A day at the zoo with Mommy & Daddy

Dear Abigail,

You will come to learn that this weather here in Nashville, TN is a little fickle, kind of like you and learning to drink from a big girl cup. Sometimes it's right on, other times, it's way off! A couple weeks ago, we happen to catch it when it was on, and all of us were home. So what happens when we're all at home together? We leave!! That's right, we headed straight to the zoo while the nice weather was lasting. See, after that snow trip, we were begging for spring weather and at the first sign of it, we jumped! Here's some fun pictures from our random trip to the zoo..

We had a good time, but what's so funny, is this wasn't even a 'nice' day compared to what was to come!! Stay tuned for those memories... Love you baby girl. PS - that woman with the black/goth hair is your mother. I had a very bad hair experience for a couple of weeks but thankfully we got it all taken care of. Other than these few photos, we shall never speak of it again... LOVE YOU.

Snowshoe - Season Finale

Dear Abigail,

You may be wondering, what else can Mommy talk about with this Snowshoe trip. We covered the ride up there, we covered playing in the snow - what else you ask... How about Abby learns to ski!! That's right. I saved the best for last. See, Mommy HEARTS skiing, and, after years of convincing him, Mommy's true love (Daddy) learned to ski and enjoyed it, and so I thought "well, this just makes for a fantastic vacation. I can't ask for anything else". But then, Aunt Steph's sister Mel, who is the famous level 2 ski instructor who taught your daddy, suggested why don't we get the girls on some skis! WHA?!! Abigail on skis at 18 months old - oh what a dream come true. All my loves will be on skis!!! And so we did it... The pictures speak volumes...

Here's getting the ski boots on...

Mommy's so proud of her powder monkey...

Look what a big girl Ellie is being, too!

Here we go.....

And look at Ellie go!!!

I don't want to deceive you, so I have to be honest here. You didn't exactly LOVE skiing, at least not yet. You were a little afraid of actually standing up on the skis. I think maybe because they limited the amount of space you could move!! Anyway, we had a blast trying to get you to ski, and it brought a lot of hope for years to come!! And, at the end of the day, you had a good time. Aunt Steph even taught you how to throw snow balls in Mommy's face, instead of Ellies!!

Then. top the trip off, on the last day, Daddy and I took you back out in the snow - one last hoo-rah before the dreaded drive home...

As you can see, you were worn out when we got you inside. Perfect time for a bath!!! Yay - you and Ellie got the infamous 'babies in a bath' picture!!! Wouldn't be cousins without it!

Baby girl, we had such a blast on this vacation, so much that I don't even remember the awful drive home, other than it was the longest 12 hours EVER!!

Twelve hours or not, this is no doubt an annual trip for us! I love you and can't wait to have a million more ski trips with my powder monkey!!!!

Snowshoe - Episode 3

Dear Abigail,

Well, you finally made it to the snow! We got all settled in at Mr. Dave's and Miss Linda's and by Sunday, we were all itching to get out of the house, or at least your mamma was ready to hit the slopes! Miss Linda was nice enough to take you and Ellie up to the Big Top, that's where there are all sorts of things to play on like jumpy houses and trampolines and stuff galore to climb on! Per Miss Linda, you did an excellent job showing off your climbing skills, and she said you and Ellie had a blast. I'll have to ask her to send a few of the pictures. Sunday night, we all headed out to dinner, all 10 of us! Thankfully we know people who know people, and it was no problem trying to seat all us at any given point!! Here's us heading out - you are so ready for the snow!!!

Here's Ellie and her Papa getting ready to go eat:

You were quite the entertainment at dinner that night. For some reason, you were insisting upon an apple. I, of course, didn't think to bring you an apple (lesson learned), so we searched the menu for apples and finally asked our nice waiter if he could find us an apple in the back. Man alive, when you saw him bring you that apple you would have thought Santa Claus was walking your way. You were so excited!! While, yes, you were a hoot that night, the funniest thing came from your BCF, Ellie. See, we had you at one end of the table and Ellie at the other. While you were causing tons of racket down at your end, Ellie, as usual, was quietly sitting at her end, minding her own business. It got quiet at the table for a split second, and at about that same time, Ellie sneezed really loud. Everyone at the table turned to Ellie and started laughing and, then do you know what that comedian did? She faked sneezed! Just to hear us all laugh! And then again, and again, and again!!! She was hamming it up for us, and secretly, Mommy was glad the attention was off you for a few minutes, as I'm pretty sure that's about the time you found the knife and you started screaming "ALL DONE" super loud. Anyway, your Ellie is pretty funny!

