Happy Easter

We're wishing everyone a very happy Easter.  We're feeling the miraculous nature of this holiday with our own little miracle- more time with our Nanie.  My grandma, Nanie, is very sick.  Her breast cancer has spread throughout her body now and my family had to make the hard decision to start hospice this week.  We cried some good tears, that's for sure, but we're now moving on to the good part- cherishing Nanie and thanking God for every precious moment that we have left with her.  On Sunday we'll be visiting her after church service and having an easter egg hunt at the Leland home where she lives (followed by a nice family dinner at my Auntie E's). We're going to hug and kiss her as often as possible and remind her of how much we love her.  Please hold my Nanie and our family in your prayers.

Happy Easter to everyone.  We love you all so much and moments like this remind us to let our loved ones know just how important you all are.  

Here's a sweet little pic of Nanie and Abby.  We'll be sure to capture some Easter moments and will post them after the weekend.

Quick update :)

Oh my goodness, I'm not sure how this happened but we're about to be the parents of a 2 year old.  ;)  It is amazing how time flies by so quickly.  Abby is growing up so quickly and she is the most lovable, hilarious, bubbly, artistic, athletic, bookworm in the world.  ;)  This morning she was snacking on a couple cheerios before we went in to school.  She pulled one out of of her snack cup and said, "Tada!  I love cheerios."  I laughed the whole way in to school.  She keeps us in stitches.  She has quite the vocabulary and isn't afraid to voice opinions such as "I don't want to," or "No thanks."  We're proud of her strength and confidence.  Drop offs at school have gotten easier and pick ups have gotten more rewarding- she literally runs to us every day we pick her up from school with the biggest smile on her face- and that's not to say she isn't having fun, we usually interrupt her mid-dance, but boy it's good to feel that love after a long day at work.

Abby's recently been interested in dress up too- my Auntie E bought Abby a box full of dress up clothes for Christmas that we've thoroughly enjoyed and Abby doesn't go a day without putting on all of her necklaces that we have around the house. :)  Here is a picture of dress up the other day:

On Friday night we're driving down to Virginia.  We're spending the first weekend with Dianne and are driving out to the Virginia Tech campus to see Lauren on Monday.  We'll spend a couple more days at Virginia Beach and then will drop in on cousin Amber in Philadelphia over the weekend.  :)  We're really really excited to take a vacation and visit family.

We're having Abby's birthday at Drumlin Farm this year and on the morning of her actual birthday. :)  We really loves farm animals so we thought it'd be fun to spend the morning of her birthday touring a farm and celebrating her.  :)  Pictures to follow for sure!

Sending love to everyone!!!

xoxoxox

Happy New Year!

I'm coming up for air! :)  Happy new year, everyone!  We've been a busy family but happy as can be as well.  I would like to say first of all that I owe a lot of thank you notes for a lot of generous Christmas gifts for Miss Abby and I swear they're coming! :)  I went through a painful bout of carpel tunnel that kept me away from the keyboard and pen.  :)  But, let me say, we feel blessed each and every day for the generosity, love, and support of our friends and family.  We love you all so much.

We have some exciting stuff on the horizon!  We're planning a trip to Virginia Beach in March and will be visiting our nieces Lauren and Dianne.  On the drive back home, we're also going to visit our cousin Amber.  We're looking forward to spending some time with our family and we're excited to share miss Abby with them also. :)  We've been practicing saying Lauren, Dianne & Amber's names and Abby called Dianne "Gandhi" the first time she recited the name back to us. :)  She's even talking about Virginia now when Leif and I are in the midst of planning our trip.  We'll be on Virginia Beach for St Patty's day too so expect some cute green-laiden pictures of our beach bum girl. :)

Leif and I have also started actively looking at houses! :)  We have a wonderful realtor and have been enjoying the somewhat overwhelming process of buying a home.  We can't wait to make a little place for ourselves and I can't wait to paint a room- any room- any color that I please.  ;)

Last weekend we took Abby to see Sesame Street Live thanks to a wonderful Christmas gift from Auntie Mandy.  Abby just loved it- and stayed engaged for the entire hour and a half show.  Abby even shook Abby Cadabby's hand.  She danced and sang along with the characters and pointed out all of her favorites.  We had more fun than we ever thought possible at a sesame street show.  ;)

Abby's busy and lively and amazing as always.  Her vocabulary is constantly bursting with new words and phrases and she can even count to 10 in Spanish.  She loves to sing and dance and laugh.  She enjoys building towers with her blocks and driving her firetruck and car all over the living room.  She has such a zest for life and she makes our lives just burst with happiness.

