Bigger Bows

As Abigail gets bigger, her bows seem to as well! I love it--the bigger the better as far as I'm concerned on little girls. My Mom gave this bow to me at my baby shower for when Abigail was bigger--well, she's definitely bigger. She has grown so much. Here's our front yard, and one of our favorite hangouts. When she gets up from her afternoon nap, we head outside and play almost until Colby gets home. She loves digging in the dirt and even approached me the other day with a worm wriggling in her hand--lovely! We have great neighbors with little kids too and we all kind of coral in the streets after naptime--it's great.

Little silly face!

I found this great petting zoo practically in the middle of the city. We had a blast and just love doing stuff like this. Abigail would say "here little goaty, come here".

These are the "barrel rides" for kids which she just loved. We were so proud of her--we weren't sure what the reaction would be. We thought she might be too little to ride, but she really, really wanted to go on the "choo choo train ride" she said. She was waving good-bye to us the whole time. I don't think she would have minded if the ride left the parking lot, she was ready to go wherever this thing was taking her! When they drove away she said "Mommy, watch this". She loves saying that to everyone. She is saying several word sentences now. She's got a lot to say!

Easter party

Abigail had an Easter egg hunt today at school and had so much fun. This is her new "cheese" face! I think Aunt Jamie taught her that:)

Our little getaway!

Ah! The good life!! Colby and I went to Cancun in February and had an amazing time. It was just perfect. We needed a vacation so badly--it's been a winter full of sickness at our house, so it was such a treat to go to sunny Mexico. What made it even more amazing is that our friends, Jeff and Ashley Ivy took us!!! Ashley is one of my best friends from hygiene school in Dallas and she recently moved to Amarillo, so we are missing each other and had fun reuniting at the beach. We literally grabbed seats by the pool or beach in the morning and proceeded to SIT all day with breaks for guacamole or drinks! WONDERFUL! Abigail had a vacation too at my Mom's in Kansas City and was good and spoiled by the time I got there--I loved it:)

Us and the Ivy's!! We didn't want to leave--it was just perfect there. We were ready to see our little Abigail. She told everyone we were in Mexico and I think some strangers were a little concerned about where this childs parents had taken off to. Now, whenever Abigail is headed off in another direction of where Colby and I are walking, I'll say "Abigail, where are you going?" She'll yell "Mexeeeco"!! Poor thing!:)

My sweet and wild friend Ashley at our amazing hotel. I was a little nervous to eat the food there and drink stuff--not Ashley. She was drinking the water as soon as we got there and wasn't concerned a bit. I was drinking it too by the time I left and we were fine. It was just sooo relaxing, and I recommend it to all you new Moms out there. What a rejuvination for us!!

911!

Okay, I have one excuse anyways for not updating my blog very well. We actually had a fire last week at our house. My oven literally exploded with us in the house!!!! I was using my oven to cook Abigail and I some toast for breakfast. I noticed a funny smell, but wasn't too concerned about it. We sat down at our table which is RIGHT next to our oven and it started popping really loudly. I jumped up and suddenly, huge clouds of black smoke came from the back of it, and then flames and sparks pouring out of it. I pressed the "fire" button on my alarm system and picked Abigail up who was pretty upset by now. I grabbed a jacket for her and ran out to wait on the firemen! Abigail absolutely loved the firetruck roaring up our street. It was definitely a highlight of her little life! They cleared the house of danger but we were left with quite a mess. There was soot everywhere, even inside my cabinets in sippy cups! We had a fire cleaning crew here for a whole day cleaning carpets, curtains, washing all of my dishes. We've got a burnt floor which we'll have to replace. The damage was pretty minor considering the size of the fire--but most of all, we are thankful we are alright. Abigail and could have been hurt very badly--I had just stepped away from the oven. My face and feet would have been badly burned. I was pretty shaken up! There was some incorrect wiring during installation. So, I'm waiting for my new oven to arrive and Abigails enjoying eating out. We stayed at a hotel for a couple of days and we were able to swim too. We're definitely proof to have some good insurance.

New Years

We headed to Kansas City for New Years. That's always a cold drive! We always go to this place in Crown Center called Fritz's. It's a burger place--but what makes it fun and different is the small train that goes around the perimeter of the restaurant and "drops off" your food. It's so loud and filled with people, but we all love it, especially little conductor Abigail.
Everything else around her stops when she gets some colors. That's little Jack getting his hat on too!

With Aunt JJ at Strouds Chicken. My parents had their rehearsal dinner at this place 35 years ago. It was so much fun. JJ is the funnest Aunt--as you can see the babies are drawn to her. Jack is 6 months younger than Abigail and they're the same size:)

Abigails fun new Minnie chair from Nanny. We thought this chair just looked like Abigail! "Miss Cool" having some milk in her big girl chair! She crosses her legs like this all the time now. She even does it in her sleep:)

Christmas Day!

My parents flew in to spend Christmas with us in Dallas. It was so fun having them here with us. My Mom and I made a complete Christmas dinner---okay, mostly my Mom, but I was her 1st assistant. Our turkey turned out great.
Okay, this pie is from Thanksgiving, but I had to show my Mom. This was my first homemade pie to make. My Mom makes most things from scratch, but especially pies. I'm trying to learn her craft so I can pass it on to my kids as well. I was kind of proud of my pie:)

Colby surprised us all with footie jammies just like Abigails on Christmas morning. Hilarious!!

I got Abigail a little stroller for her babies that she just loves. It goes everywhere now. We also bought her 2 goldfish--which had disastrous results!! We picked out 2 really cute goldfish and bought this nice tank to put them in. 24 hours later they were sucked up in the filter, very dead looking. We just scratched that whole idea. Needless to say, we're not buying her a puppy any time soon:)

Christmas Parties

We had a really fun Christmas this year in Dallas. This is the first year we've been here at Christmas since,...EVER! It was nice to be at our house. The weekend before Christmas I had a little Christmas party at my house for my friends! I actually cooked and everyone brought something. Our parties are actually wilder these days with all of our kids. We try to have conversations in between supper throwing, sippy cups and bottles:)
Ashley, Nancy, Me and Abbie

Our group is growing---Parker and Paxton are the brave little boys in the group:)

Our attempt at a baby picture. Of course, someone's toe had to be bitten, and it was little Mollie!

Parker and Abigail playing our piano. These two are the same age, and are into the same stuff. Ashley and I have been encouraging each other for 21 months now, and I think they're turning out okay Ash:)

We also had Abigails Sunshine School party at church. I am the room Mom this year and have no idea what I'm doing. I'm learning as I go:) I just think they look so cute in their little seats.

Abigail loves her school and Miss Leslie.

She made me a beautiful plate at the party. She really enjoys painting, and I have to say, she's pretty good at it for a one year old:)