Proof

A request from her auntie to SEE the two teeth (yes, don't just shove your finger in her mouth anymore... IT HURTS!!)

Halloween

 (yes, that's spit-up on my shoulder. so what.)

She really liked watching all the people come and go and sat on my lap for over an hour snuggling. I loved it!

Two teeth, just like Abigail.

Guilty!

...of being pretty cute.

The Lieutenant is happy to catch her.

  Grandma is in total shock at the judge's decision.

 A cadet is more than happy to help book her and take her prints.

Grandma contemplates how to bake the file into the cake for her escape.

Ghost Footprints

 We had fun making these cards for family. She just played in her exersaucer while I painted her feet. The eyes are just drawn in with black permanent marker after the white paint dried.

Chicago Wedding

 Our little family at my cousin's wedding in Chicago [area]. I never got a photo of the bride of groom. Ugh!

 Her first bus ride downtown Chicago (we didn't have an excuse to take the L).

 We went out for pizza and walked back down Rush Street. It was a nice evening (in the 60's/70's!) but we got caught in the pouring rain the last few blocks. We stopped under a canopy of the Hancock to snap a photo.

 We maybe will regret this later, but every girl has to stop at THIS store when they go downtown!

Is was a beautiful [abnormally warm] October weekend. Abigail did great while we shopped and walked around downtown.

Abigail In The Pumpkin

Our version of the Jack In The Box...

She can't sit up yet so this fake pumpkin from Hobby Lobby holds her up really well.

She's making friends with the other girls in out LIFE group:

A Kayaking Date

Derek and I had the chance to get away for a few hours on the Muskegon River. It was so peaceful on the river. It's just a few fishermen out this time of year; it's too cold for the rowdy groups of tubers.

The Pumpkin Patch

We headed to a really neat apple orchard/pumpkin patch in Sparta. We brought the Bumbo along to get some pictures of Abigail since she can't sit on her own yet. Derek was being silly and one little girl thought he had a 'toilet' on his head!

She tried to 'pick' the apple!

Up North

A favorite tradition... going up north to the cabin to see the fall colors, roast some marshmallows, and relax.

Daddy/Daughter Traditions

watching Sunday Night football together

I saw this blog linked by a few different people recently and had to check it out on my study break (yes, I procrastinate terribly and had to finish up my class work today for my weekend class). What a fun Saturday tradition with his little girl! I can't wait to see what fun Derek and Abigail stir up in the coming years! Maybe not pancakes but anything done together as a tradition is pretty sweet I think. That guy MUST be an engineer too!

"All I want for Christmas...

... are my two front teeth". Nope Abigail won't be singing that tune this year. I just noticed today that her first two bottom teeth have cut through! It's always good to know that those fussy times were for a reason. Now that I think about it though, she did really good considering how painful and annoying that feeling must be! No pictures though, it was hard enough to actually get her to open up and stop moving that little tongue around for me to see. I used my finger to feel them and a metal spoon to hear the little tink, tink on her new teeth (gently, don't worry!).  Daddy's reaction when I called him at work to tell him: "Stop growing so fast, Abigail!"

Oh, and on the topic of milestones... When we went to her 4 month check up last week the doctor asked if she rolled over yet. I quickly responded no (like, duh... she's such a tiny baby). The doctor said she lifts herself up so high that she could probably do it and she tried to get her to roll on the table right then. Well, that set my mind straight and when we got home that's the first thing I tried. I laid her on her tummy and tried to entice her with all kinds of exciting toys and sweet voices and, by golly, she rolled over! I had been limiting her all this time. Just THINK of the things this girl could be doing. Ugh. Of course now she is so squirmy and rolling side to side and kicking her legs to move that it's hard to even do a diaper change on that girl.

The Outtakes

It takes a lot of photos to get a "good" one of a young child. I can't imagine what photographers have to do when they have a whole family of young children to shoot! I enjoy seeing the extras that didn't make the cut sometimes as much as the nice final one. It kind of tells a story... like a flip book. I usually just position my camera and start talking and making crazy faces and keep snapping and then I review to see if I got one or two that I could use. Ever wonder what the other photos look like? Here are the ones from her 4 month "shoot":

...and the moral of this story: make the best of any situation. 

When you fall over because your shutter-happy mama seems to be ignoring you, just find your hand to suck on!

Art Prize, Don't take it for Granite

We are still smiling at this point... even though we've walked and propped Abigail up all over town for photos. She was indifferent about the giant, cold rock we set her on in front of The DeVos Place. 

Hey it's 10.10.10 today! Whoa. Simple things amuse us.

Art Prize, Play Me A Tune

 We tried to tickle the ivory by Rosa Parks Circle. My memory is not so good though. "For Elise" and "See Ye First" were the two I knew from start to finish.

Art Prize, The Elephant Walk

 Baby Elephant

 Mommy Elephant

Daddy Elephant