Trip to the Zoo

We took a day-trip to the zoo last month with Nana, Auntie Lindsay and the girl's cousins. It was so much fun experiencing it through the eyes of children. I was so excited to take Grace because she loves animals and I knew she would enjoy seeing them up close.  Abigail slept the 90 minute drive there and back and was happy all day. A perfect day! Enjoy...

Grace loved feeding the giraffes!

Abigail...not so much!

Posing with the pink flamingos.

Grace with her boy cousins.

Abigail and Catherine share a stroller ride. Of course, my child does not sleep in public.

Grace was trying to enjoy feeding the bird on her arm after it just bit her finger.

Ice cream break!

Abigail and Roman are the only ones posing for the picture.

Happy 1st Birthday Abigail!

Hard to believe "Abigator" is one year old! She got her nickname from our nephew Jude who called her "Abigator" the first time he tried to say Abigail (he was 3 at the time)...and it stuck! She has 7 teeth and is cruising around the furniture ready to walk any week now. She didn't enjoy her first sip of cow milk as she spit it all out. We'll just have to try again later! She loves to sit and have a book read to her one-on-one (just like Grace). She knows that the cow says "moo" and the dog says "woof" and the ducks says "dack, dack".  My favorite thing is to see her take care of her baby doll. She gives her baby doll hugs and kisses and gives her a bottle. Isn't it is neat for her to be so nurturing at such a young age. So sweet. Here are a few pictures of her birthday party.

Nana, Abigail, Grace (in elephant mask), Catherine & Auntie Lindsay

Grace requested cupcakes on behalf of Abigail! I made these toppers in photoshop.

Pappy!!

Cousins Roman, Jude & Titus with Grace

Before...

After!

Abigail feeds her baby doll. So glad Uncle Matt is back in town to stay!

Abigail enjoying her new toy! Grace loves to push her in it.

Happy Easter!

♪♫♪♫"If ever I loved thee, my Jesus 'tis now"...(words from an old hymn that I have had in my head all week) I am so thankful what Jesus did for us. And Easter is the time to celebrate his resurrection...and celebrate we did!

Grace dyed Easter eggs and decorated them...she even ate a few, too!

Grace with the Easter Bunny!

Someone found their Easter basket!

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter service. Grace helped the children to flower the cross.
I lead a handbell choir for the first time and they sounded great!

After Easter service we headed to Auntie Lindsay's parent's house for an egg hunt and dinner. It was lots of fun!



Nana, Pappy, Uncle Andrew/Lindsay's family and our family (we missed you Uncle Matt)

Abigail loved this little car!

...had to throw this one in, too!

Animal Fun

Abigail is 10 months old and crawling everywhere and into everything! She is having so much fun, though! Grace is a patient big sister now that Abigail likes to take her toys away. They are both such sweet girls. I am a lucky momma!

Abigail chasing her cousin's rabbit (Elliott). Poor bunny, but he did eat a hole in her sippy cup. Rascally rabbit.

Abigail & Catherine having a fun play date and learning to share the swing!

Abigail is into everything!

Our dog, Saki just turned 11. Grace made her a dog bone cake with icing and sprinkles (no picture, but Ben got it on video).  Grace put her baby dolls to bed and Saki thought it looked like a comfy spot for her, too. Sweet dog.

Abigail gets a bath in the sink...sometimes it's just quicker that way. ;)

Grace & Abigail had a fun day at the park with her cousins & Nana

Can you see the raccoon? It was in the tree as we were eating dinner. The raccoon climbed to the top and was eating the buds off the tree. It was very entertaining watching him bounce on those skinny limbs, but somehow he never fell!

Grace finally got to go to the circus. We've been waiting for them to come to town! It was a lot of fun!! The tigers were Grace's favorite.

Cousins Jude and Roman with Nana, Sharon, Abigail & Grace

The elephants were very impressive, too!

Abigail's favorite game is to play catch with the ball.

Horse Ride

We have been enjoying the outdoors a lot this winter since it's been mostly in the 70s. My Mom & I went horseback riding as part of a gift certificate we got her for her birthday. Ben, Grace and Abigail came along, too to see all the horses and hang out. Grace ended up getting a riding lesson while we were there and she had so much fun. She loves horses! Grace got to ride Honey, a movie star in the movie "Dear John" that was filmed locally. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice picnic at the Angel Oak tree. We all guessed how old the tree was and Grace was the only one who got it right (it is about 400 years old).

Grace riding Honey

Grace looks so tiny!

Ben, Sharon, Grace & Abigail

A picture with Nana!

Abigail being cute.

Look Who's Crawling

Abigail finally figured out how to crawl (forward). Grace is so proud of her little sister!

9 Months Already

Hard to believe that Abigail will be 9 months old tomorrow! She is growing up so fast. Her first word is officially "da-da" (for daddy) and she can also say "ni-ni" (night-night) and clap and wave bye-bye. Anytime she hears music she starts to sing and likes to hold out the "o" on e-i-e-i-o. It's been a rough past few days for her with three of her top teeth coming in all at once. Poor baby! Grace had her first dentist appointment last Friday and her teeth look great - no cavities! Yeah! Grace enjoys going to the library story time each week. Now that she is three, she attends the class alone. sniff, sniff

Abigail can get around, but hasn't figured out how to go forward yet!

Abigail and Catherine sharing the scooter

Grace getting her teeth cleaned

Grace with her cousins at GGma/Papa Jack's house for a fun oyster roast

Swinging with my girls