Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! We had a great year in 2008 and are really looking forward to 2009! Only down-side is that another year means the kids get another year older! I like them little just the way they are. Oh well...

So here I am on New Years Eve. The kids are at daycare, John is at work, I have the day off. I am supposed to be cleaning the house. But I know that I haven't updated the blog in a really, really long time, so I figured I would finally download the pic's from the camera and do a quick update. Of course I didn't realize how many pictures I had on the camera. I've selected a few of the 100 or so and posted them here. Hope you enjoy them. I guess one of my resolutions this year is to update the blog more frequently. I know, I know... I keep saying that!

FINALLY - Here are the pictures from Thanksgiving...

This is really a work of genius here. John is deep-frying a Turkey and needed to create some type of pulley system to check the Turkey and then take it out. Deep fryer - check. Ladder - check. Rope - check. Old broom handle - check!

Here it is ----- The BIG Reveal!!!

Umm... wait... Is the Turkey supposed to look like that? Unfortunately our timing was a little off and the poor Turkey didn't quite make it. Thanks to Mom & Dad though, they rushed right down to the local store and was able to find a thawed Turkey Breast and....

...this can of SPAM Oven Roasted Turkey for John as punishment!

Asa and Lexi both really enjoyed Thanksgiving and having everyone over. Asa especially liked it when Ms. Jackie let him wear all of her jewelry!

Asa and Lexi beating at the back door... Is the Turkey done yet????

Alas - we have Turkey. Fried to perfection this time! It was yummy. Thanks honey for all your hard work!

Last Christmas Mom & Dad bought Asa and Lexi some tunnels, a tent and a "house" to play with in their playroom. I decided it had been awhile since they played with them and got them out to keep them busy while I was decorating the house for Christmas.

Here they are sitting in the "house".

Lexi playing "peekaboo" with me...

Shopping for our Christmas Tree!!!

Asa walking (sometimes running) in search of the perfect tree.

Lexi was more interested in the chain-link fence than the trees.

Mr. Christmas Tree Lot Man tying the tree to the "Big One".

This is probably the shortest tree we have bought in a really long time, but there was something special about it that made me want it. No it wasn't tall, but it was full and green and perfectly shaped.

Christmas Eve.... Baking Chocolate Cookies for Santa Claus...

Lexi liked watching through the oven door.

There's my pretty girl!

Christmas Day! Okay, I know some of you are going to be disappointed, but I didn't get hardly any pictures of Christmas Day. Instead we decided to capture the moments on the camcorder. I decided that I really wanted to focus on the kids and opening presents and playing and I didn't want to be distracted by making sure I was taking pictures at the "perfect" moment and running the risk of missing out on such a special moment with Asa and Lexi. They had a great morning and they loved all of their presents. They played and played and played. It was a struggle to get them to take a nap that afternoon. Thank you to everyone who got the us and the kids presents! They were all great and we love all of you!

Here is one picture of Asa playing with his new train table.

Christmas Lights & High Speed Police Pursuits

One of my husbands favorite things to do this time of year is to load up the fam in the Big One and go for a drive around the neighborhood and look at the Christmas decorations and Lights. Last night after dinner and the kids baths we did just that. We stopped by a house that was advertised in the local paper to check it out. It was awesome and Santa Claus was even there. We drove by the house a few times, but didn't get out. Asa loved it and then he saw Santa Claus. He seemed really into the whole thing so we promised him that we would go see it again and he could talk to Santa Claus. We did however roll down the window for him and he waved to Santa Claus and said 'Hi". We drove through another few neighborhoods and decided to head back home. On the way home I noticed a police car with it's lights on and traveling towards the direction we were going. I mentioned it to John in case he didn't see it. By the time we were at the intersection by our house, we noticed that he was following someone (chasing would be a more accurate description). At this point, John decided to just stop and wait to see what they were going to do. The person they were chasing didn't stop and the pursuit continued in the direction toward our development. This is where the fun started. John and I decided we wanted to see was going to happen so we decided we were going to "follow" the pursuit, at a safe distance of course. Soon we could see a few more police cars joining in the pursuit. Once they got to the entrance of our development, you could see the car they were chasing make a slight turn into our neighborhood, but then quickly decided against that decision. We live in a gated community so getting away from the police that way would not have been his best option. He continued the direction he was originally going and then we could see a few more police cars at the next intersection blocking it to stop the guy. He got ran the red light and got past them and took off. They followed and of course so did we, but we got stuck at the light. Not a problem though because we saw where he turned into another neighborhood up ahead. At this point, the adrenaline is pumping for both of us. It was really exciting. We don't see much excitement like this, so give us a break, okay? We turn down the road John thinks they went. This is the moment that got me concerned, because my husband then asked me, "If they haven't stopped him yet and we see him, do you want me to ram him?" I cannot tell you what went through my head because it wouldn't be appropriate to say here, but regardless, my answer was something like, "&*%$#, NO!!!" Of course, he was kinda laughing when he said it, so I knew he was joking. Turns out they were able to stop the vehicle not to far away from where he turned off the main road into the residential neighborhood. We could see a bunch of homeowners, etc standing out in front of thier houses, so we stopped and just watched what was going on, which from where we were was a whole lot of nothing. After a few minutes of just sitting there, we decided to go back home, but of course I insisted that John drive by where they were stopped so we could get a better look at what was going on. As we drove by slowly, all I was able to see a Police SUV and a cruiser had the car they were chasing sandwiched between them and in the driver seat of this vehicle was the BIGGEST dog I had ever seen. Mean looking too! That was it. Didn't see anyone in the back of a police car, nothing. As we pulled out onto the main road heading back to our house, we saw about another 5 police cars and several officers walking across the street and on the side of the road with their flashlights. Looked like the guy might have gotten away and/or tried to run and threw something on the ground that they were searching for. Anyway, that was our excitement for the night. Thanks for listening.

