"Did you get a new house?"

BEFORE.....
AFTER.....


Thanks Dad for painting our house. It looks great! We've had so many people ask if we put up new siding, new trim, new anything and the answer is nope! Just paint! Our 8 year old neighbor asked on the day we painted, "Did you get a new house?" How cute. I couldn't help but laugh.

Need I say More?

"Dad"

More Pictures I LOVE

Pretty Blue Eyes

CheeserGorgeous Blue Eyes
Cutie Pie
LONG BODY
I love my Daddy

Abi's been tagged

Abi was tagged by Bronco--at least I think it was our Abi. Here are 8 things you may not know or are just to fun to leave out.

1. Abi has started to play shy lately--which she totally isn't and I really think she is just playing. She drops her head down and smiles. It's so darn stinking cute.

2. Abigail will reply to Abi, Abigail, and Geunter. (Yes, that last name has stuck).

3. She is starting to take 2+ hour naps on occassion and I usually end up waking her up because I miss her too much.

4. Her favorite toys are still her feet, socks, & shoes, and whatever is in Molly's hand.

5. Abi always has a crowd of boys around her at church. Sunday there were 4 during sacrament. They were all talking and smiling at her.

6. Abi can now wave bye-bye when she is in the mood.

7. Abi can now say "Hi" and it's legit. She scared our 5 year old neighbor, Jenna, as she was riding her bike and I was so worried she was going to fall over. She often says hi to people walking by as we sit on the front porch.

8. She sometimes gets freaked out by really loud noises like Daddy's sneezes, packing tape dispensers, and the blender.

Abi's First Kiss and Tongue Action

Abi's friends Molly & Shane came over to play last week. Molly is a month older and Shane is 2 years older. They were so great and so well behaved. Abigail played more with Shane than she did with Molly. Shane was playing with Abi at one point and bonked her in the head lightly and she started to fuss. Allyson (their mom) asked him to say sorry and so he gave her a kiss on the nose. He went in so slowly and i watched Abi's face as she smiled and then looked worried and then smiled again as if to say "I like this, wait...do I? Oh yes, that's nice."

Abi got her 6th tooth last week. Hence the picture of her "tongue action" as she tested out the new tooth.

A few days ago I put Abi in a long sleeved shirt that was too big for her. I put her in her high chair and put some food on the tray. She gave me the weirdest look and I couldn't figure out why. She then slowly dropped her head to the tray with her mouth open. I then realized that her hands were stuck in the sleeve of the shirt. I took her hands out and she immediately got to work on her food. She is such a good eater!!! We are soooo blessed. The last few days she has gotten so much better at crawling with her tummy up--and she can get to a sitting position from a laying position on her own.

And to think...some of you read this post only for the title.

Abi's Play Talk

This is how Abigail talks to her toys. Aren't you glad you're not one of them? You may want to turn your sound down a little...

Abi Loves Puppets

So we got Abi this Monkey Puppet on our trip and she loved it! Watch the video and find out.

Our First Family Vacation

We got back yesterday from our first family vacation (yes I did survive my killer cold). We went to Park City for 3 nights and stayed at the Westgate. It was wonderful--(except for the rock hard bed which my body is still recovering from.) Abi got to go swimming for the first time and she LOVED it. She's a water bug just like her mommy. We went swimming everyday. I loved it too because I just got a new bathing suit that I feel modest and attractive in all at the same time. Check out http://www.shadeclothing.com/ to see their suits--they are a bit more expensive but they are worth the investment. They have a store in the University Mall too.

Yeah! I actually had a good enough hair day to wear my hair down for once. It's been months since I have done it. I think our water softener relaxes my hair too much and all of my curls go away. I have no idea how to fix it though. Here is Abi and I getting ready to go to the zoo.
We gave Abi a piece of toast when we got to the zoo and she loved it! She just munched on it until she was covered in a nasty bread filled slime. Yum!

Abi and Daddy watched the gorrillas for a while. She loved the zoo. A giraffe kept staring at her and she stared back. She also got to see a tiny little monkey (about the size of your hand) within inches of the glass. It got right up to where her face was and they just looked at each other. We were there for 3 hours and she was so wonderful the whole time. If you haven't been to the zoo for a while, I'd highly recommend it.

While I was in the shower, Daddy gave Abi some toast in bed. I love her expression in the picture below, "What do you want? I'm eating my toast."

The Mess:

Sick...Sick...Sick...

So i am feeling well enough to post this but just barely. I've had the worst cold ever this week--and I mean EVER. I felt so bad last night I wanted to go to the hospital but what would I say, "Uh, hi. I'm here for my head cold." ? This cold rivaled labor pains and I'm not joking. The absolute worst part about it is not being able to take care of Abi and kiss and play with her. She has grown up so much this week and I feel like I've missed it all. She started to army crawl on Thursday I think--I can't even remember and I didn't feel well enough to get the camcorder.
I'm so grateful for Richard. He has taken such good care of us the last few days! Abi has such an amazing Daddy.

What Color?

What color should we paint the siding on our house? Any ideas? We might paint in June and we are trying to ditch the "70's" look. We would love any and all suggestions.

Forgetful Me

I forgot to post these adorable pictures, and mention that in our post about our 5 year anniversary, I am wearing my anniversary present from Richard. He picked out a gorgeous white gold necklace/earring set, which I love and I love that he picked it out!

Well....you just had to be there.

Abi just needed to dress up today. She had a lot of fun "dancing" with Grandma.

