Thursday, January 14, 2010

Phelps Fort

Mat built Abby her first fort today. It was super cute to go into the spare oom and see a floral print fortress with my husbands legs sticking out the side and baby sounds coming from within. I just had to go in and see what all the commotion was about and I found Abby so excited to be inside her princess bouncy castle transformed FORT. At one point she was so giddy that she tried dragging squirty man in with her. He wasn't too keen on the idea of being picked up, but he did venture in and wonder around a bit.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Haiti

Please pray for Haiti.

Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. -Romans 12:13

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Smarty Pants

Today, as I was folding Abby's laundry in her room, she walked over to her diaper pile, snatched one off the top, turned to me, and pointed at her diaper...Woohoo, she's brilliant. Not only that, but without being asked, she picked up her pile of three socks and opened her dresser drawers until she found her Sleeping Beauty sock bucket and promptly deposited her socks into the bucket. Her diaper turned out to be only pee, but I think she's getting the idea.

As Abby and I were waiting for Mat to get home from work I found Handel's Messiah on You Tube, and Abby absolutely loved it. I think she may just like opera and classical music better than any other. Mat made fish tacos for dinner (I may post the recipe at some point), and while he was cooking, she sat on my lap and stared at the music notes moving across the screen. My husband, the baker, is currently making frosting for his white cake that is in the oven, and Abigail is at his knees begging.

Bath time...

Monday, January 11, 2010

A convienent ommission

Ladies and Gentleman of the Jury, my lovely but sometimes over zealous wife has not been completely up front with you the people. while describing our "unspoken" race of the toothpaste tubes, she mentioned my dental hygiene and the need for improvement. while many of you may be sitting there thinking that you have not seen me in a while and are shuddering at what my mouth may look like, I feel inclined to fill you in on a few facts and details. Joy and I are both 27 years old and we have the same number of teeth, but that, my friends, is where the comparison of our dental records ends. I will not divulge on the specifics of her dental records (Braces, cavities, and retainers), I on the other-hand wish to shed some light on my dental record or brilliance whichever suites you. 27 years, 1 cavity, no braces, no retainers, no head gear, 2 wisdom teeth extracted, 0 days of work missed, 0 pain killers taken, and in general nothing but straight beautiful strong teeth. CASE CLOSED

-Mat

Potty Time

We think Abby might be ready for potty training. Before we left for So Cal, she would run around naked, squat, look down and pee. She even did it on the toilet seat once, she was facing the wrong direction, but that still counts for something right? Now that we're home, she points to her diaper when she's about to poo and I ask her if she's going poo, like this, "are you going poo?" Not that you needed to know that, but anyway, she nods her head yes, which is very unusual for her since she's decided that her answer to everything is no, then I tell her to go get a diaper. She then makes a mad dash for her bedroom and brings back a diaper. I'm so proud of her as I write this! It's kinda funny, but understanding what we're telling her to do and actually obeying is a big accomplishment for the little tot. I also find it rather amusing that I feel the need to exaggerate and tell this story like it's happened more than once, because in reality it has only happened once, which was yesterday, but I'm very hopeful for a repeat today. On the bright side, she has gone to fetch a diaper, when I've asked her to, on more than one occasion (twice).

My mom is using her mypoints, which we love because we get free gift cards, to give us a giftcard to Target to buy Abby her first potty chair. I fully intend on using this potty chair myself to show her how it's done and because my bff said she would laugh at me if I did this. The things we do to make our friends laugh. I guess I could lie, since she does live 2,909 miles away, Nah, what's the fun in that? Want to sign up for mypoints? Let me know and I'll refer you, cause I get free points and may then beat Mat in our unspoken race of who can get the most points.

It's funny, I always seem to be in an unspoken race with Mat about something. Before we hopped on the plane in early December, we were brushing our teeth and I made some comment to Mat about how I need to finish my tube of toothpaste before he finished his. Yes...we use separate tubes, but that's another story. He looked at me and laughed and wondered why, and it was because I was trying to finish three tubes in the amount of time that it took him to finish one. I even had rules for myself that I could not brush my teeth more than normal, twice a day, and that I could not use more toothpaste than normal. Since then, he's been brushing his teeth more often, the nerve! He says it's not because of the race, but because he need to be better about his dental hygiene, which I agree, but couldn't he just have waited a few more months to come to this decision? Well, what did I do to ruin things for myself? Nothing besides cheat! I only packed my tube for our recent 3 week trip. Upon our return to our itty bitty kitty town, he informed me that he used my toothpaste 20 times and I told him I'd do the same :( I'll be sure to let you know who wins.

I've decided that finding all new doctors is officially the hardest part of moving! Ugh! Not only do we have to find new ones, but if one doesn't work out, then we have to try and search for another, and that's not exactly easy living in a town of 2000ish.

One last thought for the day: I'm thinking about posting recipes. My idea is to put together a list of dinners (maybe one months worth?), and create a shopping list for every ten meals. I've been looking places for heart healthy, fast and easy dinners. I'm also on a mission to use all the food in my fridge without letting any go to waste. I've found some good meals, but most are rather pricey and every meal is so different that I think some food would go bad. I guess if nobody else gets any use from them, I'll still have recipes written down, to refer back to, which I never do. Good idea or no?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

We're Back!

It's good to be back home after 3 weeks away. We had a wonderful time with family and friends, but it's always good to be home. Recap of our trip:

Flying, flying, flying
Abigail keeps bye byeing

Baby can say Papa,
But no grandpa yet, just Bapa

Dana Point is quite romantic
Fitting it all in is getting rather frantic

Christmas eve was a wonderful time
Anyone care for a glass of wine?

Gram got her picture with the tots
Babydoll anyone? Abigail has lots

Don't watch Tatum pee,
we don't want you to mimic he!

Going home is always nice
The pond has been replaced with ice

What is this? The grass is dead.
I can't wait to go to bed!

Monday, January 4, 2010

Phelps Family Vacation

We've just returned from a whirlwind trip with the Phelps Family. Abigail was finally able to meet her new cousin, who isn't so new anymore, already nine months old! She also had fun with, fought, pushed, hugged, and played with her older cousin for the first time. They were previously too young to enjoy each others company. Click below to view pics of our trip to the zoo, park, pool, and other fun and exciting adventures (at least from the perspective of an 18 month old).

All of us at the zoo

The highlight of the trip had to be spending over 64 hours with the whole family :) I even seemed to grow a lovable two year old appendage on my hip. Mat and I had so much fun with our niece and nephew and we especially enjoyed seeing them interact with Abby. There was much pacifier swapping, sippy cup sharing and slobbering being done by the babies and sadly, Abby came away with a fever. Grandma was even able to get a picture with all three grandkids, even if Abby was throwing a fit.