Wordless Wednesday - Just Like Her Mama

Abby likes sweets. Well ... some sweets.

One thing she does not like is the sweet taste of store bought cupcake icing ....

not a favorite of mine either.

Give me the cake, but please hold the icing.

Partyin' 2 year old style :)

It's hard to believe that we celebrated Abby's 2nd birthday three weeks ago. We had such a blast at Port Discovery partyin' with friends and family.

Family Shot with the Birthday Girl.

I still can't believe I have a two year old....

Just a few of the adorable guests that came to

play with Miss Abby. Everyone seemed to have a great time!

Random shots of some party fun!

Abby opened a few presents and decided it was time

for cupcakes instead. Later deciding she didn't even

like the cupcake.

It was great sharing the day with everyone!

Lots of things to do for the kids. Not only all of the play areas, but

each child was able to make a craft to take home.

Happy Birthday!

Thanks to everyone who came to party :)

BEAUTIFUL day to start a NEW week!

The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind and to be honest I'm glad they are over. O-V-E-R. Jim was on a road trip for 11 days, I was feeling exhausted, and we had some unexpected events occur. Family friends of ours lost their son in a tragic boating accident, my friend in faith and a very special lady to several people (most who referred to her as the heart of our neighborhood) passed away at 107 years old, and the Orioles family lost a a former player and announcer quite unexpectedly.

In the same week, Maryland also experienced a earthquake and hurricane. Uncle already!

The 5.8 earthquake was felt up and down the East Coast, surprising many people.... me being one of them. I was sitting on the couch with Max, while Abby napped and started to feel the house shaking. I didn't think anything of it at first because trucks fly by here and rattle our house all. the. time. This time the rattling didn't stop and I noticed the chandelier was swinging lightly back and forth, a picture frame fell off the mantle, and the railings were shaking on the stairwell. It didn't last too long and by the time I reached Abby in her crib, it stopped. Weird. I had never been through an earthquake before ... quite an odd feeling!

Thankfully the hurricane here in Baltimore was nothing like expected. We had a lot of rain and some strong wind gusts throughout Saturday night, but nothing like what other areas of the coast were experiencing. So many people are without power, including my parents, which are told they could be without it for several days. We are so very thankful here in Baltimore!! :)

So with the passing of three special people, a few natural disasters, I'm glad to say today is a BEAUTIFUL day and the perfect way to start a new week. I promise to post a bit more regularly, starting tomorrow with pics from Abby's 2nd birthday party! (That's for you Mer!)

Now to relax a bit before Miss Abby wakes up.... hope you are enjoying your day! :)

Wordless Wednesday - Go O's!

Disclaimer:

Photo quality is horrible ...

I took a picture of a picture with my cell phone :)

My brown eyed girl is growin' up ...

With another year that passes,

more memories are made.

We love you Abigail Grace :)

To my sweet Abby on her second birthday ....

Dear Abigail Grace,

It's hard to believe that two years ago today God gave us the most perfect gift ... you. In some ways it feels like the time has just flown by in the time it takes to snap my fingers, yet other times I can't remember life before you.

You brighten our days with that contagious smile of yours and make us laugh at the silly things you do. You make us frustrated with your drama queen attitude and mini temper tantrums. For as much as you are strong-willed, independent, and full of sass; you are equally as lovable, sensitive, and full of personality.

At two years old, you are changing in so many ways. Each day you have a handful of new words and are getting much better at communicating what you want. You are able to recognize your colors, but still love to say that everything is blue. You can point out circles and read your name. Of course you love making noise and know just about any animal sound. Thanks to city living, your siren noises are close to perfection. It's amazing how quick you are able to learn something new. This age is all about taking in everything around you and you are quite the little sponge.

I love to watch you dance, read books to your Baby, and play with your friends. Listening to you pray with me each night and attempt to sing "Jesus Loves Me" makes my heart melt. I love the way you wrap your arms around me for a big hug or lean in for a kiss. I love that we share secrets and how you whisper in my ear. I love the way you put your blankie on my shoulder and rest your head when you get sleepy. I love the look of accomplishment and pride on your face when you learn how to do something new.

There are so many things I love about you and the list could go on forever. As much as I don't like time flying by, it has been so fun watching you grow. Watching you grow into a sweet little girl that your family loves SO much.

Happy Second Birthday Abigail Grace. We love you more than you could ever imagine.

