After lunch today I told Abby it was time for her nap.  She held up her hand and said, "Just five minutes.  Just five minutes."  And the stall tactics begin.....

She's also started responding, "No WAY!"  (The amazed 'no kidding" or "get out of town" no way, not the defiant "I'm not going to do it" no way)  It's rather humorous.....

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear A-bby....Happy Birthday TO YOU!!

Abby reached the two year mark!!  It was basically a regular day until Kaydee got home from school--other than the colorful bracelets Mommy bought her at WalMart.  After we picked Kaydee up from school, we cashed Greema's birthday check and hit the dollar store.  She picked out a hot pink bouncy ball and spent a whopping $1.30.  Such a saver---she'll have money for the next trip.  And at this rate several trips after that.....  We came home and she opened her gifts--she got books from Kaydee, two matching games from Mommy, and a bag full of goodies (coloring book, video, game, baby doll) from MeeMa & Pap. She says "THANK YOU, EVERYONE!"  Daddy took us all to the Atlanta Zoo today to celebrate.  It was HOT and HUMID and not so much fun for Mommy & Daddy but Kaydee and Abby loved looking at the "animals" as Abby called all of them.  She kept calling for "MORE ANIMALS!!"  We tried to go to the Cyclorama today too, but it didn't work out---we didn't realize they'd started a 20 min explaination followed by a 30 min video before you even got into the cyclorama.....and since it was nearly 1pm & way past lunch we ended up leaving.

In honor of her special day, my top 5 favorite things about Abby:

1.  Abby is CHEERFUL.  She is almost always smiling and laughing and joking.  (Although her nursery leaders would never know it......)

2.  Abby is LOVING.  She gives the best huggies and mooshies.  She ADORES her big sister---it is so neat watching them together.  They take such good care of each other.

3.  Abby is FUNNY.  Yesterday she gave me a detailed explaination of the toilet---how it works, where you flush, what the water does, where it goes.....you haven't lived until you've heard a 2 year old explain toilets and Pee Pee. 

4.  Abby is MUSICAL.  She loves to sing.  If you ever call our cell phones while we're in the car you will hear Abby singing.  Her favorite songs are "The Wheels on The Bus", "Book of Mormon Stories", and "A Peanut Sat on a Railroad Track" (See video in August Album of her singing the peanut song)

5.  Abby is INDEPENDENT.  One of her favorite phrases is "I TRY!"  But because she is so persistant she can dress herself with minimal help, and put her own shoes and socks on.  She can cimb into the car and even the truck by herself.  With the help of the stool she can wash her own hands, help with dishes, get her own water, and sometimes even get into the chocolate cupboard. :-)  I love that she wants to try to do EVERYTHING by herself. 

WE LOVE YOU, ABBY!! WE ARE SO BLESSED TO HAVE YOU IN OUR FAMILY!!!!

There are lots of birthday & zoo pictures in the August Album.

Kaydee would like to sum up her first day of kindergarten with one simple word: Wow.

She had a great first day.  She says her favorite part of Kindergarten is recess.  (Quick learner.)  Her other favorite part is everything else.  (Go figure.)  She loves her teacher, she's already made some new friends (although she can't remember their names), she got to go to the computer lab today and she ate all of her lunch and loved it. (She had "square raviolis and square white crackers and green beans and peaches and milk---white milk".)  The only negative thing she had to say was that she is mad that I didn't sign her up to ride the bus.  "You check 'car rider every single day', Mom.  Why did you do that?  I want to ride the bus like everyone else in my class."  Sorry, charlie. And just for your information, everyone in her class does NOT ride the bus. 

Abby had a rough start to the day without her playmate....she spent a great deal of time calling for Kaydee and kissing her picture.  She ran to KD and gave her a great big hug when we got home.  And now they're playing together and everything is groovy again.  Let's hope the rest of the year is just as much fun.....now if I could only figure out what we're supposed to with her homework assignment.....

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURE

Well, we're back from a 2 week vacation in Utah.  We had a fantastic time....except for Shane came home with the swine flu. (Self diagnosed....we'll see what the doctor says...)

Here are the highlights of our trip:

*We went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House and it was b*e*a*u*t*i*f*u*l.  Abby especially loved the "temple water" (fountain out front) and Kaydee just thought the whole thing was great.

*We went swimming at the "beach" (what Kaydee called the Gunnison Bend Reservoir)  Both Kaydee and Abby had fun splashing in the water, building sand castles, and swimming in the icky fish water. (I was less than enthusiastic after having been spoiled by chlorinated pools lately....I just like being able to see what I'm walking on.....)

*We drove out to Callao to visit Uncle Don & Aunt Beth at the ranch.  Just the girls went (Greema, me, Virginia, Dorothee, Kaydee & Abby) so we had a fun road trip.  Aunt Beth took us for a tour in the Gator--Abby LOVED it.  She stood up right behind Aunt Beth and shouted "WEE!" as we drove through gulleys and blazed through cokkleburs. [intentionally mispelled to avoid censoring] She also loved all the "animals"  (both cows and horses are "animals" and there is no convincing her otherwise....although she does know that horses say "Neigh" and cows say "Moo"...go figure.)  We had a picnic in the upper field where Uncle Don was cutting hay.  Then we walked around the yard and showed the girls where we had played and climbed trees when we were growing up.  We also went through the Pony Express Station and Kaydee signed the guest book.

