Overwhelmed

Not blogging recently.  Everything is okay, just hard to make time to "journal" all that is going on.

I did want to take a moment to say how overwhelmed Anny and I are by the outpouring of love and support that we are getting from our friends and co-workers.

Anny's teacher-friends threw her a surprise party, complete with Rob-who-should-have-been-at-work!  When I walked in I was not greeted warmly - Anny had a large, sharp knife in her hand and she *might* have pointed it in my direction in retaliation for not spilling the beans on her.  A few tears.  Lots of hugs.  Lots of smiles.

My office had a lunch yesterday at Tower Oaks Lodge.  I think I'm STILL full from lunch yesterday, and it's almost time to eat breakfast.  I was given several gifts, including a book called "What Would Rob Do?" and a Desk Vacuum Zamboni.  I am looking forward to the book, and looking forward to the fun of the new office toy! 

On Sunday we will be overwhelmed again at church, I just know it.  There is a lot of emotion there right now as our pastor is ill, and that will make it just a little bit harder.  We have only been at LPC for five years, but it genuinely feels like a lifetime.  The people at our church are like family, and that is even more true for Abby than for us.

And to be completely honest, I'm overwhelmed at the idea of leaving my family and the house that I grew up in.  Special shout out of "thanks" to Miranda Lambert for releasing this song this spring:



I grew up in this house.  I lived in this house during crazy times and during incredibly sad times.  I lived in this house when I met Anny, and have lived here for other incredibly awesome times. 

I have always been close with my family - and that was even more emphasized when my brother and I moved in with my grandparents, father and aunt in 1991.  We now see my three aunts and my brother, sister-in-law and new niece weekly at Family Dinner.  It's been really fun, and I will miss having those connections the most. 

And that all of that is without acknowledging all of the valuable friendships that will change as we move from one side of the Mississippi River to the other.  Even though we know we will be back here two, three or more times a year, but that does mean we can't pop over with burgers and hot dogs on a random Sunday evening.  Or can't email at noon one day to set up an impromptu Ikea dinner.  (Side note - I am going to miss Ikea!)

Above all I am excited, but it would be unfair to not acknowledge that I am overwhelmed in both good and bad ways.  I am afraid that I'm only talking about the positives and excitement that I have, and that is tending toward overlooking the things that I will miss. 

Father's Day Tribute

I meant to write this earlier and time just seems to get away from me.  This is actually a post ABOUT Rob, written by Anny.

Rob is an amazing parent.  It can be difficult to boast about him because I often feel guilty for having gotten so lucky.  Rob changed diapers from the very first day, and in our case, washed them too.  Some of my contemporaries joke that it takes more work to leave dad with the kids for a day because they have to come up with all of the details (will they go to a park or stay at the house, what will they eat, what kind of mess will they leave behind for Mom to clean up...)  I never worry when I can't be with Rob and Abby, because I know they will have a great time AND clean up any messes they make.  Rob cooks and cleans as often, if not more, than I do.  He's a bigger stickler on too much TV time and knows just what to say to convince Abby to get into her car seat without an argument.

In many things we compliment each other that way:  I'm always asking Abby to try her vegetables and Rob insures that she eats one more bite of meat.  He suggests the unpredictable trip to the zoo with lots of friends, when I would play it safe and just do something as a family.  He takes pictures of everything (really good ones too!) so we have no need to endure the hours getting professional photos taken and I convince him that it's worth printing some rather than just keeping them trapped in the computer.  He comes up with the craftiest gift ideas for Nana at Christmas or Preschool teachers at the end of the year and I make sure they are delivered on time.

All of this makes Rob a great Dad and Husband!  He allows me to truly enjoy being a Mom and a Wife!  And despite her occasional, inexplicable preference for "Mommy,"  Abby absolutely loves and adores her Daddy!

Grace Fight!

This evening on the way home from the grocery store Abby was singing in the backseat. She was mostly practicing her songs for tomorrows Father's Day program at daycare.  Too cute.

But then she pulled out the grace that she sings when she is in Sunday School.  It's fast, it's easy and it fun:

A - B - C - D - E - F - G - Thank You God for feeding me!

I told her that when we move to Saint Louis next month to live with her cousins she will be learning a new grace that their family sings before dinner. They sing Johnny Appleseed, so I sang that for her.

I'm not typing out lyrics, but here is a video example of other people doing it:



We then proceeded to have a Grace Battle - she would sing hers and then demand that I sang mine!  "Sing The Things I Need Song, Daddy!" 