Last weekend we bought her a training potty and let her play with it in the living room.  When Leif told Abby that she could play for another 5 minutes before it was time for bed, she replied: "No minutes.  I'm a potty."  We couldn't stop laughing and gushing and were completely in awe.  :)  We'll be starting the potty training process soon but are in no real hurry...  ;)  We have gotten brushing teeth down pat now though.  ;)

Sending love to everyone!!!!  :)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

.Just wanted to take a quick moment to wish all of our loved ones a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Abby has been talking about Santa- she knows what he looks like- but not about his awesome gift-giving power.  ;)  It should be a fun holiday season- Abby is such a little character and has already had some experience with unwrapping gifts (we let her open one early when she was sick with the stomach bug last weekend) and she also offered to help her teacher Miss Katie open the gift that we had given to her (in fact, she also offered to keep the gift).  ;)

I am planning on taking a break from everything- working, the internet, email, the computer, wearing clothes instead of pajamas during the day, commuting, brushing my teeth and hair (ok, ok, I'm getting a bit out of control now) the main gist is- I'm planning on enjoying my family and winding down, moving slowly, waking late, giggling, and loving my dear husband and sweet daughter.  It's been a hectic haul as of late and we are oh so thankful for this time off together- both with our extended family- and with our little perfect family.  :)

Merry Christmas to all- we hope your holidays are bright and cheerful and full of joy and little miracles.

...and Happy New Year to all!  Here's hoping 2013 is the best one yet.

We love each and every one of you and will see you all in the New Year (either virtually or in living color) :)

The Wheels on the Bus, A day at the Farm, and the quirks or toddlerhood ;)

Prepare to be impressed, folks- Abby knows the song Wheels on the Bus.  Not only does she know the main chorus, she knows other verses such as "the babies on the bus go wah wah wah", "the mamas on the bus go shhh, shhhh, shhh" and "the wipers on the swish, swish, swish"  She even knows the dance moves that accompany the lyrics.  Yep, absolutely adorable.  We've yet to catch it on video but don't worry, we'll keep trying. :)

Last weekend Leif and I took Abby to Drumlin Farms in Lincoln, MA.  My mom and dad used to take me there as a kid and it was so neat to return.  We visited with a bunch of sheep, chickens, goats, cows (even a baby born in September!) horses, a couple of white tailed deer.  It was wonderful.  The most wonderful part of Drumlin Farms is how kid-oriented it is- with learning stations by each animal exhibit.  Abby was able to collect eggs, groom a horse tale, carry a milk jug, weigh herself as the pigs are weighed, and run WILD.  :)  Here are some pics from our adventure:

 Abby and daddy in the pig barn

 Collecting rocks by the chicken coop

 Toddler on the loose!

 Drumlin Farm aftermath (nice long nap)

 Mama and baby cow

 Collecting wooden eggs

 grooming a horse tail

 Riding a horse

 collecting milk

 weighing herself on the pig scale

she's still a piglet!  ;)

And finally, some Toddler-Abby quirks that I get a kick out of:

Abby currently refuses to wear jeans of any sort.  Stretchy pants are fine, jean pants are torturous.  ;)

Abby refuses to wear a hood, hat, or anything that could possibly keep her head warm on a cold New England day (we're hoping this changes soon...)  ;)

Abby's eating habits are sometimes a bit quirky too- she'll love something one day and then decide that it's the worst thing she's ever eaten the next.  We've learned to give it three days before we stock up on an item... ;)  

Sending love to everyone!!!

xoxoxoxo :)

Happy Halloween!! :)

Well Hurricane Sandy has come and gone now- we were fortunate to have weathered the storm well- we didn't lose electricity, any of our trees, or our sanity.  ;)  Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone recovering from this tremendous storm- we feel so fortunate that our experience was mild in comparison.

Happy Halloween!  Abby is dressed as a lady bug for the day.  :)  She will go trick-or-treating with her daycare this afternoon and will also be heading to the Alzheimer's unit in the daycare's building to participate in some games and activities with the patients.  We hope to take her trick-or-treating around Lexington this evening after work as well.  Here is a pic of our lady bug baby bug (and I'm sure we'll have more this evening after the festivities)

On Sunday we took Abby to the annual halloween parade in Woburn.  The weather was a bit misty with Hurricane Sandy just around the corner, and it was downright raining by the very end, but we had such a wonderful time.  Last year Abby slept through the entire parade, but this year she was present and engaged!  :)  Her favorites were the multiple Elmo sightings (and the Elmo balloon that her daddy purchased for her), Sponge Bob (they're on a first name basis, evidently, as she calls him "Bob"), the fire trucks and ambulances (they recently had a visit from both at their daycare during a lesson about policemen and firemen) and the marching band who ventured far off the beaten path and played LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem (which reminds me, I don't think I ever mentioned this in the blog before but Abby is obsessed with that song- it is the one thing that made our drive down to Florida last March successful).   Here's a link to our newspaper with a couple of pictures from the parade this year:  Halloween Parade pics!

