Abi Goes to the Dentist

Last month, Abi went to her first dental appointment.  Well, I can't actually say her "first" because technically she went once last year, but she fell asleep and wouldn't even sit in the chair, let alone allow the dentist look at her teeth. So, we'll call this visit her first.

I decided to get her excited about it the whole week before so it didn't seem scary.  We talked about what would happen and I tried to make sound as fun as possible.  When the day came to go, she was excited.

I decided to get my teeth cleaned first and have her watch, so she would know that everything would be okay. Then it was her turn.

She was so good and I was so proud!  She liked the hygienist and let her clean her teeth, no problem.  The dentist she was a little leery of and she wouldn't open her mouth very wide so he could count her teeth, but she didn't scream or cry, so that was good. 

Abi is turning into such a big girl and we love her so much!

April 2012

Here's what happened in April.

Easter

Saturday at the Schmidt's house.

Sporting new dresses Grandma Schmidt made.

Easter Egg Hunt

Blowing bubbles

Eating Candy

Coloring Eggs

Sunday at the Armitstead's house.

Coloring more eggs

Blowing more bubbles

Finding more eggs

Abi's 3rd Birthday

We had the whole family over once again for Abi's birthday, probably more for Kevin and I than for Abi.  We had dinner, opened presents, sang Happy Birthday, had cake and ice cream and chatted till it was time to go home.   I had a great time and when Abi wasn't scream fighting with her cousins, I think she had a good time as well.

I really can't believe that she's three already.  Where the heck does the time go?

Long Time, No Blog

Woah, I didn't realize how long it had really been.  Well, let's see if we can play a little "catch-up."

December

We, along with Kevin's parents and siblings and their families, planned a trip to Temple Square to see the lights.  Of course we had lots of fun.

 

Then, we had Christmas complete with good food, family and presents.  We even got to talk to uncle Justin who is serving a mission in Washington.

January

New Years was sort of uneventful this year.  Kevin had to work and Abi went to bed early.  That left just me and whatever happened to be on TV to ring in the new year.  I didn't take any pictures.

Also, Kevin started back in to school in January studying diesel systems technology at Salt Lake Community College.

 February

 Not much new happened this month (or that I can remember at this point anyway), except that Abi decorated her bedroom window for Valentines Day.

March

Abi is officially potty trained!!

We decided to just dive right in head first to wearing underwear after trying pull-ups for a while and not getting anywhere.  She only had to have one accident to decided going in the potty was way better than going in your pants.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

On a more somber note, Kevin's grandma Armitstead (Darlene) passed away March 24, 2012 at age 82.  She had been struggling with severe memory loss and declining health for the past few years.  I am grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know her, even if it was only a few short years.  She was always very kind to me and liked when I came with Kevin to visit.  She also used to call me Suzie-Q, though I'm not sure why.

Abi didn't know her very well, only that she was great-grandma and that we would go to her house sometimes.  We had a sweet experience the day before she passed.  The nurse who came to take care of her told the family that she was declining and that she would probably go in the next few days.  When we went to see her, she was lying in her bed, rail-thin and struggling to stay alive. We touched her hand and talked to her a little bit, then finally said goodnight.  Then Abi said, "She's like Sleeping Beauty." It was really sweet.  We had to explain to her that great-grandma's body wasn't working anymore and soon she was going to go and live with Heavenly Father and Jesus.  She seemed content with the idea and talked about great-grandma going to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus for the next few days.  It turned out to be a good teaching opportunity for Kevin and I as well.

How grateful I am for the knowledge of God's Plan of Happiness and that we will be with those we love even after we die.  We love you Grandma and will see you again.

 

 Darlene N. Armitstead

And that about brings us up to date.

Upcoming Events:

-Easter

-Abi's Birthday

Watch for posts on the above and I promise I'll be more diligent in posting... maybe.

Gettin' Ready for Winter

My favorite season is fall. I don't know about anyone else, but I just love it. I love all the seasons, don't get me wrong, but fall is my favorite. With Halloween behind us and Thanksgiving a few short days away, it feels like fall is coming to an end as well. Last month, before it got cold enough to freeze, we spent some time cleaning out the garden. We mostly just had tomatoes to worry about so...

we pulled up the plants,


pulled all the green tomatoes off,


and put them in a bucket.


I ended up turning into a family affair.

Grandma

Grandpa


Oakley-of course

Abi even found a friend in the garden



Gardens are fun and can also be amazing.

Example: Check out these ginormous carrots uncle Aaron grew.


There were actually bigger ones, but these were the biggest that still looked like carrots, the others sort of looked like... well, blobs with arms and legs. Dang, I should have got pictures of those!

Halloween 2011

Halloween has come and gone and this year. It's interesting how you celebrate the holidays differently as your kids get older. Last year Abi didn't really get why we were doing the things we did on Halloween, but this year, she got excited about it which made it more fun for Mommy and Daddy.

I decided to make Abi's costume again this year, and she decided she wanted to be princess Belle (from Beauty and the Beast, obviously). Not to toot my own horn or anything, but it turned out pretty cute.


Abi liked "trying it on" before the big day.




And here is Abi all dressed up and ready to trick-or-treat.



As for my costume, I decided to be Katniss from the Hunger Games books, but my costume was sort of lame, and Kevin didn't dress up as Peeta like I wanted him to, so it made it even more lame. My dad asked me when I went over to their house, "So, are you supposed to be a Jedi?" Sigh. Maybe in a different life, Dad. So yeah, I didn't get pictures of my costume.

Then, of course, there were the pumpkins.

Since sharp knives are not the best thing for a two-year-old to handle, Abi's job was to clean out all the pumpkins.




It was messy, so she loved it, naturally.

Here's what they looked like when we were done.

Abi's- Surprised Face

Mommy's- Jack Skellington

Daddy's- Pac-Man and Ghosts

And of course every pumpkin looks better when it's lit up.

They looked so cool. The Pac-Man one was the favorite among trick-or-treaters who came to our house.

Halloween night my siblings and I and our families met up at my parents' house for a chili cook-off and snacks. I say "cook-off" but we left the competition out of it and just ate the chili. That's how we like it.

We also took the kids trick-or-treating around my parent's neighborhood. Here's our gang.


Later that night Abi decided to lose the dress and relax for a bit...


while Rowan entertained the rest of us with his craziness.

Happy Halloween!