gotta love her

abi chose her outfit today-

 

Abi watched a show in another room while my mom and I were sewing today. Her show finished and I came in and turned off the movie to get abi ready for quiet time. She started to throw a fit and say, “no, I do NOT want to go to quiet time.” I just nicely picked myself up and left the room because fits don’t work with me. Anyway, my mom and I got sewing again and about 15 minutes later we both realized it was just a bit too quiet. I started my search for abi and I couldn’t find her. I looked behind the couch, in the cardboard house, and called for her, but alas, no Abi. I finally looked into my room. She had taken off her leopard print shoes (shown above), placed them on the side of the bed, and had gotten into bed with her blanket… and was ASLEEP!!! She took herself to quiet time! I started crying because I was just so proud of her. She slept peacefully for two hours… she is such a good girl!

Colorado

I am down burning some time in Colorado with my family while Dan is in New York on a business trip. We are on week 3 out of 6 or 7 without him… deep breaths, I know!

Here are some photos of the week-

I love this photo of Abi

She tackled Erik in the snow… and was trying to “wash” his hair…

 

 

Taking advantage of licking the last of Mima’s butterscotch pudding out of her bowl…”you have to use your finger,” Abi would say, “let me show ya.”

 

Playing dress-ups

In checking out what Banka was up to

 

tangled… in gum

Abi and I went out today to see Tangled. I pushed us all morning… we got up earlier, I shortened my workout at the gym, made her upset because she had to shower instead of bath, then practically shoved lunch into her face and we ran out the door.

We get to the theater and the movie wasn’t for almost 2 hours!!! They change the movie times on Friday’s… yeah, thanks! Too far to go back home so we hung out in the lobby, calling Dan and Mima, Abi making friends with another older couple on a bench next to us by telling them she is a kitty and rubbing up against their legs like cats do, and running around for those LONG 2 hours. By that time, we were hungry again, so I gave into my swearing off of theater concessions and we bought popcorn and a drink. We get into the movie and the popcorn is GONE before the movie even starts. I have never seen Abi so entrenched in shoving. Apparently I do not feed her enough :)

The movie was incredible. I laughed, I cried, I sobbed, I loved it! Abi, on the other hand, was tired, wiped out and only interested in the candy in my purse. I gave her some gum to buy some time. It worked for a couple of minutes until she asked me to pick up her Rapunzel Barbie (which I thought she would love to play with along with the movie… didn’t happen). I picked up her doll by the hair only to pick up a wad of gum stuck in the hair. And you wonder why Abi has short hair! (Actually it is short because it is so darn cute on her)

Anyway, needless to say, it was a good experience… I am tired. I have learned never to get to a movie on time with a toddler :) Go to a matinee like we did so they can have room to roam! AND I have officially purged my purse of all foods/candies/gum because I realized Abi has this habit of eating whenever and where ever we are when we are out. I used Smarties once to help me get through the fabric store and the habit stuck. I definitely have the feeling that there will be some fits on future outings… we’ll see.

PS Rapunzel got a haircut.

warm bread and jam

Dan gave me a break maker for Christmas! I love it! What I love most about it is that on Christmas Eve Dan set up the bread maker to have fresh bread just an hour after we had all gone down for Christmas morning. It was such a nice gift… especially for me who is pregnant :) We have made a loaf of bread at least every other day since.

she keeps me going

as you can tell, it is abi that has sure been the star of the blog. she is sure the spark that keeps me going. in the past three days as Dan has been gone, she has sure become my friend. i love her. she is so funny too and my life would be like a still life painting if it weren’t for her bright abstract strokes.

Here are some things that I have loved about the past couple of days:

• she went to two different baby sitters who she didn’t even know and was just the perfect being the whole time. I went to the temple and then to a stake conference meeting and she was so supportive of me. She always says, “I love you mom and know that you always come back.”
• When I picked her up from the temple sitters, she cried because she wanted to go to the temple and get married to daddy. who could resist loving those tears?
• listening to her prayers that are so meaningful lately, praying for certain things:
• thank you for the “beautiful day”
• bless josh and Sam to rent their house
• bless Erik's foot
• bless mom, dad, and abi to sleep good
• bless dad in New Yogurt (New York)
• and being thankful for play dough (she must have played with some at the sitters cause we don’t have any)
• if she forgets one of these things, we have to say another prayer just for it
• watching her sit so reverently in the two hour stake conference. she did good for about an hour… but that is AN HOUR people!
• the choir sang today and she held up her baby doll and Cinderella doll while standing on the bench so they could see too. She also looked at me and asked me to watch with her.
• I love that her eyes sparkle with adventure… especially with the new snow outside.
• That burned image of her jumping on my bed in her church clothes with a princess crown on.
• Ask Abi to read the scriptures and it is, “And it came to pass, the Lord of Lords.”
• Abi asked me to take a nap with her on my bed today. I loved watching her use spit as lotion, wiggle around forever, sing songs, and then peacefully close her eyes.
• Cooking together is just the best… we have spilt the sugar twice in 24 hours, but oh well… my floor couldn’t stay clean forever.
• Last night about 10:30 I hear her in her room and thought she was being needy for the many-eth time in a row… but I went in and she said, “mom, they are singing about the Lord Jesus sleeping on hay, and the many stars in the heavens.” I couldn’t be upset at that. The idea that my child knows of God and has a good footing already of who she is and the Gospel is all I could ask for.

As much as it has been hard having Dan gone, what I am learning about being a mother and about Abi is surprising and wonderful. I don’t think that I could have seen these things in such light had the Lord not prepared me with the book I am reading, the temple, the need for my family to be together, prayer, and the stake conference that I just attended. I am just grateful for this today. Tomorrow may be a different story -

conversations.three

Abi saw a photo of the prophet today… and proceeded to call him President Monster.