Attempt #1

I had to hone my cake-decorating skills (or practice) before making Abby's 1st birthday cake in two weeks. Here's the result...I just had to brag!

PS--Thank you, Becky, for your tips! I couldn't have done it without you!

Infuriatingly Hilarious

The following exchange has happened repeatedly over the last few days:

Abby walks over to the oven/stove and tries to reach the knobs to turn on a burner which happen to be at the perfect height. She reaches up, looking at me the entire time, waiting for me to respond.

Michelle: No, Abby. That's not safe.

Abby: Yes! (huge smile)

Michelle (with the addition of her mean face): No, Abby. Don't touch.

Abby: Yes! (huger smile)

So I walk over to her, take her hand, and we walk to another place in the kitchen. Since this only happens when I'm making a meal and she loves to be in the same room, I usually distract her with pots and pans or the magnets on the fridge. Then, after a few minutes...

Abby walks over to the stove, smiling and looking up at me. She reaches up, looking at me the entire time, waiting to begin again.

Michelle: No, Abby. That's not safe.
Abby: Yes! (huge smile)
Michelle (with the addition of her mean face): No, Abby. Don't touch.
Abby: Yes! (huger smile)

That happens at least one more time. By the way, Roy is sitting on the couch most of the time this happens and is laughing his head off because he can see the thrill Abby gets from this game.

If I didn't love her so much, this would be a huge pain. But she is too funny to be mad at. In fact, inside I'm laughing but I have to play mean.

Thoughts at Midnight

Abby and I were up for a while last night. Teething? Sick? Nightmare? Who knows, but this is the first time she's been up for more than a couple minutes in well over a month so I'm not complaining. Sleeping is not her most promising talent. But the couple hours together gave me time to think about several random topics, some of which I thought would be funny to post.

Roy has a final today that has 40 multiple choice questions and an essay. Instead of using a bubble sheet for the multiple choice section, the professor is having them type out "I choose A)" and then writing out what A says. And, by the way, there may be more than one correct answer. And in addition, law exams don't usually have the options A) sometimes, B) always, C) never. It's more like full paragraph answers. Why he chose to administer the test that way, we'll never know, but we've had a good laugh about how tired Roy's fingers are going to be at the end of the three hour exam.

There are some time periods that I am happy to say that I survived and actually enjoyed: high school (I know you are all thinking the same thing); childbirth (but really, I was very very blessed and it didn't take a long time--I was just very anxious to meet my angel); meeting my in-laws (disclaimer: they are not scary at all, but all the stories from friends meeting their future in-laws and just the whole idea of meeting the parents of my fiancee, no matter who they were, was an intimidating prospect. And of course the "meeting the parents" went great and I love them); many months of not enough sleep while I was huge-pregnant and when Abby was little (she is more than worth it, but really, over a year of not sleeping through the night in total? That's a long time!); student teaching in DC (it was a different world, but I'm grateful for the experience because I learned a whole lot); the several days in recent months where there have been at least 4 children ages 2 and under at my house at the same time (I am more and more grateful that Abby was not a twin or triplet). And the list could go on. But in summary, there are hard things that we experience in life. It's just funny that we appreciate them after we see why we lived through them and how they have effected our lives today for the better.

I already feel bad for our second, third, fourth, etc children. No, this is not an annoucement. We practically follow Abby around with our camera. And that's just not going to happen no matter that we love them just as much as we love Abby. It's just that I only have 2 hands and those hands are going to be very busy with two or more children. So this is an apology in advance.

I have written in my journal for what seems like my whole life. I remember my parents giving us a lesson about the importance of journal-writing and making a big deal about giving us our very own journal. We all took to it quickly and I think we all still faithfully write in a journal. Good job, Mom and Dad! I was thinking about some of my early journal entries that were just so silly: "I woke up at 6:48. Jeff V. got his name on the board. It was a good day." Glad I captured the real important things! But really, at the end of the day when I can just reflect and write whatever I want because no one else will read it, it is the perfect few minutes of me-time (that doesn't happen very often anymore) and a great way to de-stress and get ready to go to bed. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for giving me a productive tool to record my day and reflect on my goals.

