Another week, another zoo trip

Dear Abigail,

You had another successful week at school! Yeah!! Miss Tiba and Miss Anna both say you are doing fantastic, even though your naps are struggling. You are getting better and better about the drop off scene, which is good because Daddy has to do the dropping off! And you are super excited when I come and pick you up, but you are starting to show me things you do while you are at school, rather than just running and jumping in my arms like you did the first week. You still ask for Miss Lee every morning, and usually in the afternoons, too. It makes Mommy sad, but I know it's all going to be okay with time...

Instead of school on Thursday, Mommy and you went to the zoo!! What a good day at the zoo, too. We went super early, and it wasn't very hot, so the animals were everywhere!! When we first walked in, there were loud noises and you kept saying "birds, birds" and Mommy thought they were loud birds, too, like parrots or something, but low and behold, they were monkeys swinging from tree to tree, just a hollering like crazy!! You loved it and were imitating the noise almost to a "t"! Soon after the monkeys, we were headed towards the zebras and that's when it happened - you fell. And, of course, your knee split open. And, of course, you began your concern of your boo-boo showing. So the rest of the trip you were either tugging your little dress down to cover your knee or asking me to put your dress 'down'. I was able to get you distracted ever so often, and thankfully, the giraffes and elephants were able to distract you some, too, but you never forgot about that boo-boo. Finally we made it home where you were able to put pants on and say 'bye boo-boo'.

Here are some pics to prove it...

(see your boo boo on your right leg...)

And this is how your rode in your stroller
If looks could kill...
Yay for giraffes distracting...
But not for long...

It was a fun day, and then it rained rained rained, so we had pretty good timing. After it rained, we were able to go outside and do your favorite thing - RUN. Yep, you ask to run all the time. Here's how it works. Mommy says "on your mark" and then I try to say "get set" but before I get that out you say "GOOOOO" and you take off running. If Mommy or Daddy doesn't run with you, you start saying "more run, more run". And off we run...

And, because Mommy is extra nice these days, I let you play in the mud, or well, dirt. And boy did you play... We had to take a bath ASAP!!

Tonight we're giving Mexican (i.e. restaurants) another go, so here's wishing you/me luck! And then Mimi comes up tomorrow!

Love you!!!!!

The Weekend

Dear Abigail,

Well, you made it through your first week of school with no problems, or well, no major problems. The nap thing is still not working out as well as we want. You are going to sleep, you just aren't staying asleep...Oh well, if that's all we have to deal with. To Mommy's delight, you are eating everything they put in front of you, including Chicken Tetrazzini!! Mommy and Daddy get a kick out of that for some reason...

Thursday was your last day of Kindermusik for the Spring semester. We're going to take a break this summer since we have so much going on, and start back up in the fall. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how many of your friends are moving up with you, so I took my camera to try to capture a few of the memories since the recital didn't work out to well (member, the 104 temp...). Anyway, here are a few pictures...

You loved the drums today...
And then decided it wasn't a drum, but rather a chair...
SCARF TIME!!!!
ahhh, the baby doll. Every class, you linger around, waiting for Miss Marie to put the doll down, then SNATCH, you grab it and rock it the rest of the class...

puppets!!

Friday night, we decided to give you a second chance to redeem yourself at a restaurant (i.e. we went to Mexican), and this time, Mommy took some advice from a fellow mommy of 3 little ones! I packed a 'fun bag' of all kinds of goodies, and was SUPER prepared. I had these new markers that you can mark on anything, but it only shows up on special paper!! SO NEAT, and so up your alley. You love to 'write' especially with marker, because it shows up best, but you have a tendency to write on stuff that is not paper, even after multiple 'quiet times' - Anyway. I packed these special markers, and Jilly, and a book and your magnetic 'paper' dolls. So we were set. I also put in a special request for us not to go to the 'water fountain' Mexican because you seem to get focused on that and only that, and, well, it goes all downhill from there. So, everyone agreed to meet at the Mexican by our house, and what a treat! You did fantastic. I did have to break out the markers, and Jilly came out for awhile, but I didn't even have to pull out the dolls!! You were really good, especially since we were there for 2 and 1/2 hours! Of course, we realized it had been 2 1/2 hours about the time it started getting bad, but no worries, we were home before you snapped!!! So yeah, you did fantastic. You are no longer on restriction from Mexican!!!!

