Still Ill

I have to admit that we've been quite fortunate with Abby's health. She didn't get "sick" until she was about seven months old, with a throat infection. So, I knew that her getting sick was bound to happen. Unfortunately, March has not been a great month for her. As most of you know, Abby got a double ear infection two weeks ago. She was miserable, and the doctor prescribed some Amoxicilin, so I was hopeful that she would feel better ASAP. She seemed to get a tad bit better toward the end of the week, but she still was quite fussy and "not herself." This past week she has continued to battle the following symptoms: extreme fussiness (very unlike her), some fever, chest and nose congestion, a cough she's had for two weeks now, a runny nose, and waking up in the middle of the night screaming. Needless to say, the Abbster has been under the weather for the past three weeks!

So, we went back to the pediatrician this morning and it turns out that both of her ears are still infected. Poor thing! So now we're trying a new antibiotic. Please pray that this one will work! It is NO fun having a sick baby. It is such a helpless feeling, and I'm ready for her to get back to feeling 100%! Plus, it's no fun paying our co-pay everytime we go to the doctor. I mean, I like our pediatrician and all, but I'm not exactly wanting to visit him every couple of weeks! :)

However, even with a double ear infection for two weeks, in typical Abby fashion, she still is a happy baby. Here are some recent pics.

She wanted to be an adult for a few minutes and try her hand at driving. How terrifying would this sight be if you were driving down the road! Ha. Notice her hands are at "10" and "2." I didn't even teach her that. She is purely brilliant.
Here's Abby and her DaDa. There's nothing cuter than a baby in jeans! They just look so grown up. I love it!


Here's Thursday night's sunset. God had His paintbrushes working that night. Absolutely beautiful.

Easter/Spring Pics-Part Two

Here's the final installment of pictures from last week. Thank you Rick and Evelyn for mailing the CD to me! :)

Abby started off Saturday morning by reading her favorite columnist's--Grandpa Van's--article in the Longview News-Journal.

Then her Nana and I took her to the park. She enjoyed swinging...

...got a lesson on static electricity...
...and gave her mother a heart attack as I caught a glimpse of 15 years in the future, when she's actually beginning to drive. However, this car is not nearly as awesome as her mom's first car, a turquoise Grand Am.

Saturday night Rick outdid himself (as he always does!) with his grilled pork tenderloin. Yum! Here's Auntie Em, Grammie Bettye, Abby, and me
The Tenner Clan.
Here's the last of the Bunny Ear shots. I promise. :)

Recent Observations

Here are some observations about Miss Abby from the past couple of weeks:

1. She is quite INdependent! She knows what she wants, and beware of anyone getting in her way. "No" doesn't quite cut it, as her favorite things to do are open up the cabinets of the entertainment center, pull on the blinds at the back door, hit the dogs with her toys...you get the idea!

2. She must pull herself up on ANYTHING! This includes windowsills, chairs, the paper shredder in the office, her exersaucer, my leg, and especially wobbly tables! Ha!

3. I'm thinking she may become a musician. Or perhaps a professional page turner. The girl absolutely lights up when she bangs objects together, creating noise. Give her a rattle and a spoon, and the girl is in HOG HEAVEN! Her other favorite thing to do is lay on her back, prop a book (or magazine) up with her feet and turn pages. She could turn pages all day long, I think. I'm pretty sure that job wouldn't pay too well, though.

4. No matter if I buy a nice, shiny new toy, she's still going to be interested in the most mundane object. Case in point: Yesterday we went to Target and I bought her a Lullaby Glo-Worm that lights up and plays sweet lullabies. After we got home, she played with it for a minute, then she spotted a water bottle, and it was Bye-Bye New Toy. She played with the water bottle for the next 15 minutes! Ha!

5. Teething still stinks. Now she has the top two teeth coming in, and she woke up crying twice last night. It makes for quite a long night! And looking at the size of the chompers coming in, she should be eating Jolly Ranchers in no time!

6. She's starting to become a little copy cat. She can clap when we clap and she knows who "Millie", "Winnie," "dog", and "Dada" are. She's still not sold on this "Mama" thing. I mean, it's not like I'm all that important, right...I just carried her in my womb for nine months. :) Oh well. At least she knows who the dogs are!

Here are some recent pics.

Spring Pics-Part One

Here are some pictures from our time in Longview over the past week.

Little Miss Bunny Ears.

Here's our Family Easter Photo.

Here's my family: Dad, Chris, Mom with Abby, Matt, and me. This is right before we sat down to an absolutely delicious homeade meal. I am so fortunate that my family and my in-laws are all one big family. Every weekend we're in town, we all spend Saturday night and Sunday lunch together. It truly makes me feel blessed!