And lastly, on a more spiritual note, I have been thinking recently a lot about how much I love Abby and how excited I get when she conquers a new skill. You all know that I brag incessently about all she can do! :) I think that my love for her and my joy in her success is just a tiny piece of what God must feel for us as we grow and become better people. It's humbling to think that He is willing to share His very choice children with us, the people who are our friends, family members, and the people we are around each day.

O, Christmas Tree!

Inspired and excited to decorate for Christmas by our tree decorating in Williamsburg, we put up our decorations and tree last week. Even with some extra help from Abby moving and removing ornaments, it looks pretty good!

Thanksgiving, Part II

One of the newer traditions that Grandma and Baba Z have is to plant a tree for each of the grandchildren. So the parents get to pick out a tree that captures some of the personality/interests/looks/etc of the child. Since we're really mean, Roy decided that we should do a Christmas tree. Abby, if you ever read this, yes, your father chose that we do a Christmas tree solely because you were born at Christmastime so if you hate having a Christmas birthday and your tree is icing on the cake for hating it, please please please blame Dad. That said, Abby's tree was planted at the beginning of November and we've been really excited to see it and take pictures with it. Grandma Z had the fun idea to decorate the tree each Christmas and I must say it was a pretty genious idea. The following pictures show us all working on it (even Abby was a helper) and the finished product. It especially looks gorgeous at night!

We started decorating with the lights. I'd never used net lights before so it was awesome that it took about one minute plus a minute of tweaking to light the whole tree! And here is Abby helping with the ornaments. We had to tie a ribbon on each to hang them. We got a cool outdoor pack of ornaments from Costco: all red and silver with polka dots, stripes, and swirls. It looks really striking against Abby's Alberta spruce.

The finished tree gets a lot of approval from Abby (the clapping), but does still need a little bit rearranging (picture 3). Good thing the ornaments are shatter-proof!

Sorry for keeping everyone waiting (Sarah) for part II...we've been a little crazy around here! Hopefully these pictures will tide you over for a little bit!

Thanksgiving, Part I

We had a really fun Thanksgiving in Williamsburg with about half of the Zwahlen clan. We did some Black Friday shopping (thanks to Grandma Z watching Abby), spent a day with Roy's best friend from when he was 7 (wow, there were some good stories shared...those two were trouble!), and just got to relax. It was very fun! Abby even learned a new word while she was down there: "Hi sa" (which is "Hi Zach", her 2 year old cousin) who she loves to follow around. And, random though this is, the other words she says are mama, da, ba (bath), a duh (all done), and momomo (which sounds pretty close to mama, but it really means more). Well, the real reason I'm even posting today is to show off one of her Christmas dresses. She matches her Freebairn cousins...so cute!

Our Week

Formula for how to be the coolest parent ever (or cheapest parent ever):

Go to Walmart and buy a pack of 100 balls and a under-the-bed storage box + Pour balls into storage box + Put child in storage box =

To gear up for the big BYU-Utah rivalry football game, Roy and Abby got warmed up with watching a little BYU basketball. Abby is hardly ever cuddly and doesn't really like to sit still for long so the fact that she kept going back to sit on Roy's lap and enjoy a couple minutes of the game deserved documentation. The following pictures are taken about a half hour apart.

Dancing and Playing with Shadows

Our Abby isn't anything like her crazy cousins (if you haven't watched the video on Becky and Alex's blog of their girls, you've got to watch them dancing--it's great!), but she's got a rhythm all her own.

Here is Abby enjoying "Sweet Home Alabama". Check out her cool booty dance and scream at the end. She's so cute!

We intended to get a cute dancing video, but her laugh was captured instead. She sure makes us laugh!

Today Abby was entertaining herself (and us) when she discovered her shadow. She also does a little dance as well.

Fall Photos

Last week, Abby and I did a little fall photoshoot. Here are some of the highlights! Aren't all the fall colors gorgeous?

HELP! I'm Stuck!

