It was a wonderful Father’s Day weekend, but I was remiss and didn’t take photos of my kiddos with their wonderful Daddy! We will need to remedy this. Here is one a few days prior.
I decided to try a Pinterest idea this year for a gift, so I posed the kids with letters to spell Dada. The end result was a black and white set of three photos, but here are some from the photo shoot. It was hot, right before nap time, and I had to take photos as fast as possible. But, it worked out well, I thought.
Abby’s vocabulary increases each day as well. A lot of her words sound the same, so you have to listen with context, but she says what is on her mind…often loudly.
Her most often used words are the following: all done, buh (book) bath tub, outside, more, grapes, that, this, stop, I untis (I want this), yes, no, shoe, mama, dada, tata (papa), Daisy, car, hi, down, bye and thanks. We think she calls Benjamin, Ahdah. Not sure where she gets that, but she screeches it until he appears.
She also repeats almost any word we say in an attempt to learn it. So, often I will say something and hear a little parrot mimic me. Abby knows what she wants, and she wants to be sure there is no misunderstanding. So, she shouts from her crib, “ALLLLLLLL DONE!” And, she follows us around the house, begging,"buh! Buh,” while hauling one book after another. Sometimes, she wants to read the same book three times in a row. Other times, she is bored after one page. But, that girl loves her books!
I guess I have to admit that Abby has a personality a lot like mine. So, it makes me smile, and cringe a bit knowing what a handful she is going to be. I think her stubbornness she gets from both Jeremy and me, though. 
Abby is walking, talking and excited about exploring everything in her world as she leaves her baby status behind.
This was all too evident to me last week, when I attempted to carry Abby,while Benjamin played at Jump and Jacks. She was not having any of that, and wanted to climb and play too. It was at that point that she also decided to walk, rather than scoot everywhere.
She also wants to run around when we are at Kings Island. This is going to be a challenge, since she can’t ride any of the rides.
We have so many adorable photos of Abby from the past two weeks, I don’t even know where to begin. This is one of my favorites. Abby is very much a Mommy’s and Daddy’s girl. She likes to stay close to either of us when in a crowd.
We had Abby dedicated at The River Church on Mother’s Day. It was such a tough day, but it is nice to have this special memory. We want our precious baby girl to grow into a young woman who loves Jesus. Someday, it is our prayer that she will choose to be baptized as a symbol and declaration of her faith.
Abby has SUCH a personality. Already, she shows signs that she is going to give us a run for our money. But, I just know we are going to love (ALMOST) every minute of it.
We will be taking Abby to the doctor on Thursday to find out all her “stats,” and I will give more updates on what she is up to at that time.
We celebrated Abby’s birthday two weekends early, and it was so fun to see family and friends, watch Abby get excited about her presents and enjoy those special “firsts,” like tasting cake.
Abby wasn’t so fond of cake, so Benjamin decided to eat her cupcake for her.
But, then she kind of changed her mind.
We got a quick family photo, and then Abby went down for a short nap.
She got her second wind in time to open presents, and play. It was such a special day!
For those of you who were wondering about the potty training…
We did it!!!!!
Benjamin is officially potty trained, and all it took was finding the right motivation. Here he is with his potty chart. He earned enough stickers (days without accidents) to go to Kings Island. He was so excited, he ran/skipped all the way to the gate.
He wanted to ride the Pumpkin Coaster first.
Then, it was a free-for-all. But, he definitely was excited about the cars. At the Bumper Cars, I overheard him exclaiming to each child who drove past, “I’m a big boy!”
He was a little nervous about the drop tower, but he tried it!
We ended our short visit at the Eiffel Tower. Benjamin left without complaining, because he knew we needed to get Abby back for her nap. We were so proud of him, and his behavior! We promised to go back next Friday when it is open again.
Spring finally decided to stay, it seems. We have been outside as much as possible!
We take lots of walks, and often we go play in the evenings with a little boy down the street. Walks often lead to scrapes and cuts, though. So, we have gotten out the Band-Aids more than once in the last week.
Benjamin and Abby love the constant activity. They are playing so nicely together (when they aren’t squabbling). 
Last weekend, Grandpa Hilty came to visit. That gave me a chance to work on landscaping, and have some help/advice.
We planted a Japanese maple tree, some ground cover and a bush on the corner. It is a big improvement!
