T READ THE ARTICLES! We live in a country where freedom is such a privilege. People do have the right to make whatever comments they want, but geez, if you don’t like the show, you have the freedom to change the channel. I don’t like to watch people eat goat parts or whatever, so I don’t watch Survivor.

I just wanted to write this because I feel very strongly that this is a good Christian family. They definitely started this show with good intentions and good hearts. I blame the paparazzi (p-people), Us Weekly especially, for taking an innocent show on TLC and just devouring the parents and children. This poor woman cant go anywhere without being photographed, lashed out at, and criticized for every outfit she wears. I did like the show better before all of the national attention, but what is happening to them is just so wrong.

Thanks for letting me rant. This just eats me up inside!

A True Blogger!

So, as much as I try to update my blog every few days, Lindsay has opened my eyes to a "True Blogger". Kelly's Korner was referenced on one of her blogs, so I clicked just out of curiosity. Lo and behold, this chick is with it! She actually has a little girl, Harper, that was also born in January, so it is great to see/hear all of her milestones as Abby is doing some of the same things. She updates every day with tons of pictures. I only aspire to have that much time on my hands and that level of creativity.

Just in case you were wondering who my fabulous friend Kelly was, I dont know her. But she has a great blog....check it out!