I wrote the other day about how Abby can now walk into the bathroom, unroll the toilet paper, and flush the toilet. The same day she also discovered the joy of drawers and cabinets. I decided that it's okay to play with the pots (she can't break those), but we're in the process of child-locking our kitchen cabinets. We only have 6 kitchen cabinets so when I say "we're in the process" of doing the job, it means that I'm waiting for Roy to finish the other 4 (hint, hint--I love you!). I was fixing dinner and setting the table the other day and when I turned around to grab Abby to put her in her high chair, this is what we found:

Show Off

Here's Abby walking down our hallway. She demonstrates how good she is at standing up on her own and walking. My little girl's growing up fast!

This is from a couple weeks ago, but Abby has recently understood the fun game of Peek-a-boo. Now she instigates it without warning so Roy and I really have to be on our toes to ask the question, "Where's Abby?" She giggles and pulls down whatever object she is holding in front of her face: gladware lids, bowls, toys, clothes, and even diapers... But her favorite places to play involve peeking around corners.

Abby's Accomplishment

Yesterday morning as I was getting ready in the bathroom, I heard little Abby screams. From right behind me. Since I had left her in the front room playing with Roy, I was a little surprised to not see Roy right next to her. She had walked all the way through the apartment and was quite pleased to announce her arrival in the bathroom. Throughout the day she walked down the hallway to the bathroom, but only when Roy or I were in there. During one bathroom visit, she discovered a few "fun" things: toilet paper and the toilet flusher. Earlier in the week she discovered that she could stand outside the bathtub and turn on the hot water. Nothing will ever be safe again...

Happy Halloween!!!

Here's how we spent our Halloween...

dressed up like pirates

eating yummy trunk-or-treat candy

crying, "ARG!"

Isn't Abby the cutest pirate you've ever seen?

The Generosity of Strangers

We live right next door to a shopping plaza so it's a nice place for Abby and I to run when we just need to get out of the house and pick up a few groceries. Such was the case today. It was a gloomy day outside, Abby had just woken up from her afternoon nap, and we'd been in all day. So when I asked Abby if she wanted to go bye-bye and she was literally shrieking with excitement and we walked outside to find it raining, I couldn't very well turn around and go back inside. That thought did cross my mind since both our umbrellas just happened to be in the car. With Roy. At school. It was only drizzling so I covered Abby's head with one of the campaign ads we got in the mail and walked as fast as possible to the covered stores (way less than 5 minutes for anyone concerned for our health). On our way back home, I checked the rain and it was going a little harder. A man in the parking lot asked me if I was okay and I responded that I was and had just been checking the rain. He offered us a ride, but since the stranger danger lessons I have learned plus the fact that we had no carseat for Abby helped me to say no. Undetered, this stranger said, "Follow me!" and ran into the discount store, grabbed an umbrella, and handed it to me with an, "I'll take care of it."

Now it is my turn to give back. To my stranger, thank you, but not just for an umbrella, but the reminder of doing good to others, friend or stranger.

FOUR!!! (Say it like you're on the golf course)

I never do these, but since Sister Funsch (aka Melissa Nielson) challenged me and I have a hard time saying no to her, here it goes:

A) Four places that I go to over and over: Shoppers, Target, the post office, church

B) Four people who e-mail me regularly: Sarah, my mom, Becky, Roy (yes, I know we're married, but we still email)

C) Four of my favorite places to eat: Olive Garden, picnics in the park, Wendys, Union Hotel (our once-a-week pizza place while we were in CA...yummy)

D) Four places I would rather be right now: I'll be honest, there's really no where I would rather be--Abby is asleep and I'm about to curl up with some chocolate and a good book

E) Four people I think will respond: Sarah, Liz, Steph, Becky and whoever else can't say no to a challenge!

F) Four TV shows I watch: We watch everything online, but I enjoy Bones, Fringe, Numbers, and The Unit

I tag Sarah Morrow, Becky, Liz, Steph, and anyone else who wants to!

Two Weeks of Catch-Up

I'm not sure how Abby got the coolest parents in the entire world, but this girl is lucky! We have had so much fun recently, but a lot of that is because she is hysterical and ready to have fun. Instead of doing a lot of writing, I'm going to tell about the fun things we have done through pictures.