Monday was the big day - the big day for you to play in the snow!!! Everyone got all bundled up because it had snowed a ton and it was super cold. I was a little nervous about whether you were going to truly enjoy the cold weather, but within seconds of taking you out there, I knew it was on! You loved it!!! I don't need to go on and on about how much you loved it because I have the pictures to prove it!!

Here's the boys (your daddy and Uncle Jaybee) with their girls!

This next part was my favorite, mainly because I loved watching you have so much fun. I don't know if I've ever seen you so happy (other than when I return home after leaving you with a babysitter - which we'll get to in another episode...). But anyway - you LOVED sledding - loved it - every last minute of it. You cried when you had to stop, and begged to go all day long. Look how much fun you are having...

Here's you and Ellie with Uncle Jaybee...

That's quite the hill!! Here's you and Ellie and Mr. Dave...

And then this is my all time favorite. It's you and me, zooming down the hill, hair in the wind, mouths wide open!!!!

Ahhh, the snow. I don't know if you can tell or not from the pictures, but the snow is really coming down. You and Daddy and Uncle Jaybee are just chillin' out, no punt intended...

All in all, it was a great day playing in the snow. Well, there was this one moment when things got kind of, well, ugly. See, Uncle Jaybee was pulling you and Ellie back up the hill after a fun ride down. The two of you looked so comfy in the sled, and you were just playing away with all the snow you were collecting in your glove. I guess you thought Ellie would like to have some, so you smashed it in her face. She didn't want it - to say the least. Unfortunately, that was the end of the snow day for Ellie. I made you apologize, and from the looks of it, she forgave you...

Here's the 2 of you, all peaceful - but see that right hand of yours, how it's full of snow, it soon was in poor Ellie's face...

But as you can see, you quickly became friends again...

Yay for loving the snow powder monkey!! I love it!!!!

Snowshoe - Episode 2

Dear Abigail,

After our pretty adventurous night, you might be surprise that we were so eager to get up and get moving. But we were, we had snow to face! All week long, Daddy had been warned over and over again by Uncle Jaybee about how bad the weather was going to be - in other words, how bad it snowed/was snowing/was going to snow, and it has worried him/us to death. Unfortunately, 2 years ago, I convinced Daddy that we didn't need the 4-wheel drive on the Pilot, and, for 2 years, we haven't needed 4-wheel drive on the Pilot, but there comes a day, baby girl, when you sometimes have to admit you may have made a mistake... BUT, never fear, we were on the search for chains, after you play on the bed of course...

And looking at yourself in the mirror. You get the biggest kick out of seeing yourself!

You and Ellie were super excited to get back in the car for another 4 hours, or well, actually more, but we'll get to that in a later episode. No matter how long, you both looked super cute!

Like I mentioned before, we were on the hunt for chains, and when I say hunt, I mean it! Daddy and Uncle Jaybee went to the Walmart off the exit we were staying at, and... no chains. So, Aunt Steph and I started calling every Walmart between our exit and Snowshoe along with every Napa Auto Parts, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Autozones, Home Depots, Lowes - whatever there was, we called them. Finally, we found one set of chains at a Walmart, then Aunt Steph got a hold of some 'mom & pop' store that had a pair - very random, and very scary getting there, but we got them!!!! So we thought we were set so we got comfy and continued our drive until the last Walmart, where we stocked up on all kinds of things (except diapers, which is another story - yes, you mother did not bring enough diapers. Of all things to forget...). You see, we were headed up a mountain, and the closest Walmart -scratch that - the closest store was an hour and 1/2 away - GASP!!! People actually do live more than 5 miles from a Walmart or Target, baby girl. Believe it! Anyway, it was good to let you girls stretch and run around, because we had a hike ahead of us. You even wanted to take a shot at driving....

Once we got you comfy in your seat again, we headed up the mountain! Here's you playing hide and seek with your ball...

And then singing 'mama' style with your microphone!