Saturday morning was a bright and early morning for me and you. We decided to do the Fiddlin' Fish 5K with Miss Leigh and Ryan and Ellie and Aunt Steph, so we had to leave the house super early in order to get to downtown Franklin - but don't worry, we won't have to do that much longer because we're moving right beside it!!! We got there just in time for the race, and when I mean just in time, I mean we literally were the last ones to cross the start line BUT our Mommy super powers came out and we were able to finish with several people behind us!!! It was a nice walk, all through downtown Franklin all the way up to Carnton Plantation and back, and you, my friend, did fantastic!! I had that same 'fun bag' packed, just in case, but you didn't need anything. By the time we finished though, you were ready to come out of that stroller. They had fun music and a park that you could play on, so, we danced and played...

You love looking at dogs, even getting real close, but you will not pet them...

You are dancing (see the band in the background)

After the race, we all decided to stroll through the farmers market. What a nice treat. I can't wait until we're able to swing by there on Saturdays! We even signed up for a bushel of local veggies every other Saturday. Franklin is going to be awesome, Abs!

After the market, we came home, exhausted and sweaty, of course, and took a long nap. Well, you did. Mommy and Daddy went crazy with packing and got it ALL DONE! Can you believe it. Our house is packed, well, except for our daily things, but everything else, boxed up, ready to load!! It was an exhausting day to say the least, and thankfully Aunt Steph and Uncle Jaybee said they would come over and make us pizza!!! What a treat! So you and Ellie were able to play for a little bit and the adults casually relaxed and made a homemade pizza. It was delicious, and Daddy was even able to cook it on his egg! That thing is crazy! I was able to get a few snapshots of your girls after we put your jammies on, but at this point you weren't too crazy about getting your picture (but when are you, right...).

Miss Ellie was constantly trying to grab your lovey and your paci, even though she had her own!
It was a low key, fun night for us, and we woke up to RAIN! boo. Daddy and I were really wanting to take you to the park or the zoo or something since we didn't have anything really to do (member, the packing is DONE). But the rain ruined it. Or so we thought... Instead, we decided to run some errands as a family. So we went to Target, where you behavior was mediocre, and then Toys R Us, where it improved to the point where Daddy bought you a new ball (b/c that's what you needed, another ball...) and then to the McDonald's playground, where your behavior was superb!!!! I was a little nervous about this playground because you are used to the Chick-fil-a playground, which is a little more appropriate for your age, but no worries, you played just fine and dandy in the big kid playground. You even stopped playing to come eat, then went to play some more! You had a blast, now if Mommy can just get over the dirtiness of it all... HELLO HAND SANITIZER!

All in all, a great weekend. I'm so excited your first week went so well, and can't wait for the next million! Love you!!!

Wordless Wednesdays

Primrose School of Brentwood

Dear Abigail,

Today was your first day of school, the Early Preschool Program at Primrose School of Brentwood, that is! This was the day we've been preparing for, this is the day that had your Mimi's tummy hurting for the last couple days, this is the day that had your Daddy biting his fingernails, and this is the day that Mommy couldn't wait for! Why you ask - because I KNOW you are going to love school. You are so active, and such a sponge for knowledge, and I know you are going to make such good friends.

