What do you serve?

Well since we offered to have my mom, step dad, sister-in-law and nephews over for Christmas this year I've been thinking... what the heck do we serve?!?!? I've never done Christmas at my very own place before and I want it to be perfect. I've got a few cute things for the table where we'll serve the food (table cloth, Christmas plates etc) but I have no idea what to cook.. Theres' the usual, ham or turkey.. then my family has always made my Polish grandmother's lemon soup (recipe to follow if you're interested, it's delish!) and potato salad, potato casserole, deviled eggs, cookies upon cookies, crab dip, relish tray (the usual party stuff) but I'm wondering if something different would be good this year to start our own family traditions. So what do you serve at your Christmas gatherings?


Lemon Soup:
1lb kielbasa
8-10 white potatoes
3-4 lemons (depending on how tart you want it)
salt&pepper
water
flour (to thicken)

Boil kielbasa in water until done, skimming fat off the top.
meanwhile wash, peel and cube potatoes
once kielbasa is cooked, remove from water and set on a plate.
add potatoes to boiling water and cook until tender
heat lemons in microwave about 20 seconds to help release juice
juice lemons and add to potatoes in water
add 2 Tbspn flour to 1/3 cup water (preferably in a shaker) and shake to combine
add to soup to help thicken
add kielbasa back into soup
pepper to taste, add salt if desired (not usually needed tho)

It's not everyone's cup of tea, in fact I never liked it until I became an adult (and unfortunately after my grandma died...) but now I love it! My husband loves it too... it's just too yummy!

This is what it looks like when it's done. Not too thick, not too runny. Lots of extra pepper for me. 

Here is a preview of our home! The pictures were the ones on the realty website so they aren't the greatest.. I'll be adding more once we're in and settled! :)

Here is the backyard. Not huge, but I love the deck! And just enough room for a swingset!

Dining room is actually bigger than it looks here. 

One side of the living room. The only room Other than our bedroom I wish was a bit bigger. But I still like it!

Master bedroom. Yup, there are 4 mirrored doors to our closets. Reminds me of Poltergeist where Carol Anne was in the hotel room with the mirrored closet. Yup, just a little freaky. LOL

We took the plunge...

And finally bought a HOUSE!!!!!

We closed this afternoon and I am so so so excited to finally get out of this apartment and into my new house! It's a 3 bedroom, with a finished basement and attached one car garage. Totally perfect for our little family. The back yard is just big enough for a deck and someday a swing set.. and hopefully a little garden in the back corner. :) Hubby is dying to get over there and change the locks (the previous owner rented for a while, and who knows who has spare keys...) and buy a grill. Yes that will be our first purchase, a lovely grill. I cannot wait! Oh and best of the best part? We are officially moving Wednesday so that means Deep. Fried. Turkey!!!!! For thanksgiving!!!!!! We haven't been able to do that for several years and I miss is oh so much. Plus it will be Abi's first deep fried turkey! I don't know if we'll be having anything with said turkey other than maybe mashed potatoes, lol. Oh and canned cranberry sauce. It works for me I'm just ecstatic that I'll be decorating a home for Christmas this year! Can. Not. Wait!!!!!!!!!! Photos to come soon!

18 months old!

Holy crap my baby is a year and a half old today! WoW! Well she's 18 months going on terrible 2's because lately the tantrums have been severe. She won't nap at daycare and is uber crab when she gets home. Today was awful for about the first hour after we got home.. then she finally calmed down and we had a decent night but then bed time. Oh bed time is usually wonderful. She gets 2 books, some milk, a little rocking and I lay her down and she goes to sleep on her own.. but the past two nights she's fussed at bed time. Tonight was worse and I think it's because she was just so over tired. Last night though she was up from 10-1am screaming if one of us wasn't in the room. Yay. I do not want to go through another phase like this, I get so little sleep as it is and she was doing so well with her 10/11 hours of sleep at night. Boo. Hopefully this will end soon.. maybe a new tooth will pop out and we'll be back to normal... Maybe. Anyway on to happier stuff. Abi says "wah-wah" for water, up, off, me-me (still not sure what this means) "mo" or "me" for more along with the sign, cheesh, "of" for love, eye, um, and of course mama and dada. She also says Jack, "ack" and Niya, which are two of her friends at daycare. There's more but these are the ones she says the most. I love that she's developing her own little personality more and more. She's so defiant and likes to do the opposite of what we tell her to do.. unless it's something like putting her clothes in her hamper, she loves to do that. But every time I say "lets wash your hands" she immediately sticks her fingers in her mouth! She knows that her hands have something on them I don't want in her mouth which is why we need to wash them, so she does it anyway the little stinker! She's been climbing all over everything and while I love that she can exercise her new freedoms I'm worried about tumbles and injuries. But what mother of a toddler isn't? lol

Homework

Just want to say that cramming homework, studying for a test, a major project and mommy/wife/me time into a single weekend was the worst idea ever. Who needs me time anyway? That homework? Well, it can wait until just before class... right? Hmm... studying for a test and working on a major project due Monday... well... I've got about half of it done... time for a snack! Happy weekend everyone!!

Life

Let me just say... I am really bad at updating these days. I miss you all, and am trying to play catch up when I can. But it's getting harder because I am just swamped with my clinical rotation and school this semester. Plus I don't see Abi nearly enough, so I've been spending every free second she's awake and I'm home with her. I don't even know what I wrote last time, but just to catch this up to speed:

Abi is 17 months old. She is walking and starting to talk better.. her favorite word is "up" and for some reason she's been saying "me me" but I don't think she's referring to herself. Ma ma and da da are still regular words and she can say ba (ball) and ni-ni (night night) pretty well. Abi is just the cutest, sweetest, most amazing little girl. She is climbing onto the couches and chairs, not to mention her toys. I was dreading this phase. But so far she's only fallen and hurt herself from the floor and not up too high so we've been blessed. She has 12 teeth, all 8 up front (tho one is not fully in yet) and 2 top and 2 bottom molars. It is so weird to see my little girl with all those teeth! I miss my little gummy grin sometimes! We've been getting kisses, and they're mostly closed mouthed, lol. Just recently, maybe the past week or so, my husband has been getting bed time kisses and he is absolutely thrilled! It's so sweet to watch them together, especially now that they're spending more time together without me (because I'm in clinic an hour and a half away 3 days a week.. ugh!) Abi won't nap at daycare, but naps very well at home. She's still going to bed between 7 and 7:30, unless it was a no nap day, then it can be as early as 6:30. I love that she loves her sleep and she sleeps until between 6 and 7 am... if I'm lucky on my days off she'll sleep in until 7:30 which is such a nice treat.

