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!

Quick Pic

My sister, Becky, came into town on Friday with her three girls. I was SOOOO excited to see them. It's hard to take good pictures with two babies, but here are our cute girls!

Alli, Abby, Holly, and Brynne

The Weekly Report

This week was exciting for all of the Northern Californians weather-wise. We were at or near 100 for a few days there. Thank goodness for family with a pool! In the world of the Zwahlen family, life was also exciting. Abby was introduced to peaches. They were a big hit. She pretty much loves food in general. She also got her second tooth, after a WHOLE lot of effort and chewing and drooling and impatience. We're very glad it's here. This tooth seemed harder than the first.

Abby with the Freebairn grandparents

We had two fun highlights this week Abby-wise:

We had a really hot day and we spent the afternoon playing hard and swimming. Abby was starving and exhausted. We had her in the high chair and Roy was feeding her. All of the sudden, we noticed that the eyes were very heavy, but the mouth kept opening. She literally continued eating while trying to fall asleep. As I said earlier, she's an eater so getting that food was very important to her. Her head kept falling, which would wake her up, and she'd open up for more. I was dying. So, of course, I had to take a picture:

We were in the swimming pool and Abby was hanging out with me. All the sudden, she wanted Roy, so she reached out to him, he took her, she grabbed his cheeks and gave him a huge kiss. It was, by far, the highlight of my day.

The Bucket List

We watched "The Bucket List" over the weekend (twice). It's a really good movie and has a good message about taking the opportunities we have while we have them. Besides, Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are good actors by themselves so putting them together is just a great idea. So, you wonder, what is the message that we took out of the movie? I quote, "Never trust a fart."

A Whole New Meaning...

You have probably heard the phrase about putting your foot in your mouth. Abby is now quite talented in that regard--not in the "oops, I probably shouldn't have said that" way, but in the "oh, these look interesting...maybe they belong in my mouth" (along with everything else that can be held in her tight little fists). Since it is summertime, we don't have Abby in socks very often. Not that it makes a difference, because she does put her socks in her mouth too. Call me crazy, but somehow it seems a little less disgusting to put her toes in her mouth than a sock. This new ability makes changing diapers a very interesting process!

Last week I bought Abby this great stacking toy. I remember having one at our house growing up and wanted to get it for Abby. She loves it! The stacking toy is her new traveling companion and goes from Bedstemor's house (my grandma) to Mor Mor and Far Far's house (my parents) daily. She also enjoys her new stuffed animal blue monkey from Annmarie--he is her new backseat buddy and somehow makes those "long" car rides more endurable.