New Discoveries

Abby is growing and changing faster than I would like. I seriously wish I could stop time with her. She is always smiling, talking, and moving her hands around. Now that she is learning to crawl she seems to move around a little bit quicker. She is a scooter and not really a crawler yet and so I can sit her down and know that she will move but not very far. She loves her baby doll and since she is learning new sounds is starting to say the "ba ba" sound. As we were playing with her baby doll I just kept saying baby doll to her and she would repeat back to me something that sounded like "ba bay." I realize she is not really saying baby but she is trying to mimick my sounds and that is so fun to hear. Another of her discoveries is the phone. I am on the phone with my mom atleast once a day. I frequently put the phone to her ear so my mom can talk to her and so she can hear my mom talk and sing to her. She just smiles and talks when I put the phone to her ear. She already knows and loves it when I let her play with the phone. She will still put it in her mouth because she still loves to chew on everything.

One of my favorite times of the day with Abby is when she wakes up from her nap and we go to change her diaper. Sometimes I just get her naked and open up the blinds to let the light in. Then we wind up the music globe and she just plays with it. She loves music and she loves this music globe. She also loves looking out the window and tapping on the glass. I love seeing how curious she is with everything around her. I know I've said it before but this is my favorite baby age! I wish it wouldn't go by so fast!

Abby . 9 months

Abigail . 9 months old

16 lbs 8 oz.

27 inches

loves to sit and play

gets on her hands and knees but doesn't crawl yet

loves to play with books and bright colored toys

will lay on her tummy and throw her arms around like she is a fish

curious about everything around her

loving baby dolls and tries to mimic the word "baby"

plays with the animal and letter magnets on the refrigerator

puts everything in her mouth

loves to stand up with support

loves music and the piano

likes to play in the excersaucer

loves her music globe and plays with it after I change her diaper

fascinated with her bedroom window

learned to clap her hands

I always have the best time taking pictures of this little one. I wish she would stop growing up so fast. What makes these pictures so unique and special to me is the dress she is wearing. This delicate home made dress is my mother-in-law's dress from when she was a little girl. She wore it, her daughter wore it, and now all the grandgirls wear it when they are little. Abby never got to know her grandma Candace because she passed away 7 years ago. BUT, we frequently talk about grandma Candace and show the kids pictures of her. Here is a picture of Abby holding my favorite picture of Candace on Andrew's blessing day. This picture is how Mike and I remember her. The rocking chair below is Mike's rocking chair given to him by Candace's grandmother, Emma Birmingham.

I guess a photo shoot just wouldn't be complete without some naked pictures of Abby. She would much rather sit naked any time of the day. I love her soft baby skin and cute little chunky bum.

Preparing for Spring

(our tree actually blossomed the first full week of April)

Seeing the blossoms on our tree just puts a smile on my face even though we are still getting plenty of rainy and cloudy days. Before the blossoms came we realized we had neglected our backyard long enough. With a full day at home on Saturday without having to round up in Seattle, Mike got to work and started cleaning up the backyard. YES it was raining and it was cold but it needed to be done and I think part of him enjoyed being out in the yard again. I sure appreciated all of his hard work. Andrew and Emma enjoyed some time with Mike planting some vegetables in our planter box and Emma helped Mike rake some leaves before it started to rain harder. I love this time of year as we prepare for Spring and Summer. It is so nice to get organized and clean up for the warmer weather...even if our warmer weather doesn't come until June I will be ready!

Can't Get Enough

The boys just can't get enough of our sweet Abby. They always want to be holding her and hugging her, kissing her and playing with her. The latest is wanting to pick her up and try to get her to walk. I am always finding Peter trying new things without asking and although I want them to be free to play with her I have to also be careful to watch what they are doing. Abby gets so much attention from the boys and I'm sure at times she is wondering why everyone keeps touching her but I also know that she loves it too because she is always smiling and giggling at them. I hope they will always love her and protect her and Emma. They are such good boys and I am lucky to have them!