This morning, you decided to sleep a little later (maybe our little pep talks did register in your head...) and I had to end up waking you up for your first day of school! Kind of funny - I hear some kids you have to wake up, some you have to beg to sleep a little bit longer. I'm not sure if this is a tell-tell sign or not - we'll see after a couple days. Anyway, so you woke up so happy! I said "Is Abby ready to go to school" and you totally responded with "YEAH! baby? baby?". You remembered from the open house that you could play with a baby! All three of us ate breakfast together, which is just rare in itself, and while at breakfast you started saying something over and over. Daddy and I looked at each other thinking "no way, she's not saying that" and you kept saying it, again and again until we answered you. Finally I had to say "No, Miss Lee not coming." It broke Mommy's heart. I know you are going to miss Miss Lee (as we all are), but you are going to love this school, too, so Mommy had to put her big girl pants on and off we went to get dressed. And this is where it began... Mommy spent many of hours thinking through what you were going to wear on your first day of school. Everyone, and I mean everyone, kept telling me not to put you in your typical gear (i.e. smocked or monogrammed), and, while it hurt real bad, I decided I wouldn't do that, but then what do you wear. I didn't want to put you in your finest, because the teachers would think I was just a weirdo (and didn't listen to their advice), but I didn't want to send you in rags either. Finally I figured it out! Your little blue jean dress. Not too dressy, can get dirty, easily cleanable, but still not old funky play clothes - yeah! I was set, I mean you were set. So I put your little dress on, put your little sweater on (cause it was a little chilly this morning) and then went to put your shoes on, and that's when you noticed it - your boo-boo. Yep, that's right, that same boo-boo from Uncle Jaybee's party. You saw it, and you insisted your dress come "DOOOOOOOOOWN" to cover it up. AHHHH!! I tried to distract you, and it worked for a minute or 2, then you would go to tugging your dress again (and crying of course). I tried and tried, but your happy mood was slowly turning south. Then you saw Paci and Lovey - man alive, that's when the water works sprung. I finally convinced you to give those up and try to get in the car, but you kept on and on and on about your boo-boo and it needing to be covered by your 'pants'. Finally, I gave in. At the last possible second, I had to come up with a replacement outfit for your first day of school, one with pants, pants in May... I found some pants, and a shirt with a grease stain that Daddy so nicely pointed out after I sent him off on a quick iron run :) But you were set, your boo-boo was not showing and life could go on.

This was right about the time I said you could not have Lovey or Paci, and right about the time you noticed for the 28th time that your boo-boo was showing...

This was our first attempt of your "First Day of School" picture...(you wouldn't let me put you down)
And then our second, after you changed, of course...

We finally made it to school, and you were so excited. You jetted off down the hallway, remembering exactly where to go! We got to your classroom where Miss Pratibha (your teacher) was happily waiting for you! You even had a friend already there, A-something... Mommy has to get better at these names... Anyway, you immediately found the baby, and the crayons! You got to write!!! You always love to write, so that really excited you. Soon Daddy left, and you didn't really pay him any mind, but then Mommy had to leave. You knew what was going down, and honestly, I could tell you were trying to decide between the two (mommy or the awesome amount of toys). Ultimately, you decided Mommy, but only a few tears were shed. Mommy quickly said her good byes and Miss Pratibha introduced you to the kitchen! Mommy and Daddy went down to say hello to Miss Lee (member, it's her first day, too!!) and within 2 minutes Daddy had to go check on you. Sure enough, you were no longer crying!! YAY! That put both of us at ease.

All day, Mommy and Daddy wondered what you were doing, if you were having fun, if you took a nap, and then, out of nowhere, Mommy got this picture from your school:

I wasn't expecting it at all, and it came with an email saying "Abigail is having a great first day of school."!! I sure hope I get a picture every day!! And, the other great thing about this picture is that it convinced me that you took a nap on your cot!!!! Oh, we were all so worried that you would not lay down on the cot and would only jump on it like you did at the open house, but, from the picture, it looks like you had no problem...

Well, maybe "no problem" is a little much... Daddy and I met at the front door so we could go together to pick you up. There's a window in the door and as we walked up, you caught our eye and boy did the fireworks go off!! You were so excited - you were screaming Mommy, DAddy, Mommy, Daddy - you were so fired up to see us. I didn't know whether that was a good thing or bad thing, but my gut instinct is that it's a good thing. I think you had so much fun you were ready to share it all with us. Come to find out, you didn't have any trouble falling asleep on the cot, just staying asleep. You only got a 30 minute nap on this crazy, stressful day! I knew you were exhausted and sure enough, within seconds, you were asleep in the car...

A long hard day at school. Mommy's going to have to find a long way home because we only live 10 minutes from school. That's just not going to cut it if you keep up with these 30 minute naps!!!

Here's a low down on your first day (based on your daily report):

-You ate all your lunch and your 2 snacks, minus the veggies (what's up with that???) and even got seconds on the other stuff (raviolis and pears).

-You had a 30 minute nap (as mentioned above).

-Your "Disposition today was mostly" Happy, Energetic (duh!), Curious (another duh!), Friendly (why of course), and Chatty. Apparently, you did not want your diaper changed when asked...

