Four years of Abigail

On her birth day, March 23, 2004

~~~
On her first birthday, 2005

~~~

On her second birthday, 2006 ~~~

On her third birthday, 2007

Our family, then and now

We're in Florida

We -- all of us, even Bruce! -- are in Florida to celebrate Easter and Abigail's birthday with my grandparents, parents, and two of my brothers. I spent lots of time in the sun today...and it is nice to be with family...

Now THAT'S love!

Look at what Bruce brought home to me...is he incredible or what?!

I'm finally paid for :)

I know you can't actually read this (you don't have to; just read my post!), but it is a "paid in full" letter from the last of Bruce's medical school loans. We always say that God sent Bruce to a year and a half of med school just to get a wife (he was accepted to the medical school in my hometown)...we joke that I was an awfully expensive prize...but now I am all paid off!

Congratulations to us!!!

...now to pay off the law school loans...! :)

Molly in covert operations

Someone left the cabinet door open and Molly took advantage of the opportunity to sneak in and get some catnip all by herself. Although she is actually just licking the treat, it looks an awful lot like she is sticking her tongue out at me...whether because I caught her, or because she didn't care whether I caught her or not since she had already gotten what she wanted, I'm not sure!

Easter lily from my husband

This looks and smells so lovely -- I've already snapped off two spent blooms, it currently has seven full blooms, and there are still three more buds ready to open! I'll hate to miss the last of its blooming when we leave for Florida...

Reading demo by Abigail

I've been meaning to post this for a while so that our long-distance family can see it...it's just taken me a while to get around to it! Abigail just picked up the phonics by listening to David's phonics classes...this is NOT a product of us pushing the subject on her. She LOVES to read and will read anything she can get her hands on. Note: Fyi, this is the first time we've read this story...also, sorry for the boring camera angle, but she refuses to read if David runs the camera, so I had to hold both Abigail and the camera!!! Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Fitting the princess dress

I just finished the fitting for Abigail's princess dress...I had to figure out where I wanted the hem so that I can sew while the kids are napping this afternoon (they don't usually nap on Tuesdays, but they have been ill and overtired, and I could use the undistracted time to sew!). Abigail -- girlie-girl that she is -- pranced, twirled, and posed the whole time. David was rather jealous of the pretty dress (he kept asking me if he can have one for his birthday) and of the attention his sister was getting...neither could he understand why I wouldn't let him use my pins to play Pick-up Stix on the carpet!!!

Day of tornadoes, torrential rain, and hail

Saturday was a day of adventure here...any of you who keep up on national weather know that on Friday night, a tornado ripped through downtown Atlanta (from which we are far removed), but then Saturday, line after line of severe storms (which kept throwing off tornadoes) swept over us. We took shelter in the basement four times, got lots of torrential rain -- there was a little river running from our driveway across the yard into the drainage ditch -- and a few bouts of increasingly large hail. Folks from our church who live about 15 minutes away from us got hail the size of golf balls and larger -- lots of home and vehicle damage. Our hail wasn't that big, but it was still big enough to make us very grateful that both of our cars (and especially Bruce's new one!) were safely ensconced in the garage!!! Below are a few pictures of our exciting day...I wanted to get video of the hail bouncing all over the yard, but Bruce wouldn't let me go out and get video in the midst of the tornadoes. :-)

Another one bites the dust...

Abigail and I are still struggling with this nasty cold -- Abigail's cough sounds horrible! -- and now David is having an asthma flare-up. Not a surprise, since his asthma is virally-induced...but still unpleasant. So back to the doctor we went this morning, and now besides David's usual asthma-control meds, he is also on a few days' worth of steroids and a new/different rescue inhaler. Bruce is the only one still standing and we all hope he stays that way!

On a side note, the rescue inhaler and steroids make David very jazzed, so if you take a kid who is feeling under the weather and then key him up with medication...it's not pretty. You can picture it, I'm sure...

Happy birthday, Shannon

Happy birthday, Shannon!

I'm sending you lots of love

and wishes for a happy birthday.

New China cabinet

While my mom and I were at the Expo, my dad, Bruce, and the kids hauled up to North Carolina to pick up a china cabinet from my dad- and mom-in-law. When Bruce and I got married, we "inherited" Bruce's parents' dining room table and chairs, and then when my in-laws moved to N.C., they offered us the matching china cabinet as well, so it moved from their house in NY into their storage in NC until we could get it.