Just over a week ago, Roy had an interview just two blocks from the National Zoo. So Abby and I dropped him off and went to the Zoo and Roy met us after his interview. How, you ask, did his interview go? Well, he knew it would go great when the first question was, "How much prosecution experience do you have?" Hmmm, the answer to that is none. Apparently, when Roy sent his application to work for the county civil division, it went to the prosecutor's office and since they didn't look carefully at his resume to see that he had zero criminal law experience, he got an interview. The interviewer was really nice though and they talked BYU football, which is never considered a wasted conversation!

This past weekend we went to a Fall Family Festival that was at Mount Vernon. We went on a hay ride, walked through the hay bale maze, made a corn husk doll, and listened to live music from the time of George Washington. It was a great morning!





Other exciting events include:

eating yogurt

doing the laundry

Abby refusing to eat food from a spoon and forcing Michelle and Roy to get really creative with what Abby eats (if anyone has any grand ideas of food, most especially veggies, that can be finger food, please let me know). Don't worry, the puffs container was empty, but we just thought Abby was hilarious trying to get every last drop.

and Abby getting to play guitar with Roy.

Oh, The Horror!

My sister-in-law used to be able to cut her son's fingernails when she turned on the vacuum. He was so scared of the vacuum that he would freeze and stare at it, thus making the dreaded fingernail trimming an easy experience. You would think that Abby would share some of the frozen fear of the vacuum with her cousin, but such is not the case. Yesterday during Abby's lunch, I got the floor all ready to be vacuumed. I cleaned up the toys, picked up the crumbs that were too big to be sucked up, and moved chairs and the coffee table (we now get crumbs in all sorts of good places so we have to move everything) to the other room. Then I opened the closet door where the vacuum is. During this whole process, Abby was pleasantly chatting and finishing up her food. Then the vacuum came out of the closet. Fear and terror were definitely the response, but instead of freezing, Abby began shaking her arms and screaming. Loud. I tried to calm her down to no avail. Then she refused to eat, keeping her eyes on the vacuum the whole time. Keep in mind that at no point has the vacuum been turned on. I ended up vacuuming with Abby on my hip, her face buried in my shoulder and her arms flailing throughout the horrific experience. While I wrapped the cord up when we were done, Abby stood staring at the vacuum and would start to reach for it and then pull her hand away. A couple minutes of trying led to success and she touched it, screamed, and lunged at me for a hug. Who knew the vacuum itself could be so scary?

First Official Camera Steps

Abby has taken steps by herself for a couple of days, but not when I have had the camera out and ready. So last night we were doing the classic walk-between-Mom-and-Dad game and I caught her on our camera. I think she's pretty cute!

Abby has begun standing up in her crib, as you will see in the picture a couple posts ago. So she started crying in the middle of the night and it took a couple minutes for me to register, "Go see what's wrong." By the time I got to her room, her cry had escalated to terrified screams. It turns out that she was standing in the middle of her bed with one arm holding onto one side and the other arm on the opposite side of the crib. It was dark, but I felt tears on her face (she usually just gets plain old mad and doesn't have tears so I knew it was serious). It took her a while to calm down and stop shaking. I'm sure she was just freaked out because she had no clue what was going on. I was laughing so hard and had to go share the funny Abby moment with Roy. We both laughed so hard, while Abby was still recovering. Man, we're mean parents! We laugh when she gets scared!

On another note, we were able to watch the BYU-USU game last night. It was a little bit of heaven for Roy. Living in VA is not really conducive to a BYU fan who likes to watch the games since not too many games are broadcast. It was really fun to watch the game. BYU was so fun--seeing the game and some of the commercials about BYU made me miss it a little. So many fond memories!

Ready, Set, GROW!

Abby has the go-ahead from her doctor to eat table foods (yeah for all of us!). I have some ideas, but I was hoping some of you might be able to offer some creative suggestions or ideas of what your kids have enjoyed. We've done lots of fresh fruit and veggies, grilled cheese, toast, and graham crackers. Any other ideas? Thanks!

