.15.16.17.&.18.months.

So I’m a little too busy to be blogging these days… sorry! Things are just beyond hectic, especially with the holidays here now.

The last few months my girl has grown in the blink of an eye! She is a full blown toddler now. I barely see any “baby” left in her; although, she will ALWAYS by my baby girl! In my last post she was learning to talk and she has advanced in her talking, but has refrained from being quiet as vocal these days. She can say words, but doesn’t say them as often as she use to. Around 15 months she learned to say her name. I really, really worked with her to say her name. I wanted people to be able to ask her name and she respond. Well…. I got my wish! And “Abby” was the only word we heard around my house for a while. She would walk around saying “Abby, Abby, Abby” over and over again. It’s really cute!! Even all of her classmates at school said “Abby” all day long! The parents ask the teachers… “which one is Abby?” Ha ha! My girl is literally full of herself. ;) The newest words are “more” and “please.” It’s SO cute when she says them!!

But as she has gotten older she has started paying attention to other things and her talking has slowed down. She has REALLY started watching more tv the last few months. She LOVES the SPROUT channel. This includes Sesame Street, which is her favorite! In the last few weeks, she has really taken to Caillou and the Wiggles. She will be on the other side of the house and hear the theme song for Caillou come on and she runs in there to watch. She will also dance to every Wiggles song when it comes on. Which brings us to our next newest thing… dancing! She has really started dancing these days. Any song can come on and she will start dancing. This includes cell phone ring tones! :)

She is still a good eater, but she has gotten really picky! She use to eat macaroni and cheese like crazy! Now, she will not even touch a noodle. She also will not eat French fries, ice cream, or anything cold. Her favorite thing to eat is grilled cheese sandwiches and cheet-o’s! We try to limit these to once a week or special occasions. And she prefers her green beans to French fries ANY day! Thank goodness!

She still likes to read books – but not as much. These days, SHE wants to read the books on her terms. That means she turns the page in the book whether you have finished reading the page or not. She has also learned different body parts. She can point to her nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, belly button, hair, fingers, and toes. We are learning our animals too. She knows the cow says “moo” but will only tell you that sometimes. She can also point out any Sesame Street character in a book. When I noticed she was doing this, I told myself…. I should really be teaching her more useful knowledge. So for Christmas we will be getting things to learn our alphabet and numbers.

Since our last post, we have had Abby’s second trip to the fair, second Halloween and second Thanksgiving. She LOVED them all! At the fair, we didn’t ride any rides. Mainly because it was SO expensive and also because she just isn’t old enough yet. She was a bumble bee for Halloween and the CUTEST one ever!! She LOVED trick or treating. We walked around Jennifer’s neighborhood and she had the BEST time! She got the hang of trick-or-treating pretty quick! And wouldn’t DARE let you take her bucket of candy! She worked hard for it! We are now getting ready for her second Christmas! I cannot believe time is flying by so fast! I want it to slow down so incredibly bad!!! While every day gets better and more fun with my Abby Grace, I miss my little newborn baby!!

Abby is SO full of life! She has the happiest little spirit. I am really trying to teach her to be a good, sweet person. We are learning a lot about sharing – thanks to day care and cousin Emily. But my baby is definitely like her mama. She has got an attitude like you wouldn’t believe!! Ha ha! I know I was a difficult child growing up. I threw tantrums left and right. I gave my mama a really hard time. I don’t know why I was like that, but I remember the feelings that would come over me when I would get upset and act horrible! Well…. I’m getting SUCH payback now. If my mama were here she would be laughing so hard. Abby acts JUST like I use to and it’s so weird because I feel how she is feeling because I use to do the same thing. She kicks and screams, stiffens up, then turns to a noodle…. Only because I said “no.” Oh well. I’d like to think we would be growing out of this stage soon, but I don’t think so. But that’s okay. That’s just my Abby Grace. And she doesn’t do it too often.

