12 Months

Oh...Baby girl, you are 12 months old and I can't imagine life without you.

(all I did to this picture was "I'm Feeling Lucky" I used the settings on my camera to try to catch your eyes and drown out the rest of the picture....I think I did a good job of catching your beautiful eyes!)

Still getting teeth!  Only 6 in there, but you still chew on everything!

Our favorite time is when you give cuddles....I love this picture.

With Daddy and some of your birthday decorations

A "weak sauce" "SO BIG!"  You hold your hands out when we say, "How big is Abby?"

Your favorite toys are the remotes and the lotion containers....You cry when we take them away.

You are sleeping great.  You still sometimes "call out" in the middle of the night, but that only lasts about 1 minute max.  I love this about you.

You are an eating machine.  You eat anything and everything: pizza, lunch meat, all kinds of fruit, almost any veggie, yogurt, cheese, pulled pork, potatoes, and the list goes on and on.  However, one of your favorite foods are peas...You will pick those before anything else!

You get fussy when you are hungry.  Our dinner time is usually around 6:00pm, you need to eat by 5:30 or that last 30 minutes is very difficult.

You are a crawling machine.  Whenever we let you "get out" of our "safe living room area" you go right for the stairs.  YOU LOVE THE STAIRS.  Your crawl up about half way, turn around, look at me and smile.  You love crawling up those stairs. Just today I pulled all the cushions off the couch and loved watching you crawl on the floor, the cushions, and the couch.

One of your favorite things to do is pull your hair clip out of your hair...Then you try to put it back on.  When I put it back on, you pull it out again about 3 seconds later.  That is a fun game...

You are great at going to bed and down for naps.  We lay you in your bed, you grab your pacifier, and fall asleep.  We love it.

You only nurse at night and in the morning.  Occasionally, I nurse you during the day if it is easy, but you have been doing great work drinking whole milk from your sippy cup and from bottles.

Recently you have been trying to play with the remotes and our cell phones.  We take them away from you and give you other things to play with and you cry.  We are starting to see a little personality come out....We call you a fuss bucket when you do that.

You love waking up from nap and watching your Baby Einstein video.  It keeps you entertained for at least 15 minutes.

You independently play wonderfully!  You crawl to your basket and pull all your toys out.  You especially love playing with your Legos and Wood Blocks with Daddy.

We got you some new shoes today!  They are a little big but we wanted some that we could tie so they would stay on your feet better (you kick all the other shoes off!).  Your right foot still turns in and you like to stand on the side of your foot.  We were hoping these shoes would force you to stand with flat feet.  You weren't crazy about them right away...But you did like using them to kick while you were sitting in your high chair.  It made a lot of noise and Daddy didn't like it :) Hopefully you get used to these shoes and they help straighten out your feet.

We went to a Physical Med and Rehab doctor today and he wants you in PT/OT three times a week. He wants to get you a special shoe/boot to help keep your foot straight.  It was kind of a lot to take in today and we weren't really expecting that kind of a report.  We knew the shoe/boot was coming, but we weren't expecting to hear we need to do PT/OT THREE TIMES A WEEK!  I guess it's good mommy isn't working, huh?

You LOVE to wave at people.  It is your favorite thing to do.  Whenever we go to a store or out with the stroller, you wave at everyone.  It is so cute and you get so many people to pay attention to you.  They all comment and say, "Oh...She is so sweet...."

A friend sent me this link....Thanks Cathy!

http://www.koaa.com/news/one-year-ago-today-high-temps-were-below-zero/#.TyoMcvPINQA.gmail


The top news story of the day in COS last year on February 1.  And, I told my mom she didn't need a big jacket, COS has great weather....Surprise, surprise!  I still remember Melissa running into King Soopers after we talked at the car for about 3.5 seconds (I gave her the keys to our second car so she could 1. Get on base and 2. help me deliver Abby!).  We were all running on adrenaline, but the cold still got to us and she ran super fast into King Soopers!

