Laughter

I remember when Abigail was about 5 weeks old thinking that she didn't like me. I felt as if I was working really hard to keep her happy but wasn't getting any positive responses from her. I was desperate for a smile.
One day that very week it seemed as if she decided that I was OK in her eyes and wanted me to know that. I got the smile I had been praying for and in my elation I even remembered to get the camera! I can proudly say that on May 9th 2009 Abigail legitimately smiled her first of many smiles and I the Mother of the YEAR got it on film! :)

Here is one of the pictures I took:


Now I find myself loving those smiles as a daily occurance. But, me being me, I want more. I'm now on a mission to get laughter. I admit that I don't know the date of her first laugh (somewhere right around 4 months) but I am learning ways to get her to laugh pretty consistantly. She loves to 'scream' in a very high pitch ALL the time :) but I'm getting more and more true laughter each day! I don't know that I have heard a more heartwarming sound in my life. What do you think?



God is GOOD!

P.S. I wonder what I will be looking for next!

Motherhood is SO....

GLAMOROUS!

Reading with Daddy

Adam is working a lot this summer to provide for our family and, since Abigail is sleeping all night like a big girl, he doesn't get to spend a lot of 'face time' with her. The moments that he does have he always makes special. Both for the two of them and for me to watch. This particular scene I came upon compelled me to get the camera and hope that it lasted long enough to capture. It did!

The fruit of the harvest...

I love my husband. One of the many reasons why is that he finds ways to work around the limitations of condo living to create for me things that I never thought we would be able to have. Spread out in the parallel parking space in front of our building, he was able to build a glorious planter box that I thought could only come from a fully stocked garage.




It was my goal and desire to once again plant a few vegetables on our back porch, where there is great morning sun. We purchased three husky red tomato plants and three red bell pepper plants. I planted them in the box, watered them well, and hoped for the best.

Here is a picture of the day I planted them:





May 3, 2009










And from such a humble beginning they began to grow...


This picture was taken one month later on June 2, 2009.














On that day there were signs of the bounty I hoped to have later.

Then Adam and I went away for two weeks to see my parents and my across-the-hall-gal-pal, Jamie, was gracious enough to water my precious plants. She had quite the touch! They thrived!






We arrived home to quite an impressive amount of growth!






I was even able to harvest three tomatoes and there is one pepper very large! The variety of pepper that I chose will ripen all the way to red. I think we will try to hold off on picking it until then!

So much to share!

We just arrived home from a two week visit with my parents. I am overwhelmed by the task of unpacking, organizing and trying to feed us when there is no food in the house. I am consumed by needing to go to the grocery store, needing to pay bills, wanting to download all the pictures we took while away and wanting to blog about several exciting things that are going on. All this while trying to keep some order in Abigail's life. She seems to thrive on that, she slept the whole night every night while we were away. Guess she doesn't mind being a traveler!
To hold us over while I get my thought in(sorta)order here is a video of Abigail and I singing. I have no idea why I sang this song one day. She was upset and it just popped into my head and she stopped crying. Now she 'sings along' sometimes and I think it is just about the best feeling in the world. That and when she stops nursing to smile up at me. I apologize in advance about my lack of singing talent. Abigail doesn't seem to mind.

Lot's of fun things have been happening around here these last few days. Abigail is growing and changing so fast. I find it amazing to see how she changes each and every day. It's so fun to see hew experience things and figure things out for the first time. What a joy it is to be a mom!


Here is a video of her doing some tummy time with the help of her tummy turtle mat and pillow. She has not enjoyed the time that we encourage her to be on her belly but, as she grows stronger, she seems to mind it less and less.


Here is an almost first for her. She held on to a toy once before that we know of, but this was by FAR the best. She grabs and shakes and lets go and grabs again so I know she is getting it!

Grrr.....

I consider myself and animal lover.
Scratch that.
I consider myself and animal liker.

However, I have my limits.

When I first purchased this condo in 2004 I loved learning all the little things there are to learn about owning a home. There is a lot to do to care for a home and keep it looking new. One thing I was actually glad that I didn't have to care for was a yard and exterior.

I was very grateful for the few small plants that I had inside and on the front and back porches. They were enough plants that I could get my hands dirty if I wanted to, but not have to sweat over lots and lots of area. I enjoyed the fact that I had a small wooded area behind me that I could enjoy some nature if I felt the urge.

Then nature decided to get a little too close. If you follow Adam's blog here then you would know about the nest that some local birds decided to build on the back porch. The first time this happened I was thrilled. The thought of watching mother nature do her thing seemed exciting. Then the birds came out of the eggs. Urg. As they were learning to fly they would make short trips from the gutter over my bedroom window to the porch railing and back. They were so loud it would wake me up in the morning. But I ignored it. Then the poop started. The nest was positioned just in the corner so all there droppings would fall right onto the corner of the porch(where it is extra hard to clean).

After enduring this for several seasons I was getting fed up. The clincher was when I saw them starting a nest RIGHT after we had power washed everything on the porches.

This spring Adam made it his mission to remove the start of a new nest and create something that would deter them from nesting there at all. There are plenty of trees right across the parking lot for them to use to nest. Our porch was not going to hinder the bird population in the area.

Well........
I guess I'll be cleaning up bird poop again this year. At least I'm already up early with Abigail in the morning.