A Picture's Worth 1000 Words

Abby's Update

Abby had her 9-month doctor appointment this afternoon. Luckily, it was a no-shot appointment, but as the picture below shows, she did have some blood drawn. They had to try twice so both her arms were bandaged up. She fought the two nurses and her two parents. We were all sweaty by the end of it! She is still in the 90-99 percentile for everything and is on track for everything else. We're very proud of her! :)

So when we got to the doctor's office, Abby decided she should have a poopy diaper. The nurse told me to strip her to her diaper and I told her that I would change her diaper and then meet her out at the scale. She brought in a bag for me to wrap the diaper in. It was a red bio-hazard bag. I thought it was very fitting!

This picture is not high quality, but I was really taking it to show off her battle wounded elbows.

In other news, we had Abby's 1-year-old friend over for a little bit today. The girls were playing on the outside of the exersaucer when Abby's friend took off running into the other room. Abby let go of the exersaucer, took two steps, realized what she was doing and then fell down to her bum. So I guess we can count those as Abby's first steps. Too bad I wasn't prepared with the camera--it was one of those classic firsts that I missed out on catching on film.

Fun Time

Last week, Abby’s friend Claire, who is 13 months, came over for a lot of the day. In a moment of triumph, Michelle had both girls down for naps for 1-1/2 hours and got to clean up the huge mess created by the storm of babies. By the end of the day, Michelle’s back was aching because Abby and Claire developed some sort of odd version of chase-the-baby. Neither one really had the tag part of the game down, but we somehow worked out a system of switching back and forth between chaser and chasee. It was hilarious to hear all three girls screaming. It’s a wonder Roy got any studying done that afternoon!

New Tricks

Although I don't really expect lots of people to view these videos, I know the family will love them. And, besides, Abby is pretty stinking cute so watching two 30-second videos would probably do everyone some good. I heard yesterday that laughing 15 minutes a day relieves stress, helps you burn calories, and just makes you feel better. While these videos may not make you laugh right out loud, you'll at least get a good smile on your face!

The first video is Abby, my dancing queen. Just last week we noticed that she would sway to music. She has a couple of toys that play music and she'll dance away. Since they are now the favorite toys, we have burned through all our batteries. But never fear, Abby still dances when she plays with the toy, even if the toy is silent! Just like most kids when the camera comes out, Abby does not demonstrate her full dancing ability on this video. She was a little distracted. She usually goes full force. Last week we were at the Dollar Tree (love that store!) and she danced while sitting in the shopping cart. She was going so hard I thought for sure she was going to be a little sore the next day.

Our second movie is the second skill of the week. We spent all day Saturday with cousin Zachary, who loves to clap. On Saturday night, Abby started clapping. We are very proud. As you can tell from the amount of drool on her shirt, Abby is working on tooth #6. She is growing up fast! Mom, I'm sort of expecting you to tear up at this video. :)

In other news:

• Roy's sister and family in Houston, TX survived Hurricane Ike. We wish we could have had them survive it out here with us, but hopefully we'll see them soon. Abby would love to meet her cousins!
• My mom went to the BYU-UCLA football game and I will brag that BYU won 59-0. Roy vicariously enjoyed the game through my mom's text messaging and the occasional online checking he got to do. Thanks, Mom!
• Abby has her first more-major ouchie. Let me just say that it was on Roy's watch! She almost always has fingernail-gouge marks on her face (and yes, I do cut her nails), but she managed to tip over and hit her face just right this time. Her eyebrow is a little swollen and bruised and she has a red mark on her cheek. We are affectionately calling her Scarface now.
• I am babysitting a friend's daughter today who is 13 months old. It was a little crazy to juggle the two girls who were, of course, hungry at the same time, wanting to play when they were sitting in the high chair and the other girl was playing, wanting to read just with me and not share a lap with anyone else, and both decided they were completely exhausted and needed naps RIGHT NOW. Both were in bed having been read a book and rocked for a couple minutes, but I will brag that Abby fell asleep first. Good girl!
• We went to nephew Zachary's 2nd birthday party this weekend. It was farm-themed and so fun! It made me start thinking of Abby's 1st birthday and how we should celebrate. Stay tuned for some fun ideas.

That has been our crazy and fun week. It's so fun to be a mom!