Check out the snow through your window! This was on our way up the mountain. So far, so good... And Daddy was doing great. But then we got to the road Mr. Dave and Miss Linda live on. Once we realized that, yes, we did need to put the chains on, that's when the trouble started. Word to the wise, when heading up a snowy mountain, have your gloves and hat near by, rather than tucked away in a suitcase packed under a TON of groceries... Just saying. Anyway, after awhile, we got the chains on both our car and Uncle Jaybees. As soon as we could say "GO", the chains came flying off Uncle Jaybee's car. and then again. And then again, and again, and again. We were sooooo close, we could see their house, walk to it if the snow wasn't 10 feet high, but the chains just wouldn't stay on it long enough to get us there. Finally, we made it close enough for the mommies and babies to walk to the house. I don't know how they did it, and apparently, we just don't talk about it, but they got that car up there, and there it parked the entire week!! FINALLY - we made it!! YAY! We were all super excited, and also super exhausted. Thankfully Aunt Steph's parents rock and had a nice, warm meal all ready for us. We headed to bed early that night - we had a big week ahead of us!!!

Get ready - you're going to learn to ski!!!!

Much love powder monkey!!

Snowshoe - Episode 1

Dear Abigail,

Some people call them snow bunnies, but that just didn't seem to work for you. Then it came to me as I was riding up a lift in Snowshoe, you are my little powder monkey! That's what you were. You love love love playing in that white powder we call snow, or you call NnnnnnO! But let me start from the beginning...

A couple weeks ago, you and Daddy and Mommy went with Uncle Jaybee, Aunt Steph and Ellie on our first snow skiing vacation! After what felt like 6 months of preparing, we headed out on a Friday afternoon. Ellie and her folks were leading, with us closely behind them. Things were going smoothly for the first hour or so of the drive, and we had already decided we wanted to get to Bristol, TN/VA (yes, it's in both states - it's weird...) and spend the night. But then hunger struck - and, personally, I think it struck your Daddy more than you! Anyway, we weren't 100% sure how far away we were from the exit of our hotel, so Daddy suggested we get off this one exit that showed food signs - and we did... Next thing we know, we're eating at a Perkins. Now, this may not seem like much to you, but Mommy and Daddy and Uncle Jaybee and Aunt Steph thought this was kind of funny, and a wee bit uncomfortable. Let's just say that we didn't quit fit in at the restaurant, but everyone just loved you and Ellie. AND...drumroll please... Ellie took her first steps!! Uncle Jaybe was a little upset because he was walking out of the bathroom as we were watching the first steps take place, but he got to see. And we were all so excited. She's going to be chasing you in no time at all - or wait, she already chases you, just crawls after you! Anyway, you know what I mean! So we ate our Perkins, and you of course had to run around and burn some energy, but then we got back in the car and within 10 minutes we were at our exit with all kinds of restaurants, more your parents style! Oh well - we'll know for next year, and the next year, and the next, huh! So, it was getting chilly to say the least, so the Daddy's dropped us off at the door and, while it took us awhile to check in due to certain employees of a certain hotel, we FINALLY made it up to the rooms. Aunt Steph was smart enough to ask for joining rooms. The idea was to put you girls down for bed in separate rooms, then, push one of you (in the crib) into the others room, while the adults hung out in the other room. See, right now, you go to bed several hours before Mommy and Daddy. Okay, not several, or at least not several for Mommy, but nonetheless, you go to bed earlier and Mommy and Daddy didn't want to have to hang out in the dark! Aunt Steph is so smart!! So the mommies got things going with the girlies and getting them to bed while the daddies went and filled the cars up with gas and what not. Well, all was going well, you girls were in separate rooms, we had our monitors, and Aunt Steph and I were standing in the hallway. All of a sudden - WWWWEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWEEEEEEAAAAAAAHAAAAAA. That's the sound a fire alarm makes if you could spell it. Yes, you are reading this correctly, the fire alarm was going off in our hotel!!! Of course, my first reaction was FIRE!!!, but then, I quickly remembered there was a "American Girl Doll Beauty Pageant" at our hotel that next morning, and quickly assumed some goofy kid pulled the alarm. (btw, bad bad things happen to you if you do that, just FYI). But, we all know what happens if you assume... Well, for some reason, who knows why, but you girls were sleeping straight through the alarm. And each room had it's own alarm that was going off, so it wasn't like you couldn't hear it! So, since neither of you were budging, I decided to go figure out what was wrong while Aunt Steph stayed with you in the hallway. Well, after running down 5 flights of stair, stepping out into the cold, night air with no jacket, then realizing I was somehow all the way at the back of the building, I walked in the lobby just to see your Daddy heading in. Of course he had no clue, but what was so weird, neither did the hotel lobby?!! What's that, you don't understand - me neither. Everything was going on as normal with in the lobby - no alarm, nothing. So I only assumed that the alarm had quit, especially since I saw the elevators working. Anyway, we went on back upstairs and the second we got off on our floor

WWWWEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWEEEEEEAAAAAAAHAAAAAA. That's right -the alarm was still going off. And guess what - you didn't wake up - neither of you did! The four parents just sat in the hallway until the alarms finally quit. It was pretty funny.

