Happy Birthday Grandma Harms!

Happy Birthday Grandma Harms! I thought I would post some new pictures just for you today. We all went swimming Friday afternoon and enjoyed the water immensely. Though not as warm as it was in July, it was still quite refreshing. Abigail likes to splash, float and kick her legs in the water. I think we'll have a hard time staying out of the pool next summer!

We had some friends over for burgers, brats and games on Saturday night, and Rodney and I are now fans of "Settlers of Catan". Rodney is actually at their townhome as we speak to help rip out a tile floor. Abigail has been sleepy today, so I got to go back to bed this morning and she's already down for her afternoon nap. We both needed the recharge. I have been in a funk - kinda spacey, kinda low, and I think I just needed some more sleep:)

Abigail seems to enjoy fruits and vegetables. So far she has done well with peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, peaches and bananas. Green beans were a bust and were tramatic for all of us. I truly think they were the root cause of the fussiness and nap boycot. Today, we are trying avocados and then we will try pears at the end of the week! I am enjoying making homemade baby food - which is on the to-do list for today:) She ate the last of the carrots for lunch today.

I hope you have a great birthday, Grandma Harms. We're sorry we cannot celebrate with you, and we look forward to Thanksgiving! We love you very much!

Your son is a great husband and daddy, and he's quite handsome too!

Abigail enjoyed splashing in the water.

We had the pool all to ourselves. It was lovely.

I might as well be...

Dutch!

Yes, I am a thrifty, bargain hunting woman, and my dear husband is 50% Dutch, his grandparents both from Holland. To many of our friends, he is known as The King of Free, and on our nightly walks around the apartment complex, he's always on the lookout for good finds in the garbage.

I am not averse to dumpster diving; I practically grew up looking for great bargains. Most of my clothes during my wee-munchkin years were hand me downs, mostly out of necessity but also because of my mother's frugality. In Japan, it was a well known cultural fact that the Japanese throw away to buy new. It's actually taboo to keep a set of dishes if one piece has broken. So we would go "gomi" (garbage) hunting and found some beautiful pottery and dishes;)

Now as a mom myself, I am on the lookout for bargains. Most of Abigail's toys (swing, jumperoo, play mat, piano, Fisher price home) were from (you guessed it) craigslist. And the last week I have been an e-bay addict, on the lookout for inexpensive winter clothes. We don't have winter here in Texas, but I don't want my daughter to freeze the three weeks we are home for the holidays! Can I rationalize spending an arm and a leg on new winter clothes and jacket she'll only wear for 3 weeks? Of course not:) And by the way, I have found quite a few winter clothes for her on craigslist, the sale racks and on e-bay:)

In the end, it's really a stewardship issue, in my conviction, because if I spend less on myself and our wee daughter, we'll have more to give back to the Lord. Because after all, it's all His anyways.

So that said, I am proud to announce a few of our more recent dumpster diving finds. Yes, we were on a walk about a month ago and couldn't resist. We found a dresser with a broken drawer that Rodney fixed in about 10 minutes. And we found a toy chest. The lid had water stains from a leaking fish tank, which we left in the garbage. But we decided it would be a refinishing project. Rodney sanded the top, I stained it, and Rodney painted on the lacquer over the last few nights. It fits perfectly into our little apartment. And now we have a perfect home for all of Abigail's toys.

So even though Irish and German blood course through my veins, I'm still a good match for my Dutch hubby:)

Abigail, this will be your first piece of furniture for your room when you are too big for your nursery...And it is a perfect match with the rest of our guest bedroom furniture. Amazing!

"being"

Last week, I picked up this Rainforest Jumperoo for Miss Abigail, and we have had fun watching her play and jump and play some more. She ha s also been more vocal lately and has introduced "ba ba..." and "da da..." into her repertoire of baby noises. Sometimes she quietly talks to herself, almost in whispers, and other times she just likes to be heard, as you will hear in the video below.

Seven months is a fun age, and sometimes at the end of the day, I'll sit back and say to myself, "Now what did I actually do today?" This week has been one of those weeks. I have played with Abigail, done laundry, and cooked delicious meals. That's just about it...but...I'm going to be doing a Bible study at our new church, taking a leave of absence from BSF (alas -- I do not have anyone to watch Abigail). But the church study will also be in John and they have childcare, which will be good for Abigail too. I keep praying that I'll meet some other moms close by...so I'm going to try and get involved with a local MOPS group too. Rodney and I are also going to do a small group study at our church, and with Rodney having BSF on Monday nights, we're going to end up with a full schedule.

