big girl bed

Ok...so, we decided to try putting Abby in her big girl bed today. Well, at first she thought that it was super fun to jump on it! Then we put her down for a nap and she would open the door, say "shhh" to herself, turn around and shut the door and then run into our bedroom and put on "lipstick" or chapstick. After about 4 times of this we put the door knob safety thing on it where she can't open the door without pushing in the sides. So, I told her that we wanted her to be safe and not get an owie so she can't open the door anymore. She said "oookkkk" with a look of disappointment on her face. Then, she laid down without a peep and took a pretty good nap. Tonight was the real test. We went up to her room, prayed and she said. "Tuck me in my big girl bed please." WOW! I said ok. So, Robby and I tucked her in, gave her a kiss and she went sound asleep without a peep! We will see what the night holds, but so far, so good. Here are a few pictures of her and her big girl bed. Thank you Shannon and Marshall for her big girl bed! She loves it!

Riding to Work

Well, today was so nice outside that I decided to ride my bike to work. I think that it was the best 45 minutes of the week! It was so awesome! It is only about 6.5 miles one way. So, it was a good little ride, but not too far. There really was not much traffic taking the back way. There WAS more traffic on the way home, but I just listened to my ipod and had a great quiet time. Well, seems like my little one is calling my name.

BAD

Ok...So, I really try to keep up with this blog, but I am realizing that I am just BAD at it! Between work, Abby, church, ministry, washing clothes, cleaning house, and other various activities...when I have a free moment, I just want to sit down and watch tv. Is that Bad? Ok...here is the latest on our family.

Robby: he is still without a full time job. He is working at the church and still going to seminary full time. He lead part of worship at our church last Sunday and did AWESOME! I am so proud of him!

ME: I am teaching still...it has been a crazy year with the hurricane and still trying to get back in the swing of things. I got a new student last week and I will get another new student on Wednesday. It makes every week like the first day of school. That is fun for some and stressful for other students. Me...I just go with the flow. For my birthday I got a bike.

This is kind of a long story. I have had a LOT of problems with my left side. At the beginning of the school year they thought that I Had M.S. or Lupus. But, with many hours of testing, found out that I do not have either of these. YAY! Well, now we are looking into some other possibilities. Then, I went to the doctor last week, because I thought that I had a UTI, but the office called and said that my results came back negative and that they needed to see me. So, I went in unaware of why. They did several tests and it seems that my PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) is getting much worse. My doctor told me that a normal ovary volume is 7 and my right ovary is now at 14 and my left is at 10. She told me that if we want to have more children then we should start trying within the next year. Now a quick reminder...ROBBY STILL DOES NOT HAVE A JOB! So, that is put on hold. She also said that after the second baby, that they will probably take at least the right ovary out and possibly both.

OK..with all of that said, I asked for a bike for by birthday since I cannot run anymore or use the eliptical because of my left side. It will just give way and stop working. strange...i know. Well, it is sooo awesome! I go riding with Abby every day when we get home and it is soo much fun! It is so freeing. I have not ridden a real bike since college. It is so fun! I have decided that when I get good that I am going to ride it to work on the days that Robby takes Abby to Joann's. Last night I rode about 6 miles. It was soo fun! Well, that is about all that is going on with me.

OH... ALL OF YOU OUT THERE WITH GOOD IDEAS...I AM TRYING TO PLAN A COST EFFECTIVE 2 YEAR OLD BIRTHDAY PARTY. HELP!!!

Abby: She is doing so good! She amazes me everyday with the things that she says and understands. She is talking in 4-5 word sentences most of the time and some are 8 or 9 words, so it is fun that she can tell me what she did at Joann's during the day. She is constantly talking to someone or to something about anything. It is a constant conversation in our house! Also, it is fun to know what she is thinking and her perspective on things. Today, she was trying on my shoes and put them on the wrong foot she said, "oops, wrong foot, silly Abby, switch it" Amazing! She pretend plays with her dolls and it reminds me of when I was little...I LOVED my babies. Tonight she was playing with her babies and this was the conversation..

me: abby, how many babies do you have?

abby: abby has 1,2,3,4,5 babies. Babies sleeping, shhhhh. nope...babies snorrrring. Wake up babies. Babies hungry, eat cereal bar...nope silly babies, cereal bar for breakfast...eat dinner.

me: abby, what do you want to eat for dinner

abby: hummm (with finger on lip), ask baby...(hold baby) baby, eat dinner want what? (turning to me) baby want mac and cheese, applejuice, orange, hmmm all done.

WOW! She is amazing! It is so fun to watch her grow!

Here are some pictures from this past weekend. We went to the cyfair college fall festival. It was so much fun. Abby is still talking about riding the pony!

Abby on the fire truck...she was not so sure about this!

the famous pony ride!

OK...TEACH ME ALREDY

This is abby doing her "shy face" I am not sure what she is doing with her hand, but it is very silly!