Put in My Place

Roy and I were recently asked to teach the 6-turning-7 year olds at church. We started last Sunday. So we are standing out in the hallway with our class of 6 kids waiting for our classroom to become available and I said, "You guys are so lucky. You have the coolest teachers in the whole world teaching your class!" Of the three kids that were actually listening to me, here were the responses:

1. "Huh?"
2. "Hahaha (real laughter)! You guys think you're the coolest teachers in the world (laughing continues)!"
3. "No. You guys aren't the coolest teachers in the world. The coolest teachers in the world were our teachers last week."

Testimony

For those of you who don't know, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes called the Mormons. We believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior, that He and our Father in Heaven love us, and that we are children of God. We believe that God loves us enough to send a prophet today, just as He had prophets during Bible times. We believe in the Book of Mormon, a book written by ancient prophets who lived on the American continent. The Book of Mormon tells the story of the people in the Americas and testifies of Jesus Christ. I believe these teachings are true because I have prayed and asked my Father in Heaven to know the truth. He answered my prayers and I have faith to follow the good feelings I have felt. I love being a member of this Church. If you want to learn more, ask me. I am happy to share more. If you want to know more of what we believe, here are two great websites:

www.mormon.org
www.jesuschrist.lds.org

Our Father in Heaven will answer your prayers too. He loves each one of us and wants us to find the most happiness and joy that we can in this life.

A Brief Update

Roy's mom recently got a new car. She was up last weekend and we ran around doing all sorts of fun stuff with Roy's brother, his wife and son, Roy's mom, Roy, Abby, and I. So we needed to take two cars wherever we went. Amazingly, Roy always ended up riding with his mom. It doesn't take a genius to figure out why:

And just because I haven't posted a picture of our cute girl for a while and I know some of you are feeling deprived, here she is, "helping" out by holding Grandma Z's birthday present (in reality she dumped it out and put it back in the bag countless times):

Here are some of the updates from the world of Abby:

• She now has three bottom teeth and the very edge of one top tooth. We recently got some soft corner protectors for the corners of our coffee table because we were a little worried about crashing. They have become a fantastic teething tool. So if you come to our house and the coffee table corners look a little gooey, don't be alarmed. Abby is just working hard to get that top tooth to pop out all the way.
• Abby tries to pull herself to stand on anything that looks remotely like an object that will help her balance. She teeters along the edge of it and can go several feet before getting distracted and falling. She is also much better about falling since it happens so often. Now it is not the I'm-having-a-no-good-very-bad-day scream. We just get a little whimper and she's back up trying to stand again.
• Abby is mastering the ability to be on her tummy and get around. A lot of times that involves scooting (backwards) to a table, chair, or couch, reaching up to get some support, pulling herself to sit, and then standing up. It's a complicated process and takes several minutes, but she is not about to be distracted by anything so I'm proud of her for all her hard work and because she has always screamed within about 2 minutes of being put on her tummy.

In the Roy and Michelle world, we are feeling much more organized and on top of life. Roy's classes are going well. He's ahead in his reading assignments and is working on (gasp!) sending out resumes. It's crazy to think that he has to apply for jobs nearly a year before he's even able to start, but so it goes. We'll have to keep track of how many rejection letters he gets, just for fun. He did have one interview last week and has a different interview next week so things are progressing. I am in the process of trying to baby-proof and sleep train Abby. She's doing well in her sleep training, but baby-proofing seems like an endless task! I think I've figured out all the possible places of danger or destruction and then Abby introduces me to a new one.

We hope all our family and friends are doing well. We love hearing updates and apologize for the lack of posts, emails, and phone calls. It's been a crazy transition back from our summer of fun. Have a fantastic day!

Coined

I know we're all guilty of blog-hopping. You are looking on a friend's blog and click on one of the blogs listed on their sidebar, thinking you might know them. Maybe you even click on one of the blogs listed on the friend of a friend's blog. I've done that plenty of times and I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I have coined a new phrase for moments like this. Blog stalking.