My dad got his van all ready for hauling (hitch on, wiring hooked up) and then, borrowing a trailer from our pastor, the moving crew made the day trip to NC and brought back my "new" china cabinet! I love it -- it looks great in our dining room and now I can finally display all of my beautiful china (which belonged to Bruce's grandma), which has heretofore been relegated to a box (which traveled with us from NY to IL to GA).

Thanks, Dad Minota, for doing all of the fussy-work to get the van and trailer ready to haul, and for making the trip, and for risking a hernia to carry the cabinet into the dining room! Thanks, Dad and Mom McKee, for our now-complete dining room set and for the lovely china, a little piece of family history to which I am so honored to add more family history. Thanks, Mom Minota, for helping me clean the cabinet, unpack the china, and arrange everything. And thanks, Bruce, for being willing to coordinate and participate in the whole shebang so that we could have a china cabinet! What a group effort...thank you, everyone!!!

...some pieces of my china...

Sewing area overhauled

My mom also helped me rearrange my sewing area (which is in our bedroom); we took out two separate tables, moved in this one "new" table, threw out junk, moved Bruce's dresser, etc.

This picture isn't particularly impressive, because I still need to buy some bins or something to organize all of my projects, but it's a start! Now that I can actually get to my sewing stuff, hopefully I will sew more...

Some Georgia snow for the Floridian visitors...

...they were not very impressed and reiterated that they do not miss the snow AT ALL! They are full-fledged palm-tree-and-sand people now!

My dad always used to say that he preferred bugbite to frostbite...now that he has met our southern Chiggers, I think he'd rather skip them both and just go with a sunburn. :-)

Making progress on Abigail's princess dress

After a wonderful day at the Sewing & Quilting Expo on Saturday, my mom and I were full of ideas and inspiration for a million projects!!! On Monday we worked on Abigail's "princess dress" and it is almost finished -- it needs only hemming and a sash to be ready for the big day. Thanks for your help, Mom!

I am well aware what a blessing it is to have a mother who is also my dear friend...

Sickness strikes...

I know that I am supposed to be posting about this past weekend, but I claim illness as my excuse! Abigail and I have colds...nothing drastic, but enough that I have barely enough energy to do all of my "hafta"s and no energy left for anything else...

^My current constant companion!

Four years ago today...

Four years ago today, I went into labor with Abigail...since I was only 33 weeks along, that began a week of big-time medications to halt the labor, steroids to speed her lung development, bedrest and lots of monitor-gazing in the hospital before they sent me home for a few days.

Abigail was born on March 23rd, twelve days from the morning I went into labor.

In one sense, I can't believe four years have flown by already...but on the other hand, it seems like another lifetime ago that I delivered a healthy, beautiful baby girl. What a gift from God she is to us!

Busy but nice weekend

Yes, yes, I know I need to post some updates on the blog...I have been enjoying the long weekend with my parents visiting and we have lots of fun little tidbits from this weekend to share, but I am not going to take the time to post them until tomorrow! My mom and I are planning to sew and do other projects today, so I am going to take advantage of every minute today, and then tomorrow I will make amends for my blog-delinquency...

Matching outfits...while they still like it!

Princess dress in the making

This year Easter falls on Abigail's birthday, so I wanted to go all out to make her a "princess dress" (that's how she refers to it). She helped to choose the pattern and the fabric -- it's hard to see in the picture, but the main fabric has tiny sparkles all over it (Abigail LOVES sparkles). We are making the dress shown in lavender on the pattern.

My mom and I cut it out this morning...so its journey has begun!

Fun with Grandma

This morning my mom and the kids made chocolate-dipped pretzels with sprinkles...Abigail quit "making" halfway through and just started eating the melted chocolate instead...that's my girl!!! (...she also managed to get chocolate all over her, from head to toe and everywhere in between, even her eyelid!)

End of an era

Speaking of death and pets, yesterday the last pet of our childhood was 'laid to rest'...my parents' poodle, Fifi, was the last pet they still had that was part of our family back when we were all kids. She was a stray that adopted us (how else do you think we would have ended up with a little poodle?!) back when I was still a teenager. We always joked that she kissed Bruce before I did...early in Bruce's and my friendship, she hopped up on Bruce's lap and gave him a big ole kiss right on the lips, which of course grossed him out! (and no, when my turn came, I did not get the same response!!!)

Fifi has been deaf and blind for years now, and gradually getting a little senile, but lately she has really been going downhill, and I was aware during this last visit to my parents' that it was probably the last visit with the old girl...but I hadn't expected to feel the pang that I did when I heard the news. Loss, at any level, is just plain sad.