Abi likes to point to things and sort of ask "what's this?" She's so inquisitive and attentive. I love that she watches what I do and can imitate me. Although I have to be very careful what I do and say now! She's eating all sorts of things now, but we still have to be careful what we give her because of the food allergies. She hasn't had strawberries or peanut butter yet, though I have rubbed a strawberry down the back of her arm. Just to test for a reaction. There wasn't anything that I could see. We give her Plum Organics fruit pouches for some snacks and I've found that she tolerates them well even if they have lemon juice in them..... however, her back will break out a little. So I know we still have to stay away from citrus.

That's all for now, hopefully I can catch up on my reading and will be able to write again soon!

Link up!

So I was sitting here trying to catch up on my blog reading while little miss is napping and I came across a link up hosted by Ali at Chasing Moonlight and Roses. Since I hardly ever post anything on here anymore and when I do it's about Abi, I decided I would like to try to participate. For now there will only be my answers (mostly since I am posting on the day of the deadline!) but I will try to add hubby's later. Here goes!

How did you two meet?

Hubby and I met on Yahoo! personals. Yup, not super exciting but I like where we ended up! ;)

What were your first thoughts when you met your other half?

"Oh wow, he's got a great sense of humor! I love a guy who can make me laugh!" -he said he wanted to learn to knit. I thought he was joking, but he really does! lol

When did you know you were going to marry your significant other?
I knew from about the third or fourth month of dating that I wanted to be with him for the long haul. We were having the best time together and had already talked about all of the major things that tend to break people up when they discuss them... money, politics, marriage, kids... nothing seemed to scare him so I knew he was just as serious about me. 


What is the one thing you will always disagree on?
(Or likewise, what is something you will always agree on?  Whichever way you prefer to answer!)

Religion. Hubby doesn't believe in organized religion and I'm a catholic. It's hard for sure, but at least he's not always rubbing it in my face like some people might. I appreciated that. 

What has your other half recently done that made you love them even more?

He has been wonderful at helping around the house. He's been cooking dinner and cleaning a lot and I am so grateful for all that help! Not only that, he hasn't complained! It's so nice to have that help and even though I know he's been working hard, he acknowledges that I've been working hard too. 

Anyone else?

Does anyone elses kid throw tantrums? I want my happy baby back... I know it's from lack of sleep at daycare (at least partially) but they can only get her down for one hour (when she really needs almost 3 hours of nap a day) and I just feel like I'm missing out on all my little girl's happiness because she'll have a "great day" at daycare then come home to me a screaming, fit throwing ball of tears. I hate it (not her, the situation) and I'm still trying to decide if it's worth all this trouble for me to continue going to school. Ugh, I wish I had found this profession years ago.......

so it's been a while

I am here, and all is well but I have been so busy that I just haven't felt up to writing much lately. I'm sorry and I will try to get back into the swing of things soon! For now, here is an Abi update!

She is 15 months old, 21.5lbs and 33 1/4 inches tall. Into 18 month onsies but too skinny for 18 month pants/shorts. Abi wears a size 2 shoe still, but her feet are long and skinny (like the rest of her) so she's growing out of those but will not fit into 3's. Daycare has wrecked her nap schedule again, but she really seems to be enjoying playing at daycare so that's good. She has 7 teeth that we know of, four top front, two bottom front and one molar poking through on the top left. That was the WORST teething experience ever! She was so fussy and tylenol wouldn't touch her pain, she wouldn't sleep for longer than 40 minutes and it was just awful for about a week. I wish all those darn teeth would just come out at once so we could be done with this. Hmm... what else... oh! Abi is walking about 80-90% of the time now! She is doing so well, but she has really weak ankles so we had to have supports made for her to try to get her to keep proper alignment and train her ankles better. I'm not sure they're going to do the trick tho. But we're still trying them hoping to keep from having to buy 900$ braces someday. Abi is babbling a lot more lately, we still hear a lot of mama and dada's.. some baba's and so forth. I have heard her say "dog" more like da with a super soft g. We were at my aunts for a party and someone had brought a huge golden retriever. Abi kept pointing at the dog and saying "a da! a da!" with those soft g's Then at daycare they have a ball pit and the other day Abi pointed and said "ba" so I kept saying ball to her and eventually I heard something more like ball, but she's not quite there yet. She knows where her head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly arms, legs, feet and toes are and can point to them if you ask. She will point out my body parts if I ask too, like my arm or eye or knee. She's so smart! But lately, oh the temper tantrums!!! I can't stand it, my sweet little girl reduced to a screaming, crying lump on the floor. She will literally throw herself face down and just cry, simply because I will  not give her something or had to take something away (that one I kind of understand) I know she doesn't get it yet, that I'm just trying to keep her safe but it still drives me crazy! I have a feeling the terrible 2's are going to be a year for the record books with tantrums. Then again maybe she'll surprise me. I just want my easygoing baby back. I do love to watch her explore and today she climbed up onto the couch for the first time (using a box) and was so tickled with herself. She's so funny and has the greatest facial expressions.. oh and her laugh is just out of this world cute! Especially when it's that full on giggle... or even when it's a sympathy laugh that she's mocking me with, lol. 

I hope you're all doing well, I'm trying to play catch up on everyone's blogs to see how you are doing. Have a great 4th!!

Abi's one year photos

Finally! We took Abi to get her one year shots (a month and a half late... oops!) We were also going to try to get in a few family shots for 4th of July cards but that didn't happen. Abi had a really bad night the night before with throwing up and not sleeping well, so I guess we probably should have rescheduled the photos. But she woke up happy and I figured we'd at least try. Well personally I think the photographer and his assistant were a little too friendly and Abi was just scared of them... she cried half the time. But we did end up with some really cute shots!

I love this little girl, and she keep surprising us more and more every day with all of the new things she can do! Amazing!

First steps!

