You are 3 years old today!!! In some ways the last 3 years have flown by, and in other ways, it's hard to remember life before you were here. You are turning into the cutest, sweetest, most precious 3 year old little girl, and you continue to capture the hearts of your daddy and I. You crack us up daily with your little phrases and expressions, and you are so much fun to be around!
I think that if I could pick one day in my life to go back and re-live, it would be the day you were born. I still look back and think about how perfect that day was, and often long to repeat it. As soon as you were born, I remember needing a moment to process what had just happened. It was an amazing thing to watch my lifelong dream come true before my very eyes, and I still look at you and wonder how God allowed me to be so lucky to be your Mommy!
Since last year, you have nearly transitioned from being a baby to being a little girl. Shortly after your little sister was born, you decided it was out with the crib and in with the big girl bed. Thank you, baby, for making that an easy move! After a couple of failed attempts, you asked to sleep in the "green room" one night while Daddy was working. I was sure it wouldn't last, but you've been in that room ever since!
Your vocabulary has grown in amazing ways, too. You can now carry on a conversation like a little adult, and you love to say the prayer at dinner. You alternate between "God is Great" and the song, "God our Father." The first few times you said the prayer it went a little something like, "God is good. Wank us for our food. By His hands, all are fed. Jesus bread. Amen."
You've perfected your ABC's this year and can count to 15 or 20. You can spell your name (when we practice with the letters above your bed), and are learning how to recognize letters now. You went to a little "school" 2 mornings a week, and really seemed to enjoy it. You loved Ms. Susan and Ms. Pam, your teachers.
Oh yeah, and you became a big sister this year, too! You were so cute in the hospital when she was born. You were absolutely mesmerized by her, and you were carried away screaming "baby" after you met her, not wanting to leave. I've been pleasantly surprised at how kind you are to her. You share your toys with her most of the time, and love to play with her now that she can crawl with you around the house. In the mornings, you get so excited and say "Abby Kate's awake!" when you hear her over the baby monitor.
We recently tackled potty training, and you are doing pretty well with that. We're not quite in big girl panties, yet, because you refuse to have a "bum" in the potty. You tee-tee very well, though, unless you get too busy playing and don't want to stop. For some reason, you don't mind using the potty at all around bedtime, and you've figured out that if you tell us you need to potty, you don't get in trouble for getting out of bed at night. This has caused a bit of a parenting dilemma for Mommy :)
You went to Disney World for the first time this year and had a blast! It took you a couple of days to get accustomed to everything, but by our final night there, you were excitedly yelling out all of the characters at the parade. You are very much into Disney movies right now - your favorites are Toy Story, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and The Emperor's New Groove!
You are not sleeping quite as well as you used to, and I'm not sure why that is. You can go without a nap if we are busy, but you either get very emotional and fussy or crazy wild around dinnertime. If you have a nap, you refuse to go to sleep until 11pm. If you don't have a nap, you go right to sleep, but wake up much earlier than I would like, and you seem fussy and tired most of the day. You've also been waking up and coming to get us in the middle of the night. Sometimes I wonder if you're learning to be scared in a room all by yourself, and I hope that passes quickly for you. Other times I wonder if it's just a phase that goes along with the other transitions going on in your little life right now (such as the potty training and increased behavior expectations).
One thing is for sure, and that is I am so very thankful God gave you to us 3 years ago, today. I absolutely love being your Mommy, and nothing thrills my heart like your sweet kisses and hugs (even if you're trying to stall bedtime :)!
I love you!
Mommy
p.s. - I'll do my best to post pictures of your Toy Story party later today!
Cline and Chas celebrating their 30th birthday with their favorite - Coca-Cola cake. Can you tell which one is Cline?
Christa and the newest baby cousin with Uncle Cleve, Angel, and Laura!
Abby Kate was 11 months old on August 2!
July 2, 2010 - Abby Kate is 10 months old! Unfortunately, she was ill with Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease. (Terrible name, and it made me feel like a disgusting mother - I really appreciate those of you clean mothers who confessed to me your child has also had this illness :)! As a result, it was a little more difficult to squeeze in a good picture. In an effort to make sure I got at least one picture on her actual 10-month birthday, I grabbed the camera after washing her off following a vomiting episode. This is what I ended up with!
3rd of July at the parade - Unfortunately, Abby Kate missed out on her first 4th of July parade (held on the 3rd this year because the 4th fell on a Sunday). Cline took Christa, who rode in the boat with cousin Maggie Beth and great-grandparents. Mi-Mi was kind enough to stay with Abby Kate so that I could participate in the parade, and Pa kept her while I enjoyed a little of the BBQ afterward.
Abby Kate's 1st 4th of July - She was feeling much better by the end of the 4th, so we did make it to a late-night dinner at Applebee's with Cline's family, giving me a chance to debut her cute outfit, that I purchased with great anticipation weeks in advance :)
On Tuesday, I had a long-distance play date scheduled with a nursing school friend. We started off at the American Girl Cafe, which was delicious!
After lunch, we went to a place called Play, a kiddie gym with trampolines, slides, inflatables, and a very fun foam pit.
Abby Kate quickly discovered that she could scale the slide....
.... and was so proud of herself when she made it to the top! (2 days later, we went to a local inflatable business as a reward for Christa, and she climbed huge slides with no trouble at all! If she slid down a little, she just scooted herself right back up - fearlessly!)
On Wednesday, we cashed in a library summer reading coupon to the Creative Discovery Children's Museum in Chattanooga with some neighborhood friends. I didn't get too many great pictures, because Christa was more interested in gluing construction paper together (something I could have done easily and cheaply from home :) We had a fun day, nonetheless, and I really enjoyed having so much activity, even though it was a lot for one week.
Abby Kate enjoyed the mirrors at the museum.
Digging for dinosaur bones.
Abby Kate is growing so fast. She was 10 months old yesterday! (Although this picture is from a couple of weeks ago).
Playing on the new birthday (and Christmas if we can get away with it:) present for both girls - a swing set!
We rented a bounce house for the party, and the kids had a blast! I originally wanted to have the party at a local bounce-house-sort-of-place, but I was told Saturdays are a bad day to do that, because there are lots of parties going on, and it's chaos! I was afraid Christa wouldn't enjoy that, so we rented one and had a private bounce house party!
Christa's Toy Story cake! (No, I am not talented enough to make that, and yes, it did taste as good as it looks)!
Our family celebrating our little girl's big day.
Christa got lots of great presents, including a princess castle, a baby doll high chair, some Barbie dolls,and Toy Story items!
A pinata was included in our party package, so the kids had some fun getting to the candy! Cline has vetoed future pinatas, though, due to some close calls with the stick and several short heads :)
On her actual birthday.