Learning about life and death

Last week our parakeet died...David took the news very hard, but since then we have had many rather deep discussions. He wanted to know things like "Will Sparky be in Heaven?" (we discussed how animals are different than people, because they don't have souls like people do); "What will happen to Sparky in the ground?" (we discussed how God designed it so that Sparky's body will help add to the soil, improving it for plants to grow); "Will Sparky come alive again?" (we talked about death being final, that we have one life to live, and again the difference between animals' and people's bodies both dying but the people having an eternal soul)...it was hard to watch David grieve our pet but wonderful to watch him work through everything and really understanding it. Last night he prayed very matter-of-factly, "...and thank you for Sparky...I know he's dead...thank you that he will help the soil and the ground..."

Fun afternoon with friends

Today the kids got to play at our house for several hours with their friends -- we had a great time. The weather was gorgeous, so we were outside for a long time...

...and then we came in, washed up, and then the older kids made their own pizzas. They had a blast at it, from forming the dough into crusts to "decorating" with toppings, and then we had a "picnic" in the living room.

Thanks, Rodney and Greta, for sharing your kids with us for the afternoon!

Valentine wreath

Here is a craft I did last month...although I'm just getting around to posting it! A few years ago, Bruce gave me a tin of Mrs. Field's chocolates for Valentine's Day (they were very good, especially the chocolate chip cookie dough one!).




Sometimes something just inspires me, and this tin was one of those things. I immediately envisioned it filled it with silk roses and hanging on my front door, so after I ate the chocolates, I set aside the tin...and finally got around to embellishing it this year!

Sewing day

This afternoon my friend Karen and I worked on a quilt for our church's missionary closet. We have lots of fun while we sew...but the kids don't get why she spends so much time sewing with me when she could be playing with them!!!
...and I forgot to take pictures of our work-in-progress...I'll try to remember to take some when we get together in a few weeks to finish assembling the quilt top!

Happy Leap Day!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

One year later...still no CI!

I had planned to post this on the one-year anniversary date of Feb. 16th, but with the unusual schedule of vacation, I just plain forgot! So here goes, better late than never... Last year David was scheduled to receive his first cochlear implant on February 16th. In the month or so preceding the surgery, his hearing had improved and held relatively steady, so his doctor recommended that we postpone the surgery (and we were very much in agreement). And here we are, a year later, and both kids still have their natural hearing and their hearing aids. We never thought we'd get to this point in time with no CIs. In the meantime, they have both made huge strides with their speech, and they have both learned to read...and these things will only make CI rehab easier when the day does come. We were at peace as we approached David's first CI last year, because we knew that our God has a perfect plan for our kids, and He knows what is best for them. But now, a year later, we are SO thankful for this extra time He has allowed for them with just their HAs. We can not fully express our thankfulness for this unexpected blessing!!!

This week's updates

Let's see, a few things from this week... ~The kids had hearing checks and were stable again. Hooray! Next check is March 26th. They also saw their ENT (which they do every three months) and there was nothing remarkable to report there. We see him again in May. ~Abigail got her new brace on Monday and it fits much better than her outgrown one (I will try to remember to post a picture of the finished prodeuct). ~In sad news, our parakeet died overnight Tue-Wed, so yesterday we had to tell the kids and bury the bird. David took it very hard, and it is sad to see your child lose little of their innocence when they experience loss through death, but on the other hand it has spurred some good conversation and questions from him, so it's not all bad. I hadn't realized how much I enjoyed the bird's singing until now...there is no one to greet me with happy chirps when I sit down at the dining room table! ~Today we have to do school, then we need to go to the DMV, the county courthouse (no, I am not in trouble...I am filing some paperwork!), and to WalMart for some groceries and household supplies. ~Tomorrow a friend is coming to sew with me. I'm really looking forward to it -- and then, of course, it's the weekend and my husband will be home -- the best part of the week!!!

FL trip - with the rest of the family

After we stayed with my brothers for a few days, we drove up to Pomona Park/Lake Como to spend the rest of the week with my parents, my snowbird-grandparents, and my Uncle Chuck, Aunt Connie (my mom's sister), and my cousins Amanda & Alicia, who were visiting from NY. We enjoyed a visit to my friend Jessica (thanks again, Jess, it was so nice to see you and now I can picture you in your house...especially in your sewing room!!!), sitting around and visiting, going to the beach, and one day the ladies made baskets. It was so good to see everyone...the only drawback is that we always miss them more acutely after we have been together!!!

Florida trip - special day with Uncle Matthew

My brother Matthew and I took the kids to Silver Springs.

The weather was gorgeous and we had a great day!