This went on for about five minutes - and was awesomely fun.  I can't wait to teach her some of the Summer Camp graces that are so engrained into my brain from years at Camp Glenkirk!

My Three Year Old!

My Dearest Abby -
Today you turn three years old.  We will wake you up with what has become our every-birthday playlist of "It's Your Birthday" by Justin Roberts, "La-Di-Da-Di, It's Your Birthday" by Rachel Coleman and "My Best Day" by Trout Fishing in America.  We enjoy singing these songs because they capture the spirit of birthdays, and they set the tone early in the morning for what a great day (weekend!) it will be.

This weekend will be filled with lots of friends.  This weekend will be filled with lots of food.  This weekend will be filled with lots of fun and memories that you will probably remind us of for weeks and weeks to come.  But it's not all about this weekend.  I wanted to capture some things that are "Abby" as you would be defined on the day you turn three.

Your Best Friend is...
Almost all of your friends are you best friend.  Abby F, Abby S, Noah, Luke, Sophie - all of these names come up a lot on your "best friends" rant that you pull out from time to time.  You also have declared Rusty, our beloved dog who now lives with Gramps, as your best friend.  It's adorable.

Your favorite color is...
Probably purple.  Or pink.  Really your favorite color is whatever you are wearing, and if you are wearing a dress your favoritism of said color grows exponentially.

You are really great at...
Being open to new things.  We are doing our best to expose you to new things all the time.  You approach hikes that include climbing in trees, taking in a Blues Festival and marching in a parade are things that you have done this spring, each with enthusiasm and excitement that we love to see in you.  I hope you never lose that.

You are also really great at helping, even before we ask.  You make your own PB&J before school most days.  Whenever you hear the mixer being brought out for mixing and baking you are quick to grab a chair to
help break eggs and pour and stir and well, everything that we will let you do! 

Okay, one more "You are really great at" thing is hugs.  You give them willingly to anyone we count as friend or family.  Your hugs are amazing for both mommy and I.  Something you will probably be embarrassed by later in life and deny is that you now ask for "Family Hug Time" where mommy and I pick you up and take turns giving you, and each other, kisses.  You smile so big, and I can see in your eyes that you know you are loved, especially in these moments.

Your favorite toy is...
I would have to say it is a tie between your tea set, your painting easel and your Little People.  They all get regular rotation with the billion other things we have.  I love that you have played with Lego's a bunch, too. 

Your favorite book is...
This is another that you just will not settle on.  You really loved potty-themed books as you were on the cusp of being potty trained.  You are a big fan of reading books that you already know, and are getting good at "reading" them back to us. 



We are proud of all that you are today, and look forward to all of the amazing and all of the not-so-amazing things that you have in store.  We love you today more than yesterday, and I am sure that you will continue that trend until the end of time. 

Happy Birthday, my sweet, smart, beautiful and loving Abby.

Love,
Dad (and Mom too, if she blogged!)

A Year in Pictures

Abby is turning three tomorrow!  Since I have a sappy post lined up to publish in the morning, I'm sneaking this video slideshow in this evening!  I hope you enjoy the pictures!


Abby Turns Three! from Anny and Rob on Vimeo.

Abby on the Oil Leak

During Coloring Time this week, Abby was asked to complete the sentence "The sea turtle saw some things in the sea.  It saw..."  I should tell you that I have rarely seen black crayon come home on the stuff she brings home from school - she tends to go for bright colors first.  This day, though, I guess she reached to her inner Tree-Hugger-To-Be and came up with this take on the Oil Leak:

 The only thing that I can gather from this is that the sea turtle saw blackness, and tar balls.

Think I'm reading into this too much (which I am, let's be honest!)?  Check out the one from the next day:

Lots more black stuff, all over the animals. 

The reason I know this is a crock is that we don't watch the news and her access to the horrors of what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico.  We used to watch the news in the morning, but got rid of the TV in our room in favor of clock radios, in part because of the stuff Abby was seeing.  I get my news online, and Anny does not check news to the best of my knowledge.

Complete Randomness

I know that it's been too long since writing on my blog when my friend Bryan has noticed!  He gave me grief about it Tuesday night, and thus I will write something.  I think I filled him in on everything, but not the rest of you!

Abby:
She'll be three on Saturday.  THREE!  I'm already to the "what was there before Abby" point in her life, and I love it!  We have festivities planned to fill every minute of the weekend, or so it seems.  I am still amazed when she learns something new - or remembers something from months ago that we thought was since passed.