Bo is about to start his FINAL SEMESTER OF LAW SCHOOL!!!!!!!! He has two more final exams to take this week and he will start the last semester in January. I never thought this time would come!! While it’s been a long 2.5 years of law school, it’s also gone by fast at the same time because we have Abby. Bo and I also just recently took our first trip ALONE since our honeymoon 4 years ago!! We were both DYING to get away so we last minute planned a trip to Universal Studio’s in Orlando. Bo had never been and it has been YEARS since I had been. We only stayed 3 nights and that was just enough. Jennifer kept Abby for me and it was truly a blessing! Abby loves staying at her Aunt Jenn’s house. It’s so nice to have peace about her having somewhere else to stay. I never thought I would have that since mama isn’t here, but I do. I didn’t think I would make it a night without her, but I did. I was so ready to see her when we got back though!!

All in all, this is a brief update of what we have been doing. I don’t even have time to go through the million pictures I have taken, but you can see most of them via facebook by clicking HERE!

.13.and.14.months.

WOW! We made it past 12 months!! At first her first birthday seemed SO far away, but it then came out of no where! Now, my girl is 14 months old and is truly a little toddler. I am so very sad to see my little baby grow so fast, but I am so very happy that she is healthy and growing!

She started walking exactly a week after her first birthday (June 24th). She had been trying to take steps for a few weeks before. She would work on her balance and want to take that step so bad, but she would “chicken out.” Then she would nearly leap into your lap!! As she would stand, get her balance she would then almost jump to you! She wanted to do it so bad and never gave up. It was SUCH a fun experience helping her learn to walk. But she finally mastered the steps on her own at her Aunt Jenn’s house. It’s extremely bittersweet.

She is really trying to talk more and more each day. She’s got “da-da” down pat! She is even saying “ma-ma” now too. It is the SWEETEST thing I have ever heard!!!! It totally melted my heart one day when I picked her up from day care. She stood at my feet, grabbing my legs, saying “ma-ma, ma-ma!” I will NEVER forget that!! Now she does it more and more and it gets sweeter every time. But she will ONLY call for mama when she wants something. :) She will say "ball" and "bow" (as in hair bow). She will even point to her belly button if you ask her to, as well as her hair.

With that said, we have also switched day cares! This was SO hard for me! It was definitely harder on me than Abby. We had gotten to know and LOVE the people at her old day care that it was hard to let go. But I knew in my heart that it was a MUST! See, the daycare she was at did not have a good “set up” in my opinion once you left the nursery (after they turned a year old). The rooms where separate by petitions and there were doors EVERYWHERE! Including a door to the outside RIGHT in her room. It just didn’t set well with me. So I had been on the list at a new daycare for a while. However, I didn’t want to change until she was out of the nursery. The old daycare has the BEST nursery around in my opinion! I even like their nursery better than our new daycare’s. But I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new daycare from the age of 1 on up! So we have been at the daycare for right at a month now and it’s FABULOUS!!! And it’s closer to the house!

I also spent the night away from my baby girl for the first time. I really wanted to wait until she was a year old before I left her over night so I did. She stayed at her Aunt Jenn and Uncle Mike’s house while Bo and I had dinner with our good friends Adam and LeAnn. I had somewhat planned to go pick her up after dinner but had also planned for her to stay the night just in case she got tired and we were not finished eating. And that’s what happened! She did FABULOUS!! And we enjoyed some time out with friends. It really helped to know that she was okay spending the night away. She absolutely LOVES seeing the Hobson’s!! Especially her Aunt Jenn!! :)

She is eating pretty much ANYTHING these days! She absolutely LOVES milk!! I try to only give her 3 (sometimes 4) sippy’s of milk a day. She drinks juice with her snacks. She LOVES to eat and is one amazing eater! We’ve never had problems with food – other than my fear of her choking to death! We’ve only been sick once in the last two months with a little stomach bug. She had extremely bad diarrhea, which led to EXTREMELY bad diaper rash!! Now, she has a little cold but nothing major.

