Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Rolling Over

She did it!! Little Miss Abigail has figured out how to do some rolling over. I knew it was coming... and figured really soon when I put her on her back for a nap today and found her practically on her stomach when I went in to check on her.

Then, tonight, I put her on her stomach on the play mat and she went almost immediately to her back when I turned my back. I quickly got the camera and attempted to get her to do it a couple of more times. However, she was not as happy about it as the first time.... She was even doing some rolling from her back to her stomach. When going from her stomach to her back she was doing a great job getting her little bum in the air and pushing her legs.

Wow!! She is growing so fast. She is making more and more sounds. She loves putting things in her mouth. I love all of the smiles she gives to John and I. We are trying to start giving her more rice cereal. (We took a break from trying it with our trips to Greer and Utah.)


Here is her latest picture with the bear. It is getting harder to take this picture with all of the moving she now does.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Utah

Mommy and Abigail recently returned from a great trip to Utah. We went to visit (and stay) with a good friend of mine and also go to a family reunion with my mom's side of the family. We had so much fun, but we sure missed Daddy and we are glad to be back home.

Visiting Aunt Tiffany in Flagstaff. She was an EFY counselor at NAU that week -- so we stopped in to tell her a quick hello on the way to Utah.


Several families went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House.

TEMPLE SQUARE
After the Temple Open House we spent the afternoon at Temple Square in Salt Lake City.

We enjoyed lunch at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building at one of the restaurants on the roof. I think it is called The Garden....

We let Abigail try sitting in the high chair. I had to help prop her up, but she enjoyed herself.



A great view of the Salt Lake Temple just outside of the restaurant.

What a cute baby taking a nap during part of our time in the Church History Museum....

Mommy and Abigail inside the Tabernacle

AZ Science Center

The Arizona Science Center has a Lego display for the next few weeks. If you know John well, you probably know that he loves Legos. While John's sister and her family were in town (before we left for Greer) we went to the Arizona Science Center with most of his family. We had a fun time!!

Here is Abigail sitting forward in her stroller for the first time -- It sure looks like she likes it!


Discovering the "big" Legos. They had a special section for the little ones. I debated about the germs -- since her hands go in her mouth so much now, but I figured I would just watch her closely and clean her hands when we were finished.... Look how well she is starting to hold herself up.


Daddy sharing his love of Legos with Abigail.

The Lego display had a castle with a throne and other things inside -- so here we are sitting on the throne.... It was a fun day!!

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Greer with the Merrills

We just got back from going to Greer with John's family.... Does it look like this little girl had fun?.... She was such a good girl.... She traveled well, slept well, and was full of lots of smiles. It was a GREAT trip!!


Monday, June 15, 2009

Lovin' Our Little Girl

There is not much to report.... I just wanted to share some pictures of Abigail and her adorable smiles. This little girl is such a sweet baby. I love her more all the time. She continues to be a good little sleeper and is entertaining herself more and more. She is getting better and better at holding things/playing with a toy. In fact, she will even get mad if she happens to lose the toy she had.... I just love loving her.... Last night John had her laughing and making new laughing sounds I had not heard before -- super cute!!

Modeling her Disney Cheerleader outfit from Aunt Wendi in DisneyWorld

Look at that bear getting smaller and smaller....

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Seven Months Old

It is really hard for me to believe that my little miracle is already seven months old. She has got to be over 14lbs now.... Her little personality just keeps coming out. She is so sweet and easy going, but has a very stubborn side, too (just like her parents). We have been trying to get her to do more tummy time -- which she is not a big fan of.... The other day we put her on her tummy -- She cried a little, and then sucked her thumb and went to sleep. I don't think tummy time does much good when she doesn't even practice moving. She has begun to sort of roll over -- if she is at the right angle, and usually if she is mad. When we can convince her for a few minutes that her tummy is fun, she is getting better and better at holding her head up, and sometimes she will try a "flying" position.

She is loving the Exersaucer more and more She is getting better at her grabbing skills, and, of course, most of the things are going in her mouth. She also has to be in the mood to lie on her back. Recently, she has tried lifting her head while on her back -- guess she was trying to tell me something. With a little support, she really enjoys sitting up to look and play. She is also getting more and vocal -- be it happy or complaining. I Love It!

I love it when she smiles. It is a heart melter when the smile slowly builds while she is staring at you, and then it is just this big, beautiful smile. She has also learned to flail(sp?) her arms up and down and wildly kick when she is excited. I love watching her get so excited!.... I think she is also trusting that I will get her out of bed because she is not waking up and crying as much as she used to -- instead she is just making cute noises. She continues to love sucking her thumb. We still get her to take a binky sometimes. She has figured out how to sometimes hold it, and she even tries to do both sometimes. Plus, she also attempts her whole fist at times.

I have still been struggling with her not being able to nurse and me not being able to produce enough milk. I think she is just your average smart baby, and she knows the bottle is faster -- because she latched on earlier - but we were still thickening her milk then. However, I wonder if the positioning may hurt her some, too. So, I think I may be finally giving up on getting her to nurse (very sad day) -- you put her in position now and she just turns to get away. We have both shed tears in our efforts.... I just try and be grateful for the few times we got to experiment with it. We will see what happens when we get to have another baby -- We met with a lactation consultant and it might be more than Abigail's early arrival that prevented me from producing very much milk....and even though it sometimes is crazy and frustrating, I just can't give up pumping yet -- grateful technology helps me get her what milk I can. I am just so grateful that Abigail seems to be such a great eater - because preemies seem to be popular with eating issues.

I love that she loves to have me put her to sleep. I know I will probably regret it later, but it makes me feel better right now since we kind of missed out on the nursing bonding. At home she can sometimes just go in her bed without fully being asleep (fabulous) and go to sleep, but when we are not home, it is often a different story -- she must think she is going to miss something -- and fights sleep -- and generally screams at others' efforts until I take her. She is letting John put her to sleep more and more, though.

We sure do love our little girl. She loves to sing little action songs with her Daddy. Her favorite seems to be "Pat-aCake". Daddy is her favorite for playing, and she loves Mommy for cuddling... and she has us both tightly wrapped around her little finger.

Thanks for reading the long update...

What a comparison....one week to 30 weeks


Ready... Set... Eat.... We have let Abigail try rice cereal twice in the last week, and she seems to really like it.

Monday, June 1, 2009

New Toy

We let Abigail try the ExerSaucers that both of her grandmas have, and we decided it was time for her to have one. (A few weeks ago she was not interested yet.).... I think she likes it!!.... (Thanks Grandma Merrill!) We are so fortunate to have both sets of grandparents nearby and very willing to spoil us. (I can't forget all of the aunts and uncles, either.)

I love her smile in this one!! She is just so CUTE!!!.... "Look at Me! I am a big girl!"




Abigail fell asleep (for a much needed nap) at the end of the store adventure, but awoke shortly after getting home. I let her watch John setting up the ExerSaucer -- She fought going to sleep, but sleep obviously won.