Pumpkin- the finished product!

Well, we finally finished our pumpkin yesterday!  Both Leif and I carved it while Abby napped. :)  Abby was completely worn out from our first trip to the playground!  We went to Robbins Farm Park in Arlington.  We took Abby down the slide (she sat on my lap once and on Leif's lap once)- she enjoyed that just fine but she really really enjoyed the swing.  We put Abby in the swing and gave it a good push and boy did that girl laugh!  She was grinning from ear to ear and probably could have spent the entire day on that swing.  :)  We walked the park quickly as well- it has amazing views of Boston from its hilly terrain.  It was a wonderful Sunday afternoon in the park.  :)  The image of Abby laughing in the swing has haunted me all day and makes me feel oh so happy. :)

Here are some pics and video from yesterday:
Abby Swinging
Abby Swinging 2

and the PUMPKIN!

Pumpkin Carving!

Well it turns out that pumpkin carving is a two day experience when you work long hours and don't spend too much time at home... ;)  Last night we opened the pumpkin up and cleaned it out.  We also let Abby play with the innards and put her right in it.  She liked playing with the pulp and laughed about it.  She liked being in the pumpkin too but felt that the flesh was a bit cold on her skin.  :)  Tonight we'll carve the pumpkin and will add pictures of the finished work. :)  Here are a couple pictures and a video from our pumpkin adventure last night.

Abby's First Pumpkin

We ended the evening all curled up in bed reading "When You're Not Looking".  It was a wonderful, cozy, and loving evening.  :)

Here are some more videos from our adventures too!

Abby in her new jumperoo
Pumpkin Catapulting 1
Pumpkin Catapulting 2
Abby eating squash!
Abby playing in the sink in Maine

CARROTS!

Abby tried carrots for the first time last night and liked them! :)  They were much denser than the other solids that she's tried so she couldn't eat as much but she reached for the spoon a couple of times and seemed to really enjoy them.  Tonight Leif and I are hoping to carve our pumpkin and can't wait to see Abby's reaction to putting her fingers in the mucky pumpkin guts (yeah, we are a messy family... hehe)  :)  

Pumpkin Catapulting, Hayrides, Crisp Leaves... FALL IS HERE!

We had a very New England fall weekend.  It was perfect.  On Saturday Leif and I took Abby to Boston Hill Farm in North Andover.  They had a wonderful live band playing, bright pumpkins stacked in front of their store, and a catered BBQ lunch off to the side.  We took Abby on her first hayride.  The hayride went around the farm, through the pumpkin patches and apple orchards.  Abby just loved it- she was so excited. The farm had a wonderful petting zoo that we visited as well- Abby enjoyed looking at the goats, sheep, chicken, and baby bunnies (oh were the baby bunnies cute!)  Abby most enjoyed watching the other children around her though.  She is such a social butterfly.  Leif and I enjoyed some BBQ before heading back to McCue's farmstand by our apartment to pick out the perfect pumpkin to carve.  We'll be carving it this week. :)

On Sunday we went to the Pumpkin Catapulting event at Amesbury Sports Park.  They could catapult those pumpkins so far in to the bright blue sky!  Abby enjoyed staring up in to the sunshine and clouds.  My mom and dad and Mandy and Matt joined us at the catapulting event and all really enjoyed the afternoon.  They had a great live band playing and Mandy even treated Abby and I to Abby's first train ride around the soccer field.  Abby loved it.  Abby was dressed to the nines for her pumpkin afternoon and got many words of praise over her cute ensemble. :)  After pumpkin catapulting, we headed to Park Lunch in Newburyport and met up with Leif's mom for a nice meal of fried shrimp, fried scallops, fried clams and french fries (yeah...  they have EXCELLENT fried food...) ;)  Abby sat on Carol's lap for the whole meal and was just as happy as could be.  Everyone stopped to talk to her- she certainly is not shy either- she smiled at each visitor. :)  After Park Lunch, we headed home to make halloween cards.  We made white footprints on black card stock to make little ghosts.  Abby was pleased with the crafting and allowed me to paint on her feet without any grief. :)

Here are some pictures from the weekend :)  Sending love to all!!!! :)

And finally... THE BEAR OUTFIT!

Here are the pics of Abby's adorable bear outfit.  I am smitten.  :)

In recent Abby news- the girl likes squash!  :)  Leif and I tried squash with her this week- Grammy made a special batch just for Abby.  The first day of it went well- she didn't protest too much and never gagged.  Last night we gave her some more and she was smacking her lips and reaching for the spoon! :)

Abby is able to pull herself up on to her knees and hands- she is so so so close to crawling!  The other night she woke up around midnight and I watched her on the baby monitor- she made about five laps of her crib by scooting around.  She'll be completely mobile before we know (and we'll be baby proofing like champs...)  ;) :)  She is definitely more skilled at traveling backyards than forewords but I have witnessed her scoot herself to the front of her crib moving foreword as well.  She is still so full of energy (and we love that).

We'll be pumpkin carving this weekend so we'll have a host of fall pictures to upload after the weekend. We have so much video footage too!  :)

Sending love to all and wishing everyone a very happy weekend! :)

Abby's School Portrait!

Here is one of the pics from her photo shoot! :)  Sorry it's taken so long- we've been so busy lately! :)  I still have massive amounts of pictures to mail out to family- school portraits and baptism pics- so keep an eye out for them! :)  We should be mailing them out next week :)

Love to all! :)

Prayer Request

We Dugans have just returned from a wonderful long weekend in Maine.  We didn't take many photos but I have tons of video footage to upload and share with you all- it was a perfect New England weekend. :)  This morning though, I'm asking for your prayers for my cousin Jeff.  We just found out that Jeff will be returning to Afghanistan and my heart feels heavy.  Please keep him and his wife Val in your thoughts and prayers.  Here's hoping for a quick and safe tour and for a swift return home.  Here are a couple pics of Jeff and Abby (we were lucky enough to meet up with him while he visited New England in July- he lives in Georgia right now but misses New England terribly)  Jeff referred to Abby's outfit as her "business dress."  ;)  My cousin constantly has everyone in stitches.

Jeff doesn't want this news posted on Facebook so I'm using this blog as my prayer request arena.

 Me and Jeff as kids at Canobie Lake Park

Abby and Jeff at Lester's BBQ this July :)