Merry Christmas Hunny!!

We love you Mommy and enjoy your relaxing trip with the girls.

Christmas at the Garner's

Today was our Christmas celebration with the Garners'. We had such a great time hanging out with family. It is always a lively (and loud) event when you get us all together. I think with every addition it gets more and more exciting! Santa even stopped by for a visit this year. The kids were all able to sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Abby just seemed to want to stuff her hand in her mouth, maybe it is sign language for food... who knows. She seemed to like him. Maybe she thought his outfit was familiar. She kind of was a mini female version of him today. She was really cute as always =) I am not partial or anything!


This was Abby's Christmas outfit!

Just like her mommy, she is so into her shoes!

Abby meets Santa and loves him!

Abigial got a lot of fun books and toys for Christmas. She didn't quite know what to do. Just wait till next year!

The kids got a Wii =)

The Twinkies - Elsa and Abby got the same Christmas outfit...Elsa gave Abby a nice slobbery kiss. It was cute!

Here are all the kids with Santa - It was as organized as we could all get =)

Jingle All The Way - 10K

So I did my first 10K yesterday. I am just glad that I finished it =) I went with a couple of people from work. It was a really nice day for a walk in downtown dc. It was of course freezing in the morning but once you got going I had to start taking off layers. Today I am sore because some of the muscles that were used during the race yesterday had not been used in a while (pretty much pre-Abby) But it felt good getting outside and doing some exercising. I mainly walked/jogged with Alicyn and we both finished the race together at 1hr and 31min. Which is a little less that 15 minutes per mile. Next year I will be able to bring Abby along for the run and hopefully improve the time =)


Alicyn, Me, and Laura after the race - Sorry it is a little on the dark side, it came from the camera phone =)

She found her toes!

Abigail found her feet and she is fascinated with grabbing them. We have a little video, I just have to figure out how to get it onto the computer =) She has actually begun grabbing and playing with a lot of little toys and holding on to stuff like a big girl. Ma-moo came over last night and she had a faux fur coat on and Abby would just pet it! It was hillarious. =)


"Look at my foot mommy!"

Cotinued Prayer Request-Updated

It is with great sadness that we have lost a very special person in our family. Grandma Kleaver passed away on Friday evening. She is with her husband again and we know she is in a better place. We will dearly miss her.


My Grandma Kleaver is still in the hospital recovering from medical procedures from a few weeks ago. Her condition is improving, it will just take a good amount of time for her to be back to her old self again.

She is possibly having another procedure this Friday and if you could continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers we would greatly appreciate it. Thank you all so much for your continued prayers for her and my family.

Abby's Dedication!

Sorry for the lateness, we just have had busy nights this week and we forgot to add a blog about Abby's dedication to the church this past Sunday.

It was a true blessing for Christina and I to dedicate Abby to the Lord, it meant so much to us. It was a great message that our pastor gave about Abby and the meaning behind the dedication. Mama and Steve made the trip for this special event and all of my immediate family as well. It was so great to have all of them there for this special event. We know a lot of our friends and family members could not make the service bc of travel, but we both know you all were praying for her and us this past weekend, and we thank you so much for that.

I was ordained as a Deacon for our church during the same service and it was very humbling to have so many people pray over Christina and myself. I know we both will be working extremely hard to represent our church and God to our community and friends. It truly feels like a giant family every Sunday when we go to DBC.

At the afterparty for Abby we had a lot of our church family and others that attended the service over at our house for some good grub. Christina's Dad made delicious ribs, and superb sliders. Mama made deserts that always won over peoples tummys. Christina made her Porky Award Winning Tina's Weenas. My mom made her famous potato salad and pasta salad. As for Abby and myself, we ATE.

Thank you again to everyone that attend Abby service and for all that thought and prayed for our family, we love you all so very much.

Rubbing her head...

So Abby is fascinated with rubbing her head! She rubs it when she is tired, when she is eating, when she is just playing on the floor. It is really cute when she does it. She looks so perplexed like she is thinking about something or is concerned. She is such a serious little baby it just makes you laugh =)


Here she is with Ma-moo.


Just relaxing for her nap.

Decorating!

