Tagged...Pure Randomness

I've been officially tagged!
The rules:

1. Link to person who has tagged you: Ashley
and Susan

2. Post the rules on your blog

3. Write 6 random things about yourself

4. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

1. I think I could beat Ashely on her speed in eating soft serve ice cream, especially when I'm pregnant.
2. I lose my phone or keys on a daily basis, but I am doing better. Thanks Brett.
3. I LOVE to travel and see new places!
4. When I'm swimming in a lake or ocean, I'm always afraid a fish is going to come and bite me... weird, I know. (Maybe it's from watching the movie 'Jaws' as a child, that really traumatized me.) :)
5. I love slobbery baby kisses!
6. I have a hidden stash of chocolate in my house at all times.
I tag Sue, Ellen and Michelle.

In Remembrance...

This week we made a trip to the Pentagon Memorial. The memorial was dedicated last month on September 11th. It is a memorial to all who died at the Pentagon. It was a sobering experience to see how many people were killed just at the Pentagon alone.














We had some good friends and neighbors that lost their brother in the tragedy and we found his personal bench. Each bench had a victims' name inscribed on it and had water flowing underneath. It really was heartbreaking to see all the individual lives and families that were effected, both those that died and those left behind. I can't imagine what it would have been like to lose a loved one that way.










Each bench led to a date when the victim was born. There were some very young people that died, including a 3 year old that was on the plane. There was a wall surrounding the benches that represented the youngest victim, rising in height to the oldest victim. The memorial was directly in front of where the plane crashed into the Pentagon.









Here are some pictures from the dedication that I found online. We weren't able to go to the dedication because it was for the families of the victims. It was a big event here in DC.










Here is an exhausted baby, 'bjornin' it,' on the metro on our way home. She is so fun to cuddle.

Future Senator!

Our good friends from law school, Lake and Elysa, gave Abby a hat that said "Future Senator". I went jogging with Abby the other day and it was chilly so I pulled out this hat. You can't see what it says because I'm not the best photographer, but I thought it was very suiting for the time of year with elections...."Future Senator." Gotta luv it! All bundled, ready for the jog.

We pulled out Brett's old electronic piano last week and Abby had a great time playing the keys with her dad. She loved hearing the different sounds that the piano made and would follow Brett's hands up and down the keyboard. She is one curious 'little bug' and we love her.













Abby also has a new love...her activity pad. She can lie there for a while and entertain herself, which is really nice for me so I can get some cleaning done.


Another event of this past week was Abby's shots. She had to get 6 shots last Friday and she endured it well. She cried during the ordeal but when I picked her up she stopped...what a brave little girl. The doctor gave her Garfield Bandaids for her shots. She was a little fussy over the weekend, but she's back to full swing again. :)



Abby also worked on mastering her grip this week. She was very proud of herself when she was able to hold her crab all by herself. Her crab is currently her favorite toy. If she is crying, you can whip out the crab and the tears turn to smiles. I'm glad the crab makes her so happy.




I've had some family requests for an 'Abby Video.' I tried catching Abby in her 'happy-smiley-talkative' moment, but she decided to stare at the camera. Oh well, I hope you enjoy seeing her cute chubby little face on camera. (Lately, when I record her, she gets quite distracted by the camera light. I don't quite know what to do about that. )

It's Official!

My brother, Spencer, has officially entered the Missionary Training Center to prepare to serve the people of the Fijian Islands. He was really excited to leave for this adventure! Right at this moment he's probably learning his first Fijian language lessons. :)

3am ALARM!

Last week while Brett was out of town, I had a 3 AM alarm incident. When we bought Abby's baby monitor, it came with a motion detector. The motion detector is suppose to alarm when it can't sense the baby's breathing, to help prevent SIDS. (I know, we're paranoid parents.) Anyway, at 3 AM in the morning the alarm went off and being startled from my sleep, I jumped out of bed panicked. This is no quiet alarm. I made a jolt for Abby's room and...WHAM! In my panicked and tired state of mind, I ran right smack into our bedroom door, thinking that I had left it open. Ouch! When I got to Abby's room, she was sleeping peacefully. Her crib is elevated because of her acid reflux, so she had slid down in the crib and off the monitor. Moral to the story: don't run into closed doors, it hurts and I had a puffy lip to prove it. How embarrassing!

A Day at the Zoo

Tuesday, we headed for the National Zoo with my friend Jessica her baby Matthew. Our babies are only 6 weeks apart so it was fun to get together. Abby seemed to enjoy being outside, and it was fun to walk around the zoo. We had a great time watching the monkeys and seeing the pandas.









Here she is looking at the monkeys. The baby monkeys were born in July, the same month as Abby. :)

Here are two exhausted babies hangin' in the backseat, ready to head home. Thanks for a great time Jessica and Matthew!

Apples, Spice and Everything Nice!

It's officially Fall! To start off the season, I decided to head to Maryland to go apple picking with my friends. While our husbands were at school and work, we headed out to the orchards with buckets and wheelbarrows to find the perfect apples. All the kids had a great time picking apples, including the mushy ones that had fallen to the ground. :) After sweating through an unexpectedly hot day, we headed back with our many buckets of apples.
When we arrived home, we decided to be adventurous and attempted to can many of the apples we picked. I think we were a little over ambitious, because we found that canning apples takes a lot of time. We found ourselves peeling, cutting and smashing an eternal sea of apples, making it a very fun but vigorous workout. :) We did have a wonderful time!
There is nothing better than the smell of apples, cinnamon and sugar on a Fall day! I love this time of year!

As you can see, Abby decided to sleep during most of the apple picking. She did enjoy checking out the sights when she was awake in her Bjorn.













Here's Katie reaching for the best ones. Little Miss Sadie helped find the good ones. :)









We even made a trip to see the animals at the end of the adventure. Here is lil' Joe enjoying a moment with the goats.