Yes, I know it’s been awhile.  Things are just too crazy and special to find time to blog.  The only time I get a chance to be alone is when the girls’ naps overlap, and all I wanna do at that time is relax.  Sorry.  I will continue to post, but it’s not gonna be every day– or maybe even every week.  If you want to subscribe with RSS, you’ll be able to keep track of my posts better.

Here’s my lazy way of recording memories . . .

• We went to a concert by Josh Wilson.  He is a friend from High School and has now made a name for himself in the Christian music world.  I’m so proud of him; he’s ridiculously talented and a great Christian guy.  So, do yourself a favor and check out his music.  Below is a picture of us in HS and a picture of him at the concert.

• Our family was on the second page of our city’s newspaper last Friday.  Out of the 95 pictures they took at the concert, they chose ours to be featured in the newspaper.

• Abi is potty training.  She’s gone a few days of being completely dry- but we’re having issues with the pooping.  Any tips!??

• Abi melts our hearts lately with the stuff she says about God.  Yesterday, she said, “I’m gonna get the monkey baptized. It goes like this. He goes under the water.” Then 10 minutes later, “I’m gonna lie Rachel down and get her baptized.”  She can say all the New Testament books by herself and sings tons of “adult” Christian songs by herself.

• Lydia is 4 months now and sleeps 11.5 hours at night.  Yesterday, I had to wake her up for church.  Thank you Lord for happy sleepers who fit into our scheduling plans.



• I’m gonna start making Lydia baby food in the next few weeks.

• I’ve frozen my Amish bread starter, so I’m done with that for awhile. I’m happy to say that with 5 different times of making it, I only threw away one starter.  And really, I made Jonathan do it because I can’t stand to waste food- or well, anything.  It’s a blessing . . .  and a curse.
• I’ve been doing lots of crafty things lately

• Jonathan and I are starting to read Crazy Love.  I just finished reading The Last Song, so I’m ready for a new Nicholas Sparks book to come out.  I’m also gonna start reading a Jodi Picoult book and an Ann Brashares book.  They’re on my desk right now, begging for me to pick them up, so I think I will.
  

On Tuesday, Brasil will be playing their first game in the 2010 World Cup!  Finalmente!  We’re gearing up for tomorrow’s big game; here’s my to-do list:

1. Make Abigail a Brasil soccer shirt with freezer stenciling (Check out the picture.  I’ll do a tutorial for how you can make your own personalized shirts–if you want–at some point in time.) ✓
   
2. Make Lydia a Brasil shirt  ✓
   
3. Get a new WC Brasil shirt for me ✓ (thanks Judy!)
4. Make Brigadeiros
5. Make Pao de Queijo ✓
   
6. Have Guarana ready to drink  ✓ (thanks Daniel!  I only have two left from my Xmas/Bday gift.  I’m drinking on for Brasil’s opening game and saving the other for the final, in which I hope Brasil will be playing.)
7. Pray that the girls will be napping or otherwise not needing my attention during the game. ✓
8. Celebrate like crazy

Va Brasil. O tudo mundo tenta, mas so Brasil e penta!!!

We had planned to have Abigail’s birthday party at a really cool park, but due to dreary weather, we had it indoors at our church.  I wasn’t brave enough to invite tons of kids, so we settled on 3 of her friends who will all be turning two next month.  It went surprisingly well.

We had pizzas from Sam’s.  I made some yummy fruit dip to go with grapes, apples, and strawberries.

We brought 4 soccer balls, so the kids could each have one to play with during play times.

And the kids were so great when Abigail opened her presents.

I think the biggest hit was when Abigail got a tricycle; they all wanted to ride it.  Eventually, it caused a few tears, so we put it away.

Then, we ate the cake.

Then, it was time to pack up and take naps!

Abigail had fun.  When we ask her “How old are you, now?”, she says, “Ummm, I am two!”  Also, if we’d say, “What’s today?”, she’d say, “It’s Abigail’s birthday.”  It was neat that this year, she understood what was going on.  All day long, she kept asking for her soccer ball cake.

Here are some things she had learned before her 2nd birthday:

• She knows all her colors!
• She counts to 20 but forgets 13 and 16 sometimes.
• She can say her ABCs all by herself.  She also recognizes them, too.  And certain words, she can read, like, “Duck, Dog, Frog, Alright, Cowboys, Pig, Monster, etc . . .”
• She can almost say all the New Testament books by herself.  It’s amazing.
• She communicates almost like an adult.  The only question we think she doesn’t understand fully is “Why . . . ?”
• She blows bubbles from the bubble wand.
• She notices and comments on her shadow.
• She talks to and kisses my belly.  I think she really understands that there’s a baby in there.