Crazy things happen when you have pregnant women, props, and a camera in the room. These are Richard's Sisters Michelle and Kristen sporting Abi's dress-up clothes. He may not claim them when they act like this but I will. Does anyone think David in regards to the picture of Kristen on the right? Below is Miss Jane, also joining in the dress-ups.

5 Years

Can you believe 5 years has gone by since Richard and I were married? Some days I can believe it and other days I can't. Well, this is what we have to show for our 5 years--we're happy, in love, and we have a most amazing little girl. I LOVE YOU RICHARD. Here's to the next five years and a million more after that.

Thanks Jenna for the adorable outfit

AMAZING!

Abigail, like all other babies, is amazing. I can't believe how much she has grown and developed in the last 2 weeks. Here are some of her amazing facts:

• She's pushed through 3 new teeth in the last 2 weeks.
• She learned to clap on her own a few days ago and is soooo proud of herself.
• She now takes steps (when she is in the mood) when you hold her hands.
• She's an eating machine and will eat all of the different first foods with peaches, prunes, carrots & sweet potatoes as her favorites and beans & peas as her least favorite but she will eat the later two when they are combined with other veggies.
• She drinks really well (when she wants to) from a cup.
• She can roll from one side of the room to the other in just a few seconds.
• She can sit on her own.
• She loves saying "Da" and she seems to understand that it means something but can't quite figure it out yet.
• In addition to her favorite toy--her toes--she also now loves the carpet. And of course she loves anything that isn't really a toy like the plastic spaghetti measurer, Daddy's watch, and sour cream lids.
• She wears sunglasses and a hat when we go outside without taking them off.
• She learned to splash in the tub last week.
• She loves other kids and just people in general. When we walk the halls at church she always greets the other ward's members as they walk by.
• This morning as I was about to feed Abi her banana rice cereal, I tried to help her fold her arms for prayer like I usually do when she eats. She, like usual, refused. So I put my hands together on her tray and said a prayer. When I opened my eyes, she had folded her hands right by me. It was so sweet.

Some of Abi's oddities are:

• You know the story of the Princess and the Pea? Well, Abi is such a princess and can't go poo without first having a clean diaper. It doesn't matter what time of day, she will not poo without having a dry diaper. It's really odd.
• Does anyone else's child make weird noises after they poo? I can always tell when she poos because she starts making weird noises by sucking air in. She's done it since she was born. Its odd and really cute at the same time.
• She has to see everything that is going on and will only tolerate a forward-facing position when you hold her for any length of time longer than about 3 seconds.
• She has a super-long hair on the top of her head that is like 3 inches long where all the other hairs are only about a 1/4 inch long.
• In the morning, Abi talks a ton but she usually only whispers. I don't know if it is because I whisper to her. It is really cute!

We love your little Abi!

Don't Smell the Daisies

We opened our Easter Baskets yesterday. We decided to start a tradition of having a "Spring Holiday" on a day other than Easter so we can focus on the Savior more on Easter but still enjoy delectible Easter candy such as Cadbury Creme Eggs and Peeps. :)
Abi delivered the baskets this year in her "Don't Smell the Daises" outfit. If you can't read it, that is what it says on the bum.

More Cuteness

Thanks Aunt Kristen for the cute robe! She had so much fun playing in it.

Abi loves her sunglasses. She knows she looks so cute in them. I think she is grateful that she can now see when we go outside for walks.

Abi loves playing with her Daddy. She gets so excited when he comes home.

She has now found a food she doesn't like--peas. She is a pretty good sport about it though. She now enjoys rolling over--just not to get toys. Her favorite "toys" right now are the diaper wipes box (the green one), the Cetaphil lotion bottle (don't ask us why she loves it--who knows with this little one), and of course her toes. I don't know if she'll ever get tired of them. She's sitting up better and better every day. She loves looking in the mirror and she LOVES other little kids. She has a new friend at church named Molly. She jabbered to her on Sunday and they both took a couple of swings at each other.

I was at Enrichment last night and Abi was NOT happy. I didn't put it all together until I got home but she was mad that the other babies weren't playing with her. There was one baby that is several months younger and wouldn't look at Abi so Abi started to scream at her (yes, she can be a drama queen). :) Another little girl came up and handed Abi one of her toys and Abigail was SOOOO excited but then she was really sad to see the little girl walk away. We need a play group. I think a bunch of us will start one in April. She just loves other kids though and isn't afraid to grab or touch or talk to them--which is both a blessing and a curse. :) We love our Abi!

Happy Birthday Amy!

So tomorrow is my Sister-in-law Amy's birthday and I figured she would love it if I shared some pictures of her childhood :)

Too bad there wasn't any bath pictures or something embarrassing of that nature in Richard's photo Album.

5 of my favorite things about Amy are:

• She's extremely creative and artistic


• She is really fun to talk to and it is almost impossible to stop


• She does little things that really show how much she cares about others


• She really is the life of any party


• She is really intelligent and loves to learn new things and share what she's learned with others.

Anyway, the list could go on and on (everyone please feel free to add to it). Happy Birthday Sis! We all wish you were here but are happy that you are enjoying Missouri.

Thanks Cousin Nora!

I got some way fun pictures of Abi in her dress that Cousin Nora gave us at our baby shower. The pictures don't do the dress justice but I just love these pictures of Abi!

Richard's a Smore

If you think this is an accurate description of Richard, please say so on the right!

You Are Smores

Unusual and unconventional, you make your strange ways work for you. You've got personality - no one's denying that!

What Dessert Are You Most Like?

I LOVE RICHARD!!!

Richard is so sweet and romantic. We had been walking at the mall occasionally and he saw this dress and told me he wanted to buy it for me. So he did. He is so sweet. I LOVE YOU RICHARD!!!