She LOVES to read all of her books!! Reading has also become part of our nighttime routine. After bath time, we get her in her jammies, and then we read a few quick books. I then put her in HER bed and she eventually drifts off to sleep. It’s pretty sad for me because she will not let me hold her and rock her. She is not a snuggler at all, which hurts my heart. However, I am glad she is Miss Independent went it comes to most things. She does like to sit in my lap and ready books to her. She likes to point at things in the book and “say” what they are. She hasn’t mastered how to say most things she points at, but she is getting better.

We just finished up swimming lessons for the year. She has officially completed the Water Babies I class. She L-O-V-E-D it! I am so glad we did it! While she will probably not remember what she learned, it was a great experience, which was the only reason we did it. We are going to pick up with swimming lessons again next summer. And then I plan on enrolling her in dance next fall!! I cannot WAIT!! :)

Other than that, not much else is happening. We are getting ready for fall, including Emily’s FIRST BIRTHDAY!!! Jenn and I have made the girls matching outfits for the fall and we are working on Halloween outfits! I just LOVE this time of year and cannot wait to get my girl all deck out! Bo has started his FINAL year of law school THANK GOODNESS!! I didn’t think this year would ever get here!! It seems like yesterday he was quitting his job at Brandon and enrolling in school. Now, two years later he’s back at Brandon with a one year old!! My how life has changed!!

It’s also getting to the time of year that brings back the WORST memories of my entire life. It was two years ago that mama was in the fight of her life! Little did I know I was losing her right before my very eyes! I look back thinking how stupid I was not realizing what was happening. However, I firmly believe that it was a blessing not knowing what was happening. I would have been a mess and wouldn’t have been as strong for her. At this point two years ago, she had already been in and out of the hospital once. She was about to go into the hospital for the second, and last time. She never came home. :( This time of year is my favorite, but also brings back the worst memories of my life! Thankfully we have these baby girls to brighten our dark days. I truly believe in my heart these girls are here for that reason.

I've only got a few pictures here with me at work. (Yea, posting a blog during lunch b/c it's the only time I have!)

You can keep up with most of my pics in my facebook album.

.11.and.12.months

Sorry it's been so long since the last post! Things have obviously been a little too busy around here. We aren't slowing down either! My Abby Grace is over 13 months old now, but I am going to catch everyone up on the past 2 months.

Since our last post Abby has done a TREMENDOUS amount of new things! We finally got on whole milk right before she turned 11 months old. After starting table food a little before 10 months, we have now gone ALL table food. She pretty much eats anything I eat. Of course at day care she gets pizza and BBQ sandwiches, but I am still pretty terrified of the choking so she gets mushy stuff when she is with me. If it's not mushy it is cut into the tiniest pieces you can imagine. :)

We are also in her big girl car seat too. We are still facing backwards and will do this as long as possible. Our doctor told us this is much safer because research now states that just because they are a year old doesn't mean you turn their seat forward. So we will play it safe and face backwards as long as we can - hopefully till she is two!

We have also started swimming lessons at Maley's swim school. We are taking them with cousin Emily and they are both having a blast!! Abby absolutely LOVES the water and she just cannot get enough of it! She has done so good with swimming and I couldn't be more proud of her!! We take this once a week on Monday nights and these will last through the summer. We are so thankful that we get to do this as a family - as we sometimes don't get too much time together. Bo and I will rotate on who gets in the water with her. She is a little hard to handle in the water because she gets so excited so it's easier for her daddy to get in with her. :)

I also had my first Mother's Day with my baby girl!! Abby and Maggie got me the sweetest little card!! :) My big present was my new back patio - which I LOVE!!!!! This Mother's Day took on a whole new meaning. I just never knew how my mama TRULY felt about me until now. You never understand a mother's love until you become a mother. It is unfortunate that I never got to experience this feeling while my mama was still here. I'd give anything to be able to share this experience with her!!!

Abby also went on her SECOND family vacation to Destin, Florida!! This is our annual family beach vacation. The last time we went Abby was only 8 weeks old and couldn't enjoy herself. But this year she had a pretty good time. She had a slight ear infection while we were there so she wasn't in the best of moods. But overall she had a good time. She LOVED swimming in the pool and watching the waves in the ocean. Wasn't too fond of the sand this year - maybe next time!