So the weekend after thanksgiving, Joe got all of the boxes of christmas stuff out of the basement and we put up the tree and decorated the house! We of course did our tradition and watched Elf (with Will Ferrel). Abby was all into the tree. I think she was mesmerized by the lights and the pretty ornaments. She wore her Elf in training sleeper that Aunt Jennifer got for her. She is about to outgrow it so it is good that Christmas is right around the corner! Joe and his dad spent from 10am -5pm on the lights that went on the outside of the house. They of course did a great job as always. This year the new addition to the outside was they lit the wreaths and they added music to the unveiling =) Each year I guess we are going to add one thing on the outside. I just hope 10 years from now our house can't be seen from space =)


Here is her Elf outfit, I also found slippers =) Sometimes it is hard to resist the torture of dress up!


Here she is with a big smile, she is so excited to help with Christmas Decorations!!


Abby with her cousins Savannah and Logan! They were so excited to hang out with her and she was just chillin =)


This is Abby's reaction to her daddy and pop-pop's work on the outside of the house, she is saying, "what next...Santa on the roof?" =)


The final outcome of all of that work! Good job dad and pop-pop!

Thanksgiving

This year Joe and I definitely have A LOT to be thankful for. We have an amazing baby girl, who has brought us more joy than we ever thought imaginable! We have a wonderful family that is so supportive and loving! We have a great church family that encourages us and strengthens our relationship with God. It has definitely been a busy year (in a good way) and we wouldn't change a thing about it!

On Sunday our pastor gave a message on thanksgiving and he pointed out that many times when we give our thanks it is on the material things, we are thankful for our house and for our cars and for food in our bellys, but that many times we forget to be thankful for the people that we have in our lives and for the relationships we are able to develop. And that many times when people are looking back on life they always say, I wish I had said that or I wish I had spent more time with X, etc. So during the sermon he gave the floor to the congregation to say thank you to the people who have meant the most in their lives. It was so amazing to hear the stories and hear the sincerity and almost a relief from people who finally got to say what they had been thinking. Sometimes we get so caught up in the day to day life and the materialism gets to us that we forget about what really matters. I appreciated the wake up call. It has definitely put things into perspective for me.

The below is the turkey cake I made for thanksgiving. Abby helped with the hand portion =)

Always playing catch up

One of these days I will have time to do all of the things that I want to do, but for now it will just have to be sporatic =) We have quite of few things to catch up on, so there is going to be multiple posts! We have a couple of videos of where Abby is now, she seems to be quite the talker!



The next video is her tummy time. She practices quite a bit at daycare with Mrs. Stephanie. I am so thankful we found a great daycare to take Abby to, it has made going back to work a much easier thing to do!

Abby's 3 month photo shoot

We had Annette who is a friend from Joe's old work (NEBF) take some pictures of Abby and the family on Sunday. She did a great job! They turned out really good. Abby did a good job as well. She didn't get her normal nap so I was a little worried she would be extra fussy but she wasn't to bad. You could tell she just wanted to go to bed though. And right when we were done with the pictures she fell asleep for about 2 hours!

Here is a little sneak peak:


Abigail with Joe - this is a classic pic


Abigail looks like she is cracking up! She is talking more =)


Abigail looks like she is scheming!


Abigail is holding Daddy's finger, she is doing a good job holding on to stuff.


What can I say... you just want to squeeze her!

Way Behind! - Jennifer had Declan

Jennifer had her baby boy, Declan Patrick McGarry on Saturday, November 15th at 5:19am. He was 9lbs 2oz and 21 inches long. The Edwards girls do not make little babies =) He had a full head of dark hair and is so cute! Mom and dad are doing well. Jennifer was able to come home from the hospital on Monday afternoon. And they are currently experiencing their first road trip to TN.

Day off = Mommy and Abigail day!

So today is veterans day and I have the day off. Unfortunately Joe does not so it is just me and the little munchkin today =) So I think she might have some teeth coming in. There are two little white caps on the bottom that look a little like her molars or something. She has been a little fussy last night and this morning but when I gave her the baby orajel and a teether it seemed to help her out =) So she is just an early bloomer it seems like. She is also grabbing and holding onto her toys. I had the day care lady, Stephanie practice some more with her yesterday and she said she got so excited that she banged herself in the head with it. She didn't cry though, she probably just layed there and thought about it. She seems to have this look of deep thought sometimes, which is hillarious.

