What's new?

Lots around here!  Abby is as busy as ever.  You should see me trying to put on socks, pull that long hair into a ribbon,- or wrangle her to the floor for a diaper change.  This girl is strong, and she has an opinion that she is very clear about - don't slow me down!  I often hear Brian happily wrestling her into a new diaper, "Abby, stay still for Daddy for just a minute".  

Abby's new developments include taking her first steps!!!  So exciting.  She is a super fast crawler.  She makes elephant noises, babbles while fanning her own lips, makes lots of consonant sounds - baba, dada, mama, yaya.  She's into books, baths, the dogs, and leaves.... interested in nature for sure.  She loves to dance.  She bounces up and down very slowly when music comes on.  She likes to "hug" and "kiss" everything to - which involves resting her head on your shoulder or on a blanket, dog, or stuffed animal and giving mouth wide open kisses on your nose!

Abby was a little piglet on Halloween, so cute!  She went trick-or-treating with Mommy, Daddy, and the Nyquists (our friends up the road with two boys).    We went to a Halloween party the weekend before along with our moms group.

2 weeks ago we went on a big hike to Mt Rainier.  We took Abby in the hiking backpack along with our snowshoes, hiking poles, warm clothes, food etc.  About two hours into it, we stopped for lunch.  Abby got to crawl around in the snow and loved it!  She liked to try to eat the snow.  We had so much fun.  Several hikers stopped to visit with us so they could see our cute baby.

Today was Tatum's first birthday, and our nanny and the girls went along to the Children's Museum downtown for some fun along with Tatum's mom, Jill.  They had a great time.  Abby loved the acquarium.  Jerri said she had so much fun and just was so worn out by the end of their day.

Last night we went to an election party and watched as the news came in about the presidential winner came in.  We listened to John McCain's humble and respectful speech, followed by President-elect Obama's heart warming and encouraging speech.  Wow, it was quite an experience.  Abby slept through the whole thing like a champ.

Well, off to start dinner.  We've been doing a great job of having family dinners pretty frequently around here.  Abby's starting to eat table foods with us.  Overall, I guess the update for you all is that we are a busy, happy family lately, enjoying each other, the outdoors, and our dogs.  Oh ya, I guess we are working too, but only when we have to!  Miss you all soooo much!

Love,

Diana