I found this horse at a garage sale for $5.00 YAY! She loves it

OK...So I have not blogged in a long time. It has been CRAZY this past month. Robby STILL does not have a job and I start back to work next week...this means that we will not have any EXTRA income! YIKES! Also...the last week in July, my car broke down (my awesome friend Kim came and rescued me), so thank you JESUS....my parents had just bought a car and had not sold their old one so they had an extra sitting in the driveway. So, Robby's mom came down and we met my mom in college station to get that car for me to borrow (Tuesday) I drove it Wednesday and then on Thursday the AC went out in my mom's car!!!! Well...perfect timing since I was leaving to go to camp on Friday and would not need it. So, we dropped it off at the mechanic on Friday morning. It was ready to go on Tuesday. We had my car towed back to my house. Robby put some lubricant in the ignition when we got it home. One week later...works like a charm! WOW! How did Robby get to be so smart?! Thank you Jesus for Robby! Now we are at the first week in August. We are going along and yesterday, our Washing machine brakes! So...this morning at church I said..."God, Teach me already...PLEASE!!!" Whatever it is that I am supposed to learn...please teach me quickly! So, today I spent my afternoon at the laundry mat with some VERY shady people doing our laundry! BUT! Robby calls me 15 minutes before I am done and he somehow fixed the washing machine! AGAIN...Thank you Jesus for Robby! So, we are starting our work week next week. Please...all of you pray that nothing breaks...PLEASE!

Sorry that it has been so long since I posted, but I have been very overwhelmed!

This is a picture of Abby in her tutu! OH...we went to the doctor today for her 18 month shots (even though she is 20 months!) The doctor said that she is going to be tall! Probably 5'9" or so! WOW! That is funny since I am definately NOT tall. She also said that she is "has very advanced language and speech" YAY!

WHEWW

Well...it was a very stressful day. Of course her appointment was not until 3:40, so we had to wait ALL day. Her doctor was wonderful! When we got there they sat and talked with us about what to expect...probably that made it worse for me. Then, they told us that she cannot go swimming or get water in her face for 10 days. WELL...that is NOT good. Tomorrow, we were supposed to go to Kemah with Robby's parents and play in the water at Rock the Dock. So, that trip was cancelled. Then on Saturday, we are going over to Robby's aunt's house for a little get together and are supposed to swim. He said that she could still go swimming as long as she does not get water in her face.

So, we go in the room and she gets VERY quiet. She is a smart cookie. Robby was holding her and she started holding on VERY tight. Then they tied down her arms and wrapped her up in the papoos(sp) to hold her to the table. Then they wanted me to hold down her legs while a nurse held down her head. Of course, she is SCREAMING the whole time. The whole procedure took longer than they expected since he had a hard time getting the probe down the duct because it was so blocked. This was about the size of a VERY thick needle without the point and they were shoving it down the corner of her eye! I CANNOT imagine going through that as an adult. She was a real trooper. He finally got the probe down the duct which means that it pushed through a big part of the blockage. Then they put a seringe on the end of the probe and flushed saline through the duct to try and finish cleaning it out. After that. She was all done. I grabbed her up and she said "Daddy hold you." :( of course! So, Robby held her and she immediately calmed down. Robby says that "mommy's are what makes the world go round and Daddys make it safe." Pretty profound. I guess that is why it is SOOOO important for little girls to have that Daddy relationship. It makes their world feel secure and safe. Thank you God for Daddys.
Then, we battled 5:00 traffic for almost 2 hours and then had to go to 2 pharmacies to get her Rx antibiotics, but we are home now and I just put her to bed. Hopefully she will sleep well and without pain.
Thank you for all of your prayers. It has been a rough day, and only time will tell if it completely unblocked that duct. But, hopefully the hard part is over and we will never have to do it again.

NERVOUS

OK...well, We are down to crunch time. This was the first payday that we are only going on my check! PRAY!!!! Also, Abby is having her tear duct surgery/procedure tomorrow. PRAY! I was talking with my friend Tara today and her son had a kidney test done where they had to strap him to the table as well and he fell asleep. That was encouraging! I will tell you all about how it went tomorrow. I am DREADING tomorrow. It is one of those feelings..."I can't believe that I am going to drive my daughter to a place where they will scare and hurt her and I have to make myself take her." Robby is going to go with me, so hopefully that will help calm my nerves. I am sure that everything will be fine. PRAY!!! :)

From the Mouth of a child

OK. So, it is amazing the things that children say. I really began to understand what it means to have childlike faith tonight.
Well...let me go back a few days. Last week Robby was laid off from his job and we are looking of course for another job. So, needless to say...just a little bit of stress. He DID get a two week severance package, but two weeks is not very long to find a job, start a job and then already get a paycheck from that new job. YIKES!
Our pastor has been preaching a sermon series on faith. He is AMAZING! I love our pastor. Anyway...we have been looking at people in the bible whom GOD said had faith and what their lives looked like. This message series could not have come at a better time. We are really trusting and putting our faith in HIS WORD, not blindly. We are claiming HIS promises over our lives.
Tonight, the same as every night, Abby and I were saying her night time prayers before she went to bed. This is always a very sweet time and Abby LOVES it! When we finish praying she will take my hand and say, "again pray" so we will pray for something else. When we say "amen," she will take my hand and say, "again pray." This continues until finally I just have to put her into bed. Usually we will go through our prayer cycle for about 30 minutes. SUCH a sweet time and she LOVES praying to Jesus. Well, tonight as we finished praying and I said, "ok..it is time to go night night." Abby looked up at the ceiling and said "night night Jesus" in her sweet innocent voice. What an amazing God we serve! He knows exactly how to touch even the most tender heart. Thank you Jesus!