One year ago today high temps were below zero

Posted: Feb 1, 2012 9:02 PM by Mike Daniels

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This year we enjoyed a mild start to the month of February, that was not the case one year ago today. Icy arctic air covered all of eastern Colorado. February 1st 2011 the daytime high temperature in Colorado Springs was 2 below zero and in Pueblo the high was 6 above. Today the high in Colorado Springs was 50, Pueblo 55.

One Year, Really?

This post is hard to write...Last year at this time I was in labor.  Not super intense labor.  Right now I was at the point where I was telling Melissa, "I can do this...This isn't so bad."  She quietly nodded, smiled and said nothing.....Knowing what would come in the future....

A few comparisons last year to this year.....

A trip to the post office sending Steve a package in Afghanistan.....

Driving Steve to school with my precious baby in the back seat.

Having my waters break at the post office...

Drinking water from my hospital water cup.

Wearing several layers because it was freaking cold outside....

Wearing a t-shirt and jeans all day.

Eating Jello during labor because I couldn't eat anything else....

Eating ice cream with chocolate sauce on it.

Sleeping off an on after I got the epidural after a full night of contractions....

A full nights rest in a comfortable bed with no contractions or interruptions.

Wow...Looking at this, today is a much different day than what I did last year!  I'm loving my life today.  Having Abby is a dream come true.  Today I looked at her so many times and tears were brought to my eyes.  I am beginning to understand the father's love for me.  Thinking he loves me SO much more than I love Abby.  That kind of blows my mind...

This year...

Last year....

Some CO Memories...

Having coffee with Melissa

  Going to villa sport

Sitting in the hot tub drinking coffee

   Hearing Alice say Abby and Tookie

Abby's surprise birthday party with her favorite friends

 Chick fil a with Katie and James and our conversation at the dining room table

  Melting pot...Oh the Melting Pot...So fun!

A walk to cottonwood

Ping pong

 Waking up to Alice every morning - I mean look at how cute this kid is!

 Visiting AIES

Seeing Valerie

   A gift from Valerie - a new little pink dress that Abby wears all the time!

    Abby and Alice taking a bath together

Watching the Wonder Years and Switched at Birth with Melissa

  Impromptu lunches: bowl of cheese and guacamole

  A gift from Dan and Dodie - complete with activities to do on the plane!

Heaven Vs. Hell

A quote from our pastor, Sung Kim (paraphrased because I couldn't write fast enough, but if you listen to the sermon (from my last blog post) you will hear him say it at the end....

If you know Jesus, earth is as close to hell as you are ever going to get.

If you don't know Jesus, earth is as close to heaven as you will ever get, so live it up while you are here.

Wow...

God is at work even when you are in the desert....

This weekend we got to talk to the figits about what our walk with Christ is like.

It was interesting to me because all four of us (Russ, Jen, Steve and I) talked about how college/post college was when we really found out who the Lord was and learned to trust him.

When I shared I thought of this analogy: When you are searching for what your purpose is in life, you are in a big  field looking for a path.  But, the problem is that field is all gravel and you are running around trying to figure out who you are, what you should do, who God is but you can't seem to find the "path" because it all looks the same.  Questioning and running around in that field is necessary to finding out who you are and what you believe.  What you do in that field helps create who you are.  But, running in that field is hard work, it is frustrating, and at times your questions aren't always answered.  You feel alone and you question everything, at least I did.  

But, God is at work in that time.

Today at church our pastor talked about Ex 1:15-2:15, it was titled, "Though I walk through the valley."  Something for you to chew on....The Desert Principle: God is at work - often times behind the scene - even when you are in the desert.

What? Wait a minute, that is what I just talked about with my cousins!  Could God be wanting to impress something on me?  Yes.