All that said -- I'm going to try and sit back and enjoy my daughter:) This shouldn't be too difficult since I am a "be--er"... Yes, I like to just "be" and soak it all in. A friend not long ago said that books are like junk food. And yes, I would have to agree. So if I'm not playing with Abigail, I am reading, which is what I'm about to go do now.

seven months old

I feel like the week has flown by, which is a blessing considering Abigail has boycotted naptime this week. I've come to the conclusion that either Abigail is working on some teeth or she's just trying to drop a nap. I'm hoping for the former:) She's been sleeping almost a full 12 hours at night, so all in all we're doing alright. And even though she does have her, "I'm tired but don't want to sleep" crabby moments, she has been quite the cheerful little munchkin, as I'm sure you'll be able to see in her pictures. Yesterday at the grocery store, she was chattering up a storm, smiling at all of the people and squealing with delight.

Month seven was fast, and month eight will be even faster, as we'll have friends and family here for the middle two weeks of September. So I'll keep savoring every moment! Happy weekend to you all, since the weekend comes early to us this week. Rodney will be home tomorrow!

one of her many adorable expressions :)

our happy little girl

engrossed...

note the drool -- gobs and gobs of it :)

helping mom in the kitchen!

playing with my food -- "With my cold teether. I'm not ready for these carrots yet, only the really mushy ones!"

I just love my "new" toy. I think Rodney enjoys this even more than Abigail;)

Almost Seven Months, Sleepy and Lots of Tears

Our darling daughter has apparently forgotten how to take naps. At around 8 weeks, she started sleeping through the night and happily and peacefully fell asleep at naptime. She still sleeps well at night and fusses minimally at bedtime. This week, however, she has decided she would rather stay up and be fussy all day than take her much needed morning and afternoon naps. We've been putting her down for twenty minutes, going in to comfort her, and then letting her cry. But even so, she hasn't been settling down for naps. She doesn't appear to be sick or teething, nor is she going through a growth spurt, as she is happy and content as long as she's not in her crib. I have read that at this age (six/seven months), they begin to have separation anxiety, which would explain the out of control crying. But I am at a loss and hoping for some advice...

Thanks! (from a very weary mama)...

......and on another note......

Abigail has done really well with peas and carrots, though I think I may cut the green beans, just to make sure they aren't the culprit for her fussy behavior, and I'll reintroduce them a bit later....

oh the things we do...

oh the things we do for a laugh...

Our third anniversary - sand and the sea

We had a great long weekend down in Port Aransas. We spent Friday and Saturday at the beach - swimming, reading, and going for walks. Abigail did very well and even took a long nap on the beach on Saturday. She didn't like the ocean at first, probably because daddy charged into the ocean and ended up getting hit by a huge wave:) I guess that's the difference between daddy and mommy:) We were all exhausted by the sun and sea and after eating a lovely, late dinner at a German restaurant, we all quickly fell asleep at the hotel. Abigail slept late the next day, so mommy and daddy got to sleep late too, truly a mark of vacation.

On Saturday night, we went to a pizza parlour and then walked down memory lane. Last year, Rodney and I played miniature golf on our anniversary in Corpus Christi, so we made the short drive over to reminisce. Abigail enjoyed her new stroller, and watching all the other little kids with their parents. Meanwhile, Rodney beat me by one stroke by getting a hole in one on the last hole! Grrrrrrr...

On Sunday afternoon, we headed over to Corpus Christi to go to the Texas State Aquarium. We had a lovely relaxing afternoon before heading back to Houston. Abigail enjoyed watching all of the people, while Rodney and I enjoyed the air conditioning and the exhibits:)

We had a lovely weekend, celebrating the three years that the Lord has given us. Our little family has grown, and it was a blessing to share our special weekend with our little girl. We look forward to many more years together.

hmmmm...I don't know what to think about this new experience...

Very tired at the end of the first day...

Last year, we bought a huge canopy to protect us from the blazing sun, and we found it to be a necessity with a baby. We set up our cooler, chairs and our huge beach towel.




Abigail enjoyed playing on the beach towel in the shade and sipping on water...

A rare family picture...

playing at the end of a long, hot day.

Rodney and Abigail waiting to see the dolphins.

Abigail in her new stroller. It's much more compact, far lighter and easy to sling over our shoulder...it was a big hit with our tired arms. Abigail had a doctor's appointment on Monday, and she weighed in at 16lb 12 oz...(75%).

The USS Lexington - Rodney and I toured the boat on our second anniversary. We chose wisely last year, as the lack of air conditioning and stairs would have been more difficult this year with a baby...but the view from the aquarium was magnificent!

Abigail started on peas today -- she made a funny face (which is too hard to capture when I'm feeding her and trying to take a picture...). Abigail still spits up a lot. My mom tells me that I had horrible reflux as an infant, and I seem to have passed on this trait to my daughter. So now I have green bibs and blankets to wash. Yuck!