Six months of Abby!

Wow! Time really does fly. The older I get, the faster it seems to go. It seems like just yesterday I was pregnant with Abby and now here we are -- she is half a year old! 

We have had such a fun time over the past few months making memories with Abby. She is very personable and loves to smile and talk. She loves her big brother and laughs at him constantly. In fact, the very first time she laughed it was at him. Nate is back in preschool so Abby gets to spend her days with me. She gets so excited when we pick Nate up from school. 

Every time I look at Abby I see her daddy. She looks so much like Matt. Like her father and brother, she is also a night owl. She is also very laid back, but can be stubborn when she chooses. She is a very happy baby and we are so happy to have her in our lives! Here are a few pictures of our life with Abby over the past six months.

This is actually the first onsie we ever bought for Nate. Abby got a few wears out of it, too! 

Big Daddy was able to come visit 

Abby's face in this picture cracks me up!  

Abby will occasionally hang out in her crib. 

They love each other, but sometimes the playing gets a little too involved on Nate's part. 

Nate was sharing his blanket with Abby this morning. This is a big deal if you know Nate and if you know how much he loves his blanket! 

You can tell these two are related!

She is mid-sentence while hanging out in her swing.

As with Nate, I have been taking monthly pictures with Abby next to Mr. Potato Head. It is getting harder and harder to take these pictures now that she is able to squirm and move a lot more! I love these pictures because it gives me a month by month progression of her growing little self!

Our little girl is growing up so quickly! With Nate our pediatrician gave us the all clear for eyes not changing at six months. Now that we have hit that mark with Abby, I think it is safe to say that Miss Abby will be keeping her pretty blues! The past six months have been a blast and I can't wait to see what the next six hold.

CHRISTMAS!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Matt was on call, but thankfully we were able to spend a little time with him on Christmas Day. My parents came in to town the Sunday before Christmas and left on Christmas Day. They had a fun time hanging out with the kids and getting to see them open their presents. This was the first time that we had grandparents in town on Christmas to see the kids. It was nice! We cooked a turkey and had Honeybaked Ham the Sunday before Christmas and by Christmas Eve I was all cooked out. Traditionally, we would visit Mamma Lucia's and have an Italian Christmas Eve dinner; however, they were booked so we ended up at Outback. It was delicious! Santa came while we were out eating and Nate was so excited to open up his (and Abby's) gifts. Here are a few pictures from our Christmas this year.

My dad quickly became Abby's favorite after he kept taking her for walks outside and holding her nonstop! 

So many toys! 

These two sat back and watched the action 

All Nate asked Santa for this year was a red BMW. Amazingly, Santa came through!

Abby got Nate a Jack Skellington shirt for Christmas. To say he loved it would be an understatement. I have washed this shirt so many times since he opened it. If it is warm outside his first request is his Jack shirt. If it is dirty, he understands, but is not happy. 

On cloud nine in his Jack shirt!

We had a lazy Christmas hanging out at home and our friend, Andrea, came over for dinner. I cooked a buffalo chicken lasagna and it turned out pretty good! I was a little weary at first, but it was an easy recipe and delicious. We will be having this again! It was sad to think that this was our last Christmas in Jacksonville, but we are looking ahead to what next year might bring.

Bama Bound with the Babies

Matt had a work conference to attend at the end of October so my mother and I packed up the kids and made our way to Alabama. It was an interesting car ride with two small ones, but we survived. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, but we did manage to squeeze in some time with as many family members as possible. Abby got to meet her aunts, uncles, cousins, and great grandparents. She loved all of the attention and Nate loved all of the play time he got with the cousins and grand parents.

We made our first stop in Chelsea to visit with Adam, Megan, John, Noah, Nanny, and Dedaddy. Everyone had a great time visiting and the kids enjoyed getting to spend the day together playing.

Renee and Tim had just got back from a trip to Jamaica. All of the boys received rasta hats as souvenirs. 

Abby got to meet Matt's granddad, Dedaddy 

Nate had a blast playing with Noah and John. Nate especially loved Noah's Lego collection.

On Sunday my brother, Chanlee, and Indiana came up to visit. Nate woke up not feeling so well this morning, but thankfully got to feeling better. He and Indiana spent time playing and later on we roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. 

This picture cracks me up! It is pretty much impossible to get three children to look at the camera (much less smile) at the same time. 

Fire pit time! 

Abby got to meet my grandmother on this trip. 