What was even funnier was when Aunt Steph was trying to move Ellie's crib into your room. It's one of those times you had to be there, and well, you were there, but you were sleeping - but to some it up, I scared the bejeezas out of Aunt Steph!!! It was pretty darn funny, and made for quite the funny story for later. Once we got you girls situated in the same room, the big kids relaxed to get ready for the great adventures that were to come!!

More to come later sweet powder monkey!!

love you...

Hotlantabe

Dear Abigail,

You recently had your first visit to good ole Hotlanta! See, your Daddy lived there for several years and has kept in touch with all his friend, BUT, none of his friends had ever met you, so, we finally, 18 months later, gave them the honor. We arrived at Mr. Ghosh and Miss Shannon's house, and knew almost immediately this was going to be interesting. Not only was their house not child proof at all (Miss Shannon is about to have a baby!!), but 2 humongous puppies eagerly greeted us as we walked through the doors! They were sweet as can be, but you (nor your mommy) knew how to react to the constant licking on your sweet face. You, too, were eager to play with them, but once the licking started, things turned bad. Thankfully, Mr. Ghosh took charge and made them behave, for the most part. And what a great job Mr. Ghosh did playing with you. He even let you push buttons on the entertainment center! He's going to be a great daddy to their little girl! And Miss Shannon and he cooked a fantastic breakfast for us, too!

On Saturday, we were supposed to go to the Children's Museum with Mr. Scott's family, but, we all know, things can never be truly planned when kiddos are involved. Unfortunately, his kiddos ended up with ear infections, so they had to bail, BUT, it was such a pretty day, that me you and Daddy decided we'd visit the Atlanta zoo. What a beautiful day it turned out to be...

The first one is you looking at your faves, the giraffes! You had such a good time at the zoo, AND, drumroll please......... you had your first taste of ketchup!! Now, for some, this may not be such a monumental occasion, one certainly not worthy of documenting; however, these people may not realize the long lineage of ketchup loving people you come from - minus your Aunt Ash-ash that is. Your Papa Rob and your Uncle Bubba are obsessed with ketchup, and your mommy loves a glob or two on her french fries, for sure. But the appropriate time to introduce the 2 of you, to me, never seemed to arrive until that day at the zoo. Since we were at the zoo, our food choice was pretty limited, and since there was an option to get french fries, well, we got them. Anyway, you saw Mommy dipping away and decided just to dip your fry on in it. I let you, but assumed you'd push it away, but, no way, you kept dipping, and dipping, and dipping! I was so proud - Daddy, not so much. He loves ketchup, but didn't quite get my enthusiasm. I immediately took a picture of you and sent it to Papa Rob and Bubba and Mimi and even Aunt Ash-ash, just to make her sick at her stomach for a second or 2!! And then you started sticking your chicken fingers in it too! Who knew! Since then, we've let you have it a couple more times, and even let you try other dips, like blue cheese dressing (which you liked oddly enough) and salsa (which you didn't like, oddly enough!). Here are the official documents of you trying ketchup:

So, yay for ketchup. You are a Westerman, through and through!

After a great day at the zoo, we went over to Mr. Jake and Miss Megan's house. They were throwing a party so all Daddy's friends could meet you (and hang out with Daddy and me, of course). While they didn't have 2 humongous dogs, they did have 2 boys that were just as eager to see you, Will and Roy. While the house was childproof indeed, I was still a little nervous at first letting you just wonder around, but then I realized how much Will loved you, and how good of a babysitter he was. Miss Megan was kind enough to let all the kids destroy her upstairs, and you loved every bit of it. Will even asked me if you could stay with him and we could take his little brother, Roy. He said he wanted to trade because you didn't cry! HA. I told him just wait until you don't get your way, but he didn't believe me! We all had such a good time that night, but especially you getting to be all grown up playing with all the big kids. Here's you and your special friend, Will...

We had such a great time in Atlanta, and I'm so happy every finally got to see what Daddy always raves about! You are such a special (and beautiful) baby girl!!

Love you...