Florida trip - special day with Uncle Caleb

My brother Caleb and I took the kids

to a Discovery/Science Center

and then for a hike around an old limestone quarry.

We had lots of fun!

Florida trip pictures part 1

The kids enjoyed some reading time on the way down...(on a side note, the big Richard Scarry books are our all-time favorites for car rides...they are so full of fascinating stuff to look at and read!) I can think of quite a few captions to go along with the look that David gave me for this picture!

^David playing video games with Uncle Caleb...

David plays whole-body style!

^Hanging out with Uncle Matthew before bedtime

Home, safe and sound

Our trip home from Florida went very well today. Despite many sections of highway with ridiculously low speed limits due to construction, one rest stop and our annual twenty-minute stop at "the big cow" (picture to follow tomorrow), and some really heavy rain, we made it home in just shy of eight hours. We miss everybody we've left in Florida...but it is SO GOOD to see Bruce again... ...and I'm looking forward to my Select Comfort bed, too!

Arthur and DW visit Grandma's house

Fun with cousins in Florida

Bakin' in the sun

A nice, restful day here...we woke up in a leisurely way, spent the middle part of the day at the "train house" (my grandparents' place), then came back to my parents's place for a bit of rest, playtime, and a walk out back to see my dad's new pond. We just finished dinner, and the kids are out for their nightly tractor ride with Grandpa before it's time for bath and bed. Although the breeze was a bit cool today, the sun is hot and it was beautiful sitting-out weather...I even got a sunburn...

Hey, I'm on vacation...

Yes, I know I have been neglecting the blog...that's just how it goes on vacation! We had a great few days with my brothers...when I get home, I will post pictures of our adventures together. Now we are at my parents' and enjoying time with them and my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and two cousins. Today is a visit to my friend Jessica (I would link to her blog but she hasn't updated it in forever...hint hint! :) and then home to play with the cousins later today. It's been hot down here...it feels great!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day, especially to my forever valentine...I love you and miss you, Hon!

We're in Florida

We're in Florida...we had a quick, uneventful trip down and are now hanging out at my brothers' apartment, waiting for them to come home from work. I'm going to try to grab a quick nap before I rummage around for dinner ingredients -- one of the things I have been looking forward to about this visit is having a hot meal waiting for them when they get home from work -- I remember those days in my life when that was a very rare treat and I enjoy getting to share that treat now!

Getting ready for a trip

The kids and I are getting ready for our annual Florida-pilgrimage...this year will be a grand New York-in-Florida reunion -- we will get to see not only my parents and brothers, but also my snowbird-grandparents and my Uncle Chuck, Aunt Connie, Amanda, and Alicia (my mom's sister and family), who will be down for winter break! Needless to say, I don't have much time to post today, and tomorrow I will be on the road, so my next post will be from my brothers' place in Florida...

Some life lessons we learned this past week

~It is not a good idea to rinse off muddy eyeglass lenses by swishing them around in a puddle...on a concrete driveway. ~Yankee candle jars do not stand up well to being dropped from the mantel to the marble fireplace-hearth. ~Even at ages 3 and 5, the kids are not old enough to start out the day in the clothes I want them to wear when we go out and about in the afternoon...(but then I'm one to talk!). We had quite a few interesting moments this past week! Today has been a wonderful day -- the first in a long time that we have been able to just enjoy being together and without a schedule to keep to -- it's beautiful out, so the kids played together very happily outside for about four hours, Bruce and I sat on the porch swing and watched for a while, then we went inside and played Scrabulous (Facebook's online version of Scrabble) and I WON! Nobody ever gets to beat Bruce in any game that is even remotely knowledge-linked, so it was a very exciting moment for me...besides the fact that it was just fun to get to snuggle on the couch and play a game all at the same time! We love to spend time together just as much -- no, even more than -- we did when we were newlyweds... Now Bruce is getting ready to make us his fabulous French toast for dinner while I bathe the (VERY dirty) children...what a nice day!

Our first "real" puppetry show

Yesterday we went with my friend Greta and her two oldest children on a field trip to Atlanta's Center for Puppetry Arts. We had a great time and I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids! It was a black-light puppetry show, which was very cool, and the quality of the performance far exceeded my expectations. We'll definitely go again!

Lego Artist

David has finally stopped being frantic that his Lego 'things' having to look just like the diagram and yesterday he started to create things from his own imagination. I know this is nothing earth-shattering -- generations of children have built cool things with Legos -- but I was excited to see him start to create! Those of us who love to create things with our hands know how much satisfaction there is in it...!