Abi took her first steps last night!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Gone fishin'

Okay so we really haven't gone fishing, but I've been away for what feels like forever. Last week I had my final exams and I'm proud to say I passed all my classes with A's and one B. We have had so much happen with our program in the past month and the surprise to top it all off was our instructors quitting. Yep, each and every teacher quit on us. So now we have the most daunting adventure of our lives coming up (clinic) and we won't even have the support of our teachers who have been doing this for 12 years. Scary. I know why they did it, and in a way I'm glad to have the opportunity to start fresh with new teachers, I'm just scared that they won't know how to teach and we will not only have the stress and pressure of clinic but also the worries of a newbie handing out grades. Yuck. Anyway on to other news... Abi has a fake laugh and it is hysterical! She also has a fake yawn. Yup. Open your mouth a little wider than normal and she'll mimic you, it's so cute! She has been a little off kilter these past few weeks having been sick with a stomach bug then getting a cold.But now she seems to be hitting a growth spurt or something because she's been napping like a champ and sleeping mostly through the night. She's started eating well again and it's wonderful to have my good eater back. She had started repeating us when we say "um" only it sounds more like "uuummmmmm" lol. And when she wants to get our attention she either says ummm or screams. Yup the screaming is back and I don't know how to stop it.. I think daycare had broken her of it before but now that we won't be going there anymore (did I mention our daycare got shut down by my school due to "lack of funds"? Even though they are starting like three new programs? Yeah not happy. Anyway the screaming is ear piercing to the point where ill end up with a headache. Yuck. But overall Abi is doing a lot more fun things now, like spinning around on her hands, knees and butt in her crib when I come in to get her. It's almost like she's break dancing! It is just too funny! Then there's the "standing" up on her knees and bouncing or falling over to all fours, all while smiling and laughing. Oh her giggle is changing too, instead of just outright laughter, she sticks her tongue against her front teeth and its almost a snicker, with more spit. Then she makes this face, oh if I can just catch it on camera ill post it, but it's just a scrunched up lil face of cuteness. 

We have decided to talk to Abi's dr about allergy testing. Yesterday we went to the spaghetti warehouse for my Mother's Day dinner (we like to avoid the crowds by going early) and gave Abi grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, applesauce and of course a little sourdough bread. Well, everything is basically a staple when we dine out because she's had all that before.. Except the sourdough. I really didn't think anything of it since now that she's had bread and tortillas I thought she'd be safe. Wrong. She woke up in the middle of the night from throwing up her dinner. Poor kid. I just feel so awful for feeding her things that upset her tummy like that. So my hubby looked up how they make sourdough and it seems there is something akin to vinegar in it. I wouldn't think it'd be strong enough to cause such a reaction but apparently her tummy is just that sensitive. All citrus, pineapple, tomato, anything with vinegar like pickles.... All banned until we figure this out. So sad ... We miss out on giving Abi lemon and watching her pucker up... And that first bite of a really good dill pickle.... Oh we'll, it's not like I'd give them to her for her reaction just to suffer the consequences later. I hate cleaning up vomit, and I'm so grateful hubby has a stronger stomach than I do. We actually had to throw out her sheet it was so bad. Anyway, I'm planning on talking to her dr at her 15 month well check to see about allergy testing and how bad it would be for her. I'm not looking forward to her getting poked with a bunch of needles but if it will help us keep her from throwing up anymore dinners, ill do it. Hmmmm, lets see what else. Oh yeah!! We have been preapproved for a home loan! They said hubby's credit is so good we can basically get a considerable amount. We won't be, just because we qualify doesn't mean we need to take out that much. We want to always live within or just below our means so that we don't get into big money trouble. Plus we like to go out occasionally, and budgeting for only a house payment and nothing else sounds boring! Lol we have only looked at one home but there are a few more that we have set up appointments to see And I am so excited!!! No more apartment, no more noisy neighbors, no more hearing them have sex above us, or worry that their stomping will wake Abi. more space for all of us, especially Abi to run and play... A back yard for her to roll in the the grass, to swing on her very own swing set... To eventually ride a bike up and down our driveway like I used to at my grandpas... Oh I am just chomping at the bit to get into our new home. We just have to find it first, lol. Okay I think that's all for now.. I'm sure I've left something out, but my back is hurting and I need to lay down a bit before lil miss wakes up from her nap. Until next time!!

Just in case you were wondering what an IUD looks like on Ultrasound

I find this fascinating.. lol

That is an ultrasound of my IUD

See that really bright line? That's it!

 I wish I had a good image of what it looks like without the IUD in for comparison. .. lol

I hope I haven't offended anyone, but this is pretty cool to me (since I'm going to school for ultrasound and all, lol!)

Diaper rash!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ugh. My poor baby has really bad diaper rash and she is just so miserable. I have no idea where it came from either because she's NEVER had it this bad. Ever. So we called her pedi and they suggested mixing gold bond with a liquid antacid to make a paste to put on her butt. Huh? The gold bond has got to burn! But I did it and she only screamed bloody murder the first time. The second application went better. But my goodness did she wake up screaming last night! She never ever poops in the middle of the night anymore, but last night was a blowout and so with her sore butt it made clean up take forever and she was so hysterical I just wanted to smother her in kisses and love and tell her I'd never do it again. Well... she's been pooping up a storm lately so of course I had to wipe her again when she got up for the day. Boo.  But hopefully this gold bond/antacid concoction works and we'll be done with this by tomorrow.

Well, on to happier news. Abi has been dancing lately and it's just the cutest thing! She'll wiggle about in her carseat and high chair any time I'm singing to her or she really digs the music on the radio. It's my favorite sight right now! :) Also when my husband comes home she's been screaming "ah DAT!" at the top of her lungs, which we think means she's happy to see him. Then there's my next favorite thing.. now when hubby "chases" her around the house saying "I'm gonna get you!" she scrambles away from him and tries to climb me! I think she's thinking I'll protect her from daddy and his tickles, so cute!

Here's my pretty baby from Easter.

Finally, my baby is in 18 month pajamas!! We have been thinking we should go up a size because her arms are so long the sleeves on the 12 month p.j.s sit about at her elbows, lol. Well today we tried an 18 month and it fits almost just right. Which is how we've moved her up every other size, the almost just right rule. lol. 

Currently {link up}

Since Abi is asleep aaannnndddd hubby is asleep, it's just me again this week. lol

Currently...

Entertaining the idea of dying my hair. I've been saying it for years that I'm going back to being a redhead, but I have yet to actually do it. I'm ready for a change more than just cutting my hair.
Holding my laptop on my lap. It likes to slide down, lol!
Building ... I'm not exactly building anything, but there's pressure building in my head and I'm thinking a headache's coming on... 
smiling thinking about my beautiful baby girl and just how much she's grown in the past few months!
frowning over my past few weeks of classes. I haven't been doing my best because I've been lazy and have been super distracted.

