Christmas Cookies!

Abbey enjoyed her day with the girls- myself, Tracy and Sara- listening to Christmas music and watching us bake cookies. No frosting all over the face yet...give it til next Christmas!

Dinners with the Bukers

Sooooooooooooo great to live near our good friends, Vince and Tracy. We have been able to share many dinners already and pretty soon Abbey will be joining us in a seat at the table!

Walks with Tracy

Abbey loves to go for walks in the stroller, but nowadays since she can enjoy the scenery I put her in her Baby Bjorn.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We miss everyone and wish we could see you today! Pete and I put Abbey in her Thanksgiving day dress earlier today to see how it looks (and to make sure the dress still fit!). What a cutie!

Such a BUSY month!

Hello friends and family! We are finally in Cumming, GA, which is just outside Atlanta about 30 miles. We are settling in our new home, but I have been very aware of how quickly Abbey has been changing and that I haven't been able to post any new photos. Well, we just got our internet service set up on Monday, and I promised my dad that I would get some new photos up before Thanksgiving when he would have a chance to see them at my Aunt Pam's house (I swear I am going to be able to talk both Gpa John and Gma Glynis into having a computer one of these days...I know they would both enjoy it and they would get their Abbey fix on a more regular basis :)

Anywho, Abbey has changed so much since the last photos. She is keeping me company during the day with her "talking"- she can say "hi" (okay, I know it's just sounds now but she really does say "hi" most often, along with her other coos) and I also taught her how to do a razz with her tongue. She also surprised us this past Monday with her first round of major laughing. We have had giggles and squeals here and there, but she actually was laughing out loud for a full 5 minutes! She was sitting on Peter's lap and either laughing at Airplane (which was on TV at the time) or the ceiling fan. Either way, I was too late with the camera to take a video once we thought of it, but I am hoping she'll give us more lengthy laughter soon.

On the physical side, I weighed her on the scale the other day and she is 16 lbs. I think she has gotten a little bit taller too since she is almost the length of her cradle which is 31 inches...so I think she is 25-26 inches tall. So, one thing that hasn't changed is her favorite hobby: eating. We haven't tried eating solid foods yet (her pediatrician said if breast feeding is going well it can wait until 6 months) but I think we are going to try solids soon because she does seem interested in food and will lick her lips when I give her samples off my finger (a couple of early favorites include a lime popsicle and tomato soup).

Enjoy the new pictures! Sorry there aren't many new ones of Abbey- the bottom three I took today since I realized I only had the two other pictures below since it has been such a busy month! I will be posting more frequently, and taking more photos, now that things are starting to settle down again!

Love,
Dev

SPOKANE!

When Peter told me he had to go to Europe for work before Abbey arrived, I was bummed that he would be gone for so long when she was still pretty young. Some of the doctors I'd called on with my previous position in pharma sales said that Abbey and I should just join him, but the thought of taking a two-month old infant for their first plane ride across the ocean seemed like a bad idea. So instead of counting the days until Peter returned, I decided that she would instead journey for the first time to Spokane to meet family and friends who weren't able to make the journey to Tulsa.

We had a great time in Spokane, but all I can say is that I thought I was wiped out when just Peter and I were done with a week seeing everyone! Abbey was a great traveler, impressing passengers on the plane with how well-behaved and quiet she was. At night, however, she fell back into waking up a few times a night vs. just waking up once like she was at home. That made me quite a bit more tired than I had wanted to be, but we both made it through and once we were home she fell quickly back into our old routine.

I am hoping the entire family can go back to Spokane for Christmas, but we aren't sure what airport we'll be flying out of so I haven't been able to buy tickets. Pray that we sell our house soon and we'll be able to set a closing date and THEN I can buy some tickets!

A Visit from Tracy!

Tracy (my friend that I met while living in Davenport, IA, who currently lives in Kansas City but will also be moving to Atlanta due to a Lafarge promotion for her husband-whew!) drove down to visit us and meet Abbey for the first time this week. As you can see from the photo, Abbey was comfortable with her right away!

We will be traveling to see Tracy next week, since Peter needs to do work in Kansas City anyways, as a sort-of "trial trip away from home" for our long trip coming up to Spokane. Hopefully it will give us an idea of what we can't live without away from the house!

The Daily Grind

Abbey and I typically start our day with "baby exercises"; she gets to do a little tummy time, and I have also been working with her on grasping objects. Tummy time has been going well- she is able to hold her head 90 degrees for an extended period of time now (although these pictures don't look it...she has progressed a lot in the last few days, and I didn't have the camera on me this morning...for those of you who don't know, she is only expected to have this conquered by the time she is 4 months. Yes, I am bragging!) and she surprises us with a "bullseye" from time to time when she reaches for rattles and rings that I hold out for her. When I feel like I have tired her out enough, we go for our morning walk/jog and she gets to rest up and rejuvenate for the rest of the day.

Also wanted to mention she measures 23 inches long and, on our scale stripped to her diaper, weighs 11.5 pounds! She is already going to surprise all of our visitors, even my dad and brother, when we go home next week to Spokane. She is such a big, gorgeous girl!

Smile-tastic!

Abbey is starting to smile more at us, instead of when she successfully passes gas. Although I have yet to capture her perfect little smile successfully, here are some attempts when she was making a lot of faces at her momma.

Gpa John and Uncle Luke Visit!

It was another seasonably cool week in Tulsa for what could be our final guests in Tulsa. Perfect weather for golf, grilling out on the deck, and cooing over a cute little girl! Gpa John enjoyed giving Abbey little back rubs and helping her perfect her pull-ups on his lap (he also consistently stood in her line of view and showed her the perfect form for her future golf swing, hopefully making Peter and I millionaires once she is in the WPGA...). Uncle Luke and Gpa John were timid to hold her at first, with it being a long time since my dad held an infant, and the first time (possibly) that my brother had one in his arms, but they both quickly warmed up to it and Abbey loved every minute!

Photogenic Princess!

These photos are a peek into the pictures taken by my friend, Emily French, who took Abbey's photos when she was at about 2 weeks old. Thank God she took them early...Abbey is already cracking the scale at 9 lbs, 8 oz, which is probably 2 lbs larger than she was when these were taken!