The Bird

We all know children love to discover the world. When they see new things, they like to point out the object to show everyone. They get so excited to share what they found. Well, Abby loves to point at all the great things she is learning. There is a slight problem with how she shares her discovery...she always points with her middle finger. We are trying to help her understand that she can't use that finger and it's a little hard for her to do. It must be the strongest finger on her hand. I guess we can say that we have a frequent sighting of 'the bird' at our house...oh boy. "Other finger Abby."

First Smiles

It's always fun to see the first smiles.

We love our Baby Kate.

Meltdown

Let's be honest, sometimes life isn't roses and daisies everyday. There are days that definitely 'test' us in a variety of ways. The past few weeks have been just that for Miss Abby. The poor girl has had her world turned upside down with the arrival of Baby Kate. Things were going well at the beginning when she had family doting around her, but then things changed. Now it's just Abby, Mommy and Katelyn during the day and Katelyn is not just a visitor. She loves her new sister, but is not so happy with Mommy, who now has to divide her attention. There are moments where she just melts my heart with the cute things she does and then others where both of us want to have a meltdown. :) I took this picture at the end of a very long day for both of us and I must admit that this picture makes me chuckle just a bit because of the expression on her face. As you can tell, she was not happy to be sitting on 'time out'. She thought she was 'helping' Katelyn by swinging her on her swing, which was very nice. But, she was trying to swing her like she was at Six Flags. I had asked her countless times to stop but to no avail. Thank goodness for awesome friends that have stopped by to visit and kept Abby happy. We are so grateful for all the help!

To close this post, I would like get some advice...

How do you help a 2 yr. old to not have meltdowns and adjust to a new sibling?

January

What do you do when it's cold outside and you are stuck in the house with a 2 yr. old that is dying for attention? Read lots of stories, play with Playdough, put on glitter chapstick and take loads of pictures.

They grow up so fast...

I want to savor every moment.

Sisters

We Luv Our Girls!

Baby Kate

Baby Kate is exactly one month old today.

She is loves to be cuddled and is already giving us some smiles. We love her.

Miss Abby

Loves giggling, princesses and everything pink.

First Month

We have had a fun month getting to know little Katelyn. It's fun to look into her wide eyes and wonder what she is thinking about this world experience.

She seems to like the swing, other than when her sister tries to help her swing faster.

I love this face. This face would explain her fear when Abby comes to 'assist' her on the swing. Yikes!

I'm in love with all her spikey brown hair, it makes me smile.

This is how Katelyn felt about her first sponge bath. I think the expression on her face says it...

She is not thrilled about being wet.

Katelyn's current favorite things to do are sleep, eat, and repeat.

Grandpa and Grandma Visit

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit last week and we had a lot of fun with them here. Abby loved having Grandpa read her lots of stories and play dolls with her. It was cute watching him walk around the house with her, especially since she insisted he carry a purse. (I wish I would have caught a picture of that.)

Here's Abby trying to teach Grandpa how to hold a baby.

Grandma and Baby Kate

Lots of kisses for Katelyn.

This picture is classic. Abby has been having some rough nights. She wakes up around 3am some mornings and is scared. Well, when Grandma was here, she just climbed up on the couch and slept on top of her... sorry Peggy.

Blessed

The title of this post says it all. New Years Day was special this year because we blessed little Katelyn Jane. All our family was in town on the same day, so we had a nice blessing in our home. Baby Katelyn looked so sweet dressed all in white. It was a beautiful blessing and a wonderful night. A great way to start the New Year. We loved having all our family here to celebrate her birth.

Katelyn with Daddy

Here are a few photos we captured...

Nani

Pops

Grandma Peggy

Laura

Christmas 2010

We have had such a wonderful Christmas this year! Both of our families came in town to celebrate and we made some awesome memories. Abby was in heaven with all of the attention and entertainment. Next week is going to be rough when she realizes that the party is over...wish me luck. Our families were way too kind to us and we're very grateful for their help. Thanks for everything and a great time!

The men toasting to Christmas in the PJ's Momma bought.

(Gotta luv Old Dominion Root Beer.)

The girls modeling their PJ's.

Spein bonding with Katelyn and Abby on Christmas. We love having him back.

Opening presents with Pops in his Redberry Hat

Kisses for Pops

Christmas morning...Abby got into it this year.

Princesses

Playing her guitar

Princess stickers

This baby was the 'Gift of the Year' given by Spencer to Abby, it's a Fijian Doll that Abby now displays proudly in her room.

Lights at the Temple

Visitors Center with Sippy and Spein

Fun trip to Richmond

The girls in front of the Capitol Tree

The boys

Pops telling the traditional story of "Nels Apple"

Abby listening to the story

Riding the Carousel on the Mall

New Years Eve in Falls Church

Abby kisses...

Bonding at bedtime

Here is the video of the tradition wrapping paper wall on Christmas morning. My dad started this tradition when we were kids and it is being carried on. Abby didn't know quite what to do at first, but definitely got excited when she saw what was beneath the wallpaper.