Mozart

You know you live in Suburbia when...

1. The local high school marching band is having a "practice" and marching down your neighborhood street. And everyone is standing outside their homes watching and cheering them on.

2. The house around the corner is having an amazing kids birthday party, circus theme. Their backyard was so decorated up that Matt and I HAD to drive by the front. We knew exactly which house was "it" when we saw all the little kids getting out of the TRAIN that had just taken them for a ride around the neighborhood. Amazing. At least Abby wasn't old enough to think she needs to have that kind of party...yet. :)

Peek-a-boo

These are the curtains hanging in our front room - now Abby's playroom - that the previous owners had hanging and we just left up. For now. They will obviously be coming down soon...hopefully by us, and not Little Miss.

Daycare Diaries...Part 5

Abby is going through the "I know Mommy is going to leave me here at daycare if she puts me down" stage. So the mornings are a little sad since she gets very clingy, and cries when I put her down to leave.

Unless one of her boyfriends is there.

Today her friend Cole got there right before I had to leave. Cole's daddy put him down to walk around (he started walking at 10 months). Abby immediately started pointing at him and talking to him and no longer wanted me to hold her. :( So I put her down, she crawled right over to him, and sat on his feet!!!! I took that as my cute to leave, but when I glanced back, he was sitting down behind her where they were side by side touching, and sharing/playing with a toy. It was the cutest/sweetest thing I've seen!

Mommy who?

Escape Artist

At least she shuts the door behind her. :)

Austin Children's Museum

Matt and I took Abby to her first museum outing on Sunday and it was so much fun! We went downtown to the Austin Children's Museum. It's not a big place, but there were tons of kids and Abby loves watching them all play. She was so relaxed and just taking it all in. She even played with a few of the toys...unless she got stuck watching her Daddy. ;)

Rocking the bongo drums!

Loving the tambourine!

What do I do with this stick??

Daddy playing with the tractor claw game...

And making Abby sit and watch. :)

Standing and cruising and into EVERYTHING!

Abby vs. Shelby

Today we learned to always check the cat gate in the entrance of Abby's playroom at the front of our house. :)

Abby was doing her normal playing at the gate...standing and shaking it. Then she got quiet and we found her on the OTHER side of the gate. She obviously crawled through the cat door. And she was quite proud of herself. Smart girl.

8 Months Old!

Can you believe it - it's been 8 months! Abby is a girl on the move now. Gone are the days of sweet cuddles from a little newborn. IF you can get her to sit on your lap, it's only because you must have a really cool toy she's interested in. :) She's so busy. Crawling, pulling herself up to stand, getting into EVERYTHING. Her Miss Priss personality is also shining through. If you take something from her that she really wants (usually some sort of paper), she will let you know how displeased she is!

She is also a solid eating champ. I was so nervous about the fact that she just wasn't into food. But she's definitely getting the hang of it now. And so far there isn't anything she doesn't like. Peas - check! Spinach - check! Carrots - check! She likes all her veggies and she of course loves all fruits.

Here is her 8 month photo shoot!!

Something is missing

I wasn't sure how I wanted to write this post, but I knew I wanted to document it for Abby since I will be printing this blog for her to read one day.

My Grandma, Abby's Great-Grandma passed away this past Saturday, July 3. I can't believe it's already been a week. I feel like something is missing and I guess it's just the idea that she's not there and won't be when we go back to visit.

But the most amazing thing happened. None of us knew why Grandma was holding on & why she wouldn't let go. When I got to Ennis on Wednesday, she knew I was there and we got to talk just a few words. By that night, she had slowly declined and it was apparent that she most likely wasn't going to get better. But she held on. Thursday, Friday, Saturday morning all past. She was still holding on and waiting. And then we knew. She was waiting for Abby. She had known this whole time that Abby wasn't there yet, and she also knew she was coming on Saturday. 1.5 hours after Abby arrived, Grandma passed. Even through her illness, her love for Abby was obvious. I had several people approach me at the nursing home, then the visitation, then at Grandpa's house, then finally at the funeral. They all wanted to tell me something special Grandma had told them about Abby. And how she always showed her pictures to whoever was visiting. I wish more than anything that they had more time together. But at least we still have our memories, and can share them with her as she grows up.

And here is a sweet picture of her outfit she wore to the funeral. Pink frilly roses - she was so pretty, just like her Great Grandma.