Happy 9th Anniversary!

Today is our 9th Anniversary. There are 9 roses in the front yard indicating the 9 years of our marriage. They are a reminder to us of our love to each other and of God's great love to us.

To the LOVE of my life: Thank you for 9 wonderful years of marriage. Thank you for being a godly wife and a wonderful mom to Abby. You are a hard worker who cares for your family. God has given me a great helpmeet! You are so lovely! I LOVE YOU!

Big Bed -- *Update*

At 1:30 this morning, I heard some rustling around in the kitchen, and then I heard a little someone climbing up onto a kitchen chair. I went out to investigate and found Abby sitting on a kitchen chair working her 5-piece wooden puzzle. :) She was just as happy as could be. I put her back into the big bed along with the puzzle, but she didn't settle down so I put her in her crib at 1:45.

Mommy's Bragging

I have to brag on our daughter a little tonite. She has done some amazing things lately, and I just had to share them!

Friday when Randy was home watching Abby, he put her on the potty seat to begin showing her how to "go" on the big potty. He said she was scared and didn't stay on there long the first time he put her on the potty. The second time, she settled in and read a magazine (like we always do) and enjoyed her sit. The third time, she came to him and grabbed his hand and took him into the bathroom, where she sat on the potty and he thinks she did a little tinkle.

Tonight, Abby wanted to sit on the potty seat again, and so Randy told her to take it to Mommy and I would help her. We went into the spare bathroom and I got her settled, gave her a magazine (which she didn't read long), and then sat on the floor and played silly games with her while she sat on the throne. After approx 20 minutes, she indicated she was all done and I got her off. I never heard or noticed any action, so I was shocked when I looked in the bowl and there was a poopy!!! Ooooh, Mommy was proud! She got a couple peanut M&Ms for that! :)

Later, I cut Randy's hair while Abby sat on the toilet lid and watched. We always take the garbage can out of the cupboard and drop the hair from Randy's head directly into the garbage. When I was done cutting Randy's hair, Abby helped brush him off. After a bit, I watched while she pushed the folding chair out of the way to give her access to the cupboard, opened the cupboard, picked up the garbage can, and put it INTO THE CUPBOARD where it belongs! I hadn't said a WORD to her! She just noticed it was out, knew where it belonged, and put it away all by herself! Mommy was proud again!

Here's a little history on the 3rd story: Our friends John and Kimberly gave us the soft mesh bed rails they used when their daughter was little. Randy put them on the queen size guest bed in Abby's room a couple weeks ago, in preparation for Abby sleeping in there. Tonight we did our normal bedtime routine--brush our teeth, put her in her crib, pray (she prays GREAT!) and then typically we tell her to lay down and go to sleep. After we prayed, she wanted to get into the big bed. I obliged, and tucked her in there with her favorite blanket. I haven't heard from her since, and it's been over an hour since I put her in bed. We'll see if she lasts thru the night, but so far so good.

Raising a 23-month-old is trying at times, but tonight it has been FUN!!!

Abby's First Laugh

I am going into the archives and trying to post a video. It is of Abby's first laugh. Hope you like it.

Get Out The Vote!

Abby's 2nd Birthday is coming up! Please vote in the poll on the right side so we can see how many people truly know her birthdate! If you don't know, then give your best guess! Here is a picture from her first birthday.

Dady's Big Helper

Today Abby helped daddy do work around the house. We also worked on potty training, and she was rewarded with an M & M cookie. Here are a few pictures from today.

Snow Pictures

These are a couple of pictures of our picnic table taken at the beginning of 2007 and then a more recent one that was taken on Christmas Day 2008. I thought it was cool (pardon the pun) to compare the two snowstorms. Nothing tops the more recent storm: at least 20 inches of snow although with the wind blowing some of it away, it may have been a few more than that. That is a lot for this moderate climate.