Iron Deficient

My blood work came back from just your average pregnancy testing. Apparently I'm pretty significantly depleted of iron, which means I'm now on iron supplements. Praise the Lord! Since then, I've realized what it's like to not be sleepy most of the time and my horrible restless legs are essentially gone - making sleep happen. This has made such a dramatic difference in how I'm feeling. It was never horrible like some women experience during pregnancy, but until you feel normal again, you don't realize how it was really affecting you. A little over two months to go!

First Dentist Appointment

Abigail went to her first dentist appointment yesterday. Everything is looking ood. She has four more baby teeth to grow in, so she's right on track. Anyone needing a good children's dentist in Tacoma? Ask me for recommendations. This place it a kids paradise with tv's on the ceiling over the dentist tables, jungle themed dentist room, and toys everywhere. The dentist demonstrates all he is going to do on her finger and sings kid songs while he is looking in her mouth. It kept Abigail intrigued with the whole process.

18 Month Doctor Appointment (at 19 months)

Abigail is as healthy as can be. She is 32 inches long (50%), 22 pounds (25%) and her head is at the 25% level. Her ears, according to her doctor, are just like her dad's when he was a little boy. Full of wax. She was super cute waiting in her diaper in the room. She was dancing, talking about everything she could identify in the room, finding letters that she knew, singing and squatting up and down. She let Dr. Clapper do his check out with absolutely no fusses. She did cry after her second immunization shot. She still is struggling a bit with constipation, which has set her mood off the last few days. She says, "pooping" with a worried, sad experession all thoughout the day. She hasn't seemed herself until she finally gets one out, and the difference is night and day. We just gave her a pill form of milk of magnesia that seemed to do some clearing out. I don't know what the deal is because the kid loves, and I mean loves, her fruits and vegis. She is given All Bran with her yogurt and we add flax to a lot of her food. She eats mostly whole grains. I feel like her diet is super healthy and yet we still have this problem. I did watch the whole poop process yesterday and am now, more than ever, convinced that she is holding it in and therefore exasperating the problem. We are pleased that she checks out so healthy though.

Learning Letters

For Christmas, my mom gave Abigail the Leap Frog letter system for the refrigerator. Although I was sure it was too advanced for her, I put it up for her to explore. She would stick the letters in and push it to hear a song. One evening, we went to Applebee's for dinner. She pointed to the A on the napkin and said "A." I thought it must be a coincidence but after a few tests, I quickly figured out that she had learned the letter A. Well, I figured if she can learn an A, she could probably learn other letters. So, the teacher in me went and bought some letter flashcards. Quickly, she has learned A, B, E, S, O, M and Z. I know it's a random bunch, but that's the way it goes. She often asks now to do her letters and is loving trying to find the letters she knows on signs. I'm trying to keep it a self-motivated adventure for her. I caught it on video when she wasn't quite as motivated, but it's fun to see here what she does know.

She has also begun singing along with the alphabet song, although it comes out as mostly a bunch of B's, D's and E's. It's pretty cute to hear her try and sign along. She's also trying to sing along to "Happy Birthday," "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes," and "Ho, Ho, Ho Hosanna..."

Missouri

My dad was wonderful enough to give my mom, older sister and I his miles to get us to Missouri and see my little sister, Shannon, and her family. It was a fabulous trip. We were able to see our newest neice, Ada Jackson, who is an easy, delightful baby to have around. We were also able to spend time with the entire family....Nate, Shannon, Lucy, Will and Ada. I miss them so much, and I felt blessed to have this opportunity. We were able to help Shannon by giving her a little time alone and helping to clean her house. We didn't let the 0 degree weather deter us, and so were able, thanks to Nate, to be able to go out with just the girls - shopping, eating out and a birthday celebration at a Greek restaurant. That was an experience all in itself as we were continuely told we would get a table soon - finally getting a table after a 2+ hour wait. Apparently, we have the patience of saints. We experienced the Walker family impromptu talent shows and comedy bits called "What's the Deal." I was inspired by their family fun and creativity. See Stacie's blog for video clips of that. Celebrating Will's birthday was another highlight. After his many batman gifts, he is convinced he actually is batman. We love the Walker clan and can't wait for their return to the Pacific Northwest.

