Splashing and Laughing with Daddy

Video clip of Abby slapshing and laughing!

Little Swimmer

Video clip of Abby showing off her swim skills!

Splashing Giggles

Cute video of Abby giggling in the pool! She is finally getting to the point where water in her eyes/face isn't a huge ordeal.

New Swing!!!

I picked up a gently used swing off craigslist today, and Abby was THRILLED!!!

Swinging at the park is her favorite thing, so now its in the backyard.....even better.

Here she is seeing it up for the first time.

Running toward her swing once she saw us pointing at it across the yard.
Saying "Look mama....swing"

Daddy fixing the straps!

And.....WEE!!!!! More more more!!

Thunderstorm leftovers

We waited and waited for rain the last 2 weeks, mostly to help fill the pool water (and of course it always comes a day after you decide to hose-fill it) and finally got a brief whopper of a thunderstorm that rolled through this afternoon for 20 mnutes, quite unannounced! So much for my bathing suits and towels I had laid out to dry from yesterday, Mike said he saw them flying across the yard! Then went the patio chairs!

It was strong enough to take out a tree in our neighbors yard 2 doors down, colliding with his fence....pretty strong. No damage to us, minus Mike fishing chairs out of the pool!

Randoms......

I felt like getting crafty the other day and saw that the Michael's ad had these kids desks on sale. I remember Amy and I had ones that my mom had personalized when we were kids, and I thought Abby might enjoy one too! Not to mention help keep her coloring books and crayons contained in one place!

She really seems to like it. Now I just have to convince her it is not something to sit on!

CAUGHT!!!!! She is little miss climber these days, and took it upon herself to pull out a kitchen chair and climb onto the table today to get to what she wanted. She is very sneaky!

Swimming in bubbles!! Now that she has the idea of what to do in the pool, she has started applying herself in the tub! Splashing around on her tummy!! I love that little butt!!

Pretty, Pretty......ROXY!

Well, the day has come, and Roxy is finally learning that she may have been put on this earth to entertain Abby! And she is very patient with her as always!

Today Abby decided to wrap her new pink feather boa all over Roxy, and put her bracelets on her too! Roxy tried to get away a few times, then Abby cornered her at the door and she gave in for a few moments of Abby enjoyment!! They have been playing a lot lately, with dog and kid toys back and forth and Abby gets a real kick/giggle out of it!

For me, it keeps them both entertained for moments at a time which is nice.

Little does Roxy know that a new little person to pick on will be around soon enough!!

And then before we know it they will both me playing dress up with the dog together! YIKES!

Can't you just see the terror in her eyes!!!!

Pudding & Playdough!

This was Abby's first time playing with playdough! At first I was afraid of the mess, but realized afterwards it is the easiest messy thing of all to clean (on a solid surface of course).

She had fun and only tried to eat it once! Then kept trying to feed it to Roxy, not understanding why Roxy eats everything else she gives her except for playdough.....smart dog!!

Then it was onto the pudding. This was NOT supposed to be an art project, but simply a snack.

But earlier that day we had a playdate at a friends house where we did a painted handprint on a piece of paper, so I think she got inspired and turned into little miss artiste!!

I caught her using the spoon as a paint brush, going up and down her arm until it was covered! I should have known that the quiet snack was all too good to be true (I was sitting across the room on the computer, and I guess pudding time requires more attention).

Dentist!!

Abby had her first dentist check-up appointment this morning! I was hesitant and worried that she would be scared, but she was a very big girl, and followed directions like an old pro.

She made out good too, taking home 2 toothbrushes and 3 toys as prizes!!

The doctor said all her teeth look great! No cavities, and great spacing. She has all her teeth, just waiting on her last set of back molars to come in at some point!

Ken's Pics.....A few more!!

Here are a few more photos from our visit with Ken and the family! Too cute not to share!

Day out to the beach with the kiddos!

As you can see, Abby had a GREAT time at the all you can eat seafood buffet! She ate her fair share that night, and she was FREE! Even better.

