2008

What a year this has been. Full of deaths and births and weddings and job changes and moves ......Cancer took a friend and machete wielding men in Guatemala took another.

We left Las Vegas behind for somewhere familiar and sweet, though we miss the things about it that made us last there for three years (sunshine, the pool, dear dear friends, good Mexican food, our garden). We have a baby. I have a Masters Degree. Dan has a new job. I have a new job. We have learned to live in new ways, to love in ways we never thought possible and to let go of someone close to our hearts and pray for the best. We celebrated graduations, weddings, birthdays, holidays and new beginnings. We moved Patty into Warren Hall and rejoiced with her excitement in a new life, new chances, new people, new experiences. We have walked with her through lessons and loneliness and hope.

When you become a mother a lot of funny things happen. You learn to value your life in a way you never did before. I now hesitate before stepping on a plane, getting in a car, driving through intersections, walking down the street. People depend on me. One sweet, defenseless little girl depends on me. In the same way, you learn to value those around you and close to you in ways you never did before. With the birth of a child comes a new understanding of family and friendship. I want to share this little 10 month old light with those who are close to me, for them to experience the joy that I get to live with everyday. Don't get me wrong...its hard...so very hard. Some days I feel as if I have completely lost myself, or maybe just who I thought I was and some days it feels as if it is all completely pointless and mundane. There are dirty diapers, feedings that never end, messes, sleepless nights, runny noses, and lots and lots of tears. And yet somehow everyday I wake feeling that this is the best thing I have ever done and perhaps will ever do.

I have more hope now than ever...even though I see more death and evil and darkness in this world than ever before. But I must have hope for the children, for my children. I must believe there is goodness and I do believe.

2008 was a crazy crazy year for us and I feel as if we are just now settling down. But there were some great things.

Here are some of my favorite things about 2008.

The Office

newborn baby breath

pandora.com

Abbigail's laugh

A white Christmas

jobs, family, friends, houses, food

loving husband and adoring father

Obama 08

hand-me-down baby clothes

root beer

doctors

$1.50 gas

Green Bluff

A wonderful four years of marriage

pesto and cream cheese

Buffalo Wild Wings

moving back to Spokane

SNOW

baby playdates

working part-time

Trader Joes (I miss you)

Alaska

Playing the Wii

graduating!

Surviving.

See you later 2008.

First Christmas!

Abbigail's first Christmas has come and gone. She had fun opening presents, although as you can imagine she was much more interested with the wrapping paper than they toys themselves. And on top of that, much more interested in sneaking over and climbing up the stairs than opening presents.

This was our attempt at a Christmas Eve family photo. We obviously need to get a tripod. And a baby that will hold still for pictures.

Snow

We are starting to think that it will never stop snowing. The forecast says snow every day for the rest of the year. Which sounds like a long time but is really only like a week.

Here is a before shot of Abbigail.

And after. Apparently she hates the snow. Or maybe it is the giant bubble-gum pink snowsuit that was regifted to us by my friend Amy in Las Vegas. I think its the snowsuit.

white christmas

It may seem that I have taken a hiatus from life, thus the absence of any new blog entries. Not so. Simply, we have moved again in the past month and therefore my life has been full of unpacking boxes and settling in. I have so many new fun pictures to post...but we have not finished hooking our computer up and I always feel that I have much less to say than I do pictures to share.

In other news, it has snowed over two feet in Spokane over the last 48 hours. Feels like my childhood all over again. I love it.

Has anyone ever heard of this blog www.dooce.com? I discovered it after watching her on the Today show one morning. If you are a mother or mother-to-be then you might particularly enjoy it. It makes me laugh out loud sometimes. Just thought I'd share.

Happy Holidays.

Mirrors and Ponytails.

Abbigail recently discovered her reflection.
And I recently discovered that her hair will go into a ponytail. :)

Halloween

Although you really can't go trick-or-treating with an 8 month old, seeing as they don't eat candy...well, shouldn't eat candy...Abbigail still dressed up for Halloween this year.

Obama 08

Abbigail says, Don't forget to Vote!

7 month birthday

Okay, so I am realizing that I suck at keeping a blog, seeing as I haven't posted since September 16. Please forgive me all you devoted blog readers...ha ha.

Abbigail turned 7 months on the 8th of October. I can't believe it. Our little 4 lb. baby is now over 16 lbs and 26 inches. She loves any food we give her and I am sure she will be all-out crawling within the week. She is amazing. Her hair just keeps growing and growing and I'm afraid I might have to trim it soon so it stays out of her eyes. And the most defined eyebrows of any baby I have ever seen!

For those of you who haven't heard the story, Abbigail was born 7 weeks early due to some crazy circumstances. Here are some pictures when she was born, just so you can be amazed at how much a baby can grow in 7 months.

Smallest foot in the world

Abbigail next to Dan's hand on the day she was born.

A couple days after she was born...the first time we got to hold her.

Hairy monkey baby.

In the isolette (incubator).And finally going home, three weeks later, at 5 lbs.

Seven months later she is a thriving, growing, almost crawling eating machine!

new adventures in solid food eating

We got Abbigail a highchair this weekend. She absolutely loves sitting in it, well she at least loves trying to sit in it. After a little bit she usually slouches to one side and I have to pull her back up. She loves the process of eating solid food...though I am not sure why they refer to baby food as "solid food" because it definitely is not solid. She seems to be enjoying the new tastes and textures.

She also is trying really really hard to crawl. She gets so frustrated and smashes her face into the ground over and over as she tries to get some forward motion out of her unwilling body.

Such are the events of our very exciting and fun-filled day!

six months cuter

So the past few days I think Abbigail has somehow increased her cuteness factor by like 1 million. I don't know what it is...her personality starting to come out, the raspberry blowing, sitting like a big kid in her new highchair, her eyes getting bluer everyday, her sudden expertise at rolling over and attempting to crawl, or her giggling and babbling...whatever it is she just wins my heart over, over and over. I am amazed at how much love for this little person that I barely even know.

On another subject, I am reminded of how much I love Spokane in the fall and am anticipating all the festivities of the months to come. I love this season here! After three years of no seasons, I am looking forward to the time that we are entering...apple picking, pumpkin carving, sweaters, crisp mornings, the smell of snow on its way, hot chocolate, hot cider, hot tea...I love it. Thank God for seasons.

Okay, so I'm starting a blog. Mostly it's because I want to share pictures of the cutest baby in the world with you all and partly it's because I like to talk about myself.

Abbigail turned 6 months old yesterday. It is amazing to watch her grow and change, each day so new and refreshing. She threw her first tantrum yesterday, when I took a toy away so I could put a shirt on her...is this normal? Do six month olds really throw tantrums? I was impressed at how loud she can scream when she really gets going.

We live in Spokane now, for those who haven't heard. We had enough of Las Vegas and so here we are. Dan is the new youth director at Whitworth Pres and I start my job this week, but I'll write more about that later. We are loving Spokane...the city, the people, the weather and the classic Northwest beauty. There are things I miss about Las Vegas, but not enough to make me want to stay.