By the way, Happy Halloween!

Did I get you, . . . again??  Bwah-ha-ha!

I’ll try to get pictures up of our costumes in the next few days.  Have a safe, happy, fun Halloween!

Are people always nagging asking you, “What do you want for Christmas/Birthday/Anniversary/ Wedding /_________?”  And it’s hard for you to think of something to tell them on the spot?  Or do you have a mom (ahem!) who suggests you make a  wish list?

Well, what happens when you want multiple things that aren’t found at the same store (Walmart v Target v Old Navy?  Or what if you see a book that’s cheaper on Half.com than it is on Amazon?  Don’t you wanna save the gift giver some money?  So, basically, you need a website that will combine gifts from other websites, right?

Meet the following free websites:

• Gift Wisdom
• The Things I Want
• Wish List R
• Delicious

I’m *pretty* sure the sites will let you:

• Add items to your lists from any website.
• Easily share your lists with friends.
• Add your lists to your own homepage.
• Establish who can and who cannot see your lists.

I’m using TheThingsIWant for this year.  It’s horrible web design, but it’s an easy interface.  Jonathan said Amazon has a universal wishlist, too.  I haven’t used it though.  Anyone used these?  Like them?  Dislike them?

[taken from my 9/30/08 post]

I had planned on doing a post last Tuesday (which didn’t happen) and then today on how to make baby burp cloths, but seeing as how I’m STILL pregnancy sick, I cannot gather the energy to do that.

Instead, I will solicit your help . . .

I’m trying to be informed about the flu and swine flu vaccines, so I can make a good decision for me, my unborn child, and Abigail.  I hear conflicting “evidence” as to the safety/harm of it all.

My OB said I should get the flu shot, but she didn’t mention the H1N1 shot, specifically.  I got the seasonal flu shot last year to try to protect Abigail and ended up getting flu symptoms four days later only for a day.  I predict that would happen again this time if I get the shot, but I wonder if that’s safe for baby if I show symptoms for a day?

And Abi hasn’t had her flu shot yet because they’re always out.

We live in Texas where 5151 people have been infected and 27 have died, as reported on July 24.  And it’s only gotten worse since then.  Two of Jonathan’s co-workers kids got swine flu and my hair dresser’s (who cuts hair in her home) daughter had it WHEN I WENT OVER THERE TO GET MY HAIR CUT . . . WITH ABIGAIL!  Ahh, thank goodness we didn’t get sick.  So, it’s not like it is not gonna get close to me.

Anyway, what’s your opinion on getting either shots?  Especially if you have  toddlers or are a pregnant, too, let me know.

A reader wanted to know if I was potty training Abigail.  Unfortunately, we are not, due to her medical condition, Kidney Reflux.

We were advised by the Urologist and Pediatrician not to start potty training her until at least 2 years of age.  Because of her Kidney Reflux, she has a tendency to hold her urine (Even during her VCUG, they had to squirt water on her girly parts for a LONG time to try to get her to pee), but also let it out in little bits very often (which is why her diaper seems to always be wet but not with much in it).  Also, there’s the risk of more Urinary Tract Infections when trying to potty train.

I have read other moms (very few; I need to find more!) talk about how potty training their Kidney Reflux child took longer and was more difficult than their normal child.  GREAT!  And most of them said they didn’t start until 3.

So, I actually need advice from parents who had to potty train a child with Kidney Reflux, as it might be different from training a child without this condition.  Anyone have tips?  Resources?

Or if anyone wants to share their experiences with potty training their non-kidney reflux kid for the other readers, please do so.

Remember when I posted this video about a Wedding Entrance.  Apparently “The Office” thought it was cool, too, and they copied it!  Awesome.

So, if you’re an Office fan and haven’t seen “The Office: Niagara, Part 2,” then warning: this is an except below.  Be sure to pay attention to 2:15; Jonathan and I laughed for about a half hour after seeing that part.  Gotta love Dwight.  And yes, I got a little teary eyed during the whole thing.  I like to blame it on the evil pregnancy hormones, but yea for PB&J finally getting married!

Huggies Enjoy the Ride Codes: (here are some codes I’ve posted in the past)

Worth 5 Points

• BCRRN DTQKC WPPGB
• BCRXS LGWCN NKPGB
• BDHDN FBJGH CMPGB
• PLWGF ZRJNX FWPGB
• QWBZL JFJLP MDPGB

Worth 1 Point

• BCBCK PXQNK KGPGB
• BCBHC JXSNF TWPGB
• BBXJG QPMKN NQPGB
• BCBZP BKPXP DHPGB
• BBQCX GGQBX SSPGB

Pampers Gifts to Grow Code= GRATUIT89102009 (1 point)

So this post is pretty much for family and me, since I haven’t been scrapbooking for Abigail (ooops. I kinda do the blog, so I can record her milestones).

