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!