Abby is a little clueless on the whole move-thing.  We've talked with her a few times, but how much is a three year old really going to retain on that front?  She knows we are going to live with her cousins for a while, but has not made the leap that we won't be living here.  I'm a little worried about her, but not a whole lot.  She's smart, she will figure it out.

Post tomorrow about her take on the BP Oil Destruction.  (Sorry, it's not a spill, no matter how they say it.)

Anny:
Had her braces off on Monday!  She has not eaten an apple or chewed gum like she wanted to, but she got a congratulatory bottle of sparkling cider and three balloons from the office to celebrate!  She looks completely different, and I will share a story about Abby's take on it...

Monday afternoon I pointed out that mommy had her braces off, and it took a minute for Abby to really look and investigate.  She is very much a thinker.  She looked back to my teeth, to be sure I wasn't pulling a trick on her I guess.  She looked back at Anny and declared "Now Mommy's teeth match mine!"  You're right, sweetie!  She is very into matching things - colors, animals and apparently teeth!

Rob:
Doing alright, thanksforasking.  I had to work a long weekend retreat, but it was good to see some folks and have meals together.  I went out early on Friday afternoon and got in a good hike with my camera, and did the same on Saturday morning.  Here is one of my favorite shots:

On my way home Saturday, Anny called to see if we were going to try to make it out to Bowiefest (no) and what our dinner plan was.  Abby begged for the phone and said "Daddy, you need to come home to me, okay?"  Melted my damned heart.  I don't know if my meds are messing with me, but it hit me that it was the first morning that I had been away from Abby in at least a year, if not longer, and that is the part that really stunk about the retreat.  Good for the community, bad for my paternal-instincts.  I got home and she gave me the biggest hug ever - and she's a good hugger to start with!  Best ever.

I had a nephrologist appointment on Tuesday.  My protein is up, as well as my createnine.  Neither has shot up to levels of concern, but certainly levels of interest.  That being said - we are raising my medication levels and are going to test again in two weeks.  He has suggested that based on this info, I would be better off finding a new nephrologist to visit in late July, rather than waiting for the fall.  Bummer, but okay.

And that is a quick roundup.  I will do a post about the oil spill, and hope to put the finishing touches on a Third Birthday Video for Abby.  Kind of want to do a "dear Abby" letter to her for her big day, too.  Maybe.  Maybe. 

Wordless Wednesday - Get To Work!

More wordless fun at www.wordlesswednesday.com/newhome

Brookside Gardens

We had a whirlwind of a weekend that started with two trips to two malls and ended with a nice, quiet dinner at home.  I could write ten posts and not capture the sheer awesomeness of three days with little to no requirements of schedule. 

Instead I will tell you, in pictures, about our trip to Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, Maryland.  (Their website is www.brooksidegardens.org in case you want to visit!)  I will do my best to cut down the pictures to five, and include a link at the bottom for more fun!

A friend at church was not sure what she was doing on Monday morning before heading to her afternoon-starting-job.  We mentioned Brookside Gardens which peaked her interest in both hanging out and playing with her new camera.  She's always been a better shot than I am, but with her new camera that she is still learning to use, she killed me in awesomeness of shots.  That being said, here are pictures and stories from my lens.

The wildlife was really out and active on our morning jaunt - we saw several box turtles and a massive snapper.  There was one turtle in the water that was covered in moss, so much so that the fish surrounded it and were eating from what was on his shell!  Pretty amazing that they all work together.  We saw one mama turtle and the tail end of burying her eggs!  I gave her the grace of not catching that with the camera, but she ran away pretty quickly, and I got a shot then.

More than turtles, there were lots of geese out and about, all of them seemed to be dragging along their own goslings!  (I only made one Kate Plus Eight reference - go me!)  We got to see one parental goose hiss and go after another goose that got too close.  Those things can be very angry, and we kept our distance where we could.  Lots of cute little ones kept Abby on the watch - here is the first set we stumbled on:

Of course, most of our visit to the Gardens was about Abby, but I also went to capture flowers that were not out the last time we went.  Never failing to disappoint, I grabbed this one which is all around the children's play area that includes a tree house!

The real goal was to get some Abby time, and Abby pictures!  We bought her a cute stripey dress on Saturday down at Tyson's, but alas it is too big for her yet.  Might be good for mid-summer.  Hopefully!  I love that she will climb over branches and under other things, even when she is in full princess mode:

And finally, my favorite shot (of mine) for yesterday.  This is the back side of the tree pictured above.  The sun was hitting just right and Abby was doing some adventure searching back and forth.  I grabbed this one, which I love:

That was our day.  Well, that was only part of one day of a three day weekend that was filled with finding new things and visiting with friends.