Necessity

They say that necessity is the mother of invention.

I'm not sure why I've gotten so doggone creative this week, but this morning I figured out a way for all four of us to go out riding on the trails (without having to invest in yet another (double) stroller/jogger):


I guess I just got sick of having to stay behind with Abby while John and William went biking, or leaving Abby at the neighbor's house. Putting Abby's carseat in the jogger worked beautifully, and Abby enjoyed her high-speed ride down the trails! What fun!



I'll leave you all with this picture of utter cuteness. Yes, you may thank me now.

You're welcome.

Mother~Daughter

Abby is just like her mommy! (Minus the hair!)

A Time Saver!

Not sure why I never thought of this little piece of genius before, but yesterday I did, and that's all that matters! Bathing them together has been SO fun! Abby is quite alert and adores her big bro, and William is thrilled to have her in the tubby with him. I like it because I don't have to draw two baths! (I always put Abby in a small tub placed on the counter.)


Yesterday was a big day for me, having lots of genius thoughts! Abby likes attention, but I can only be divided so many ways, especially during dinner prep time. So....du du duuuuh...I put her in William's high chair and placed her in front of the fish tank. Since she was quiet I assumed she liked it. William wasn't too sure about Abby sitting in his chair, but after awhile thought it was pretty cool!

(Pictures were taken with my phone, so excuse the blurriness!)

October 25 Pictures

Nothing Earth Shattering

I've had such a long day that my brain isn't really working well enough to type anything interesting. So, here are just a few pictures from the last couple of days.


Oct. 16 - You can sorta see the tiniest of smiles. She's been smiling quite a lot lately, and even cooing and gurgling.



Loving on his little sister.





Oct. 23 - Yes, I realize they aren't looking, but I thought it was a neat shot. William was showing Abby how to hold her head up. She's actually doing a pretty good job of holding her head up when I hold her, but when lying down she struggles just a tad to hold that large head of hers up!

3 Months

Yesterday.


Abby is really starting to smile more and more now, but I seem to miss photographing it.

Every time.

But not yesterday! I actually got her to smile for the camera. It took some coaxing, but she did it!

Never In A Million Years...

...would I ever thought that I would do cloth diapers! I checked into it when William was born, but never really tried it. I bought a cheap-o dipe off of EBay and he leaked through it within the hour. But, on the suggestion of a friend I decided to try Gro Baby cloth diapers. Abby is quite the exploder when it comes to poopy diapers, and so far with these babies I haven't had one leak! Since I don't have that many yet I'm still doing a combination of cloth and disposible, especially when we go away and when John is around (he's not into the whole cloth diaper thing and I want him to take his turn when it comes to changing her!) I really like how these diapers are adjustable to fit a newborn all the way to toddlerhood.

Anyway, here is her 3 month picture, sporting her new purple cloth dipe!

Randomness

More pictures from last week...

Abby with her Aunt Gina, and Gina with her Aunt Joanie.


Abby at almost 3 months. Notice the binky is out of her mouth, and she's not crying!! She's actually getting better at not constantly crying.

I won't mention that I completely cut off my constant apple juice drinking.

Nope. Won't mention that.


William at 25 months.

Aunties and Ranch Fun!

We had the pleasure of having Aunt Joanie and Aunt Gina over this past week. It had been 2 years since Aunt Joanie had been at our place last (she was here shortly after William was born) so it was great to spend a couple of days with her.


Aunt Gina also came out for the week. It was so nice to take advantage of the help...John and I were able to go out on a date, and I was able to hit the mall for awhile - kid free!


Here are the UT fans...William and Abby don't know they are fans, but they graciously posed anyway.

On Saturday we did our annual Lombardi Ranch visit. Aunt Gina went with us last year, so we decided to wait and go again with her this year. (Besides, she's great with the camera!)




Here's William riding "Shorty" the pony.


Don't mind neon-green boy in the background...there were LOTS of people there and they didn't seem to catch on that we wanted a strictly "family only" shot. Oh well. Getting the kiddos to pose for a picture these days can be difficult. I love Abby's face in this picture. She clearly isn't enjoying the Ranch.

I have more pictures from our week that I'll post soon.

Happy Baby

I weighed Abby this afternoon, and she's around 11 pounds!

Family

We got together the other day with John's brother and his family. William had such a great time hanging out with his cousins! We had a great time visiting. Here are some pictures.


I asked her if she wanted to come stay with us for awhile...I could really use an extra hand with Abby!


William really took to Uncle Gary...

Being Silly

Lately William has become quite the ham! He's always doing silly things to get my attention - much better than doing naughty things to get it!

Here's how I found him one morning as I was getting ready to give him his oatmeal. He thought he was SO funny!

He's also saying so many things. His favorite song is The "B-I-B-I-B" (The B-I-B-L-E). He can sing the whole song in the right tune AND the correct number of syllables...the words are sometimes not exactly pronounced right, but I'm amazed that he can can sing it with the correct syllables!

Some common phrases..."Abby poopin'" "Abby pukin'" Abby tootin'" "Abby pip" (Pipe) He's very quick to get me wipes to clean up her messes, and loves shaking powder on "Abby bottom". Not sure why he's so obsessed with her powder. He also LOVES it when I vacuum. Always says "Keen up...keen up...everyone keen up!" So, because I don't always want to vacuum when he does, he'll take Abby's powder and shake it around the living room and then say, "Keen up time!" Kid is just TOO smart!

Abby on the other hand....


...is quite the fussy child. She can never seem to settle into the right position, unless I'm carrying her. I've tried every position, every prop, pillow, wrap, seat you can think of, but she insists on being held almost constantly. Here is a rare photo of her actually sleeping (at least for a few moments) by herself. With her bili being so high for such a long time she hasn't been wanting to be swaddled (high bili can make one's skin crawl). But since it's coming down nicely I've been wrapping her tightly again (on the suggestion from a friend) and she seems to like it, settling down a bit faster.

I'm still not getting much sleep, but some nights Abby is kind to me, giving me 5-6 hours of sleep at a stretch. We are in a good groove...for now. I'm very much used to taking 2 kids out to do things, as long as the place we're going has a cart. (I don't have a double stroller, although I'm now starting to consider the wisdom of that decision!) We've gone to the park lots (I wear Abby in a wrap, but due to the hot weather I sweat SO much while wearing that thing!) and I'm able to run errands without too much ado. Simple things, however, can hours to do when it would normally take, oh, ten minutes without kids.

Well...I guess I'd better go get my son dressed for the day. He's sitting with his shopping cart singing Happy Birthday to who knows who!