The past week

So much has happened in the last week, I don't even know where to begin. I guess I could start with Mat's new favorite sport, curling, which is currently on the tube (yes, we still have one). During this Olympics a new love has blossomed between curling and my husband. I actually don't mind watching it as much as some sports, but I prefer ice skating. Mat has finally finished his two classes and is on his way to a 4.0 in his graduate program. He is going to be taking an additional soccer class, outside of school, in Florida. The class is a week long and he will earn his National Diploma from the NSCAA. This is thankfully during the same time that my parents will be here visiting. Mat's new class begin on March first, but he will only be taking one class the next quarter.

Abby has mostly conquered her bow-bow (pacifier) addiction, which we began weaning her off of about a week ago. She still uses it during naps and at night, and I must say that I don't see this ending any time soon. She struggled and really missed her bow-bow for about the first four days, but now she hardly asks for it at all. We were hoping that without it constantly being in her mouth, she would begin to talk more. She now babbles non stop, and is saying more words, more frequently. Her favorite word is Uh-oh. Sometimes she throws her cup on the ground just so she can say uh-oh. I think she's really begun to enjoy her English words and sometimes she'll say a string of as many words as she can think of and in no particular order. "Mama dada Bubu hi uh-oh." Or, she'll just walk up to Squirt's face, "Bubu, Bubu, bubu, bubu." Abby calls Squirt Bubu, it is much easier to say, and it's what Mat and I call him the majority of the time. As well as she is doing learning her new words, there are some words where she's stuck in her ways and won't even try to say them correctly. Mama has four meanings, depending where she puts the emphasis, Mommy, Grandma, All done, and one other word I can't think of right now. I've tried having her say, "all" and she says, "Ma", then I'll say, "done" and she'll say, "Ma". We've also been working on potty training, but I'll save that for another day.

The pets are all hanging in there. Garfield is more annoying than ever, that cat just doesn't know how to shut his little kitty mouth. He is constantly meowing. We do love having him around though, because he is the only of the three pets who lets Abby maul him. Skeeter sleeps next to my head every night and has developed the new habit of drinking out of the sink, I guess it's an improvement from the toilet. Squirt is still terrified of life in general. Besides his normal issues of rotting teeth, no hair, old age, and low thyroid, he is constantly in the wrong place at the wrong time. Flying objects and Abigail's body gravitate toward him. He spends as much time as possible sleeping and has even been know to sleep in until noon.

I've been busy trying to save all the money I can using coupons and shopping strategically. We're on a very strict budget trying to get all of our debts paid off. I'm enjoying my job in the Athletic Department, someplace I would've never in a million years, imagined myself. It involves time on the computer, organization, and numbers, three things I enjoy. Abby and I are still going to our weekly coffee group, where we've made some new friends. I'm especially enjoying having Mat back, since his classes have ended. It seemed like for two or three weeks I never saw him, because he was always drowning in school work. God has been so good to us in providing for all of our needs, some of our wants, and allowing us the privilege of caring for his child.