I also decided to try out the bumbo chair since she is doing much better with her head control. And from the pic you can see she is doing pretty good on her own! Now if she could just find her thumb I think she would be a happy camper.



Hi daddy, we miss you!


"What?!" =)

Big Weekend!

"Ahhh a lion Mommy!"


Joe doing his duty =)


Mommy and her little giraffe!


Proud zoo keepers =)


The "Zoo Poo Crew" Check out those high boots =)

We had a very fun weekend last weekend. Joe and I were able to take Friday off and head down to NC early. Of course we hit traffic going down there in VA and when you are traveling with a 10 week old you kind of can't really hurry persay... On Friday night we went to a fall festival with Caleb, Adrienne, and Ben. Ben was a Lion and Abby was a Giraffe. So Adrienne and I were Zoo Keepers, she was a lion tamer and I was a giraffe keeper. We made shirts with their pictures on the back. And Caleb and Joe were the "Zoo Poo Crew" =) Caleb really got into it and him and Adrienne did a great job on their costumes. Joe was not too excited but he eventually came around! They wore white hazmat suits with "poo" (brown spray paint) flung all over them. They had Poo 1 and Poo 2 hats, Joe had thigh high fly fishing boots on and Caleb had on green rain galoshes. They looked hillarious and to keep in the spirit of things Abby even provided dad some poo to clean up =) We were waiting in line for the hay ride and she just let everything go! So we didn't make it on the hayride.



We will have pictures soon we just left our camera at the Pritchett's house so they are mailing it to us!

Saturday was Campbell's Homecoming and our 5 year "reunion". Campbell got a football team and this was the first year. We are going to have to give them a few years to get a little better. I don't think they have won a game yet and they definitely didn't come close on Saturday. I believe the final score was 42 to 0! Go Camels! ;) It was about 80 degrees outside so Abby and I didn't really make it too long at the game. They didn't allow strollers so I had to wear the Ergo Baby sling which has a quilted insert and she was in a long sleeve sleep and play. So we were both sweaty and hot. But we and all the other moms with babies found AC at the student center. It was so awesome seeing everyone and A LOT of people had new additions! Andrea, Joseph and Leela came all the way from Oklahoma! She was the oldest out of the group of babies. Then Megan, Mark, Maebry, and Clarke came from Charlotte. Angela, Jimmy, and Joshua came from Richmond. Beth and her husband John came from Mt. Airy, NC. So there were babies babies everywhere. I know I am probably missing people! After homecoming we went back to my parents house and they babysat Abby while Joe and I went to Jon and Katie's for a little get together. My mom and dad were so excited to watch Abby and everyone at the party with kids were so jealous that we could drop her off with them =) There were so many people that we had not seen in such a long time. It was great to catch up with everyone and to see familiar faces. Jon fried a turkey, cooked hamburgers and chicken and they had a firepit outside. We had a great time we just tire out much faster than back in the day. By 10pm Joe and I were holding our eyes open! This is another reason we forgot the camera =)










Sunday morning Joe and I drove back to MD. Abby did so good in the car. We only had to stop once and we made it home in about 5.5 hours!

New Friends

I have to play a little bit of catch up. Since I had to take the day off today I figure it is as good a day as any. For some reason my body has decided to crap out on me at the worst possible time. Joe is out of town again for business and for some reason every joint in my body is aching like an 80 year old. So I am trying to get an appointment to see the doctor today.

Before I had to go back to work Abby and I did quite a bit of traveling. We went to visit Joe in New Jersey one weekend. He actually put us both to work, so Abigail got her first paycheck at the age of 7 weeks!! Since he had to work all weekend the only way we could really see him was to go to work with him to. And since we were going to be there anyways why not get paid to stick labels on bottles?! It was really great to see him and it helped to break up the two week span. I just really don't enjoy driving up North by myself, primarily because of tolls. I just don't really see the point in SO MANY TOLLS!!! And of course the first one I come to I mess up and get in the wrong lane. It said cash only and E-Zpass but I guess it changed to E-Zpass only before I realized it and so I was stuck. I had all of these irrate people behind me and the only thing I could do was keep on going through. It's not like I didn't have enough to worry about with a baby, not knowing where I was going exactly, but I also had to know that if a yellow light was flashing that it turns the lane into an E-Z pass only lane. I had my $2 ready and my window rolled down and everything!!! Oh well I was so happy when we finally got to the hotel that night I could hardly stand it. I definitely did not want to get back into the car again any time soon!


