Happy Birthday, America!

The day started off with a change of plans. We were scheduled to go to my Aunt Becky's house for her annual 4th of July cookout and swim party, but late on July 3rd, Aunt Sue (Becky's and my dad's sister) had a heart attack and was in the hospital. So, change of plans. (She had to have three stents put in at noon today and is still in the hospital. She's doing okay - not great, but okay.)

Instead, Robby and I decided to take advantage of our rare spare time and we drove down south to the Mansfield/GP area to look at some houses I had picked out online. I LOVE house shopping! Originally, I wanted to move to Mansfield because of the excellent school systems, but after showing Robby some prospective day care centers close to my work, he mentioned moving to GP instead so I won't have a 20-25 minute commute. I was okay with the commute considering what I drive now, but he does have a point. And it's not like Abby will be going to elementary next year or anything. Knowing us, we'll probably move by then anyways. Also, a point to consider is all the wonderful changes the superintendent is making in the school district. In two years, she's brought the schools from 1 in 5 either recognized/exemplary to 1 in 2, with none deemed unacceptable. That's a substantial gain! Maybe by the time Abby is ready for school, the school system will be that much more improved and I will WANT to send her to GP.

By the time we got home, it was time for our night-night routine - Daddy playing with Abby while I get dinner ready, feeding her and us, bath time, quiet play, story and bed. She was out before it was dark and unfortunately missed her first fireworks show. We were going to take her out to the local high school, but since she was so sleepy at her normal bed time, we decided to just go ahead with her routine. Had she been awake, we would have gone. Oh well. Robby and I were able to watch the fireworks from the front porch, anyways. It was nice to have family time on this holiday.

Thank you troops and veterans for giving us this gift. Let freedom ring!

Movin' and Groovin'

Abigail has changed so much in the last week and a half. She scoots all over the place, both while she is on her back and on her tummy. The thing is, when she is on her tummy, she scoots backwards. Instead of putting her hands out and pulling to go forward, she pushes and ends up going backwards. Two days ago I was folding laundry and I heard her go "eh, eh, eh" so I peeked in on her and she was halfway underneath the couch! All that was sticking out was her head and her arms! She backed her way under there; it was really surprising because I put her in the middle of the room on a blanket with nothing around. I thought she was safe! Wow, we are really going to have to keep an eye on her now.

Also, she stands up very well holding on to things - her favorite thing to hold on to is her crib rail. She can pull up on me using my clothes, or my arms, or my HAIR. Anything she can grab is fair game in her eyes. Just yesterday she did it quite effortlessly - looked like a pro. She can't quite pull up on furniture or anything yet, mostly because she can't reach it from a sitting position, but it won't be long. She can go from a sitting position to being on her knees, so I know once she does that and reaches for something, she'll be up. The best part of this all is seeing the delight on her face when she completes such a task! She is SO proud of herself and it is really evident!

She has started to take a keen interest in things - tiny things. She will pick up absolutely ANYTHING off the carpet, couch, etc. The tiniest speck of paper or tiniest fragment of a leaf is subject to being put in her mouth. Just the other day I looked over at her and saw that she was foaming (serious spit bubbles) at the mouth. I had no idea what happened! I immediately looked at the counter to see that the Advil bottle didn't fall over and spill; I thought maybe Chance brought one in to her. She was still breathing, so I wasn't too panicky - yet - but when she moved her mouth I saw a STICKER in there! Now, where did she get a sticker? I have no idea! Luckily, it was rather large and I could remove it easily. Ay ya yi ya yi. I am on "eagle eye" mode now.

It's a BOY!

Michael and Lindsey went to the doc today and found out that the bun in their oven is a BOY! We're thrilled beyond belief and so are they - it is what they "wanted" and it is always nice to get what you want. It's in their destiny to have a son; after all, they "just look like they would have a boy" (quote from Lindsey's ob/gyn). I know he'll be riding donkeys and four wheelers in no time! It's also a good thing that they're having a boy because now everyone in my family can breathe a sigh of relief since the Scritchfield name will carry on. Whew. Michael was the last Scritchfield from my grandfather's line of blood, so it's really cool to see the name carry on at least one more generation.

It was really fun to talk to Michael and Lindsey today after their appointment, because they both sounded so delighted and happy. Since the baby is due at the end of November (Lindsey is about 18.5 weeks or so), today is the first time they got to see the baby on the sonogram. They said that he was sucking his thumb, pushing, kicking and even yawning (awww). It made my heart happy and light to hear how happy they are. :) He is 10 cm long and weighs 9 oz. Everything looks good!

Another interesting thing about them having a boy is that it puts Abigail in the same family place as me. On my dad's side of the family I have a boy cousin 4 months older than me, and on my mom's side I have a boy cousin almost a year younger than me. When Nicholas is born, Abby will have a boy cousin on her dad's side 5 months older than her and a boy cousin on my side about a year younger than her. Weird how that worked out. But totally cool, too. I always loved hanging out with my cousins, and I hope that she can have a great relationship with both of them (and whoever else may pop up in the future).

Congratulations, Doodlebug and Raisin! (Ha.) We love you both and we love Nicholas already, too! We can't wait until Christmas when we can come out and see him!

