Beach Trip 2008 (part 1)

We just got back from our annual beach trip. This year we went to Topsail Island, NC and rented a new (to us) house. The house was so extremely nice and overlooked the ocean & playground.

On Father's Day Abby, Nick & I went for a stroll along the beach.

I love the birds in the background

The playground directly across the street was a big plus. Here's Abby on the dinosaur. Hands down her all-time favorite is the classic swing. But its pretty hard to take pictures of her in it... we met a 5 mo puppy Bulldog named Torro. We should have gotten a picture of them, they were both so happy to meet.

Time to smell the flowers

We went to church on Sunday. Which lately is not as frequent as I know we should. Lately one of us is sick (usually Abby) so taking a cranky, screaming baby is not ideal. I also do not want to take a sick baby to their nursery. We are very against parents that purposely do that (esp @ daycare!!)


Anyway... Abby wore a new dress she got from her birthday (thanks Auntie Jayne & Uncle Scott). She looked so pretty and it was such a nice day, I took Abby outside for a few pictures.
This one is such a classic Abby these days.

Body Painting by Abby

Today's art activity @ daycare was body painting. Abby had soooo much fun! Can't you tell?! HUGE thx to Ms. Sarah for catching this shot and letting me keep the picture. God bless the teachers for doing this & cleaning up this mess, she didn't look like a smurfette at all when I picked her up ;)

Pigtails & Artsplosure

It's a generally known fact, I have hair envy. Specifically envious of other mom's that could put a pigtail on their baby girl's hair. The last month or so I've been thinking Abby may need a haircut soon BUT this also delays chances for that pigtail I've been dying for. Its a Korean-American mommy's mantra to tightly pull a pigtail and stick it straight on top of her head.

Here's Abby's very 1st pigtail EVER! I was very pleasantly surprised, she did NOT yank it off her head like the bows, headbands, sunglasses, hats (getting the picture?!) basically everything I put on her head.


I'd dare to say she looks pleased her hair isn't flopping all over her face. This was only the 1st and she only kept it on for 10-15 mins till bedtime. We'll try it again in the morning.



This past w'end we went to Raleigh's Artsplosure. We went early so not to coincide with Abby's naptime. Too bad some of the (food) vendors weren't open when we got there. The gigantic catepillar was a tent that we climbed inside for a minute.


I'm a big fan of gecko's so naturally a friendly Geico Gecko was a terrific pic opp :)

Lil' Miss Buckethead

Abby loves to play with her baby lego blocks. What's even BETTER is the box the blocks come in. We once put it or the top on her head to see what she'd do. Now she just likes to put it on her head by herself. Even if there's blocks in it, it all just tumbles out while she gets the box on her head. It's pretty funny, if we put the top on our head, she comes by & takes it.

Ready, Set, Go!


and just like she likes it here's our Lil' Miss Buckethead :) Do you like her new polka-dot top? Granny made it! It goes with a pair of polka-dotted lime green pants.


We play a lot in our screened-in porch lately. She love love loves to go outside. Her favorite new thing is to go up & down on the one stair between the house & the porch.

Abby smooches makes me SMILE

Playing around in Abby's room on a Sat AM. Kudos to Granny, the red & white polka-dotted outfit is another Chez Granny creation.



Not the greatest of all pictures only since I look like I literally rolled out of bed & what's going on w/that crazy hair?! But with all that said, this is THE money shot I've been wanting ever since Abby's been laying these big, fat, wet smooches on me. Thanks to my dear hubby for capturing one of my favorite moments ever.

She's coming in...


& here's that big, wet kiss I told you about!! Poor Sparky he hates the camera. His next arch nemesis is probably the vacuum. Not sure which is worse lately. Since we hardly vacuum ourselves lately, it's probably the dag-gone camera he hates. You can see him wanting to hide his nose in the bottom right corner. Poor pooch.

Finally some April pictures

This week I started working on Our Dear Abby blog. I went to create my 1st post & realized I had taken ZERO pictures all month. How sad since at minimum I have my camera phone with me 24/7.

So the very next day, I went to pickup Abby @ daycare, the kids were still playing outside. Its amazing how toddlers will literally flock to you at the site of a camera (camera phone mind you). So with my handy 5 meg K850 phone, I tried to redeem myself. There was no one else around before I pulled out the camera. & suddenly they start appearing!


Playing at the tree house - look no other kids right?


& then we have this little cutie-patootie show up. (I wish I knew her name). Too funny! There were 2 other little boys that came over. I showed Miss Cutie Patootie the picture & she hugged me.

Abby Cadabby

Have you met Sesame Street's latest friend?? She's aptly named & dear to my heart Abby Cadabby. One of my dear friends (thx Hope!) sent me a link to her themed birthday party products.

http://www.abby-cadabby.net/

(from her site above )
Introducing Sesame Streets newest girl character! Abby Cadabby! If you don't know who she is, Abby Cadabby is the girl who now joins Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch and Elmo

Only 3 years old, Abby Cadabby is brand new on the scene and ready to share her adventures and stories with the rest of Sesame Street gang. Watch as Abby goes on new adventures while she discovers her magical powers and uses her magic with her new friends.

My favorite 2008 shots

bathtime fun

It's nearing the end of April & I just realized, we have not taken ANY pictures of Abby on our own this month! Good thing we took Abby for her 1-year pictures with our beloved photographer, Danielle Anthony.

I'm trying to teach myself the ins & outs of photoshop CS3. I struggled with the videos that came with the sw pkg. This is how far I've gotten with some bath time fun (pictures courtesy of dear hubby). I've since decided I need more help. I've gotten a trusty new book & video tutorial buddy Deke McClelland, unfortunately the lessons have taken me awhile & I haven't really practiced too much. Here is the before shots. We'll see how I progress!


this is me, trying to put together a collage. I was hoping to scrap it but I think I need to improve my photoshop skills before I print anything out.