Wedding, circus and A BABY!

Has it really been two whole months since my last post??

May started out sad...very sad. Abbey woke up one morning with red bumps from head to toe. After a trip to the doctor and some testing we found out (days!) later that it was just a bacterial infection, which we were relieved to learn. At initial examination her Dr. thought it was strep, but when she tested negative for strep he warned me that she might have MONO! Crazy! I'm glad it was just bacterial and an antiobic cleared things right up. That same night Emmy got out of our backyard (we still aren't sure how the back gate was open). Abbey was in bed and Scott and I were watching a movie. I had no idea the dogs were outside until I heard Trigger at the backdoor barking. We looked and looked for Emmy.... About 20 minutes later Scott found her in the middle of the road just up from our house. She had been killed by a car. I cried off and on for days. Emmy was our baby before Abbey came along and it was so sad to loose her. One of Abbey's first words (after bye, momma and dadda) was "Emmy." The first few days Abbey asked for her constantly, but now she only mentions her occasionally and says, "Emmy gone." Poor Trigger is now the sole recipient of Abbey's constant affection. :) He is really sweet with her and they are good buddies.

On Memorial Day Scott and I started potty training Abbey. She was only 20 months old at the time, but with the exception of one thing, Abbey was showing all the recommended signs of "potty readiness." I kept saying I was going to do it later in the summer around the time she turned two, but finally decided to bite the bullet and give it a try after reading in an article that talked about how most kids were potty trained before they turned two prior to the invention of disposable diapers. I decieded to stop listening to other people tell me she was too young and start listening to my child and she was "telling" us she was ready! I read the book, "Potty Training 123" that a friend lent to me. It emphasizes staying "dry and clean" and rewarding that more than the actual act of going to the potty. Another strategy the book uses is having all of the "treats" out so the child can see them for motivation. When she actually used the bathroom she was given a double reward which included a fun drink (capri sun - a real treat for Abbey who normally just drinks water and milk). We also gave her watered down lemonade in her sippy cup all day. The rationale with the fun drinks is two fold: motivation and more liquid going in = more liquid coming out which makes for more potty training opportunities! We also put a pair of her new panties on her bear and demonstrated him going potty (complete with "pee-pee" in the potty). That morning we rolled up the den rug (yay for all hardwood/tile floors!!) and let the fun begin. From the first day Abbey grasped the concept. In fact while Scott was "watching" her the first day she started to go, stopped, walked over to the potty seat, used the bathroom and was headed to the bathroom to flush her deposit BEFORE Scott knew what was going on. :) She still has accidents, but we are to the point now if I take her to the potty every hour and a half to two hours and right after lunch/dinner we can stay accident free all day. I try not to remind her and have her tell me on her own, but she typically doesn't want to stop playing long enough to go. I'm at the point where I don't know if I should keep reminding her to try to let her initate it...so we do a little of both. The great thing is if she starts to pee in her panties, she notices and will stop on her own. I'm so proud of my little girl! We aren't even concerned with nap time/night-time dryness at all. I'm sure that will come with age. And I have yet to venture out with panties on except a quick trip over to Nena and Pa's house. I need to just do it!

My cousin, Kaylee got married a few weeks ago. She was a beautiful bride! The reception was in my aunt and uncle's backyard and they had the cutest swing. The seat was kind of pitched forward and Abbey couldn't balance on it to well, but everyone had a lot of fun taking pictures on it.




I luv this picture! My favorites!


Cousins - Shelby, Kate and Abbey


Flower arrangements for Kaylee's wedding. I helped make these! My cousin Kim did all of the flowers for her wedding and asked me to help. It was a lot of work, but pretty hectic and crazy at the same time. At one point we were kicking our heals off and running around setting them up. So fun!



Mama and Abs


Nena and Abbey


After a morning spent outside swimming and playing Abbey was apparently exhausted. One minute she was munching on an apple and the next minute I look over to find she has fallen asleep. I couldn't resist getting some pictures and video.




Since Scott was gone on Father's Day (fishing trip to Canada with his grandfather, dad and brother), I got up early the morning before he left to make a surprise stuffed french toast breakfast. It was pretty good and it was so nice to have breakfast together as a family on a week day.


My grandmother made this dress a long time ago. They think I wore it a few years ago.


Reading books with Carley at Mama's house. She loves to read books. All day long, "momma read you, momma read you, momma read you...."


Earlier this week the circus came to a neighboring town. My family and the Dews took the kids to the late show in attempts to go when it was "cooler". Oh boy, it was H-O-T, but the kids had so much fun. Abbey has some pretty good dance moves and loved standing on the bleachers dancing to "All the Single Ladies," etc. She loved watching the performers too.



Abbey and Mason. I think it is love.


Abbey's preferred seating at the circus - perched on Nena's knee.


Abbey kept pointing to the camael and said, "Abbey ride, Abbey ride!" Uhhh, yeah. She freaks out when I try to put her up on Charlie, so I wasn't about to dish out $4 for me and $4 for her to ride. Maybe next year...


Baby Kherington Ann has made her dubut! She is adorable and has red hair! YAY for another red-head! They are the cutest!! Of course, I'm a little biased. :) And for those of you who read the title of the blog and thought the baby had something to do with me....NOPE! hahaha! I'm just an "honarary" aunt again. :)



Scott has been fishing in Canada for the past week with his grandfather, father and brother. Nine long days without him! I was so afraid I would be bored while he was gone that I planned a bunch of stuff and made a verrryyy long to-do-list. I'm happy to say that I have not been bored, but I have been BUSY and productive. I can't wait to pick him up at the airport on Sunday morning! MUCH to my relief Abbey was soooo good while he was gone. Once every week or so she has a day where she just likes to "test the waters" and I am ready to pull my hair out by the afternoon. I think one reason she was so good is we were gone or busy pretty much the entire time! Next time she is in one of those moods, I'm think I need to just load her up in the car and run some errands to walk around Target. :)

I'll leave you with a few funny tidbits about Abbey:
1. Instead of responding "no" to a question, lately she will often say "no dear." I have no idea where she got this. Maybe because I say, "oh dear!" a lot. Who knows?? It is really cute.
2. When you ask Abbey if she needs to potty her typical reply is, "no dear...right now." She actually means NOT right now. haha!
3. Abbey's language skills continue to explode. Everyday she says 10+ new words that I haven't heard her say before. She will try to repeat any word you ask her to say. You should have heard her trying to say Mancino's (a resturaunt in BG) last night). I couldn't help but laugh.
4. I love to hear her pray! If you forget to ask her to say her prayer at night, she will remind you. :) When asked to pray, she puts both hands over her eyes (but peaks out thru her fingers at me) and says, "dear God...thank you...Momma pray" then coach her in what to say and she occasionally throws in her own words. Scott started having her thank God for "Daddy's job." EVERY time you ask her to say "Daddy's job" she says, "Momma's job" (ha!) and will repeat that over and over again no matter now many times you say, "Daddy's job." I'm sure at this stage she is more thankful for my job than Daddy's; although his job allows me to do my job!
5. She calls semi-trucks "trains" and does so to be funny and make us laugh.
6. She loves to dance!
7. In past two months she has gone from mostly saying one word to 2-4 words together.
8. She loves Elmo and Strawberry Shortcake.