Just doing a quick note for my sweet baby:  You turned TWO YEARS old today.  I can’t believe it!  You’re our greatest joy.  We love you sooooo much.  I’ll do another post with pictures and memories of the event.  You were great!

Sorry about neglecting the site . . . again.  Things have just been so crazy around here with still being pregnant sick, having appointments, getting Abigail’s big girl room ready, new baby planning, moving furniture, organizing, and prepping for Abigail’s birthday, along with the usual housewife stuff I need to do.

Our house looks pretty rough right now– as far as clutter and organization.  I’m typing from in the DINING room.  We used to have an office, but now, that’s turning into Abigail’s big girl room.  As I look around the dining room, there are SIX tables/desks in here: the kitchen table, my computer desk, Jonathan’s computer desk, my sewing machine desk, Abi’s play table, and the new baby’s changing table.  Wow.

Over the weekend, Jonathan and I cleaned out the office/guest room/storage closet.  Then he tore out an intercom and patched it up with drywall, primed the room, and painted the baseboards.  Then, we tediously measured and taped off one wall.  Thank goodness my measurements I had done earlier in February were accurate!

Then, I took Abigail over to my parents to take a nap so Abigail and Baby wouldn’t be around all the fumes and noise.  Earlier that week, our friends offered to come help Jonathan paint the room.  Yea for good friends.

And here’s what the other walls look like:

Definitely very pink.  Oh well, Abigail loves it.  So, we just have to replace the outlets and switches and covers, get new carpet, insulate the windows, figure out what I’m gonna do for window treatments (any ideas, when the windows are narrow and don’t touch the ground?), move in her furniture, and it’s all hers.

If I get any comments/emails about the block wall, I’ll try to do a tutorial of how to make it happen . . . but not this week.  I’m getting my braces off (!), buying stuff for Abigail’s party, making the cake and dip and drinks, etc, and working on Abigail’s video of year 1-2.  I can’t believe she’ll be TWO on Sunday.

**Oh, and by the way, since our Vday project, here’s what I had to do for Jonathan: 1) Write and perform a rap song about Jonathan, 2) Watch a Sci-Fi movie of his choosing (YUCK!).  Here’s what he drew for me to do: 1) Bring Lori a blizzard, 2) Play wii with Lori.  Now, who do you think got it rough?!

***Go here to see Abigail’s (mostly) completed room.***

Jonathan and I were blessed to have a Babymoon weekend.  After Jonathan got home from work on Friday, we took Miss Abi to my parents’ house.  They were kind enough to watch her all day/night from Friday until Sunday church.  That was the longest time I’ve been away from her.

Instead of traveling 4 hours to my parents’ condo in the mountains, which was covered with snow, we decided to stay at our house.  Here were our rules: no cell phones (except to say goodnight to Abigail), no computer usage (except to watch hulu shows together), and we said we’d be able to spend the amount we would’ve spent on gasoline ($100) on going out to eat and doing other fun things.

So, Friday night, we ate at Carino’s.  This has been an eventful place for us.  It’s where we had our first date, where I told Jonathan we were pregnant with Baby #2, and the place from where I ended up getting really sick the last two times I’ve eaten there (my Birthday in December and Babymoon weekend).  So, I will not be partaking in their food for the next several months– if ever again.  Ugh.  I’m 31 weeks; when will the vomiting end?!  Anyway, after that, we rented a movie, and I explained the rules to our Valentine’s project for the year (instructions and pictures here).

On Saturday, Jonathan made me breakfast in bed: Butterscotch and White Chocolate chip pancakes!  Yum.  Then, we relaxed around the house until noon when we went out to eat at Taco Bueno.  After that, we looked at the Dollar Store to get Abigail some Vday gifts, then I got a pedicure and manicure while Jonathan got his hair cut next door.  Later, we ate dinner at Garcia’s and had the best waiter ever!  We came home and watched shows on Hulu.

On Sunday, we saw our sweet girl at church.  Daddy got a homemade card from Abigail, I got a red rose and sweet card from Jonathan, and Abigail got some flash cards, two books, and Reeses’ Pieces.  Later that night, we made a fruit dip and ate strawberries (recipe to come later).  Apparently, Abigail adores strawberries now.

Anyway, in case you didn’t know, I have the best husband for me.  I’m so glad we were blessed to spend our 8th V-day together.