*We got to celebrate Pioneer Day in Hinckley--and it was AWESOME.  My dad's cousin Ted and his wife Barbara and their son Blaine came (as they do every year) and it was so good to see them. Kaydee called them "the guests."  She asked if she could sit by "the guests" at the parade.  It was hilarious.  Kaydee and Abby brought home 2 grocery sacks FULL of candy (I kid you not--the sacks were FULL).  Abby had a small mishap with her diaper midway through the parade---one of the velcro straps broke and her diaper slipped through her shorts and down her leg.  HA HA!

The speaker of the day was Elder Richard G. Hinckley  and that was REALLY neat.  He talked about our Pioneer heritage and I took Kaydee and Abby up to shake his hand after the program. 

We went to the rodeo that night--both Kaydee and Abby had a great time staying up WAY past their bedtimes.  Kaydee asked why they call it a "Hide Race" if nobody hides, and if they used "real bulls."  Abby kept saying, "This is FUN!"  and when the cowboys would come out of the shoot or the cowgirls would start the barrel races she would say, "Here we go!"  After the bulls she told Shane, "I want a bull." 

*We went up the Oak City Canyon for a "Mountainous Adventure" aka picnic in the woods and it was especially fun because Blaine was still there and joined us for dinner and games. 

We flew home Tuesday.....and now we're getting ready for school to start next week.  WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO!?!?!?

Thanks, Mom & Dad (Greema & PopPop) for a SUPER TIME!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!! (And miss you!)

There are WAY too many pictures to choose just one for the front page, so go check ALL of them out in the July Album!! 

So....Abby ran directly from the tub to her crib.....to get out her most beloved sleepy-time buddies:  Bumby, Giraffe, Bear, & Book.  She sleeps with these four items every night.  It has to be a certain book, by the way--a small board book about Jesus loving the children.  So here she is in action:  CLICK HERE FOR PICTURE

We had a fun July 4th---we drove to Alpharetta to visit family.  Kaydee and Abby enjoyed seeing the horses (Abby called them "Animals").  Kaydee even rode Dusty. Of course I left my camera at home...such is always the story. But the girls had fun and it was nice to see Bobby & Wynona and Ray & Juanita.  Happy Birthday, America! (More pics in July Gallery) CLICK HERE FOR PICTURE

So I made the mistake on Monday to mention that today is Kaydee's "Half Birthday"---she's 5 1/2 today.  Well, she started planning a party at the jumpy place with all of her friends and their friends with cakes and pizza and movies and slumber parties and candy and popcorn and music and dancing....you get the idea.  Luckily she settled for a morning of swimming and lunch at McDonald's with Davis.  And two other friends from school were there so it turned out to be a party after all.  Thank you, Davis & Miss Emily for a super fun day!! See all the pictures in the July Media Gallery.

(On a side note....Abby L*O*V*E*S Miss Emily!  And for any of you who know Abby....she does NOT warm up to adults easily.  If at all.  She usually clams up and sticks to Mommy like glue.  Well, she talks Miss Emily's ear off and today she even let Miss Emily hold her in the pool!! For Abby that is HUGE!  Guess I know who I'm going to use as a babysitter in the future...... ;-) )

We had great plans to go swimming at the Y yesterday.  We gathered up the floating ring for Abby, Kaydee's kicking board, towels, change of clothes, and extra swimmy diapers; slathered ourselves with SPF 55, put on our bathing suits, loaded into the truck and drove to the YMCA.  The parking lot was packed.  People were parked on the grass.  Shane said there must be a tournament or something.  Yep.  There was a swim meet.  I think all of Barrow County was at the Winder YMCA pool yesterday.  So we drove home and set up the next best thing:  the wading pool.  The girls spent most of the day in the water and had a great time. 

Pictures in June 2009 gallery

With all the spotlight on Kaydee lately, I thought it was time to give some blog time to Abs. Oh, she looks cute and sweet.  And she IS cute and sweet.  Except when she's mischievious and defiant....or hitting her sister.....or running and hiding when she's asked to do something.....or emptying the kitchen cupboards.....or pulling all the library books onto the floor......or hurling toys at the back of Mommy's head in the car.....or spitting/hitting/kicking while dropping to the floor in limp-toddler-mode because she is not getting her way......or clasping her hands together because you told her she needed to "hold a hand' and she figures her own hand is just as good as Mommy's or Daddy's.....

But then she gives you a hug and tells you "So-ee" (sorry) and loves on you so you forget what a little imp she can be.  She shares her "Emmee Ems" (M&Ms) and "Baa-bees" (Barbies) with Kaydee.  She has the voice of a song bird and the moves of Fred Astair (okay...maybe more like Michael Jackson....).  She loves the "Wheels on the Bus" and popsicles.  She can dribble a soccer ball and drive a car.  (Okay....so it's a Little Tykes Pink Coupe...)  

Life is always interesting with Abby.  We're so happy she' s in our family!  Remember to turn up the volume below the video (Wheels on Bus)

Kaydee's Preschool Graduation was last night.  It was bittersweet watching Kaydee and her friends march in to Pomp & Circumstance.  Her class did an AWESOME job reciting Psalm 23 and their poem.  I was so proud of them.  Meema, Pap, Gammie, Babu, Aunt GoGo (no one in our family has "normal" nicknames in case you were wondering), Addie & Isaac all traveled down from Ohio and West Virginia to come to the graduation.  It was neat to have them there!  I have lots of pictures of the cousins but didn't feel like uploading them all today....maybe tomorrow....

Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures of Kaydee's graduation in the May album! CONGRATULATIONS Kaydee!! (And Davis, Katie, Anabelle, Kaden, Owen, Jamie, Ansley, Jacob, and Gavyn!  Miss Lisa's class was GREAT last night!