Short version: Moses made a mistake by killing an Egyptian.  He ran away and left to live in the desert.  During that time he learned a variety of skills such as patience, humility, how to live in the wilderness, how to raise sheep, what to eat, etc.  This was hard.  Moses didn't see God working.  Moses felt alone.  But, lucky us, we get the big picture.  Who knew that Moses would be stuck leading people around the desert for 40 years, trying to free them from slavery?  GOD DID!  Who knew that Moses wasn't ready for that? GOD DID! Who took Moses initial mistake and made good out of it? GOD DID!  What I am trying to say here is even if you are in the desert right now, God knows, God is working behind the scenes and he has got something planned for you.  Know that this difficult season will come to an end.  And, in several years, you are going to look back and say, "Ahhh, now I see what you were doing God."

Also know, that if you are in that difficult season and searching after who God is and how he is working in your life, know that YOU WOULD NOT BE SEEKING GOD UNLESS HE IS ALREADY SEEKING YOU.  Even though He may seem distant...Know, there would be no way you would be seeking Him, unless he sought you out first.  A quote from today, "Trust God's heart, even when you can't trace his hand..."

I think back to the very worst thing that could happen....Jesus Christ was sentenced to death for our sins.  He was beaten, abused, ripped apart, and mocked for me.  It is the very worst thing that could happen, but guess what?  It brought about the best thing that could EVER happen in this world.  A promise to live forever with the savoir of the universe.  Who is feeling loved, taken care of, and blessed today?....This girl. 


This was an awesome sermon and I encourage you to go listen...It spoke to me and I hope it speaks to you too.  (Click on Launch Media Player, and then the sermon on the top "How God Shapes us Through the Events in our Lives)

Life is Good

These past few days have been absolutely fantastic.  I LOVED this weekend and although I don't have pictures to document the weekend, I do have my memories and those are all pretty awesome.

The weekend started with a visit to see my cousin who is currently in the hospital because he had back surgery.  He had two CRUSHED disks...not just problematic disks, crushed ones.  He had four pinched nerves which caused him to have tons of pain in both of his legs.  The surgeon was surprised he could even walk.  Some things I am thankful for:
1. That this surgery happened, Chad has been living in pain for far too long
2. That we got to visit him.  I love family and I love being able to see them when big things happen.  We missed that when we lived in CO
3. Some pretty cool cousins....

On to the second part of the weekend.  We went to Russ and Jen's for a figit sleepover.  For those of you who don't understand how odd my family is, let me give you a picture.  I have five cousins between the ages of 14-almost now 20, holy cow!  And from the time they were VERY little, we called them figits from the old Little Rascal movies (not the cartoon...Like the old black and white movie).  Anyway, it stuck, and even though they are in college, we still call them that....
I would never think I could have that much fun with "teenagers" but my cousins are incredible and we had a blast....Some memories:
1. Mike and Tay dancing to Promiscuous Girl on the X box Kinect
2. Dan figuring out how to play Settlers of Catan by watching for about 5 minutes
3. Playing Settlers of Catan - I can't believe I am saying this, I really do not like that game...
4. Making rice krispy treats for the "first time in their life" with Sarah and Amber
5. And my all time favorite part of the weekend was sharing with the figits.  Russ, Jen, Steve, and I all shared with the kids why we live the way we do.  We all opened up in ways we don't usually open up others and it was so fun for the kids to see who we are and what our relationship with Christ looks like. I hope it was as meaningful to them as it was for us.  It is hard to share your heart and be so vulnerable but it was something we all wanted to do because we love those figits so much.

When we came home we got to go to a BBQ (like real southern BBQ with pulled pork, sweet tea, and everything) with our small group.  I was amazed at how easy it was!  To elaborate on that...in CO we had a small group where everything was easy.  Hosting a party for K group was no big deal at all.  I was never nervous that the house wasn't clean enough, or if I had enough chairs, was everyone having fun, etc. (You know, all those things that go through your mind when you have a party).  With K group, I never worried about ANY of that.  If they came over and I wasn't ready it wasn't ever a big deal.  Last night, for the first time, I felt like our small group here in MI was easy.  We showed up a bit late, which wasn't a big deal, unloaded all of our junk, put our stuff away in rooms in their house, and started eating and hanging out.  Conversation wasn't difficult and it seemed to all flow so nicely.  We have been pretty blessed by small groups....Incredibly blessed by small groups.....