Before I put it off any longer, I've got to update this blog. So the first and foremost thing on my mind is sleep. And the lack of it. Yep folks, my child has regressed to a pattern of waking at night again, usually right at 1:30 am on the nose, and some nights staying awake for an hour or more. What???!! I thought, naively I suppose, that I would never be doing a post on sleep, at least Abbie's sleep, again! I am pretty positive she is waking up because she is scared, because she's always telling me when I go in there that there are alligators, or bears, or some sort of animal like that in her bed. So letting her cry it out just doesn't work this time in my opinion, until or unless I get to the point where I think she is pulling my chain. But for now, I don't have it in me. So I go in there and sit in the recliner in her room while she goes back to sleep. Sometimes it only takes once, other times it might take two or three times. But I'm praying this is just a phase, oh someone please tell me it's just a phase, and if anyone out there has advice for what I can do to help this be over soon, please let me know!

My Dad and Eileen have been visiting us this weekend and we've had a great time with them, along with some absolutely gorgeous fall-like weather! I'll post more pics later, but here are a few from yesterday when she was helping Dad plant some flowers.

Here's a pic for you - Abbie was 27 months last Friday. Wow, when I put it like that she sounds pretty old! This week has been SO busy and I'm ready for a little break from it all! I'll try to post another update soon.

If something were to happen to me tomorrow I would want to leave the following lyrics to Abbie-

"Be strong in the Lord and,

Never give up hope,

You're gonna do great things,

I already know.

God's got His hand on you so,

Don't live life in fear,

Forgive and forget,

And don't forget why you're here.

Take your time and pray.

These are the words I would say"

I just love this song by Sidewalk Prophets, and it always makes me think of Abbie and the words I would want her to never forget throughout her life. There is honestly nothing in the world I want more for her than to love God and love others. Of course I want her to be happy too, but that's not always what life is about. We can't always have everything we want and sometimes we are dealt things that we may not like. So let's be real with our kids. Teach them to pray and trust and have faith in God, not in the things of this world.

Stepping off the soapbox now. ( :

Stream of Consciousness

I'm stealing that title from MckMama - this is really how I like to blog anyways.

It's Saturday and so far we've been very productive - working in the yard, cleaning inside, getting ready for Wes's brother Brett and his girlfriend to come stay with us tonight. Our neighbors had a garage sale this morning and Wes bought a Little Tikes play gym with a slide for Abbie, and a sandbox. I'm not really sure why he bought the sandbox, considering we already have one, but oh well. Abbie definitely likes the slide, but she's a little apprehensive about going down it without holding our hand. It's nice to be home this weekend. We've been gone the last two, with the 4th of July over in Murphy, then Boston last weekend. We spent most of the 4th on the lake, and had a great time. And then our trip to Boston really couldn't have been better either. I really just loved meeting my grandfather's family, and seeing the house and the town where he grew up - my grandmother is always telling me stories about everyone but they all kind of run together when you don't know the people. And it was very special to get to be with my cousin Jay, who is in the Air Force and is being deployed to Iraq in a few weeks. He and his family live in Delaware, so we don't get to see them that often anyways, but it was just nice to spend the time with him. If you are a praying person, please keep him in your prayers. He will be on a big base over there but it's still scary, plus he has a wife and 3 kids, and I know they will miss him. He will be gone about 6 months.

So Abbie is napping(I think), and Wes is mountain biking, and I'm just enjoying some peace and quiet. Life is good right now. We have been trying for another baby for a while, but have had some difficulty so I think we are going to take a step back and just be content with what we have. It will happen when and if it's supposed to. I'm not getting any younger though, and I have a lot of friends right now that are expecting... but we also have an amazing child that has brought us so much happiness, and it just keeps getting better. So we'll see what happens with everything!

I'll post a few pics of Abbie for you now - I've posted most of our Boston pics on Facebook and Shutterfly, but here are a few others taken recently. She is so much fun these days. She talks non-stop, that is no exaggeration, and we are constantly laughing at the things she says. Example: The other day I made us spaghetti. It's a go to dinner for the two of us when Wes is riding his bike in the evenings. I put it on her tray, and she said "I've never tried your pasgetti before." I think it was the way she said it too that just made me laugh.

I'll close now - I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far! Until next time.

Ponytails!!

Finally, the proof that Abbie actually wore a ponytail in her hair for more than a second!! I guess by the third picture (or maybe it was the sixth) she was done with the camera!

So, Charleston was gorgeous, as always. And we had a great time. Literally all we did was eat, float around in the ocean, and eat some more. But it was perfect.

Of course we missed this little girl....

How could you not, right?! She has had a rough week - we found out Thursday that she has a Staph infection, of all things. We thought they were chicken pox but they were only getting worse. So she is on her 2nd day of antibiotics and the boils on her chest are looking better. I've learned a lot about this kind of stuff this week, unfortunately. I've learned we need to be a little more diligent with her hand washing, and just really watching when she has open cuts or scrapes because germs can get in that way. The good news is other than the pain associated with these sores, she has had no other symptoms. It still amazes me the things we all go through as parents though, and how each step and experience hopefully teaches us a little more and prepares us for the next stage!!

This evening we looked and saw Joseph riding his John Deer around the culdesac, so I asked Abbie if she wanted to go outside and see him. She dropped everything literally and ran out with me. This is how the conversation went:

A (walking down the driveway): Joooophaaahhh!!

J (seeing us and stopping in front of the driveway): Hi Abbie.

A: Hi Jophah.

J: Is that a butterfly on your dress, Baby Aggie? And flowers?

A: Yea (looking down at her dress)....(then looking up at him) Do you like it?

My two work trips have come and gone. The one to Pittsburgh was pretty uneventful, and I mean that in every sense. Here I thought I might actually enjoy the peace and quiet, the nice meals, having a glass of wine...Nope. I missed Abbie terribly. And I missed the commotion. Every time I saw a child with their Mom and Dad, which by the way are all over airports, my heart just ached. But I made it. Then came my second trip, which was supposed to be last week. Abbie came down with a virus though and so I cancelled it and stayed home with her for two days. I was so thankful I was here and not already down in South Carolina. Next up is Wes and I's anniversary trip this weekend! We are SO excited. I"ll post more about that when we come back.

THIS weekend, however, we got to hang out with Misty and Macie, Amanda, Chloe and Caden, and Rachel, Ava and Jack. It was so great to be able to hang out with them, as it always is. I can't help but think back to what our get togethers used to be like. They've certainly changed a little, but I just love that we can incorporate the kids into our visits now and they can play while we catch up!

And then today, we got to go to the Land Rover driving experience - what a fun time that was! We basically were on a 4-wheel trail for about an hour and we climbed up big ole hills, went on a teeter-totter for cars...it was a BLAST and I'm so glad we went. It's a perk you get when you buy a Land Rover so it was all free and even Abbie got to come. She enjoyed herself, but she did have to throw in a few "Be careful, Daddy" warnings here and there. We can't wait to go again!