Short and sweet. Oh, tell me how you like the new layout! I think it's kind of confusing, but at least it's different.

Planning for the future *some TMI*

So today... I got an IUD placed. I have... it's been a... hmm... let me start from the beginning. ;)

I was on the pill for about 7 years and went off the month after hubby and I got married. Once I realized how much better I felt without the random, extra hormones I was hooked on never going back. But unfortunately my cycles were so screwy I never knew when my period was going to show up (which reminded me why I went on the pill in the first place!) I finally bought a book on how to track your cycles and fertility signs and started that. Well.. I got pregnant after the second cycle. Kind of an oops, but a very welcome one. Seems there's such a thing as a "triphasic chart" ... that's for another day, lol. Anyway, it has been such a roller coaster this past year, ups, downs all arounds with my emotions and such. I love love LOVE love Abi. But it is really hard for me to do the wife/mother/student thing. I know other women have done it and made it work, I'm just saying it's really hard for me. So while hubby and I have been using condoms, they're not the most reliable birth control (especially when you don't use them.. oops) And right now I'm getting ready to start clinicals and I just cannot fathom going through all that pregnant. Not to mention we want to move into a house soon and I need to graduate and find a job. So needless to say it's not the best time to be having another baby. So I opted to get the Paraguard, a copper IUD that has no hormones. My Dr. today kept asking me if I was suuuuurrrrrrrreeeeee that I want to wait a minimum of 2 years or more before having another baby. I explained everything to her and she said "so if it wasn't for all that?" "We'd be trying right now if we were both working and I wasn't in school." Yup. Two years isn't a long time, but I figure it will give me enough time to graduate and find work... for us to settle into a larger place and to have at least a little time without diapers. The only major issue I've realized is that two years places me dangerously close to too close to 35... At 35 your risk of downs skyrockets and I am not willing to risk it so I want to be done having kids by then. Not to mention it's considered "advanced maternal age" and is high risk with most Dr.'s... plus the incidence of twins increases a lot after 35. Twins would be fun.. when I was 25 and had more energy.. but not when I'm 35 and lost all my energy at 30. I kid you not. I have zero energy and it sucks! lol.

I was pretty nervous before my Dr. came in to put in my IUD. But I love my Dr. and she always talks me through every procedure and is very reassuring. It went much better than I could have hoped, I only had a little cramping and it didn't hurt nearly as bad as what I thought it would. I do feel kind of strange, knowing there's this "foreign" object in me. LOL. But so far so good! And it's nice to know I no longer have to worry about losing the spontaneity and having to fish for a condom in my bedside table. I actually can't wait for Wednesday to get an ultrasound done (we've been studying female pelvis this semester) no one in my program has an IUD so we haven't had the opportunity to see what they look like in real life. I haven't told anyone, so I think it will end up surprising whoever scans me. HA!

Happies and crappies

AHA!! I finally figured out how to do this "button" thing! Wooooohooooooo! :) SO I don't follow the original blog, but I do follow Ali over at Chasing Moonlight and Roses and she posted about her "Happies and Crappies" as of late. So feeling kind of crappy lately I figured I could get everything crappy off of my chest and try to focus on some happies to cheer me up! Here we go!
Crappies:

• Abi doesn't nap at daycare very well, and it makes her super irritable when we get home. Then because she's over tired she won't nap (plus by then it's so late if I put her down she'll think it's bed time.. not good) This makes me cranky!
• My friends and family are all suddenly blaming me for "keeping them out" of Abi's life. I'm sorry, when did the telephone only work one way? I've been busy with being a wife/mother/student and haven't really given much thought to anything else for a while. Selfish? Maybe, but I am trying to be the best wife/mom/student I can. That's a lot on my plate, cut me some slack!
• I am not doing so well with my Weight Watchers lately. I'm back on track as of this week, but that's after I put 3lbs back on.. ugh. Losing weight is hard!
• It's been super awful having hubby on the night shift lately, especially with Abi not feeling well/not napping. He's sleeping during the day so I have no help with her, and I find myself getting frustrated {at} her. I can't be frustrated with her, she's just a baby and doesn't know any better.. it doesn't make it any easier. I have yelled at her (not like scream yell... ) and I'm not proud of it. And I've had to take a few time outs for myself, which I hate because I can't go anywhere and I hear her crying and that makes me feel worse. But just so you know, I have never ever hit her. I would never do that, I would rather her cry a bit while I composed myself in another room than to ever let it get so bad.
• I am taking Abi to my aunt and uncles for Easter today and I am NOT looking forward to it. I haven't looked forward to a holiday in a long while. :(
• Abi has a citrus sensitivity. :(

Ok on to Happies!

• Abi is one!! She is cruising and babbling and oh so much fun these days! (when she's rested of course!) I can't wait to see what this next year will bring!
• I am getting excited for my clinicals to start in June! I was reassigned after my original hospital decided they didn't want a student for the summer, but the new hospital is only 15 minutes away! As opposed to an hour drive! I am ecstatic!
• I have found a tv show that I am super addicted to! It's called Once Upon A Time and I really enjoy it. 
• I finally asked my Dr. for a referral to a psychologist. I need to get my mood disorder looked into. If anything I can work through some of my issues and will hopefully be able to better myself for my family. Yes, this is a happy because I'm finally taking that step after so long. 
• Yesterday while in the baby isle I was looking for Boogie wipes (love them!) and this lady gave me a stack of coupons! She said she wouldn't use them and since they expired that day if I could use them to help myself. Well, one of the coupons was for a Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Puppy, $5 off! I've been wanting to get Abi one since Christmas. They were on sale at Target for $15 so I got it for only $10!!! 
• 
  

I have the most beautiful little girl! How can you not be happy when you look at that smiling face!??!

Better late than never!