Right on Target

The other day, Abby and I were shopping in the baby section of Target. I was browsing the clearance rack and overheard a mom saying, "Should we get this dress as your prize?" Of course, I had to look up and see this prize-worthy dress. It was a Dora the Explorer dress. The three-year-old girl responded, "NO! I want this dress!" pointing to a different Dora dress and standing up to emphasize her point. Her mom answered by telling her she could only get one prize so she had to pick. The girl emphatically stated she wanted the second dress (which was really not cute). So her mom said, "Why don't we get BOTH dresses? What a great idea!" The girl very happily nodded her head, held both arms out to hold the dresses, and plopped back down in the shopping cart. I thought to myself, "Oh, I would never give in like that."

But I think to a certain extent, I do give in. Abby shows interest in a certain toy or book and I get so excited and then I have to decide whether or not to get it. Abby's latest interest in the book world is touch and feel books. She will touch everything except the pig's soft nose in her book. She has several touch and feel books so it's not like she's deprived. But the other day she was thrilled everytime we read. I would put out different book options and she grabbed the touch and feel book every time. The next day we all went to Target (we are frequent Target shoppers) and I found a brand new touch and feel book. We didn't end up getting it, but it's only because I'm stubbornly following our newly-imposed budget. And besides, that day, Abby could have cared less about touching anything. And that is kind of how it goes in the world of babies and parents. Parents will do anything to make their kids happy.

Way Behind

This is a blanket apology to those I should have called, emailed, or somehow contacted this week. I feel incredibly behind on pretty much everything in life so some things have just had to go. Sorry, family and friends, but this week you were it. We're trying to get ourselves moved back in and adjusted as well as deal with Abby teething and getting on a better schedule of sleeping. So we're surviving, but a little tired.

Two highlights from the week:

Roy’s old roommate, Kasey, came over this week. We had just finished Abby’s bath so I was in Abby’s room getting her all lotioned and clothed. So Kasey came back to say hello. Abby was oblivious to him until I dropped the lotion on the garbage can lid, which made a huge boom, and scared Abby. Normally the sound makes her laugh, but the combination of a stranger and being tired made her scream. She cried for a good ten minutes before recovering somewhat. So two days later, Kasey brought a date over. He walked in the door and Abby took one look at him before lunging for Michelle and bawling. There was no way that guy was going to scare her again! She kept a very wary eye on him for the little bit that she was out with us visiting, but if he looked at her wrong she would cry.

We took an hour break from all our craziness on Friday to go out to the Theodore Roosevelt Island. It was beautiful! Abby's favorite part was the dog walker with seven (yes, 7) dogs. We were impressed that he could walk in a straight line with that many animals, but Abby, who has a great love of dogs, had her eyes glued to them and was excitedly trying to get their attention. The island was beautiful! We loved all the green.


We're mostly recovered, but now I have a week of normal-life events to catch up on. Someday, maybe, I'll feel caught up!

Honey, We're Home!

We've been back in VA for a few days now, but I can't say we're totally recovered from the journey. Less than 36 hours after our plane landed, we were on the road to visit Roy's parents in Williamsburg. We had a great weekend celebrating Baba Z's birthday. We went on a schooner (sailboat) tour on the York River and saw dolphins, ate some great breakfast foods, got caught in one of the famous East Coast rainstorms and got drenched, divided up by gender and watched a chick flick or boy movie, and all took lazy Sunday afternoon naps. It was a great weekend! But we are ready to actually unpack the rest of our summer luggage and attack the moving-back-in process in our apartment.

On a random side note, the other morning Roy discovered that the fog lights were on on the car. And yes, they stayed on even when the car was off. We nearly drained through one battery and got it replaced. In messing with the car, Roy discovered that if the left turn signal was on when the car was off, the fog lights would turn off. It's an expensive but necessary fix, but if you ever find yourself driving a PT Cruiser and your fog lights are constantly on, just flip on the left turn signal and you're good to go.


In case anyone was missing seeing cute pictures of our girl, here's one from last week. You can also see her two bottom teeth. Just yesterday, she cut another bottom tooth. How can you look at that grin and not smile?

Disclaimer: Just so I don't offend anyone (Mom) with the title of my post, we call multiple places home so both CA and VA are home.