Joe and Abby reuniting.


After NJ we went to NC to visit with my parents and family. My mom just had knee replacement surgery so Abby was there for encouragement and special healing =) We had a lot of fun. My mom had found a bunch of boxes that had clothes and blankets from when we were kids. A lot of the clothes actually fit Abby which is great because she is going to need sweaters and snow caps for the winter.

We also got to visit her cousin Sophia who turned 1 on October 19th. She is so big! She can walk all over the place and has the most beautiful smile =) She definitely LOVES her daddy, so when Eric held Abigail, Sophia was not too happy about it. She was trying to find a way to get on his lap too! I am sure Abby will be like that too with her daddy.




We finally introduced Abigail to Benjamin (you know, her future hubby ;)) He was really excited about it too. And Abigail would watch Ben to see what he was going to do to her. We were so happy to get to spend some time with Adrienne and Ben. It has been hard to try to get schedules and sickness worked out. It is too early to tell if there was a connection or not but we will see. We are going to be going to a fall festival with them on Halloween. Abby is a Giraffe and Ben is a Lion. We will fill you in on what the parents will be next week =)

Day Care Begins

Well today was very hard for Christina and me. We dropped Abby off at the day care for the 1st time this morning bc Christina started back to work today. We were both able to do it through a lot of tears and trust that the day care with our daughter and show her the love we give her. Well maybe not that much love, bc no one can love our Abby as much as we do.

I swear every time we worry about something, Abby is there to cheer us up. We both have been pretty hesitant about day care and especially leading up to today. When we got Abby up this morning she was so awake and happy it just made us smile so big. We all prayed together in the car before we went into the day care and we know God will be watching over our little special lady during the day and we will show her so much love in the evening when we see her. We both can't wait until this 1st day is over so we can go run back and squeeze our little chubby-cheeked daugther.

Back from Work!

I survived!!! The past two weeks were miserable for me. I don't want to go into much detail bc all I did was work, work, work. I worked 95 hrs the 1st week, and about 70 this past week. I was able to see Christina for a little bit when they came down, however, I had to work both Saturday and Sunday so being the greatest wife in the world she is, she actually came to the warehouse I was working in and helped out as well. Abby was such a delight when they both came up to see me. While Christina and I were both working, she just was as peaceful and quiet as she could be Christina would send me pictures everyday to cheer me up and it gave me motivation each day to keep going and get this stuff done so I can see my family. I came home Friday evening and I didn't want to let go of my wife or my daughter. Christina was amazing with taking care of Abby the two weeks I was away. I am so blessed to have her as my wife and to have Abby as my daugther. These two women are to of the most special things to me and I cherish every moment I get to spend with them. I attached some of the pictures that Christina would send me. The great thing is Abby is developing her own little persona now and is smiling like crazy. It just lights up Christina and myself to see that big grin.

Bye Daddy =(

Joe had to leave on his business trip today. He is going to be gone for two weeks. That is the longest we have been away from eachother in 6+ years! Abby and I are going to make a trip to New Jersey to visit him next Friday in order to break up the time we are apart. So I know the time will fly by, it will just be hard on all sides to be apart for that long. Keep us in your prayers =)

Here is a picture of our cool chick at 6 weeks!

Amazing

So I have a theory that when you are on the verge of going crazy your baby does something amazing and you get over it (whatever it is). So last night was my night and Abby was being special showing both Joe and I how loud she could scream, which by the way is one octave below ear piercing! This went on for about an hour and a half. I had to pray for patience and also prayed that we would get some sleep =) She went to bed about 11pm and did not wake up until 6am! I was in shock when I got up to look at the clock at 4:30 and she was still out. So I just rolled back over and went to sleep. Thank you Abby!

Also my child is growing like a weed. She is already in 3-6 month clothes and she is not even a month and a half! So needless to say many of her 0-3 month clothes only got worn once and some not even at all =( Below is her Muhammad Ali shirt that I got especially for her. It is a 3-6 month and I was thinking that it would swallow her up but it almost doesn't stretch to fit. By the end of the month it will probably be too small!


She was caught off guard a bit but I thought she was funny =)

As you can see she has her pink Ali shirt and her camo capris. She is one tough chick =)