Well, I decided to hold off on Abi's 12 month post until her 12 month check up today. She's growing right on track! Here are her specs lol;

Height: 30 1/4 inches tall! 90th percentile for height!
Weight: 19 lbs 11.8 oz about 55%
Wearing: 12 month onsies and pants with a few 18 month things thrown in. Oh and size 2 shoes! We just got a windfall from a friend of mine, 3 boxes of 18 month summer stuff! I am so excited and grateful for her generosity!
Abi has 4 teeth, the two bottom middle and two upper canines. The front upper two are working their way out and we hope to see them soon!
She was taking really good naps, at least 2 a day, but when we mess with her schedule even a little... everything is thrown off. Yesterday she took a 25 minute nap at daycare and that was it! Needless to say she went to bed early and had a terrible night. So right now I'm trying to get her down for her second nap.. she took about an hour after her dr appointment but she's still so tired! She's been in her crib talking/whining for about 10 minutes (no crying or I'd have been in there!) I'm thinking I'll give her a few more minutes before I go in and try something else to get her to sleep. I'm really trying to get her to put herself to sleep these days, but it's hard for both of us. On my end, I miss rocking her to sleep and cuddling my lil baby... on her end she's so aware and wants to play all the time she just can't seem to relax some nights. Sometimes I can rock her for an hour (exaggeration) and she will barely blink. Other times she's knocked out cold after her bottle. The past two days have been super rough. Today she took an hour nap... still not enough so about 4:30 (after she refused her second nap vehemently) she started getting grumpy and tired and I knew I was in for trouble. Just like last night I had to put her to bed early and I really hate doing that because then she wakes up at the crack of dawn. Ugh. But when she's rested and in a good mood she's super fun and oh so cute! Like today I was brushing her teeth and I sit her up on the bathroom sink so she can watch in the mirror. Well I took off her socks to dip her feet in the water from the faucet (to distract her from being tired) and she put one sock in her mouth, looked at herself in the mirror and started humming and bouncing. It was too funny! She got a kick out of it too, the little comedian!
Abi is cruising all over the place lately and will walk while holding our fingers, she practically begs us to "walk her" lol. Hmmm.. I don't remember what else is new at the moment because I'm fairly exhausted from last night. I think I ought to go to bed now and get up after the first round of cries (which I'm sure will come around 1 like last night) and do homework or something. Bed now sounds good... zzzzzzz Oh yeah, some pictures of my sweet little one year old!

Can't you just hear her giggling!?!?

Signing "more"!!

"what chu doin' daddy?"

She reallllly wanted us to open this so she could play with it right away!

Getting tired after all the excitement!

Happy First Birthday Baby Girl!!!!!

I love you I love you I love you! Happy birthday my sweet baby! 12 month stat post to come, but I have lots of homework to catch up on tonight and tomorrow so it might be a few days...

Until then...

Pretty girl with her birthday board!

Tutu cute.. :)

Loving her balloons!

Little miss and other news

So we have less than a week until Abi's first birthday. Wow. Just... wow. Where has this year gone!?? So just a little update on her new skills  she is pointing at everything, especially things she'd like to see more of like our pictures on the wall. It's so cute but can be so frustrating because eventually if I don't get her the "right" thing she gets upset. She is crawling on her hands and knees much more now and is pulling to stand and cruising furniture almost like a pro. I am in no hurry for her to walk because that means more bumps and bruises and crying, but she's getting there really quickly! She now has 4 teeth, her two bottom middle and her two canines have poked through. She looks like she has little fangs! lol. Oh and today we've decided lil miss has a citrus sensitivity. Today was the second time I have given her anything citrus (pineapple, but only like two tiny pieces) and about an hour after we put her to bed she threw up. About a week ago I gave her a navel orange (all cut up of course) and she threw up that day too. The only other connecting food was chicken and she's had lots of chicken before so I don't think that's it. .. Which means that we have to lay off on the yummy citrus for a while. I'm calling her dr tomorrow to make sure we don't need to bring her in for a check up just to be sure... but we're pretty sure citrus is the culprit. I feel so awful for giving it to her and making her sick!!!!!!! :(

In other news, I have finally finished my STNA class. We had two days of clinicals this weekend and they didn't go quite as bad as I had thought they would. Except that my feet and knees are KILLING me! I hurt so bad, I'm so grateful that I'm going into a field where I won't be standing forever!

Currently

Currently

I'm trying something new and "linking up" lol.

THIS WEEKS THEMES:

WATCHING, CRAVING, LOOKING, LOVING, PLANNING

Watching: Jon and Kate Plus 8. I am addicted and have been for a very long time. Thank goodness for Netflix so I can watch it over and over again! lol

Craving: Chocolate. Anything sweet really, but there are these dark chocolate covered Peeps that are just to die for and they come out this time of year but I haven't been able to find them and it makes me so sad! I guess it's okay though because last year hubby bought an entire box when he finally found them!  So I'm sure he and I have both eaten our fill!

Looking: around my apartment wondering what else I need to do before tomorrow. Abi is getting her first visit from a group called Help Me Grow. She was a little behind at her 9 month appointment with her gross motor skills (nothing major) but her dr wanted me to contact this agency to see if she might benefit from some extra help. They actually said she was fine, but recommended she get 6 months (instead of a year) of work with a pt and I think they are sending someone else, don't remember who. Just as an extra boost to help me help her to do the things she should be doing. It's mostly because her ankles are weak. .. but now she's crawling on hands and knees and pulling to stand so well, I'm not sure they'll even be here every month, lol!

Loving: my sweet baby girl and my handsome hubby more and more every single day! I am not loving my lack of motivation to do homework... this is the 4th day I've put it off. That's going to come back and bite me!

Planning: Abi's birthday party, and planning on going to bed soon. That's about all I've got for this one, lol.

And I don't know how to get the button thing to work.. gee I'm so not as tech savvy as I used to be!      

While I have a moment...

Abi is taking one of her long naps today, going on 2 1/2 hours (minus a few times when she woke up and was talking to herself) so I'm going to get somethings off my chest...

