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!!