-Your Favorite Activities included Science, Music, and Dramatic Play

- And this was left in your comment section:

"Meeting Molly the Cow was so exciting to her. She loved to taste all her toys, including the paint brushes. She loved watching herself in the mirror, a lot."

HA!!! That just makes me laugh out loud!!! Your such a princess!!

All in all baby girl, I think you had a fun-filled day. Right before Daddy put you to bed, I asked "Are you ready to go to school tomorrow" and you said "YEAH!!!!". Yes, yes you are ready for this adventure. Love you and love your new school!

Mother's Day 2010

Dear Abigail,

This Sunday was Mother's Day, and what a lovely Mother's Day it was. The general rule on Mother's Day is to do whatever Mommy wants to do, or at least that's what it says in my rule book. So when Daddy asked me what I wanted to do, I knew just the plan. I wanted to have a picnic in a park, and I knew just the park - Montgomery Bell. This park is very special to Daddy. It's what will always remind him of his Mommy, your Nana. It's always so special when we get to go, always so beautiful. So we had the place and the menu (Bread and Co chicken salad, of course), so we were set. Guess what - that's exactly what Aunt Steph wanted to do, too!!! So we all met at the park!!! What a beautiful day, and what fun we had. You loved the wide open space and ran and ran and ran. Uncle Jaybee had to keep reminding us that you weren't going to fall in the creek (because we kept hopping up to go get you), and then I had to remind him who your mommy was... Daddy took you on long walks around the creek and even showed you how to skip rocks. We all went on a little hike and you really loved that, and I really got scared. You have no fear, no fear of the poison ivy, no fear of the big roots sticking up out of the ground, no fear of the mudslide, none! But you had fun, that's for sure.

Look how high Uncle Jaybee gets you!!!!! You loved it, but Mommy, well, let's just say I wasn't too excited about this move being repeated over and over again...

Skipping rocks with Daddy
You love your Ellie!

The Daddys look like they are having a little too much relaxation being Mother's Day and all, huh!
Mommy and her princess!

This is where you were trying to talk Ellie into coming with you to get in the creek...

"Come Ellie"

"See, we're not going to get in trouble"...

Ellie knew better - she decided to just have a seat...

And Absolutely Totally Awesome Mother's Day!! I am so happy to be your Mom! You bring nothing but joy to my life. I love every waking moment with you, and even those sleeping moments, too!!!! Love you baby girl...

Uncle Jaybee's Shrimp Boil

Dear Abigail,

Uncle Jaybee turned another year old! And to celebrate, he had him a shrimp boil (along with some scallops and crab legs and corns and all the other good stuff!). We arrived a few minutes late to the party because you, my love, are taking like super long naps - woo, woo. Anyway, when we got there, low and behold there was a jumpy-house thing-a-ma-bob. And man alive, you loved it, along with all the other kiddos...

After awhile of bouncing around with all the older kids, you decided to just run back and forth, from inside to outside. Thankfully it was a nice day, a little chilly, but nonetheless, a day where the door can stay open! So back and forth, from inside to outside. At one time, you were inside reading Ellie's baby a story...

And then Uncle Jaybee turned the music up and that's when the party started!! You and Ellie were dancin' machines!

Eventually, and we all knew it was coming after running around so much, you fell, and busted your knee open. Now, I don't know what it is with your knees, but we cannot keep boo-boos off them. Apparently, you have your mother's grace... So we got your boo-boo all cleaned up, but then that's when the smeardoness started. See, from the pictures, you were wearing pants, but they have a tendency to ride up your leg a little - they are supposed to do that. I think the old folks call them bloomers or something :) Anyway, so your pant leg kept riding up and you did NOT care for that. And you let us know. "Down - DOOOOOOOOWN" and you would tug and tug, and cry and cry. I'd get it pulled down for you, but then you'd walk one little step and bam, it would ride up again. "Down - DOOOOOOOOOWN". I don't know if you were exhausted, or if you are just, well, smeardoish, but you could not stand your pant leg riding up. After dealing with you and the pant leg for 20 minutes or so, I decided it was time to wrap this party up while it was still good! We told everyone bye, and off we went, to bed that is! Here's Daddy holding you and your pants that won't stay "Down - DOOOOOOOOOOWN".

Love you smeardo!!!! You sure are precious, no matter how goofy you are being!!