Time flies

I can't believe Abby is going to be two.  It's really unimaginable, but here we are almost two years later....

There are some instances where she's clearly not two.  She's still solidly wearing 18 month clothes and size 4/5 shoes.  Many kiddos her age are well into 2+ clothing and size 9 shoes! Abby has completely mastered many of her Melissa and Doug puzzles for ages1+.  She's just a petite little one with a big head, er brain. 

In other cases she's surpassing the two year mark with flying colors.  Her fine motor skills are top notch and she's drawing up a storm. She's coloring on every scratch pad, church bulletin, and coloring book.  Thankfully not many walls.  She'll be replicating Van Gogh's any day now.

I'm excited to give her a trunk filled with dress up clothing for her birthday because the pretend play is amazing!  Currently, Elmo, Teddy and George are eating breakfast with us.  Actually, Elmo is "eating" some of Abby's cheerios right now.  Santa told me he's bringing Abby a play kitchen, so I suspect that will be a huge hit as well.

Oh, she's your typically two year old.  Flirting with peeing on the potty, sassy talk, and of course negotiating on many occasions.  Most of this is quite minor as she is polite (please, thank you, and bless you) most of the time and the "noooooooo's" are only once or twice a day.

The snuggle time first thing in the morning is absolutely one of my favorite things about this almost two year old.  Oh, and the eskimo and butterfly kisses.  And the contagious giggles and streaks of independence.  She's going to be in college tomorrow.  Oh how time flies...

Halloween 2011

What a fun Halloween!

5:45pm - wrapping up dinner at MiMi and Grampy's, dressing in costume, taking our last bite of pazzo as we scoot out the door. 
6:00- practice trick or treating at MiMi's and Grampy's.  She did awesome!  The look of incredulous that she was being given candy was priceless.  The phone rang in the middle of the practice round and she had no problems reaching into the pumpkin for more chocolate.
6:15 - Trick or treating at the Lester's!  What a blast to visit my old street and neighbors.  Now, those were the days of pillow cases and bags and bags of candy. On the way, I asked if she wanted more candy? "YESS!!" was her response....
6:20 - On the way to Uncle Rob and Trish's, I asked Abby if she wanted to get more candy.  "candy, Candy, CANDY!" was her response.  Trick or Treat = twik tweat :-)
7:00 Next stop the Benson's/Braiser house!  So fun to see Pirate Liam and Monkey Nora.
7:30 Last stop at the Legere's. Clearly noting her sleepy eyes,  I asked Abby if she wanted more candy.   "No. No more" I'm not sure if this little flower is my child anymore!

She was very polite for all our visits.  Many times she said "please" instead of trick or treat and rarely grabbed for the goods.  Well, I take that back - she seemed to sneak a few pieces when no was looking.

Happy Halloween!

Home Projects

We are very lucky to be related to or have friends who are painters, masons, plumbers, electricians, welders, or just general handymen.   Because of this we have crossed a lot of our "House To-Do" list.  So much it's worth a post!  As we plan for projects and prepare financially for each one, the new job was a good reason to kick off several.  Additionally, bartering has been proven helpful.  You know, where the cobbler exchanged services with the tailor or the baker swapped goods with the blacksmith.  I exchanged Red Sox Tickets with a mason and got this!

I also exchanged a pedicure with my electrical/lighting savy friend and had our chandelier fixed.  Now all five light bulbs work and the candle sticks are back to normal!  We also borrowed my Dad's trailer to make several dump runs of yard brush and dead flowers.  It's hard to cut down the peonies, hostas, and hydrangeas but knowing spring is right around the corner is helpful.  My brother the painter also snuck by one day and painted a portion of the front side, which was a result of this.    We definitely were the "cool" house on the block.  Other small projects (really can't believe this hasn't been done sooner) was drilling nice hooks on the back of the bathroom door and adding door stoppers to all the doors.  

Next big project?  Replacing four old wooden windows on the bottom floor.  Last year, two layers of plastic barely kept the draft in.  We've moved the roof replacement to the spring and hope it holds out.  Although, our chimney sweeper mentioned there were a few soft spots while he was on the roof.  Cross your fingers peeps!  Stop by and you might see our mason (brother's-girlfriend-BIL), painter (brother), roofer (other brother) ripping shingles off our roof in the spring. :-)

The chimney is swept for nice fires; a cord of wood cut, split, loaded, unloaded and stacked; boiler cleaned for fall/winter warmth; chandelier ready for daylight savings time, walkway installed for easy shoveling; and gardens almost laid to rest for their winter sleep.

Although never complete, the To-Do list is a bit shorter these days....

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Dear future boyfried,

I love chocolate covered strawberries.  If you know what's good for you, shower me with these regularly!

Love,
Abby

Studio Pictures

I love, love, love having Abby's pictures taken by someone with a nice camera.  She happens to photograph pretty well if you ask me :-)  Her birthday pictures last year were taken by Tess J. Photography and you could sit mesmerized by her pictures on her site.  Unfortunately, there's a price that comes along with it. So, when Living Social, a daily deal discount website, offered a $12.00 Picture People deal, I couldn't resist.

Here are some shots from Abby's session on Saturday night.

Note:  They mentioned there is another deal coming very soon for $10 for three sheets.  Just in time for the holidays! AND, if you three of your friends buy a deal from your referral code, your Deal is FREE!  (hint, hint)

So, while Picture People might not be a super, duper professional studio with a $3 million dollar camera (okay, not that much) they did a nice job.  I'll keep using those daily deals so I can save my pennies to have Tess take pictures again!

Forget one week, in one month....

ABBY WILL BE TWO!   Waaa waaaa

When did our little newborn turn into a walking, talking, inquisitive, independent, crazy, fun, lovable two year old??? When did she move from hanging out in her bouncer to dancing circles in the kitchen?  When did she once giggle at colors on a block to coloring flowers at her art table?  When did she move from enjoying the sounds of her rattle to "reading" books, completing puzzles, and loving an episode of Curious George, Clifford, Cat in the Hat or Thomas the Train??

At this very moment she is grooving to the closing tune of Thomas, giggling, pointing to the TV and just mesmerized.  Full disclosure, I'm blogging and enjoying a cup of coffee.  I've heard this second (and third) year can be doozies  so I'm enjoying the quiet while I can. 

Yes, that TV part was something we said we wouldn't do...oh, how parenting changes on a dime.  It's hard to imagine not having Abigail Jean in our lives and we celebrate her every day.  I can't believe we're going to celebrate the end of her second year in less than a month.  (Hey, Tim!  We made it!!! We kept her alive and well!!)

One Week Down

I'm happy to report I'm still alive after week one.  Starting a new job combined with Tim's business trip made for a very busy week.  I'm also getting ready for a craft fair on the 29th so every spare moment has been devoted to the sewing machine.  Crazy busy. 

As for the job, just fabulous. It's amazing how life puts you on a path you didn't know where it was going.  And, then, you end up right where you're suppose to be.  It's that good.  Who knew??

 These two rock my world and make it all worth it.

One week down and lots more fun ones to follow.  Boy, am I one lucky gal.