Reward and Smart Jars

We do chore charts in this house and it has helped my kids tremendously in doing their part to help out around the house. Lately our charts have been a second thought and I needed something new. I needed something fresh and was thankful to come across a friend's blog and she had an entire post on fun games to get your kids motivated to help out. She had this great idea about a jar with rewards in it. I decided to incorporate this reward jar with our chore charts. When they complete their chores for the day and check them off then they put a sticker on the their calendar. Then they get to pick from the Reward Jar. They get to have the reward the following day. So for our FHE this week I hid easter eggs in the living room. We sang a song about helping out and I read a message from the February 2009 FRIEND called "Two Secrets To Happiness." It talked about learning to work hard and to have self-control. We talked about how doing our chores helps everyone in the family. Then I let them find all the eggs. After finding the eggs I let them come up with some rewards they would like and I wrote them down on pieces of paper and hid them in the eggs. It was a great FHE and I'm sure they will remember this one for sure. The biggest reward for my boys is being able to play the Wii and so we put a couple of 15 min and 30 min of Wii time in there since they only get to play on Saturdays. I was so impressed by how motivated they were to get their chores done and how they aksed me if they could do more. WOW. Even Emma participates by doing small jobs for me. Everyone wins and everyone is happy.

The Reward Jar was a huge success and I just kept thinking how I could incorporate this idea to their study time. The boys don't really get that much homework from school and I hate to stand by while they could be progressing so much quicker. Although I like parts of their school I have never felt like it was as challenging as it could be. So I came up with the Smart Jars. In each of their personalized jars are things they can do to become "SMART." The boys both like math worksheets and flashcards and so there are plenty of those kinds of things in there. In Emma's jar I put things like working on ABC's and counting and singing songs. These jars are fun for the kids and also a good reminder for me to always be working with them on learning!

Family Track Workout

I have started working out at the track on Wednesdays and Mike joins us if he gets home from work in time. Today my friend couldn't make it and since the weather was warm enough I got all the kids ready and drove to the track. As soon as I pulled into the parking lot so did Mike. We put Abby in the stroller all bundled up and she quickly fell asleep. The older kids just wanted to run with us. We started with a warm up and Andrew stayed with us the entire two laps while Peter and Emma made it around once. Mike and I started our workout and were joined by our eager kids at the end of each lap to give us high fives. It was great to have such sweet fans. I can't wait for warmer days and a shorter commute for Mike so we can make this a weekly tradition. It's great that everyone in our family loves to run.

Me and My Dad

What does a girl really need other than her sweet dad. Mike and Emma have this bond that is just so charming. Emma loves it when Mike gets home from work and he loves to see her smiling face looking at him as she runs to the garage door and says, "Daddy, you're home!" Those words are sometimes the only things we need to turn a bad day into a great one!

Crawling and Clapping

This afternoon I set Abby down on the floor after getting home from picking the boys up from school when I noticed that she was trying to get on her hands and knees. WHAT...I didn't even realize that she could do that. I quickly got my camera and the kids started trying to get her to crawl to them. She only rocks back and forth at this point but at least she is making some progress. I just thought she looked so cute and so happy to discover something new.

Shortly after learning to get up on her knees Abby learned how to clap her hands. She claps her hands for everything and loves it when you clap with her. The smile that spreads across her face when you clap in recognition of something great she has done is priceless. I just love this age. Did I mention that I wish I could stop time. I just don't want this to ever end!

Spring Kids

ANDREW . aka SMARTY PANTS . 7 1/2 YEARS OLD

loves to read and play board games
loves math and science
is looking forward to getting baptized
loves art and drawing
loves to play the Wii
collects pokemon cards
favorite color is gold
loves to fly kites and ride his bike
is a big help around the house
wants to be a doctor like his dad
likes playing with his friend Noah
likes to write and illustrate stories


PETER . aka SNEAKY PETE . 6 YEARS OLD

loves to tell stories and play make believe
likes pokemon cards
loves the movie "Bolt"
is excited to start piano lessons
favorite color is silver
loves to ride his scooter and blow bubbles
loves to draw pictures
likes ot play the Wii
loves to play with Andrew
loves to entertain Abby


EMMA . aka MONKEY BUBBLES . 3 YEARS OLD

is super silly and a little sassy
likes Dora, Cinderella, and Scooby Doo
favorite color is still pink
likes to help make cookies
loves to sing primary songs and read books
likes to draw and do puzzles
enjoys practicing her letters
loves to be outside
loves to ride her tricycle
loves bubble and kites
likes to be tickled and hugged


ABIGAIL . aka ABBY GIRL . 9 MONTHS OLD

does not like the grass
loves to roll over
is learning to crawl
can hold her own bottle
sleeps on her tummy
has busy fingers and always has to be touching things
loves animals and their noises
has six teeth
can say "ma ma" and "da da" sounds
loves music and any toy that makes sound
claps her hands all the time
is always smiling...except when sitting on the grass!