Abby's New Friend

This week we are house/dog sitting for my cousin and his wife. After just a few minutes of being in the house, Abby made a new friend besides Buster the dog. Don't worry, Matt and Courtney, we'll take care of those finger smudges and kiss marks!

A Few Random Thoughts

We've been out in CA for about 8 weeks now. It's funny how quickly you get sucked in to life in the place where you live. "Sucked in" sounds wrong, but that's how it feels--all of the sudden you are around new people, doing different activities, and (in our case) enjoying not living in humidity. Yeah! I've been trying, and with some people failing, to stay up with our VA friends, even if it means reading their updated blogs. Cheating, I know, but I'm making an effort! :) It's funny because I am feeling the same way as I did when I missed a day or two of elementary school. I would be sick and Mom would make me stay home (I was a big nerd and actually loved school). When I got back and learned that life had continued on without me, I was a little perturbed that I missed out on the newer math, a couple chapters from the book we read as a class, and playing with my friends. I have echoes of those feelings now--how can life go on without me right there? I already know that going back to VA won't stop those feelings. Now I'll just feel them in relation to my friends and family here and in Utah. You just can't win!

So my cousin was married on Saturday. It was really neat to be there and see so much family. I love being around family! The worst part of the day was taking pictures in the sun next to the granite temple. It was one of those boiling Sacramento days and Abby was miserable at that point. As soon as we got her some apple juice and shade, she was much better and it really was only about 5 minutes of screaming.

In preparation for the wedding, both my brothers needed haircuts. It was about 7 pm on Friday night and they hadn't done it yet so I did it. I'm not an expert, but I've been cutting Roy's hair since we got married so I'm alright and they trusted me. I did the first brother's hair and it turned out fine. My teenage brother was next and wanted to keep his in-style, long hair. I'd been teasing him all week that he should cut it short because I thought it would look nice. He thought he would look dumb. About 3 minutes into his haircut, I realized that I had a problem. I silently got Roy's attention and he came over to inspect. Yep, my brother's hair was just going to be short. I probably cut off 2+ inches. He actually took it really well. And it looks really good! I don't know that he'll ever trust me with cutting his hair again, but my 16 year old brother looks dang good. :)

Center of the Universe

Every baby should feel (at least for a little while) that he or she is the center of the universe for his/her parents. Abby certainly feels that way. And she is right. One example of how convinced Abby is of this fact happened last Sunday.

Roy was asked to lead the music in Sacrament Meeting. So he was standing in front of the whole congregation swinging his arm during the four songs we sang. Everytime he would stand up and start waving, Abby would pull herself up to stand on my lap and started jumping and shrieking. She just KNEW that Roy was up there waving to her!

More To Come

We went to my cousin's weding and festivities yesterday. It was a LOT of fun to be around everyone. We all slept really well last night from all the partying. I'll write more details when I have a chance, but I did want to post this great Abby picture. We went to the Vacaville Outlets and got a couple things for Abby for the winter, including this great hat. She is now officially more in style than either parent:

It's Been WAY Too Long

You know, I feel like I should have a really good reason why I haven't updated our blog for a while. In reality, my excuse is life. We haven't been doing any one thing that has kept us particularly busy, but we've been busy! It hasn't helped that Abby's naps have been way too short and my to-do list for nap time still has unfinished tasks. So, because I have been meaning to show Abby off for the last few days, I'll just put up some pictures! I think she's really really cute!

Abby knows to pose for the camera.

Here she is just after Roy finished feeding her. She's such a mess!

Abby loves playing the piano at my parent's and the keyboard at Mor Mor's house. As you can see, she gets very focused on playing. :)

On a side note, Roy and I went to a garage sale today and got a soft book, a cool toy, and a bowling set all for a dollar. We are now going to be official garage sale junkies!

Picture Perfect

The Zwahlens: Roy, Michelle, and Abby

The Freebairn family

Abby playing with Uncle Neil

Abby playing with my dad (Far Far). She LOVES him! He can always get a smile.

Abby demonstrates how we all felt after those pictures. She is too cute!

PS--Annmarie, thank you for taking these great pictures!