Family Update

The last few weeks have been kinda crazy around here! Kyle had the privilege to spend the last two Sunday's leading worship for a friend's church while their worship leader was out. He really enjoyed it and the church was so sweet and supportive of us!

Here he is, practicing before the service. Abigail enjoyed sitting on the floor in front of the stage and watching her Daddy. She loves when he plays his guitar and sings!

Our favorite Farmer's Market opened a couple Saturday's ago and we enjoyed going and scoping out the various vendors for this year. It was a tad chilly but so much fun to get out together as a family!

Abigail is making a funny face in this picture! haha... but she was enjoying watching all the people at the Farmer's Market.

Abigail has been teething along with having a little bit of a cold (I think), with a runny nose, congestion, and a cough from all the drainage. I'm not sure how much is from her teething and how much is a cold, but either way, she's had a rough time breathing the past week but she is finally getting better. Yay!

I've been struggling with an infection for a while now and on top of that had another round of mastitis last week, with fever for a couple days and being on the couch or and bed for about 3 days. :-( Thankfully Kyle has a wonderful boss who let him stay home one day to help me with Abigail so I could rest to try to knock the crazy fever. I've been to two other doctors this week trying to determine the cause of the original infection  but the vote it still out to determine what is going on. Lord willing we will have answers soon. The doctor is thinking now that what we thought was an infection may actually be an allergic reaction or some form of dermatitis.

On a lighter note, after Abigail and I had both been sick last week, we got out one night and took Abigail to see the new fountain that Southern put in. She loved watching the water!

Now that most classes are out at Southern for the summer, Kyle's work load is tremendously lighter. It is so fun to go meet him on campus for lunch or to take a walk together in the evenings. We even enjoyed just sitting out on a park bench the other night, watching some guys play soccer, while Abigail took a short little nap in her stroller. By the way, Abigail loves to go on walks and to be outside. She does really well in her stroller, at least for a while. 

This last week I figured out a fun way to keep Abigail occupied for a little while. Now that she loves to sit up, tummy time is definitely not her favorite (although it never really has been) but sometimes she gets tired of sitting up all by herself. So... insert laundry basket! By putting her snuggly flannel blanket from Grammy in it with a few toys, she has a little play area all to herself! She liked it!

I love having Abigail with me all the time! She is my little buddy and I'm so grateful to have a daughter to do things with. She is such a joy and I am blessed to share life with her.

Abigail Is 6 Months Old

Yesterday, May 25th, Abigail turned 6 months old. It's crazy to think of how much she is growing and maturing in her ability to do things. She is so much fun and her little personality is just blossoming!

6 Month Milestones:

*She sits up really well all by herself!
*Lunges forward while sitting up to grab toys. She rocks back and forth while sitting up. 

*She sleeps on her tummy ... and sleeps SO much better!

 *She can push up on her hands and knees and hold the "crawling" position while rocking back and forth.

 *She loves to eat peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, bananas, and bacon.  Yes, bacon! It's a good fat and as a baby she needs lots of good natural fat to help her brain grow. :-)
*She loves to sip out of her little sippy cup and can even hold it by herself, although she doesn't know how to tip it up.
*She loves to drink from our straws... although she can't suck the water up yet. 
*She is beginning to exert her will now too; getting frustrated and screaming/fussing when she is upset about something.Our sweet baby is reminding us that she too is a sinner in need of a Savior!
*She appears to be starting a little of the separation anxiety when someone else is holding her now. (She used to do this all the time, then got better this last month. Now it's returning.) She still loves for her Daddy to hold her and play with her though. Yay!!
*She "talks" a lot now... in the car, while sucking on her hands, while playing, etc... She loves to hear her voice. Her voice is beginning to sound more like a big baby's too, instead of an infant. She's just starting to make sounds like "Goo... gah... goo..." So exciting!

*She's had a couple rough teething days but no teeth to show yet. She drools almost constantly though!
*She is constantly sucking/chewing on her hands while teething!

*She has found her feet! She loves to sit and pull on her feet. Her little fingers grasp her toes and she holds on tight.

*She loves to rummage through her basket of toys and look at each one, gumming on it, and playing with it.

*She can throw her toys. (I figured this out in the doctor's office yesterday!)
*She enjoys looking at books with Mommy and Daddy.