Love,

Mommy

P.S. Check back for a slideshow tomorrow :)

Wordless Wednesday - Family Day at the Ballpark

Enjoying what's around me. :)

It's mid August and I'm sitting here on my parents porch watching the thunderstorm roll in and for the first time in a long time I'm not sitting here sweating. The wind is picking up, the temperature is just right, and the rain is simply relaxing. All that can be heard is the rain trickling down (just a sprinkle for now), birds chirping, the locusts making a ruckus, the leaves rustling on the trees, my Mom's wind chimes that line the porch, and the soft hum from the baby monitor. Ahh ... this is relaxing, always a good break from the city life, and just. what. I. needed.

Life's been kinda crazy lately with Abby's birthday quickly approaching (Thursday!), long baseball games that keep me up past my bedtime waiting for the hubs, and the daily grind in general has been making me feel exhausted. Jim left yesterday for an 11 day road trip, so it was perfect timing to get away from the city life and head down to the country. Love it here!

I had originally planned to upload pictures from Abby's birthday party but I forgot to bring my camera with us. I did remember the cable cord though ... too bad that won't help me out. :) So for now ... instead of adding pics to the blog, I'm going to soak up this relaxing afternoon reading, at least for as long as the little girl naps.

Happy Monday! :)

Wordless Wednesday - Naptime Abby

Excuse the quality of the cell phone pics...

I just couldn't resist snapping some pics of a napping baby. :)

Girls Day Out @ The Science Center

Whenever we have family visit, it's always fun to do something a bit out of the ordinary. A few weeks ago my two sisters (Heather and Jen) and my niece (Emily) spent the day with us in Baltimore. We started our day off at the Maryland Science Center which I had heard was a great way to keep kids entertained, especially on a HOT day.

Abby loved the water room, an area very similar to Port Discovery.

Abby & Emily crawled around in the dark caves for a bit.

Taking everything in ...

Abby loved this. Who knew watching balls spiral all the way to the bottom could be so much fun?

My little archeologist in action. Goggles on, brush ready & looking for fossils!

The Science Center was full of hands on activities, had the IMAX theater, and had a planetarium show. Although most of the museum was intended for older children, they did have a whole area for just toddlers and of course Abby loved it.

After some museum fun, we headed out to lunch and back to the house for a late nap. What a fun day .. thanks ladies for making it that way :)

Check Kansas City off the list :)

Do y'all ever have those moments when you go somewhere and regret not taking your camera? Let me tell you ... I've been there plenty of times. Usually I complain that I don't want to lug around the heavy duty camera all day or worry about something happening to it. Then I resort to my old point and shoot that somehow always ends up having a dead battery, which leaves me regretting my decision not to have my DSLR. Lost yet? It happens.

So when I took off for Kansas City Sunday, sans baby, I made sure to pack the heavy duty camera, along with a gazillion other things in my purse. I figured I'd have all this down time with the hubs, time to practice taking pictures of buildings, flowers, and of course the baseball stadium. I knew that if I didn't pack the camera, I would be mad coming home from a mini vacay without any precious photos. Guess how many photos I have of my trip to KC? Two. And get this, one of of them is on my iPhone. I ended up with a blurry city shot from our hotel balcony (blurry because the humidity fogged up my lens) and a stadium shot on my iPhone. Horrible... just horrible.

Pictures or no pictures, the hubs and I had a great time together. Kansas City has always been one of Jim's favorite cities to travel to, so I was excited to see what it was all about. The hotel was beautiful, set in the middle of a great shopping district. We did some shopping, went to a movie, had dinner at a tasty local steakhouse, and indulged in simple things like taking naps and sleeping in. The hubs pampered me a bit too ... nothing like a day at the salon before taking in a baseball game.

Before leaving for the trip, I was stressed a bit. I knew we were leaving Abby in good hands (Gramma & Grandad) and I knew that she would have a blast. It was me that I was worried about. I knew I would miss Abby's smile, her hugs, her kisses, her newfound words and love for talking. And I must say I did really great being away from her ... I only had one breakdown where I shed a couple tears, the hubs looked at me as if I were completely crazy, and I quickly moved on with a smile.

Every time we have a date night, Jim and I always say how important it is to just have "couple" time. It reminds us that it's worth the money to pay a babysitter. Every bit of it. Having a weekend away is refreshing, relaxing, and gives us the parenting break that I think is necessary. Abby had such a blast with Gramma & Grandad, Aunt Jenny, Aunt Heather, Uncle Bobby, Justin, and Emily. They were busy going for walks, visiting the llama barn (her favorite), and teaching Abby new things.

Making up for the only two (not so good) pictures from my trip, Aunt Heather snapped this picture of Abby playing at Gramma & Grandad's house. Along with the pictures that Aunt Jenny took and kept sending (huge thanks to you!!), this picture brightened my day and made me smile from ear to ear. :)

So I guess it's not always about the pictures you take while you are gone... but sometimes about the ones being taken while you are away. :)