Virginia Bch Aquarium- Anniversary Day Out

We decided to celebrate this 5 year wedding anniversary as a family, and it turned out great!

We started with a visit to the Virginia Beach Aquarium here in town and Abby encountered some fun animals. Then we went out for dinner and ice cream, and to our surprise she did great at the restaurant, entertaining herself with the food of course!

Next year we will be celebrating with 2 kids!! YIKES!

Abby and daddy checking out the turtles
This kid loves anything water related

Touching her first horseshoe crab! Not a bit scared! The handler was even shocked she wanted to do it! Such a big girl.....she probably thinks..."if I can handle Roxy, I can handle a silly crab!!"

She wasn't too excited to pose, as she became more interested in the steps at this shark tank exhibit, teaching herself to go up and down the steps upright without putting her hands down! Thats a new trick! Once she figured out she could handle it, she attempted it over and over and over.

HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!!!

Not looking so bad after 5 years, having moved 3 times, and about to have baby #2!

Finally a family shot! Even if she does look a little shocked! Maybe a shark swam by behind the camera, who knows!

A mouthful!!! This was some feat! I had to crawl under this silly shark exhibit on my knees, and Mike handed her to me through the teeth!! Not made for pregnant mommies! Oh well, it was cute!!

Checking out the small fish

Her first snake exhibit!! He was lively and moved his head right toward her!

So the color came out funny, I think because of the odd lighting in the restaurant, but this was a funny moment of self-entertainment at its best. After becoming bored with the crayons and paper and the books that I brought, she decided to try dipping spreadable butter into melted butter, and eat it!! It was a hit, and it kept her quiet and occupied for a good 20 minutes!! We will discuss her cholesterol in 20 years or so!! All I cared about was that I got to finish my meal for once and didn't have to clean up any spills!

Yum!!! Different forms of lard!!!!

Relaxing!!

Abby cracked us up today while we were outside swimming! She sat on the top step and was actually laying with her legs straight out before this photo, then I told her to lay down to reinact the cuteness, and this is what I got! She pretended to be asleep! As if we sleep in the pool!! Too funny.

Library Storytime

I took Abby to our local youth libary down the road this past week for her first library storytime experience. She loved it! It was stationed out with different toys to play with for 30 minutes, then the librarian gathered the kids to put the toys away, then sat on the rug for a story, then played with the parachute, then a finale with the bubble machine! Abby had a great time, and enjoyed reading through new books afterwards (see pic below) in the main part of the library. Its great because since it is a youth library, there is really no need to worry about noise level, so the kids just run free.

New Playgroup-Pool/Beachside

Today we attended our first Norfolk squadron instructor's wives playgroup out here and had a great time. It was held at a family's condo down at the waterfront, and the condo pool is right on the beach! Very fun, Abby loved spending time with the other girls! All the kids are 1-4 months apart, so it is a perfect group of girls for her right at her age!

I LOVE these ruffly butts!!!! Summertime at its best for the kids!

Hmmm....what's going on over there????

Lots of "home" time!

The month of June and July have been filled with lots of time spent at home, so we've loved having the pool to relax in, but most of all, Abby and I have LOVED having daddy around to play with! We're still getting used to him being around SO much!! But its growing on us...hehe!

Miss Rolly Polly in our bed watching cartoons
Storytime with daddy

Watching daddy jump in off the diving board!

"Where'd he go?" and "There he is".... 2 of her new phrases she uses when something leaves and returns to her line of sight! Here she watched Mike dive into the water to disappear, only to reappear moments later from under the water! She's getting very good at putting her words together. We've been working a lot on the 2-phrase words, adding please and/or more to her demands.....and its working!

She has that finger point down pat!

This was a beautiful evening for an after dinner swim.

Chasing after her "hippo" toy as a reward for kicking.

Ahhhh....I hate when I squirt myself with my toys!! These aren't tears though, just wiping the water away!