Splish Splash

Both Randi and I were husband-less for the day, so we decided to get together and go to the pool with our babies. It was 104-106 degrees outside depending on which thermometer you read, so it was perfect for chilling in the water. For all of those worry-worts out there (Mom), yes, we applied sunscreen - SPF 50 - several times, and Abigail even got two doses before we even went out in the sun - once before we left the house to go to Randi's, and once 30 minutes prior to going to the pool to let it "set" and become water proof. I also reapplied right when we got to the pool and once throughout our pool visit. She wore a UPF 50 sun hat, we sat in the shady end of the kiddie pool and she had a sippy cup of ice cold water at her disposal. Let's just say that my mom and last month's Parenting magazine had an effect on my sun-safety. Heh. I was NOT going to let my 7 month old baby get a sunburn or become dehydrated! We had a fun day letting the cousins play.

First, Abby and I had to drop off more ice to Robby & Poppy while they umped in this heat wave. We got there in between games - perfect timing!

Getting ready for the pool: Abby's sunscreen hair-do. We did this once at the lake when she was 4 months old and Mason was 9 months old. They both have considerably more hair now - especially Mason!

He's ready to swim!

A little snack before hitting the pool. (Letting the sunscreen set.)

They jumped in the car and let us know it was time to head to the water.

After swimming, sans swimsuit and sun hat, she relaxed under a make-shift canopy while we gathered up things to go.

Post swim ba-bas (bottles).

They had to take a bath to get all of that sunscreen out of their hair!

The four of us met up with Robby and Mimi at Cliff's in Grapevine for a much needed dinner. We were famished!

Abby got to ride her first horse!

She loved it!

Happy family. :)

Hometown Visit

My cousin Amber and her family came down from Wisconsin to visit friends and family all over East Texas; since Robby and I were so busy on Father's Day and hardly got to see them, Abby and I went back down Thursday to spend the night and see them again. Her husband had to go back a few days ago, but Amber and her daughters were able to stay an extra few days and I am happy they did! This week is the first time Abby has gotten to meet them! She loved them all and took to them almost instantly, but she really liked Sammie, who is 6 and played with her all afternoon.

Amber with Kay (12) and Sammie (6)

Sammie fed Abigail her dinner. She did such a good job!

Sammie and Abby

Kayla and Sammie petting the donkeys.

Abby got to see Papa, of course! They love sitting on the front porch together.

Kayla

Sammie and Amber

Kay


Abby got to try some REAL bananas! Diced up for finger food, of course!

She did a good job getting it into her mouth! She's growing so fast!


Bath time at Nani's after swimming. She loves any kind of water!

2 Down, 80 To Go

Today is our 2 year anniversary! It seems like just yesterday that I was hanging out in Tonya's room at the DZ house contemplating calling him. That's when it all (re)started. That day was the first day we'd spoken in about 4 years, and I remember one of the first things I said to him. Me: "Do you remember me?" Robby: "I told you I'd never forget you." Sounds cheesy now, but the last time we spoke I told him not to forget me and he promised he wouldn't.

That was in 2005. We got engaged December 23, 2006 (on a horse-drawn carriage while looking at Christmas lights), and married June 23, 2007. We found out we were pregnant in February 2008 and introduced Abigail Reese to our family November 8, 2008. We've been busy!

When Robby and I were engaged, I told him that when he marries me he is committing to at least 82 years of being married to the same woman. I said, "Give me 82 years, and then you can do what you want." That'll put him at 107, and by that time, I thought if he wanted to have a mid-life (end of life?) crisis, then by all means, go ahead. :) His response? "I don't think 82 years will be long enough." Dang, he was smooth. ;)

So far, these two years have been amazing and I am looking forward to the rest! I enjoy my time with him and I am so amazed by my husband. We have such a great life! Here are some pictures to recap that blissful day two years ago!

We were married in the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens.

Briana, Me, Tonya

Headed to Jamaica!

Father's Day Festivities

Happy Father's Day! This is Robby's first father's day; the first day that we get to honor all that he has done in the past 7 months (16 months if you include pregnancy). From the moment I found out I was pregnant until now, I can honestly say that I could not have made it without him! I hope that he knows just how appreciated he is. As far as Abigail is concerned, she thinks he hung the moon! She is such a Daddy's girl - and I know he loves it! I love it, too, since I was a big fan of my dad when I was little and I like seeing my little girl take such a fondness to her daddy. I hope they can always be close.

On Saturday Robby and I went to Shreveport to have a mini-anniversary celebration (it's on Tuesday the 23rd! 2 years!). It was our first night away from Abigail; she stayed with my parents. They really enjoyed having her and, from what they say, Abby turned into a Papa's girl, too, this weekend. (She kind of already was. He was the first person to make her laugh and laugh and laugh at 4 months old.) It was kind of fitting that they got to spend so much time together on this weekend.

We woke up Sunday morning and drove back to Tyler to have lunch with my dad and my grandfather. My cousins were down from Wisconsin, so all of my grandfather's great-grand children were there (except for the one on the way in Arizona, of course!). After that, we headed back home and met up with Robby's family to have a dinner celebration with his dad. Over all, it was a very nice weekend!

Robby decided to give Abby a small nibble of cake.

She LOVED it!

Big Papa with his great-grandchildren. Abby (7 mo.), Sammie (6) and Kayla (12)

I took three pictures and none of them had them all looking at the camera!

Robby and his dad.