On Monday my dad and I took Nate to the Falls. He got to see the animals and ride the train. We ate lunch at Jack's and Nate spent some time on the playground.

On Tuesday Shannon came up to visit and meet Miss Abby. As usual we had our lunch at Villa Fiesta and caught up on the latest news. Abby tagged along with us and had her first visit to Villa!

Shannon and Abs

I cannot stress how rotten Abby was after this trip! She was constantly held and was given so much attention! Here she is with one of her favorite people...

On our way out of town we had to take a detour through Chelsea since I left some of the kids' things at Adam and Megan's house. We met up with Megan and John at Burger King and Nate was able to get in one last play date before we left.

Cousins!

We came back from Alabama just in time for Halloween. We got back in to town Thursday afternoon and Matt arrived late Thursday evening. We did Halloween on Friday and by Saturday we were back on the road. Matt had a week of vacation the first week of November and we decided to take a trip to Gulf Shores and spend a little time with Matt's dad, or Big Daddy. We got to take a boat ride and see some dolphins. Nate loved the ride, but was none to thrilled with the sun being in his eyes. 

 This is about the best picture I could get of Nate. He was not happy with me for leaving his sunglasses behind.

Abby was bundled up in her life jacket. At first she wasn't a fan, but she came around.

We took the boat to Tacky Jacks and had lunch. Afterwards, Nate spent some time playing on their playground. November is a decent (and not so crowded) time to visit the beach. It was a little too chilly to actually go to the beach, but the weather was nice enough to enjoy some outdoor activities.

On the playground at Tacky Jacks

Playing in the sand with Big Daddy 

Abby had a great time using Big Daddy for her naps!

Everyone hanging out at the condo 

 These two look so much alike!

After hanging at the condo for a few days, we took a quick trip over to Pensacola. Matt previously had an interview there so we decided to go back and do a community tour and check it out a little more. While there we got to meet up with our old college buddy, Patrick, who flies planes for the Air Force. Nate got to go visit and see some of the planes at NAS Pensacola. Patrick gave us some ear plugs for Abby before we went out to see the planes. You will notice in the next picture who eventually took over the earplugs.....

Our balcony overlooked the beach and he loved playing out there! 

 This picture is a rarity! All three people are somewhat looking at the camera and no one is moving so it is not fuzzy!

We had a fantastic time visiting with family and friends in October and November. We were on the go so much that time flew by so quickly! It was also great to have a little vacation time together.

Fall Fun

Once again I have fallen behind on my blogging. It is amazing what having two little ones will do to any free time and/or energy you may have. We have had a fun, crazy, and hectic few months. Let's start with some of our fun fall activities. 

Nate is all about Halloween. Seriously. It's his favorite holiday. You can ask him which he likes better, Halloween or Christmas, and Halloween wins out. I'm not sure if it's the decorations, costumes, or candy that make him love it so, but he does. This year we went to the pumpkin patch where he picked out a pumpkin for himself and Abby. Here are a few shots from our trip:

Nate decided he needed a Jack Skellington pumpkin. He was not a fan of gutting the pumpkin, but he sure did love the carving tools. Matt ended up doing most of the hard work.

For Halloween Nate was Bumblebee from Transformers and Abby was candy corn. Here is a picture of both in their costumes.

Halloween arrived finally for Nate and our sweet friends, Catie and Rob, invited us over to their house again this year to trick or treat with their kids, Will and Olivia. We had a great time hanging out with their family and friends. Nate, once again, was not shy at all and loved running up to doors and saying "Trick or Treat." 

Bumblebee Nate with Tinkerbell Olivia and Ghost Will 

Abby was perfectly content in her Halloween outfit that we decided not to bother her with the actual costume. She had a fun time riding the the stroller while Nate roamed the streets.

 Here is Abby in another of her Halloween outfits!

My crew on Halloween!

The day after Halloween Nate woke up and was ready to go again. He had a very hard time understanding that Halloween only lasts one day of the year and was very disappointed that he had to wait another full year for it to come again. We had a wonderful Halloween and are looking forward to what next year brings.

As far as Thanksgiving goes, I was a bad mom and didn't have the camera around for much of the festivities. Matt was not off, but we did get to spend a little time together as a family. One of his attendings invited us over for Thanksgiving and we had a blast! There were other residents there with their families and everyone was able to relax and enjoy the food and company. I will greatly miss all of our Jacksonville friends next year.