Yesterday, before Abigail’s nap, I discovered that she remembers words in songs.  Here’s one of the songs I had previously made up for her (goes to the tune of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”).

1st Verse: Abi had a little dog, little dog, little dog.

Abi had a little dog; her name was Sabra.

2nd Verse: Everywhere that Abi went, Abi went, Abi went . . .

Everywhere that Abi went, Sabra was sure to go.

3rd Verse: Sabra followed Abi to church one day, church one day, church one day.

Sabra followed Abi to church one day which was against the rules.

4th Verse: It made the babies laugh and play, laugh and play, laugh and play.

It made the babies laugh and play to see a puppy at church.

5th Verse: Sabra and Abi are good friends, are good friends, are good friends.

Sabra and Abi are good friends and will be forever.

So, I sang the song to her before her nap.  On the last word (Sabra) of the first verse, I paused and pointed to Abi.  She said, “Sabra!”  YEA!  I tried to do the same thing with the 2nd and 3rd verses, but she didn’t play along.  Then, on the 4th verse, she said “Church.”  YEA!

Before our walk, I sang “If you’re happy and you know it, shout .  .  .” and paused, and she said, “Amen!” each time she was supposed to (this was without me saying amen).

So, we thought we’d show off for Daddy during bed time.  She said all of the words that are underlined/bolded below without any prompting or help or repeating.  Just on her own!

1st Verse: Abi had a little dog (sometimes I say puppy), little dog, little dog.

Abi had a little dog; her name was Sabra.

2nd Verse: Everywhere that Abi went, Abi went, Abi went

Everywhere that Abi went, Sabra was sure to go.

3rd Verse: Sabra followed Abi to church one day, church one day, church one day.

Sabra followed Abi to church one day which was against the rules.

4th Verse: It made the babies laugh and play, laugh and play, laugh and play.

It made the babies laugh and play to see a puppy at church.

5th Verse: Sabra and Abi are good friends, are good friends, are good friends.

Sabra and Abi are good friends and will be forever.

Wow!  Jonathan and I couldn’t believe it.  It made us in awe of God’s creation.  And it made us wonder how many other things she can do that we don’t know about because we haven’t “tested” her on them.

I’ve never liked Fruit Salad because most of the ones I’ve had at potlucks have marshmallows, gelatin, whip cream, or nuts in them.  But when I tried Diana’s, I loved it.  Here’s the easy, yummy recipe below:

1. Pour 1 Medium can crushed pineapple (in its own juice) into a bowl.
2. Stir in 1 Small box vanilla instant pudding.
3. Then add 3 - 4  Tablespoons of Tang (or you could save this step until the end**)
4. Add any amount of diced fruit: apples (Jonathan said he liked the apples in the mixture, but I didn’t like the hard texture with everything else being softer), grapes, bananas, strawberries, kiwi, oranges, etc.  Cutting up the fruit took awhile, but at least it’s easy and ready to serve right away.

**In hind sight, I think you should wait to mix the Tang until you’ve got your fruit in there.  I think 3 TBS was too much Tang for the amount of fruit I used.

So I’m a little slow these days getting posts up; sorry.  You might be slow, too, if you spent 100% of the day being nauseated and throwing up about 3x a day.  So, in case you didn’t get Abigail’s hint on Friday, I’m pregnant.  But I’ll talk about that later in many other posts, I’m sure.  It’s Abby time . . .

Here are some changes we’ve seen in Abigail over the past month:

• She loves to spin around.  She twirls in circles probably 10 different times during the day.  It’s fun to watch her get dizzy; she laughs at herself.
• She also likes to jump, and she’s getting better with throwing balls.  Sabra is finally playing fetch with her.  She’s already really precise with kicking a soccer ball (YEA!).
• She’s got at least 14 teeth.
• She’s becoming more of a Daddy’s Girl (yea!).  Because I’m not able to do much these days, Jonathan does 100% of her diaper changes, baths, etc when he’s home.  So, Abi’s going to him more when she wants a book read or wants a song played.
• She says pretty much every word we say.  She puts together 4-5 word sentences.
• She doesn’t want to get her picture taken much anymore because she wants to “watch” the digital screen on the camera instead.  You’ll see this in two of the video clips I put in her 18th Month Movie.
• She’s getting into stickers.  She’ll point to the one she wants and say, “Want this a one please”, and I’ll get it off for her.
• When she wants us to chase her, she’ll say, “I got you . . . bah, bah, bah, . . .”
• She’s wanting to be more independent: like in her eating (not wanting us to spoon/fork the food and give it to her).  And yet, she also wants to still be the baby: like in the last few weeks, she wants to be held more instead of her walking by herself.
• She sees friends–not just family– and calls them by name, without us having to say their name.

Well, here’s her 18th Month Movie below:

Abigail will give you a hint about why I haven’t been blogging lately . . .