Christmas 2011

My BEAUTIFUL 5 year old

BD Girl

Abby turned 5 November 13! She remembered last year and asked if there would be presents on the table when she woke up :) Of course there were :)

Sissy spent the night before her birthday with us and that made her birthday even more special!

Mommy's 5 year old!!!!

She was just thrilled to get roller skates :)

Sissy was happy to help her try them out.

And off they went :)

While Abby skated with Sissy Mommy made some birthday cake pancakes for breakfast.

My sweet birthday girl! Can't believe she is 5!

After lunch we had plans to go see the Chinese Acrobats that just happened to be in town. First Auntie L, Uncle Pete, Aunt Annetta and Cousin Josh came over to sing Happy Birthday and have cake.

Joshie made Abby a beautiful birthday picture :)

Making her wish :)

Auntie L and Sissy brought Abby the Moondough Snack Set she wanted!

Auntie L. also gave the Birthday girl 5 dollars.

Then we all minus Uncle Pete set off to see the acrobats.

My girl was so excited!

We even got a picture with an acrobat during the intermission.

Once we got home the birthday girl was all tuckered out.

After dinner and Jamies though and she was ready to play with her new Moondough.

On Monday Abby brought Birthday Big Cookies to school. She got to wear a birthday crown too :)

Happy Birthday # 5 my sweet Abba! Mommy loves you!

Referral anniversary day year # 4!

4 years really? On November 5, 2007 I saw my beautiful Abba's face for the very first time. I remember that day like it was yesterday. It was amazing and one of many more amazing wonderful days to come thanks to the wonderful gift that China gave me. I am so lucky I get to be her Mommy. Life is just better with her here. She is everything that I hoped for and then some. I can't imagine life without her. Life is good and I will be forever thankful for the red threads that brought us together!

November 5, 2011

November 5, 2010

November 5. 2009

Unfortunately I did not take a picture for November 5, 2008 :(

Silly in the bath :))

Cassie Love

A glimpse of the future?

Little Miss Abba talking on the phone to one of her most favorite people in the world. Her Meema :) Just a little glimpse of whats to come once she is older and on the phone with her friends!

Checking in :)

Abby P is doing just wonderfully in her Kindergarten class. She jumped right in and acts as if she has always been there :) After the first week or so Mommy decided she likes it too. I am very impressed with all of the learning going on there. And not just in the Kindergarten class but I see it in the younger classes too. My little sponge is just soaking it all up! Here she is below in her extra small Tee shirt from Mommy's hospital and ready for the Heart Walk.

And a back view too :) We are growing out her hair including her bangs. So far so good. And back to Kindegarten. Abby has Gymnastics at Kindergarten on Mondays and Music on Fridays at Kindergarten. Plus they will soon start going to the Library on Thursdays where she will get her very own library card and get to check out her own library books each week. On top of that she is also back in Ballet again and goes Tuesday evenings after school. My girl has a busy week and is sleeping well at night (as is Mommy). The no nap day took some getting used to and she is still tired at night but making it through.

Abby did great on the heart walk although I'm sure it was a little rough on her riding in the stroller and all :) She also got her face painted and thought that was pretty cool!

Even slept with it on that night :)

After the Heart Walk we headed over to the Farmers Market / Fall Festival over at Yorktown Beach. We met cousin Josh there and good times were had rolling down the hills on what was once part of the Yorktown Battlefield.

Good times for sure :)

A nice beautiful fall day too. Now if it would just quit ping ponging up and down with the temps!

I had an extra set of clothes for her after the walk but she refused to change.

Blurry but cute!

I just can't believe my little Abba will be 5 next month! We are busy planning her Birthday Party:) She is excited about Halloween coming as well. She will be a Mermaid this year. Mommy spent way too much money on her costume but boy will she be cute!

Life is good :)

New School Days

My Abba started a new school/ child care center today. It was a tough decision for Mommy, She had been at her prior child care center since she was around 19 or 20 months old. We loved it there and I felt really comfortable with her there. Unfortunately though per her late BD (November 13th) she missed the cut off for kindergarten this year. So if she had stayed at the prior child care center she would have had to repeat the pre K class. I was worried she might be Bored if she had to repeat. Plus almost all her buddies were leaving for Kindergarten this year anyway. So I found a child care center that offers half day morning Kindergarten. In the afternoon it changes to 5K straight child care. Abby and I checked it out and she has been excited to move there. Mommy on the other hand is having a much harder time with the change. It's just not what I'm a used too. She did have a good day but was exhausted when I picked her up. They don't nap in the Kindergarten class. She doesn't nap at home either but did at her old child care center. She knew she was tired and admitted she missed napping today. And overall I just don't have that good secure feeling yet about the new place. It's a good place so don't get me wrong. I also have several friends whose children attend and they have been very pleased with the program.... Anyhoo I will give it a chance. But I admit it. It's only the first day and I miss the other center :( I will give it a chance though. Time will tell if my gut is right or wrong.





Should add that I am SUPER proud of my girl who handled the change like a champ :) How I love her!!

Still here

We made it through Irene. Thankfully she was not as bad as predicted for our area anyway. Not sure she was truly even a hurricane when she visited. It was windy and it was wet but the damage was really no more then what you would expect around here. Some trees down, some small signs. Lots of limbs and various debris, some local flooding but none for us and really no damage around my house :) We bugged out to my Mom's around 1 PM Saturday when the lights started to flicker pretty regularly. Mom has a generator so they were set. Cousin Josh and sis in law Annetta joined us there as well. Abby enjoyed the sleep over with her cousin. It wasn't even super Windy until around 9PMish. Even then still probably just tropical storm strength. The winds were loud though and enough too make you know that anything stronger would truly be scary. My heart go out to those who were not as lucky as we were....

Tried to get a shot of the tress blowing but didn't catch the affect.

Hurricane face painting :) (Mommy is by no means a professional)

Dinner picnic with cousin Josh at Meemas :)

Looking ugly

Mom and Hugh's Pier under water.

Sunday Am was beautiful! Abby and I went home to check on our house and the kitties around 11 AM. The house was fine. Per out neighbor the power had not gone out until 11PM Saturday night. And besides giving us the silent treatment and refusing to come out and greet us the kitties were fine too. Or neighbor had a generator and was kind enough to plug our fridge in to it so we didn't lose any food. The power came back on later that evening. And Abby and I headed back home.

The day after Irene. A beautiful Sunday morning.

Left over storm surge. Mainly pieces of the neighboring piers. Mom and Hughes thankfully held strong.

Pier boards were scattered up and down the river.

Hard to see but their neighbors lost their steps from the beech to the house.

Was thinking the thick heavy limbs had been blown onto the pier but actually it's more likely that they floated on to it. My parents were living in York County when hurricane Isabel struck 8 years ago. They were hit hard and had a lot of damage. Thankfully not the case this time around at their newer residence and sitting on much higher ground.