A week after Abby turned eleven months old she stood by herself without holding anything. After she mastered the balance thing you could tell she REALLY wanted to walk. She was very cautious when balancing. I guess she just didn't want to fall.

A few days before Abby's first birthday, she transfered to the Toddler Room at her daycare. This was a very hard transition for her. She cried pretty bad every single morning we would go to drop her off. She would be a little fussy during the day too. In the Toddler Room they nap on little mats on the floor instead of the crib, which Abby had NEVER done before. BIG ADJUSTMENT! The first few days should wouldn't nap very well - if at all. This made for fussy girl!! After about a week and half she got the hang of it and really enjoys the toddler room and LOVES her teachers!!

Abby has a total of six teeth in her little mouth!! Speaking of teeth. . . About a week after going into the Toddler Room at daycare, I went to pick her up from daycare as I normally do after work only to get there and fine a huge bite mark on my baby girl's FACE!!! Talk about upset!! I couldn't help but cry when I saw it!! How horrified my baby must have been to have been bitten on the face. I knew it would eventually happen at daycare, but didn't realize it would be so soon and on her FACE!!! I eventually got over it because the mark disappeared over the next two days. She has even been bit again but only on the arm.

The biggest thing that has happened in these past few months has been Abby's 1st Birthday!!! I cannot tell you how incredibly bittersweet this day was for me!! To think how fast her first year of life went by makes me very sad. I miss my little newborn baby so very much but I am so excited to see my girl learn new things each day. I look at her now and think back to when she couldn't even hold her little head up! On her actual birthday (June 17th) the family went out to eat to Sal n Mookie's. I had her party the following Saturday at home. I had a vision of what I wanted for her party and it turned out pretty good for the most part. I really, really worked hard planning her party because I wanted it to be perfect! There will always be birthday parties, but never again the FIRST one!! I wanted it simple - but perfect!! I wanted it small - but wanted EVERYONE to celebrate with us! It turned out PERFECT and I couldn't have done it any differently. :)

Exactly ONE WEEK after she turned a year old she took her first little step! :) She was so excited for herself! She had been wanting to do it for some time - trying every single day. She would get in such a hurry and just leap into your arms instead of walking to you. But she finally did it. Took her time and literally "walked" to me. It was only a step or two, but I knew she would soon TAKE OFF!!

She also spent the night away from her mommy and daddy for the very first time a week after her 1st birthday. She stayed with her Aunt Jenn, Uncle Mike, and Emily while her mommy and daddy had a fun night out with friends. We weren't sure if she would stay the night but prepared for it anyway. It came time for her to go to sleep and off she went. I missed her SO badly, but was proud that she could manage without us - at least for one night. It's so hard to leave her!!

These past two months Abby waves bye-bye and says "da da." She is pretty vocal as far as baby babbling is concerned. She loves to give kisses and will even blow kisses. She does her "indian" sound which is done by patting her mouth while making a noise. She has quiet the temper on her - Bo keeps saying she gets that from me. :) She is going through the "mine" phase where she doesn't want to share her toys. She has also started swatting at people and I am trying to learn the best discipline method for her.

I love my baby girl with all my heart. I cannot imagine my life without her. I literally feel like I have a piece of my mama here with me through Abby. I know that sounds crazy, but it's just a feeling I have. EVERY time I look at Abby, I see and think about my mama. I miss my mama like you wouldn't believe and I sometimes wonder how I have made it through this year without her. There are days when I want to pick up the phone to call her and tell her what my baby just did. Then reality hits me like a ton of bricks! But I know things have happened this way for a reason. I believe in my heart that I wouldn't have Abby if my mama was still here.

Here are just a few pics of what we've been up to. I hope to have the 13th month posted soon!!

Swimming Lessons:

Crazy Face:

Mother's Day:

First taste of REAL chocolate:

Bo with his teammate from Brandon Police competing in the Southern Regional Lawfit Challenge:

They placed 3rd Overall. Ready for Nationals!!

Destin, Florida 2010:

First Birthday Party:

Her present from her mommy and daddy (picnic table made by Bo and painted by me):