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!

What a Week!

We had a fantastically busy and fun week. I have slept so well the last couple nights because we spent a week in overdrive. It was great! My sister Becky and her husband Alex were in town with their three girls. Abby loved playing on the ground with Brynne, who is four months old. And she LOVED getting hugs from Holly and being "scared" by Alli. Abby was completely entertained by her cousins.

One of the best parts of the week was my sister Cindy and her husband Chad showing up and surprising my mom. Everyone knew Cindy and Chad were coming except my mom. My dad used the excuse of a church meeting and went down to the airport to pick them up. It was SO funny when they walked in the door a minute after my dad came home. My mom wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or cry so she did both. It was such a great surprise!

The second surprise of the week for my mom was my dad (with a little help from my siblings and I) throwing her a surprise party for her 50th birthday. Lots of people came and it was a great party. Although Abby didn't necessarily want anyone but Roy and I to hold her, she did enjoy being the center of attention. She and her cousins matched that day and got lots of compliments on their cuteness--they must get it from their mothers!

This last weekend was the first time in 5 years that everyone in my family has been together. The siblings were all together about a year and a half ago when my brother got home from his mission, but Roy was already back in school. Since then, two babies and a brother-in-law have been added to the mix. Since we were all together, we did some family pictures. And since both my grandmas were in town, we also did some 4 generation pictures. I'll post all our pictures soon.

In other news on the Abby-front, she is talking up a storm lately! She also has learned to lunge at objects that are too far away to reach by stretching. She ends up flat on her tummy, looking around to figure out how that happened. We had her 6 month appointment last week and found out she is a whopping 19 lbs, 4 oz, is 27 inches tall, and her head is 18 inches. And we wonder why our backs are sore! We're just trying to figure out what to do if she gets above the 22 lb limit for her carseat before she turns a year and can be front-facing. Any ideas would be appreciated!

So that was our last week! It was the week I looked forward to the most of the whole summer because we were all together and so much planning was going into it. I love being with my family!

FINALLY

Abby rolled over tonight. We are proud parents!

Two Years

We celebrate our second anniversary today so I have been thinking about some of the highlights of the last two years:

• we drove across the country (Utah to Virginia) with all of our possessions packed into the car and the little space we rented on a trailer and listening to Harry Potter
• I did my student teaching, graduated from BYU, and had my first post-college job
• Roy has survived and done very well in 2 years of law school
• we moved within Virginia, just up about 6 blocks from our old apartment, but far enough to go to a new ward at church
• Abby joined our family
• we flew back across the country for a summer internship and brought a baby this time

For those who haven't heard our first date story, here it is from my perspective. A couple days after we first met, I got a phone call from Roy telling me that he had been set up on a blind date, but she had cancelled and wanted to know if I could go. In an hour. So I cancelled the "hang out" plans I had with an old roommate and hurried to get ready. For the next hour, I tried to remember what this boy looked like and how I had met him. I had only been back at BYU for a couple days and met a whole bunch of people and couldn't remember Roy. Then he came to the door and we had a pretty good time together. Then he ignored me for a week (he'll be so mad I wrote that, but it's true, even if it was because he was sick), asked me out again, and then that was the end of that.

Recently, we were talking about the fact that most of the time the Lord doesn't bless you with someone to marry until you are taking care of yourself and can take care of someone else financially, emotionally, etc. I joked that Roy was just taking care of me with loans, not his own earnings. His response, "The Lord just took pity on me."

So not only am I the back-up date, but I am the pity wife!