Ali, a fellow mommy and blog pal I follow wrote a very poignant post the other day about being emotional over the thought of weaning her daughter. Let me just say that as I read it I sat here and bawled my eyes out. It's like that any time I ready anything about breast feeding these days. Poor Abi was in her jumper staring at me like I was crazy because I was crying and I don't think she knew what to do. Any way, I cried because I haven't breast feed since August... I haven't given Abi breast milk since the end of September... and that makes me feel like the worst mother in the world. I feel like I gave up trying too soon, like I should have and could have done more to keep what little I was giving her flowing so that she at least had some breast milk until her first birthday... Which was my goal. It was a big goal, but then I tend to set largely unattainable goals for myself and really beat myself up when I fail. This isn't just failing me though, I feel like I've failed my family. We spend so much on formula because I couldn't exclusively breast feed... Abi had to be supplemented from 2 weeks on... and let me tell you I am still so mad at our first pediatrician for scaring me into that. But I also know it's not entirely her fault. Then of course I'm failing the most important person in the world, my little Abi by not giving her what's best for her.  And now I'm sitting here crying again for the millionth time over this. I know right now I'm over emotional because it's *achem* that time of the month, so the tears are flowing a lot harder than normal.. but I still get upset when I think about it at other times as well. Why can't I let this go? Why can't I get over the fact that I was not able to exclusively breast feed and that I am now done with it and haven't done it for a few months and can't go back? I still have my snuggle time with Abi, just us before naps and bedtime. I don't know... I think I should bring it up to my dr or something because this has been a reoccurring almost depression kind of funk that I get myself into. It doesn't stop me from enjoying Abi or eventually having fun, except for the time it takes to cry and such... I just ... ugh I wish I had words to express this feeling... And it doesn't help that I really don't have many people to talk to. I think that after Abi was born everyone just sort of got upset that I wasn't coming around or asking them to come over to meet Abi (well, duh! I just had a baby I was not up for much company or to go anywhere) and now many of my friends have stopped talking to me altogether. Even my mommy friends are so busy we don't really talk anymore, even over Facebook. Then at school, the group of friends that I have are all single with no kids. Go figure. There's 4 of us who regularly sit together/hang out in school.. the rest of the 10 students all hang out.. a lot. And they go out on weekends and "party"... mind you, some of them, a lot of them have kids too... Where do they find the time to go anywhere? Have I been that busy with Abi and school that I've put everything else so far out of my mind that I can't even find a way to have a couple of hours to myself? I'm still socially awkward, and I never used to be... even with the girls I call my friends at school. The only people I'm ok around anymore are hubby and Abi... and that's not good. Well, It's not healthy anyway. I just don't know how to break away from this mindset. Not to mention that I have nowhere to go and no one to go with (except hubby and Abi) I keep telling myself that things will get better when Abi gets older, but by then I will have lost all my friends and I don't know how to make new ones anymore. And don't even get me started on the fact that I'm going to be 30 this year. I don't feel like I'm 30. I don't feel like that much of an adult, if that makes sense. I mean, when I was 20, 30 was so old. I have grown up a lot in the past 10 years, but I still want to goof around and have fun... I still think like I'm 24 and have fewer responsibilities than I actually do. That doesn't mean that I fluff off my responsibilities, just that I wish I could. "Adults" don't think like that, do they? Or rather responsible adults don't. I don't know. *Sigh* I need a vacation. Or a good therapist. Or both.


 (I know, I keep talking about the same things from time to time. I apologize for the redundancy.)

So now that I've got that off my chest, here's something to end this on a brighter note:

Abi in daddy's ball cap. Look at that tummy! lol

Don't know what this was about, but they sure are happy!

Oops

I forgot to mention with Abi's 11 month post that she has been doing this spinning around on her butt thing. She'll start off say, facing the couch and use her feet and legs to spin herself around in a circle on her butt! It is just too funny! And she bounces/dances whenever she hears music or when I sing to her. That is adorable!

My baby is getting so big!

Abi turned 11 months old yesterday! WOW! I cannot believe I will have a one year old in less than a months time. I'm actually in denial, just a little. LOL Abi has been so active lately, and we've had so many new things in the past month it's going to be hard to remember it all for this post. But I'll try, so here goes!

Abi has not been to the dr since her double ear infection/pinkeye/cold from hell. But at that time she had lost and was weighed at about 18lbs 14oz. I'm sure she's closer to 20lbs now. We don't know how long she is either, but she's starting to outgrow some of her 12 month pants, though oddly enough she still fits into some 9 month onsies. The sleeves are waaay too short though! She wears a size 2 shoe, and we are trying to her her used to wearing them some of the time. She really doesn't like them, and won't "walk" with them on. We still have to hold her but she's getting the hang of taking steps to go forward.

Eats: Abi has had all sorts of things, recently we've added quinoa to her ever growing list. Of course we had to mix it with something so she could pick it up so we chose avocado. She LOVES it! Lil miss has been going back and forth with drinking 5 oz bottles every 3-4 hours and only taking 3-4 oz every 3 hours. Sometimes she'll eat 5 oz at bedtime other times it'll only be 3 oz. It's so confusing and a little frustrating trying to guess how much she'll take. I'm looking forward to transitioning her to whole milk in the next few months, hopefully that will not only be cheaper but taste better too!

Sleep: Abi hasn't been sleeping through for at least the past two weeks. For a while she was waking up at 3:30 (like clockwork) for a bottle and a change, then she would sleep in until 7 or 8! But now she's up several times, mostly because she's sick again, and usually she's sleeping in until 7 or 7:30. Today she got up at 6:30 but went back down for a nap by 9... it's 11:45 and I just heard her first stirrings. LOL I figured she was tired but oh my! She had adjusted nicely to getting up a lil earlier and taking an early nap before we had to leave for school/daycare. That way she was at least better rested. But I have no idea what's prompting this sleeping in phase. I like it, but not enough to have her lose her first nap, she never naps well at daycare.

Play: Abi pulls up on everything she can reach now! She's army crawling all over, and super fast too! Yesterday hubby was changing her diaper (we have a changing pad on the floor) and turned to grab a new diaper, by the time he turned back she was halfway across the room.. bare butt in the air! She's started to prop up on her hands and knees and just today has taken one crawl forward that way. But she's still mostly an army crawler. She's getting there though! Abi loves to sit and bounce now too. When she hears music or I say "bounce bounce/dance dance" she'll bob up and down and it's just the cutest thing! I recorded her doing it the other day but I have no idea how to post from my phone. Oh, we had to lower her crib mattress as well, since she's been pulling up. I didn't want her to take a tumble. And I've had to take her breathable bumpers down as well. That made me a little sad. Now her crib is kind of boring, lol. Abi is a chatter box most days, da da da and ga ga along with a bunch of other random sounds. Many times she just yells for whatever reason. But the screaming... that's annoying. I know she's just finding her voice and figuring out how to control it, but ow.

10 month photo, trying to climb the arm of the couch!

It is incredibly hard to take a picture of Abi these days, she just can't sit still! Not only that, but changing a diaper is a race to see how fast I can get it on her before she's rolling and crawling away!

11 months, she's not even interested in her bear anymore!

In the background

Hello all,

I have not disappeared, I have just been uninspired to write lately. I'm not sure why, but hopefully this weekend with lil miss turning 11 months I will have some inspiration! :)~

Wow!