Abby is singing A LOT right now- she loves to sing her ABCs and also loves the Baby Bumble Bee song.  She performed her rendition of the Baby Bumblebee song at our local Chinese restaurant last night to the table next to us.  They totally ate it up.  :)  Here is a little video of her musical talents:

Abby Singing

Here is a video showcasing Abby's new toddler slide too.  It's a definite hit in the Dugan Household.

Abby's slide

There are a couple of cute videos that I still need to upload to Youtube (they're on Leif's phone right now) but I'll get them up shortly.  :)

We carved a toddler-themed pumpkin this year for sure- one of Abby's favorite characters, Elmo.  :)

Also, Abby's hair is finally long enough to put in pigtails.  It's not an easy task though- Abby requires complete distraction before she'll allow me to touch her hair.  ;)  Here is a pic from a recent dinner at a local Mexican restaurant (side note: Abby LOVES salsa- even when she was showing us that her mouth was getting too hot, she kept dipping her chips in it...)  ;)

Leif and I are finding that time is short, life is good, and Abby is larger than life.  She is so much fun, full of so much happiness, laughter, and entertainment, and we're just smitten.  :)

Sending love to all and happy halloween!! :)  xoxoxoxox

The stats on the bean

Sometimes I call Abby a bean, and sometimes it's a peanut, or a sweet pea...  hopefully she doesn't really think she's some sort of a food.  ;)  Any who, it has been a long time since I've posted- mostly due to the fact that my coworker has been out for 2 months now and I'm doing both of our jobs at once and it's left me with little play time to post cute pictures of my daughter.  Can you believe that?  The nerve...  ;)  Just a quick little entry to say that Abby had her 18 month check up yesterday and is still doing great.  She's 27 3/4 lbs, 34 1/2 inches- 90% in each group.  :)  She remembers Dr Andonian well and started hysterically crying and saying, "nooooo" when she saw him.  The poor guy has the odds stacked up against him since there are always shots involved in her visits right now. :)  He was able to get her to stop crying at one point by counting with her- something that Abby now loves to do.  She can make it all the way up to 6 on a good day. :)  She loves practicing her ABC's as well and can currently get through H though is working hard to get to J for her dear great aunties in MN.  :)  Dr Andonian was wildly impressed that we can get Abby to sleep without the aid of a bottle and said, "Now is the time to pack them up," and my kitchen cabinets will be pleased with this assessment.  :)  He said that Abby is doing really well, ok, actually, he said the one thing that parents want and need to hear so badly- that Abby's parents are doing a really good job.  ;)  Abby doesn't have to see Dr Andonian for another 6 months now- she'll be two when we reenter that office.  It's hard to believe.  As I made her next appointment, the receptionists gave Abby stickers to make her smile.  Abby is very much in to stickers these days so the gift was much appreciated.  She said, "thank you" and they just ate it up and asked Abby to say it again.  :)  Then they gave her more stickers.  Turns out manners can get you some pretty awesome glow-in-the-dark stickers. :)  One of the receptionists even took Abby to another doctor's office to see their fish.  This is reason 8,234 why I love our doctor's office.  They take the time to get to know their patients.  :)

We've been taking Abby on a bunch of camping trips this fall- we've made it up to our favorite campground in Maine (Lake Pemaquid) twice now, and we did a family camping trip with our friend Danielle and her son Micky to a state park in New Hampshire as well.  Abby loves being outside- we're thrilled.  She also still loves to draw and color.  We bought her a swing that might be her favorite toy in our place right now- she will often point to the door, say "outside" and then explain further "wee" to tell us that she'd like to go wee on the swing.  It is adorable- and we indulge, weather-permitting, each and every time. :)

Today was another first for me and Abby.  When I dropped her off at daycare, today was the first day that Abby did not cry hysterically.  I have been waiting for this day for a long time as drop-offs have been so heart-breaking (though she is fine 2 minutes after I leave).  Well, it was bittersweet this morning, of course, and I had to remind myself that she loves "school" and that is a great thing.  :)  I am trying to see everything in a more positive light these days so this was good practice.

Here are a couple pictures of Miss Abby from some of our adventures: camping, swinging at the playground, playing on the playground with daddy, and going to the Pumpkinfest and regatta in Maine this past weekend.  Sending love to all! :)