Rocks . Rocks . and more Rocks

For months Andrew and Peter have been collecting different kinds of rocks. Sometimes they will come home from school with a few. At first we started putting them in canning jars but then we slowly ran out of room as they were collecting every rock they could find. When I was at JoAnn's today I decided to buy the boys their own little organizer so they could decide which rocks were their absolute favorites. Andrew was so excited to sort his rocks by color and by size. His favorite rocks are the tiny white looking ones. That's funny because I remember being drawn to those rocks as well when I was a kid. It's amazing how sticks and rocks can keep a boy so happy. Just look at that happy face! It doesn't get any better than this. I wish they could just stay this young forever!

Bonding

Abby is at the perfect age where she just loves to stand, play, clap and laugh. She makes me smile just by looking at her sweet face looking up at me just begging for some bonding time. I always think how much fun I am having but am a little sad that no one is there to capture our fun times. Today after picking up the boys from school I enlisted Andrew to be our photographer. He was more than thrilled to use my camera and was excited to see his results. I am so happy that I have these sweet pictures of me and my Abby girl.

Snow AGAIN

The weather has been so crazy lately. It has been sunny, rainy, and snowy. We got home from church and noticed the big snow flakes falling from the sky. REALLY?? The snow is almost hypnotic and it seems strange that we can sit and stare out the window at the falling snow flakes for quite some time. The kids are always excited to see the snow but I am growing a little weary of this cold winter weather. This has been an unusually cold winter and I am ready for Spring. So enough with this snow...ON WITH THE WARM ALREADY!

Training for the Seattle Half Marathon

I am finally back into my running zone and it feels so good. In the years we have lived here I haven't found anyone who I can go on long runs with and at times that has been frustrating. Before Abby I trained for the Phoenix Marathon and remember doing my long runs in the rain, hail, and snow while Mike slowly followed me in his car or on his bike. I started a running group here to get some fellow runners to come out on Saturdays to run. Since it has been cold and rainy no one has really showed up for the Saturday morning run. However, I finally have a running partner who is awesome and she and I have been consistantly running long on Saturdays and doing track workouts on Wednesdays. I feel so grateful to have Kim as a running partner and friend. It has been fun to get to know her better. She is training for the Seattle Marathon and I am training for the Seattle Half Marathon. Today was my first attempt at a long run since having Abby 8 months ago. I managed to go 11 miles with Kim and really enjoyed every minute of it. I can't wait for our future runs and the hopes of becoming faster and more fit in the process.

Our Beautiful Mountain

I just can't get enough of Mt. Rainier and everytime the weather is good I just have to take a picture.

Good Ol' Friends

My good friend Melissa from our medical school days moved out here last summer. I remember leaving Maryland and seeing a newborn Addy and now she is all grown up. I can't believe that it has taken Melissa and I so long to get together. Emma and Addy had a blast hanging out together. Emma and Addy are similiar in many ways. They can play with girl things but are also rough and tough. It's fun to see Emma playing with other girls and it makes me realize that she is quickly growing up. She will realize more as she gets older how great girlfriends can be.

Making Jam

My raspberries have been sitting in my refrigerator for two weeks just waiting to be made into jam. After finishing up some loose ends Emma and I got on our aprons and made jam. Abby was a little curious too. I am not sure that Emma liked it when Abby got a hold of the wooden spoon. I don't know what I am going to do when all of Papa Miller's raspberries are all gone. We are on the last couple of bags of frozen raspberries. His raspberries have made the best jam and even my Andrew who does not like berries will eat this jam with his sandwiches. I can't think of anything better than making jam with my two girls who will hopefully someday make jam with their kids. I am so lucky to have my girls to share these experiences with. That is something to be grateful for.