Lil Miss has been starting to stand up on her own! Yes stand, as in walking will not be far behind! AHHHHHHH! She's still a little wobbly but boy oh boy are these milestones hitting quick! I can't keep up and our poor cat! Any time Abi sees her she shrieks and b-lines for her! It's hysterical, if you're not the cat. Although I caught Snoopy giving Abi what we call a "Snoopy smooch". Which is really just kind of a head butt, but it had Abi cracking up and she kept putting her head down so Snoopy would keep doing it! So stinking cute I wish I had gotten a picture.
SO I'd really like to know how my baby went from this...

To this in such a short amount of time... ? This pic is actual from about a month ago, she's even bigger now but I don't have all the new pics on my computer. It just seems like yesterday I was holding my newborn, and now in 40 1/2 days I'll have a one year old. One. Year. Old. How did that happen!!?!?!?

10 month update

So I'm a little behind on this, mainly because of the same old stuff.. school and Abi. Abi is sick, I mean really sick. A few weekends ago she got pinkeye, which of course prompted a visit to the dr on a saturday. Then we found out she had a bacterial ear infection in one ear. Great. More antibiotics and eye drops that my child clenches her eyes so tight for I'm never sure she's actually getting them in her eyes. Then a week later she got reinfected with pink eye and started coughing. And the snot coming from my kid... oh lord. So back to the dr and she has another ear infection in the other ear. More antibiotics (the 4th or 5th different antibiotic she's been on since November...) I am at my wits end with that. I never wanted to give her any antibiotic... but I never really did any research on alternatives... and I trust her dr for the most part. Anyway, now I'm sick too and feel pretty crappy but I really haven't been coughing like she has until today. Of course when my sweet baby needs a nap and has just fallen asleep in my arms my throat decides to spasm and I cough hard enough to wake the neighbors. Totally not intentionally of course. She wouldn't go back to sleep for another 2 hours, even though she desperately needed a nap. I finally got her down after a little crying and fighting, poor baby. I haven't been sick as long as her but I'm so over it I can't imagine how she feels. Although I'm going on 2 weeks of being sick, I think it's time to see a dr myself. My apt is the 12th, I'm hoping to hold off until then. Ugh. So back to the point of this post. Abi is 10 months old!! She will be ONE next month! Holy mole!!! I seriously do not know where the past 10 months have gone! I look back at pictures and see this itty bitty baby, barely 7 1/2 lbs.. now she's nearly 20lbs!

Stats: 19.11lbs 29 inches long. She's mostly in 12 month onsies and pants, though we do still have some 9 month onsies that will fit, and a few 12-18 month pants. I think she's in a size 2 shoe as well, but we don't really put shoes on her.

Sleep: Abi has been waking up at least once during the night and I'll go in to change and feed her. This is likely because she's been so sick (especially when she coughs herself awake) but last night she slept soundly from 7p-6:15a. Never heard a peep. She has also been taking at least one 1 hour nap and a 20-40 minute nap during the day. It's still not enough most days, but it's much better than her 4-5 20 minute cat naps a day.

Eats: We have added peaches, noodles, cheese, cauliflower, and more varieties of squash to her menu. She is not a fan of peaches, I'm sure because like the blueberries they were frozen. We just don't have good, inexpensive fruit this time of year. She loves to feed herself now, and I'm struggling to come up with new foods that can be cooked and chopped for her to eat safely, while still allowing her to pick them up easily. We are starting chicken soon. I'm super excited for that!

Play: Abi is now a full time army crawler. She is trying to get the hang of pulling herself up, but usually only does this on her activity block. We can't leave her side when she's sitting up playing with it because it's top heavy and will fall on top of her if we don't hold it down. She still hasn't gotten to the point of sitting up by herself, but she's working on it. We have tried to limit her toys lately, just because the cleaning after a sickness is so extensive, but that really hasn't worked. She's into everything she can crawl to so she plays with whatever toy she wants and some things that are safe that aren't really toys... She loves to be chased now. I'll say "I'm gonna get you!" and start crawling towards her slowly, then she'll squeal and start to crawl away as fast as her little self can manage. It's so much fun! And when I get her I tickle her and she giggles! I love it!

Abi is keeping us on our toes in all aspects lately! I can't wait to see what the next few months bring! I have been dying to plan her first birthday party, only to realize now that no one will likely come. Oh, her aunt and cousins and maybe my mom and step dad... but that's it. None of my friendless kids will come near me now, it's been over a year since I've seen most of them. And my mommy friends are all too busy to make time. Yes, I realize that I am busy too. It still hurts to see my friends talk about the lunch date they had with so and so, but who cannot make a lunch date with me. Anyway, hubby doesn't like big parties so there you have it. Problem solved. It's going to be owl themed as I'm still going to decorate. I'm suddenly obsessed with owls!  I got my invites here, owl cookies for cousins to make and eat, and maybe a baggie of goodies like the one here. Here's a sneaky peak at one of the invites:

Not that we'll be needing more than 2. But it's a freebee. 

Liebster Award!

Since I am a week late in getting this out (I've been super busy with Abi being sick and school) I'm going to post what I have and finish up asap!
This is going to be tricky! I was nominated by three different blog pals for the Liebster award and they all have different questions... I may just pick and choose which of each gal's 11 to answer, lol. Not to mention that 5 of the blogs I read regularly have already been nominated or nominated me...  that cuts down quite a few of the people I would nominate!

So a big thank you to Ryanne, Megan and Jamey for nominating me! I love all of your blogs and if I could tag back I would!
 
For those of you who don't know "The Liebster award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  What is a Liebster?  The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome." I actually got that information from a blog named welovedhere I've only just started reading this blog, and I like what I've read so far!

So rules rules rules! Here are the rules for the Liebster Award: 

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the tagger set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve tagged to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs!


11 things about me

1. I am a mother first and all else second. I never ever thought that I would put anyone before my husband, but it has happened. I cannot explain the connection and strong feelings I have toward my daughter, all you mothers know what I'm talking about though. It's as though my heart swelled up to bursting the moment I set eyes on her. Of course I love my husband even more than before because he's the father of our beautiful daughter. But it's different love. I grew my daughter. Which still amazes me. 

2. I want an even number of children. I was an only child and while I was "spoiled" (though I was taught to be grateful, share and all that stuff) I wished for a sibling my whole life. I refuse to allow Abi to miss out on the joys of being a big sister. That being said, I grew up with my best friend who is the middle child and the black sheep of her family. She can't do anything right, ever. And she was never treated as well as her older sister or the baby of the family. So from very little on I knew I never wanted a middle child. Which means I have to have an even number of kids. 2 or 4 but I'll be lucky if I can get my husband to agree to 2. 