Fourth Anniversary

Jer and I spent our fourth year anniversary in Seattle. Our friends have condo a few blocks from Pike Place. It overlooks Puget Sound on the westside and the Space Needle on the north. It is the perfect Seattle oasis. Our bedroom overlooking the water
Breakfast at the french bakery in Pike Place. When Jer pictured our anniversary, this was the image that came to mind.

Yummy dinner at Typhoon, a thai restaurant near Pike Place.

The condo.
We spent a lot of our weekend walking around the market and shopping district of Seattle. The rest of the weekend was spent cuddling, talking and reading in this window seat. We are reading a book together called "Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work," by John Gottman. I highly recommend this book. I still feel like a newlywed - excited when I see my husbnad walk through the door. However, it's good to stay on top of these things.

Piano

Grandma Durr has Abigail loving pianos. We found this baby grand at the Learning Sprout, my new favorite children's store.

First Haircut

Abigail had her first haircut. She was very well behaved. My new hairdresser, Anna, does a baby's first hair cut for free, so we went to her. I'm glad we did because she did a great job - so cute!

Kitchen

Abigail is loving her new kitchen.

Talking

As I have said, Abigail has been talking a lot. She repeats everything. I say, "Do you want that guy?" (refering to her stuffed animal), and she'll say, "that guy." "Are you choking?" "Choking" Wii fit has commands like "step on." She says, "step on." She is saying words all the time. She wants you to understand everything she says too. She'll get up in your face and repeat her word over and over until you repeat it. If you can't figure out what she's saying, this can go on for a while. We heard her first sentence the other day, which was, "I want prunes." She also is into saying "me baby" or "me pants" - refering to what is hers. She also identified the letter A a number of times yesterday, which is exciting. Today she's been trying to learn O - with the help of a Christmas gift from my mom, talking refrigerator magnets. She is super verbal, and it is really helpful in our communication and understanding what she needs.

New Years

Our New Years Eve was spent at our neighbor's house. Leonor has a big Latin family who were over for dinner and the celebration. We played pool and Jer rocked it out on Wii RockBand. We made it until 11:00 over there and figured we should get our little tired-jollies baby home to bed. We welcomed in the New Year by watching some of the fireworks on the lake.

Zoo Lights

Zoo Lights ended up being a cold but beautiful night. Abigail loved the fish when we went into the aquarium, and Jer and I were pretty amazed at the light displays.

Visitors

One of the great things about the Christmas season is that it brings in visitors from out of town. The top picture is of my friend Angela, and her son, Soren who were visiting from Virginia. Jeremy's good friend, Brad, also came from California to spend an afternoon with us. The final picture is of my good friend, Michelle, who was visiting from San Diego.

A Happy Dance

This is video with my new camera. Abigail loves to do these little happy dances with her hands waving.

Weber Family Christmas

The final Christmas stop was with Jeremy's extended family, as you can tell is huge. We are so blessed to have such amazing relatives to surround us.

Kern Family Christmas

The next stop was the Kern house for our wonderful Christmas celebration. We, again, loved being with family. Abigail received a bunch of accessories for her kitchen as well as a doodle board. The energy and excitement from the kids was addictive.

Durr Morning Christmas

The second Christmas celebration was our own family at home. We woke up around 7:30 and opened gifts. Abigail's big gift was a kitchen, which I'll have to post pictures of. She has loved it. I bought Jer a bunch of the electronics he has been wanting, including a wireless, hands free phone system for the car and an IPod adapter. I also got him...OK, us...OK, me...Wii Fit, which has been a fun activity since Christmas. My two main gifts were a new camera and the Roomba...meaning my floors clean themselves - Hallelujah. I got spoiled. The next stop was with Jer's immediate family. We had breakfast and opened gifts. The big hit was Abigail receiving her first doll and accessories, which she loves. Of course, we just love being with family.

Kern Christmas Eve

The Kern family Christmas Eve was a lot of fun. We gathered with our immediate family and then added our close family friends, the Pruitts. Throw in my good childhood friend, Michelle, and add in Eve & Kita, new friends from L.A. that have been living with Stacie in her family. That was the crew to celebrate Christ's birth through our guy/girl Christmas exchange game, good food and the re-inacting of the Christmas story.