THIS DAY IN HISTORY

The Barbie pole made her maiden voyage...and SUCCESS was had!!

In the form of a dinky little crappie!

It was awesome!

Evan's Birthday Party: the big number 4!

We had such a good time at Cousin Evan's birthday party!

Abby got to do some dancing with Auntie Char. (She learned some pretty sassy moves!)

Here Abby is enjoying the beautiful weather with Grandpa Maynard.

Evan the Birthday Boy is blowing out the candles on his special Spiderman "birthday cookie" that grandma Kathy made just for him!

Later in the day we also celebrated Joe & Chad's April birthdays. And Abby & Emma decided that cardboard boxes really are the gift that keeps on giving!!

I Hate to Brag...

We were told at daycare that Abby is the "best in her class" at sippy cup.

This skill will no doubt come in handy if she chooses to follow her parents footsteps and goes to a state school. (GO BSU BEAVERS!)

Easter

Happy Easter!

Here is Abby having a tea party with her cousin Emma at the Tuma family's Palm Sunday brunch. Emma showed talent at being a considerate and prompt tea server. Abby...well...we decided that maybe Abby could bus the tables.

Photos of Abby with her bargain bin bonnet and fancy purse. She actually really seems to like purses. And shoes. Could she have a recessive "girly" gene???

The Easter Bunny brought Abby some fun trinkets in her easter basket!
Including a tea set!

Here are pictures of Abby playing tea party with her stuffed animals.

Millie got to play tea party too! (She is such a good dog!)

Social Butterfly

Abby & I went to Duluth this weekend.

We visited with so many people!

Julia Schmeck and Abby finally met!

We got a chance to visit with Great Grandma Lee.

Abby playing with Nolan Okstad (who is a total riot!!)

Okay...have you ever tried getting four energetic kids to sit still long enough to take a picture?? This was my first attempt.

I'd have to admit...I'm pretty sure I failed.

Below are a variety of photos of Abby with Wyatt & Nolan Okstad, and Austin Mercier. They had a really fun playdate! Abby was fascinated by the LOUD, FAST, FUNNY boys!!

Abby got to play with Hunter & Logan McDougall.

And right before we had to hit the road to head for home...Abby and her friend Peyton Carlson got a chance to catch up.

Whew!! What a whirlwind weekend!

March 2007 - SNOW DAY!

Winter had been pretty wimpy so far...but when the snow finally came...boy did it pile up! Here are some photos of us out in the yard playing in the white stuff!

February 2007 - My Funny Valentine

Abby received her very first Valentine in the mail from her Great Grandpa Schnepf. I wanted to take a photo of her with it so that we could send a 'thank you' note.

Abby decided she wanted to taste her lovely sweet Valentine! So...I HAD to take it away from her...

It was as if her little heart had actually been broken...

...she was SO mad!

January 2007

A few snaps from January...

Playing outside.

Stealing my "auntie" Jamie's credit card.
My dog Millie. I love her!

Baby's 1st Christmas

Abby's First Christmas was so much fun!

This is one of my fave photos from Christmas-time. This is at Joe's parents' house on Christmas Night. (Please note Abby's new dolly "Camille"...in her camouflage dress. No redneck jokes, please...I think it's cute!)

This photo is of my mom & Gary with Abby in the shiny red wagon her Great Grandma (grandma Lee) bought for her. You can probably tell that she likes it....a lot!!

An awesome generational photo: Abby, me, my mom, and my grandma.

Abby (& her shiny red wagon) in front of the Christmas tree!

(Yes, it's artificial...get off my back! That's what I grew up with, so to me...it feels perfectly "traditional" to have a fake tree. People get rather judgemental when it comes to your tree of choice!)

December 2006

Here are Joe & I along with Abby during her first encounter with good old Santa Claus. She did not really have much of a reaction. (Although she DID really like pulling on his beard.) Santa came to Grandma & Grandpa's house in Northfield to say hello to Abby and her cousins.

Abby's baptism was Dec 3rd at Faith Lutheran Church in Forest Lake. She did an awesome job and we were so happy to have our family & friends with us to celebrate the day.

Here is Abby with two of her cousins. Emma & Evan. They all get along pretty well! Abby & Emma are only 10 months apart in age. Evan is the older, wiser cousin at the age of 3. They will have so much fun growing up together!

I Hope I Am a Better Mother than I am a BLOGGER

I can no longer resist the bandwagon-esque temptation...I TOO must Blog!

> I TOO will post photos and sweet stories about my loved ones!

> I TOO will try my best to capture all of the adorable things Sweet-Child-O-Mine does!



> I TOO will feel horribly guilty for not managing to write key dates or notable firsts in her baby book.


Oh well...I TOO will just do my best to enjoy every minute of this crazy wonderful joy!


attached photo is from December. Abby is right around 6 months old in this shot...the classic "Baby Bathing in Kitchen Sink" photo opportunity.