3. I love to cook. Anything and everything. We don't have much time for really cooking right now though, Abi is in a very clingy stage (not to mention she's army crawling everywhere and I can't leave her alone in a room for longer than a few moments). As much as I love to cook, that's how much I can't bake. Not from an actual recipe, but a cake from a box? Fo'get about it! lol

4. My husband and I met on Yahoo! Personals. One of the things that first attracted my husband to me was the fact that I listed the show "Futurama" as one of my favorites. He said it was rare to find a woman who liked that show, lol. One of the first things that attracted me to him was that he listed that he would like to learn how to knit. I knew right there he had a sense of humor and would keep me laughing. I was right!

5. I am terrible in social situations. I never used to be though. I am not quite sure why, but even with people I've known for years but haven't seen in a while I am awkward. I think I actually feel more at ease with strangers because I guess they don't remember me the way I used to be (thin, outgoing) so they don't have anything to compare me to. But even that's not entirely true because my classmates and I were strangers at first and I only really talk to a few of them. It sucks because I feel so left out when everyone else talks about getting together and going out or even just a conversation from facebook. It's our 3rd semester together and everyone has their own cliques except a few random people who mesh with everyone. I hate feeling left out but I don't know how to break out of my shell enough to be more part of the groups.

6. I want to be pregnant again. Everyone thinks I'm crazy since Abi is only 10 months old. It's not rational really, since I know that 40 weeks later I'll have another baby and I'm not ready for that yet... but I loved being pregnant for the most part. There are 3 girls in my program now that are pregnant and I am super jealous! 

7.I am watching a rerun of Psych, studying for a test on Friday and typing this at the same time. Normally I cannot multi task that well. Not and understand what's going on...

8.I have a tendency to complain a lot. I also have very little patience. Sometimes I get so upset at the stupidest things! I try to write it off to hormones, but I can't do that all the time. LoL

9.Okay, super random fact. I know exactly where my ovaries lie in my pelvis. We are practicing transabdominal ultrasound this semester and it's pretty nifty!

10. Hubby is on a night shift rotation and I thought I'd hate it but I actually like it. Other than him not being home at night, he's home more often and can help out waaaay more with Abi. I'm loving that he keeps her home with him some days when I go to school so that she doesn't have to be in daycare!

11.This was incredibly hard for me to think of 11 things to talk about! So 10 it is! :)

11 Questions ( these are a bit of a mixture from the two)

1. How did you know that your spouse was THE ONE? 

He made me feel like the most important person in the world, like I was more beautiful than I felt and worthy of being loved for me. He appreciates me for my intelligence and supports me through all things and always has. He makes me laugh, even in the middle of some serious situations when laughter might be the farthest thing from your mind. And I love him. 

2. Name the 3 most important people in your life. Why are they so important?
Well, First there's Abi. She's my beautiful daughter and light of my life. I can't imagine life without her. Especially now that she's more mobile and her personality is starting to really shine through, she's just so fun and funny! Then there's my husband. He's my rock and my strength when I am tired and weak from life beating me down. He keeps me grounded but lets me get a little crazy with my imaginative ideas too. Third... this is hard. To be honest right now I don't have many close friends anymore and my mom and I are not as close as we used to be. She's still important to me and I love her but... I'm not sure I can elevate her to third most important as awful as that sounds. I guess it's just myself then, as selfish as that sounds. I think we should all consider ourselves one of the most important people in our own lives though. If we don't think we are important then we might stop taking care of ourselves or loving ourselves. That happens and what good are we to others?

3. If you had a million dollars, how would you spend it?
My husband and I often discuss this question. He and I would each take 100,000 for our own bank accounts. Then half of the rest gets put into a CD to draw interest. The other half goes toward a new home for us, a new car for hubby, college fund for Abi (which can also come from the CD money) and I would give some to my mom so she can be clean of debt. I think my husband would give some to his sister and nephews so they can be more comfortable too. Then we would spoil Abi rotten. No, not really. Maybe if it was several million... but I don't want to have to buy her friends someday... lol. Oh I'd get a personal trainer and a chef to cook us super yummy, healthy foods. Just long enough for us to really get into a good habit (maybe a few years) then we would do for ourselves. 

4. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Wow, in 10 years I'll almost be 40... yikes! I hate to think of that. Not that 40 is old. Hmm.. hopefully I will be completely done with school and in either an administrators position at one of the hospitals (in whatever city we end up in) or as the head sonographer of an OB/GYN office. I haven't decided what way I want to go yet. I also hope that I've been able to convince hubby to have at least one more baby... 

5. What is one way you are seeking to improve yourself this year?
I'm on Weight Watchers again and hoping to lose enough weight to help keep my knee from going out again, then more so that I'm in a healthy weight range for my short height. 

6. What is the best book you have ever read? "The Giver" by Lois Lowry. It's a youth book, but I love it and it really makes you think. 

7. What song describes your mood today? "1234" by Plain White T's

8. Do you have a bucket list? Yes, sort of. It's my 35 by 35 and I haven't really worked on it lately... eek!

9. What is your favorite quote? "No one will ever know the strength of my love for you. After all, you're the only person who knows what my heart sounds like from the inside." Not sure who said it, I found it on Pinterest and it spoke to me because that's exactly how I feel about Abi.

10. Least favorite chore? Ugh, washing silverware or cleaning the bathroom! 

11. What is your next vacation spot? Hawaii hopefully for our 5 year anniversary! We cannot wait to get back to the beach and bring Abi for her first big trip!

11 Questions for YOU
1. What's your all time favorite movie and why?
2. If you could meet anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and what would you talk about?
3. What are some traditions you want to pass down to your children?
4. Do you find it easy or hard to make friends? 
5. Do you have a hero and if so who and why? If not, why not?
6. What is your dream home like? Details!
7. What's your favorite childhood memory?
8. If you could meet anyone, dead or alive who would it be? (sorry, cliche)
9. What is your greatest strength? Your greatest weakness?
10. Favorite quote?
11. Are you an only child or do you have siblings? What do you like best about your specific situation? 

And the nomination goes to....
1. lalalawrence
2. MrsV
3.Bellies and babies
4. Our little ME

Those are the only ones I follow that have not either nominated me or had someone else nominate them. However, that's not to say that those blogs are not awesome! Each one is great, they all have little ones that are oh so cute and I truly enjoy reading their blogs!