poop

Abrielle and I got out of the shower and I forgot to bring a diaper into the bathroom. I sent her out into the living room to "go get a diaper and bring it to mom." She came back and was saying something while pointing out toward the living room. I said, "show me what you are talking about." I followed her out as she pointed to the changing pad. I nice pile of poop on the changing pad. She was really worried. It of course took everthing in me not to laugh.

Full of New Surprises

It seems like it has been a long time since Abrielle has had several firsts occur. What a fun last couple of weeks. Abrielle is in love with being outside. She would stay outside with her hands freezing cold all day before she would want to come in. She loves the snow. We got to go to Mammoth CA to snowboard for three days a couple weeks ago. She had so much fun. We of course had our own little sledding area out of the porch of the lodge. She would convince anyone she could to take her outside by bringing them her snow clothes. Before she even eats breakfast she is looking for her jacket and shoes so she can try to convince me to go outside. Today she got her shoe on over her pajamas. She loves to eat snow. She will just bend over and put her whole face in the snow to get a bite of it. We compromised one night and gave her a cup of snow, which she thoughtfully shared with the dogs, Ellie and Caneel. The other morning she was babbling off some long old jargon and then ran into her room, and got two boots out of her closet, one rain boot and one snow boot. Both are too big. She put them on herself and brought me her jacket. As you can sort of see she is still in her pajamas.

Abrielle has had several firsts the last few weeks. She learned to unlock the doors in the house. She now will try to turn any lock she can reach (even during music class). She is a little obsessive about some things. Locks, shoes, being outside and playing with water are what she loves right now. She also learned to get water out of the fridge. I came into the kitchen and there was a swimming pool of water and she was soaked head to toe with cold water. I got home the other night and asked Brent why her doll is soaked thinking she took it into the tub. Brent said she tried to give it a drink. If I give her a cup of a little water in it she enjoys pouring it from one cup to another. Surprisingly she usually does great poring spilling very little then spilling the whole cup by kicking it over or something when she moves to get another cup. Abrielle also entertained our Bible study last night when she learned to climb out of her crib. We all were entertained as Brent was on a mission to find out just exactly how she gets out. All this to say we have had a great last few weeks enjoying Abrielle.

Weekend of fun in the sun.

We had a great weekend getting to enjoy some nice weather in the valley. We had softball games all day Saturday, and I am fired up to get to work with these girls. Abrielle wanted nothing to do with inside but wanted to be playing outside all day. She got to go to the park and she went down the huge slides face first on her belly, no fear. One of them is really fast and good thing Nana was at the bottom or she would have done a face plant with her doll in hand in the sand. Grandpa spent a lot of time with Abrielle out front throwing the frisbee with the dogs, Abrielle busting up the whole time. As you can see Grandpa is one of the links to her beautiful blue eyes, as her Great Grandpa Paul is the other link.

Hmmm

Well, it is not every day you can post there are lots of new things going on. First, we are expecting our second little one this summer. I am 13 weeks now and due in the end of July. When I got that news I have never been more excited to not have to spend the summers in the Valley. We got this nice little surprise just before Thanksgiving. A big surprise it was, but how can you not be excited about the miracle of life. We just bought tickets to go to Hawaii over spring break and I am super excited about that. Two of my friends adopted infants in the last month. I started a new Bible study last week and it will go through the end of Feb. In three weeks softball season starts and I am going to be coaching the JV team. I am starting to get really excited about this. There are some awesome girls I will get to hang out with. And we are getting ready to go on our annual ski trip the first week of Feb. Abrielle is growing fast she is in the 96th percentile for height and 94 for head circumference and average weight. She makes us laugh every day, what could be better. We are sure enjoying her. Hope all is well with everyone. Miss you all.

So much fun to be had

Abrielle has been really enjoying having Brent home these last few days. He introduced her to egg nog. She loves it! Today we went tubing in my parent's back yard. Abrielle loved it. I could not believe she would go down the whole hill by herself without any fear. She even would go over the little jump and get a little air and would just laugh. Puppie Ellie (my mom's Christmas present surprise) was funny trying to jump on the tube with Abrielle. What fun.

Christmas Tradition

Every year we decorate sugar cookies. This year perhaps was a little more enjoyable for the few members of the family who do not enjoy this tradition as much as others. Abrielle was so funny enjoying herself, her joy rubbed off on the rest of us.

Creator of the earth and sky

Driving home tonight I was watching the horizon as the sun set over the rim. What a beautiful view to begin with. Tonight, there was just a sliver of the moon with a bright star just above the moon. That sight brought me to think how awesome God is, creator of the earth and sky. And to know, we only see a sliver of God’s creation made me in awe of God our Creator and Creator of the earth and sky. On a night where some are filled with such darkness, I am thankful to be in awe of the Creator and King of all Kings. Here are a few pictures on this day given to us to worship Him.

Remembering the days

Remember the days when your child was just brand new and each and every day seemed to be so important. We would count how old they are by days. Then slowly it turns into weeks, now months oh and I know it is coming...years. Wow. Well, here is what happens in the life of a 373 day old baby, or 1 year, one week. We had a fun week enjoying being one.

Happy Birthday Abrielle

Here are some of the many pictures we took today of Abrielle's birthday.









What an awesome day! We had so much fun celebrating Abrielle’s birthday. But I think what is really overwhelming me right now is an emotion of thankfulness. Mostly of all the great memories I have over this past year of Abrielle but as I think of those I become thankful for much more. Thankful for God to send his Son so through Him and His sacrifice for my sins I may have eternal life. That is where it only begins but the grace God shows goes way beyond eternal life. I life in His grace daily and I feel so very thankful for that. So much so I am really at a loss for words right now. I am trying to describe this thankfulness I have, and it is beyond my ability to write. Then, I am thankful for my wonderful husband who loves both me and Abrielle so very much. He has a way to communicate this love on a daily basis. I am thankful to have a husband who loves the Lord and his family. I am thankful Brent is the father of my one little baby girl, Abrielle. Putting Abrielle down for bed was really sort of tough for me tonight. I guess God was fully aware, Brent just before I was going to put her to bed asked if I was about ready (he was outside working on our yard in the cold) to put her down. I said yes, and he came right in. We got her in bed and Brent prayed over her, but as I was kneeling next to her crib praying I was just overwhelmed with thankfulness for her. I am thankful for some of the little things like her blue blue eyes, and her smile and her ONE tooth (although she is getting another one). I am thankful for her love for life. I recall the first night we had her home and I was praying over her as she was lying next to me and she smiled her first smile. I believe it was the Holy Spirit bringing joy into this beautiful little baby. She has always been a joyful baby. Seldom is upset, and if she is there is something really wrong. Regardless, I am so thankful for God’s presence in her life over this past year. Although, she is only one I can see God in her. My prayer for her continues to be God would keep her secure and protected in His hand and under the protection of His wing and she would choose to live a life consecrated to God. I pray God will continue to draw her spirit to Him. I am thankful for how she hugs me and says Ahhhhh as she does so. I love how she laughs when I tickle her. I love how she looks for her dad around the house. Wow, why is it that you can become so overwhelmed with thankfulness you stop the ability to think? That is where I am at. I guess I can only end it with saying, I am thankful God can see my heart right now and truly know how thankful I am for this beautiful little girl and the amazing privilege of being called her mom. I am also thankful for God’s grace for all the times I have messed up as her mom this year and for the grace He will continue to pour into me for the times I will mess up in the future. I wish more than anything I could not mess up for this little girl, but am SO thankful for the grace I find when I do. I love you little Abrielle Elyse!