Here are the crazy guys in my life: My WONDERFUL husband Matt, the best brother-in-law EVER, Jason, and the best brother EVER, Chris.
Abby absolutely loves pulling on my hair. She thinks it's the most fun! I think it just hurts! :)

Here she is at the Mill Run pond. What a gorgeous day to take a stroll! She had the best time examining the grass and watching the ducks!

Here's Abby with her Papa Rick. His goal is to have her fishing by the time she's two. This is the same man who bought her a little pink plastic fishing pole while she was still in the womb!! Gotta love grandparents!!

Stay tuned for Spring Pics-Part Two!

All Better...Finally!

Sorry for being out of commission for a while, but our household was hit with the sick bug! First, Matt was sick (which lasted over a week), then Abby got sick with a cold, which progressed into a double ear infection, and then I got hit (bad cold, fever, etc.) So Abby and I decided to head to Longview earlier than expected. We were both in desperate need of some recuperation time, and frankly, I wasn't able to take care of a sick baby by myself when I was feeling awful. We spent the entire week in Longview, and I'm so glad we did! It took three days for Abby's antibiotics to fully kick in, and THANK GOODNESS she is now feeling better! Ear infections are NO FUN! I forgot my camera in the haste of packing, but picture CDs are on their way to me in the mail.

So, I'll post the only two pictures I have at the moment. After everyone was feeling better, we were able to enjoy the absolutely beautiful Spring Break weather. Abby visited the Easter Bunny, went to the park, played in the grass by the Mill Run pond, spent tons of time with the grandparents and Uncle Chris, and enjoyed exploring the grandparents' houses!


Longview Mall has, quite possibly, the world's most ghetto bunny! Abby wasn't really sure what to think of him, and frankly, neither was I!!

She loved her bunny ears though.

More Easter/Spring pics to come...

I'm Over The Weather because we're Under The Weather!

Everyone is napping. Matt, Abby, and even Millie and Winnie. So, I thought I'd take this time to post some updates and pics. The house is SO quiet! I may not have much time, so here goes. Matt's been sick since Sunday, (probably triggered from this crazy Texas weather we've had recently), and for those of you who know Matt, for him to take a day off work is unheard of (he's taken 2 in 7 years!), so you know he must be sick! Well, sure enough, Abby woke up sick this morning. Poor things! They both feel awful, and it's no fun having a sick family! So, that's why I haven't blogged in a few days. (You know, it's funny: Had anyone told me ten years ago that they hadn't "blogged" in a few days, I would have told them to alert their doctor immediately!) Ah, ever-changing vocabulary. Thanks, technology!

Here's Abby's get-well note to her sick Daddy:

We attempted to make Matt feel 100% better by putting on Abby's Tech cheerleader outfit. It did brighten his day. However, it did not lower his fever as I had anticipated. Darn. Perhaps if it had been maroon...

Here she is trying out some crazy cheerleader move. Is Cheerleading an Olympic sport? I'm thinking Gold Medalist here... Or at least scholarship recipient...

Here are a couple more pics from the past few days.

How do things like this happen??

Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Pretty In Purple

Here's Miss Sweet Pea

Up close and personal with her two front teeth. I'm ready for those suckers to finally grow in completely!

She's at the stage where EVERYTHING is a jungle gym. She had the best time climbing on a chair today.

We had to take advantage of the gorgeous weather today and go outside. Once I put her in the rockers on the back porch, she HAD to stand up in them.

This is the last time she spent some quality time in the rockers, back in October for her Halloween picture. Isn't she the cutest lil' punkin??

Sounds like a cold front is going to come through tonight and bring sweater weather for tomorrow. :( No wonder everyone's getting sick around here! Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Abby in Action

Here are some of Abby's recent activities:

As my last post stated: chewing on anything. Even her little car. Popped in a wheelie. Go figure.
Feeding herself crackers. Although half of them usually end up on the floor!

Playing with the dogs. I love this picture. It looks like Winnie is smiling back at Abby.

This is her paparazzi shot. As a mom, I feel like a paparazzo sometimes. Camera in hand, I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for just the right shot and then SNAP! Nope. She has her eyes closed. Or SNAP! Nope. She turns away. Ah, the life of a mom. Thank goodness we don't use film in our cameras anymore. We'd be broke by now! However, it would be worth it, because when you get that perfect picture, you feel like a champion! If only I could get paid tens of thousands of dollars like Hollywood paparazzi do! :)

Posing again. We're not sure what triggers it though. Oh wait, maybe American Idol was on and she couldn't stand the bad singing anymore...not sure.

Standing. She pulled herself up into this position while I was taking this picture. I quickly put my camera down to "hover." :)

Just being a sweet baby.

Here's to a fabulous weekend!