*Abigail loves to watch Kipper! We let her watch these videos and Baby Einstein. She likes Kipper the best though! Kipper is a cute little puppy with a British accent. It's a very simple and slow show, so I like that it's not over stimulating Abigail's little eyes too much. (Grandparent hint: these would make great birthday/Christmas gifts! ;-)

Here's a little video of her playing:

More random fun shots:

 Can you see her hair? It's finally thickening up and getting darker!

Small Groups

So grateful this is NOT what our church community group is like! We love our group and have really grown to value living life with these dear friends. Enjoy this funny video and if your small group/community group is like this video, please, come join ours! :-)

To view this video, you may need to click the title once the video begins to open it in YouTube if it is only displaying part of the video screen. Sorry.




I found this video on the GirlTalk blog.

Look What I Can Do!!!

So last Saturday, the day before Mother's Day, it dawned on me, as I lay on the floor next to Abigail playing with her, that I hadn't really worked with her on sitting up. Sure, she's been sitting up on her own in our laps or in the bumbo for some weeks, but not much on her own. So I spent the rest of the afternoon helping her to learn how to balance herself. I would sit her up with a couple toys in front of her and would keep my hand on one of her legs to help weigh her down if she started to lean too far or fall over. She caught on quickly and has been progressively getting better each day. Now, I just wrap a blanket around the back of her to brace her if she falls, but I'm able to go about the apartment and do what I need to, while Miss Abigail is just sitting in the living room, rummaging through her toy basket and sucking on things. It's adorable!

 Contentedly playing...

hmmm... which one to suck on first?

Yummy!

Aren't I such a big girl now? 

This opens up a whole new world to her!

Pear-faced

Mother's Day

Celebrating my first Mother's Day this year was so much fun. My wonderful hubby totally pampered me all weekend long! On Saturday night, Kyle took me out to Red Lobster which is one of our absolute favorite restaurants so it was a special treat. Then he took me to the mall to shop around and bought me some beautiful jewelry. Yay! A mommy can always use new jewelry to "spice up" that shirt that has spit-up on it, right? :-D

 Kyle and I

Sorry the lighting was pretty bad... haha...

 Sweet Abigail smiling up at her Daddy

 Yum! Daddy's fingers are the best!

My a-maz-ing meal of shrimp and salmon... oh yes!!! You may drool!

Our graceful daughter reclining at the table with her foot up while we eat. haha! She got so much attention from the waiters and manager while we were there. People kept asking how old she was and commenting on her.

 Abigail LOVES cups! So I figured I'd let her try sucking on mine.

 Showing her the straw... (notice her fingers holding tightly to the cup!)

 Letting her try some water from a straw.

Oooo...

Kyle and Abigail

Once again, bad lighting, but such a cute picture so I had to post it!

Then, Sunday after church, he took me to Chuy's for lunch. Another absolute favorite restaurant of mine! We then went home and enjoyed relaxing together and watched a fun movie. Ahh... so nice to enjoy some great "down time" together.

Kyle, thank you so much for making me feel SO special on Mother's Day! It is a joy to serve you and Abigail as wife and Mommy! I love all that you do for our family and I'm so grateful for your hard work and the sacrifices you make for us. God could not have blessed me with a more wonderful husband than you! I love you so much, Babe!

Abigail, I know you will probably never read this, but I love you so much and I absolutely LOVE being your Mommy! Thank you for all the coos and smiles that you give me everyday and for loving me back so enthusiastically. I am blessed to have you as my daughter and I look forward to many more days and years ahead of growing in Christ-likeness together. I pray that God will draw your heart to Himself while you are young and that your days will be filled with serving Him.

Derby Day Fun

Here in Kentucky, Derby is a HUGE event! There are weeks of celebration that happen before Derby. As residents here, it's fun to be apart of some of the celebrations. There is a festival, parade, hot hair balloons, concerts, etc... Well, today is Derby. While watching a little of the pre-Derby stuff on TV this morning, we enjoyed seeing all the fun big hats that everyone wears. It's such a big deal to buy and wear your "Derby Hat"... it made me wish we were attending... just to wear a hat and see all the festivities and traditions. haha...

In honor of Derby Day... Abigail is wearing her "most fun outfit" to celebrate. I think her bow should qualify for a Derby hat... since it's so big! haha... Here are a few snapshots:

 Our happy baby girl!

The end. ;-)