I’m thinking of starting a page on the blog of cute/funny things that Abigail has said.  I want to remember them, and with this pregnancy brain, that’s getting hard to do.

So, I’ll just leave you with a funny conversation Abigail had with our dog Sabra this morning.

Abi: Sissah, go potty.  Hurry up, Sissah.  Come in near.  Do you see the snow?  It’s white.

[I call Sabra inside from the snow.]

Abi: Sissah has snow on her hair.  You wanna clean it?

Me: No, it’s okay, it’ll just melt.

Abi: But Sissah’s wet.  Sissah, you want me dry you?  [She opens the hutch door to get out a kitchen hand towel.]

Me: It’s okay; the wet will go away.  Thank you, though.

Abi: Okay.  It’s okay, Sissah.  It’s alright.  Snow will go away.

~~~~

Later on, I saw a boogie in Abigail’s nose, so I asked her if she wanted to blow her nose.

Abi: Noooo, Abi keep the booger in the nose.

~~~~

And last night, Jonathan was brushing Abigail’s teeth when she started clicking her tongue,

Abi: :Lah nah lah nah lah.  I’m singing a song about Abi’s tongue.

Pretty sure she’s the cutest 23 month old EVER!

• This might be one of your longest sentences: “I wish the Uncle Daniel and the Uncle Josh were here.”
• You have started saying things that we have said (only days after we first said it) like: When you were feeding Sabra her dog food, you said, “It’s good to share, Momma.”  And when you were playing with something I told you days before that you shouldn’t play with, you said, “It’s dangerous for little girls.”
• Lately, you’ve been taking 1+ hour(s) to fall asleep some nights.  You just lie in bed talking and talking and talking.  Here’s one thing you said that made us laugh, “Abby is trying to get out of the crib.”  Also, after GramB’s birthday party, you yelled in a demonic voice, “Happy Birthday GramB . . .” about 100 times.
• Can count to 10 every time perfectly (which is in the video).  We’re working on 20 now.
• You’re getting so much better with your colors.  You always know orange, yellow, red, and green.  You normally call blue “black.”
• You have conversations with yourself.  You’ll says things like, “I’m going to the living room.  Wanna come?  Oooooookay.” or “This polar bear is white.  That’s right, Sissah (what she calls Sabra).”  or “Abi wants to get the box; I can’t a reach it.  Oh, Abi help.”
• We still love to hear you pray every night.  Here’s part of your prayer from last night, “Dear God, Thank you for the two doors over there.  One, two, three . . . Yeah.  That’s right!”
• You’ve memorized several of your books, like “The Monster at the End of the Book”, “Brown Bear” “Jamberry”, and “Safari Animals.”

Here’s her video below (If you’re reading in RSS, you’ll probably have to go to the site to see the video.  If you don’t have facebook, and you want to see the video, let me know.).

Go here to take the “Is it a Boy or a Girl?” poll.

Abigail was so fun to watch this Christmas.  This year, she was able to open presents by herself and say things like, “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  I like Santa Claus.  Santa Claus says, ‘Ho, ho, ho.’  Thank you for the present.”

Abi had 6 opportunities to open presents:

1. On Christmas Eve, we opened one present each.                                  



2. On Christmas Day, Jonathan, Abigail, and I opened presents at our house. 
3. Then, we went over to GramB and PapaBon’s and opened presents with my siblings, their spouses, and our nephew.                                                                                                



4. On the 26th, a package came in the mail, and she opened a present.
5. On the 27th, while Jonathan’s parents were here, she opened some more presents from them.                                                                                     



6. On the 28th, she opened some presents from my aunt and uncle.

On the 29th, she woke up and said, “May I have more presents [to] open, please.”  Umm, no, but nice try.

Other highlights:

• My parents got a toy dog that Abi named “Mr. Floppy” because his ears would flop as he sang a Christmas song.  At first, she was a little timid of him, but then, she started asking every two seconds to “Push Mr. Floppy’s paw” so she could dance, jump, and spin to his music.                                              



• It snowed about 7 inches early, early Christmas Eve.  In fact, the snow is still on the ground at our house.                                                                                          
• You can see more Christmas pictures here on the updated Photos page.

You can make a personalized video from Santa Claus to your child for FREE.

You fill out a short checklist about what your child’s name, what your child looks like, where he’s from, what he wants for Christmas, etc.

You can also upload a picture so that when Santa opens his “Naughty or Nice Book,” your child can see his photo.

To get an idea of what your video clip might look like, you can click here to see the video I made for my daughter.

And click here to make your own video.