Toe Update:
I know I have been a HUGE Blog-slacker lately and I apologize. There are a lot of pic's from Turkey Day that I need to get on here, but just haven't had the time, but I will, just be patient.

My toe surgery went well. The Dr is really impressed with the rate that I am healing. He seemed pleased. Still a little swelling and quite a bit of bruising. Below is a picture of the x-ray they took last week at my post-op appt. If you look at it you will pretty much know the BAD news... Apparently during surgery they already had a screw picked out, unfortunately, the screw they had was much to small to fix my particular break, soooo they had to put in a much bigger screw. As you can see by the pic, the head of the screw is sticking out from the bone quite a bit. This will most likely cause me some discomfort down the road and be irritated by shoes, etc. Eventually, this screw will need to come out once my bone is healed. Probably in a few months. This will also be out-patient, but they will put me to sleep for this too. So for right now, he wants me to continue to use the crutches for at least one more week, however I can walk w/o them for short distances (around the house, etc) and only as long as the boot is on. When they took the bandage off I was also really surprised to see a very small incision area with only one stitch! For some reason in my mind I thought it was going to be this inch long incision! So that made me pretty happy. I go back next Thursday to have the stitch removed.

The dangers of stairs...

and not watching where you are going!

Saturday afternoon after a nice peaceful nap upstairs with Asa, we woke up and made our way downstairs. Well, we didn't really make it all the way - it was an attempt though. As I was holding Asa in one arm and holding on to the railing with the other hand, I felt myself slip. I wasn't about to let go of Asa, so I held on to him as tightly as I could and proceeded to do the most amazing acrobatic move I have ever made. My right foot and leg went forward down about 3 steps, while my left food and leg somehow managed to stay behind me 2 steps back and up. Are you getting a mental picture of this? Picture someone doing the splits, only going down stairs and not on purpose. Somehow I managed to do all of this while keeping my upper body and Asa upright the entire time. Asa still firmly attached to my hip. I yelled for John that I needed help. As he grabbed for Asa, I knew that something was really wrong with my toe. I still had my sock on so I wasn't sure what the damage was. All I knew was that I definitely could NOT walk. John (my hero) carried me to the couch and I proceeded to take my sock off as I announced to him that I think I broke my big toe. As I peeled my sock off (ever so gently) I was horrified to see that my big toe was pretty much at a sideways angle, overlapping the toe next to it. At this point it started to swell a little and I knew I needed to go to Urgent Care or the ER. John took a look and thought that it might just have been dislocated. Sweet John grabbed the crutches (we always have them just in case!) and loaded up the kids in the "big one" and we headed to Urgent Care. They were really nice to me and took some x-rays. Sure enough it was broken. From what they said though, is that it was broken in 3 to 4 places. It is still beyond me how such a small bone could break that many times. Regardless the damage was done. They taped me up, gave me a referral to an Orthopedic Surgeon and sent me on my way with a nice prescription of Vicodin (which was promptly filled!) Didn't have any luck finding an Orthopedic Surgeon that was open on Saturday (or Sunday). However today I did get an appointment. The good news - it's a perfect spiral break. Couldn't have done better if I tried according to the Surgeon. The bad news - I have to have surgery to fix it. Surgery probably won't happen until next week though. In the meantime, I have a very fashionable red soft-cast and black ortho shoe. Tomorrow I have to go get my pre-op labs done, ie. blood work, EKG, UA, and Chest Xray, etc. Monday I have an appointment with my primary doctor for the physical exam and then I can schedule the surgery. Sounds like fun, huh?

This is a pic of how my foot looked today after all the tape and gauze was removed by the Orthopedic Surgeon. He was impressed because I didn't have as much swelling as he thought I would have given the nature of the break. You can see that the bruising is starting a little though. And I was glad to see that my big toe had righted itself for the most part, in large part due to it being taped up I guess.

Here is pic of the x-ray they took today. Can you see the break? It's a beauty isn't it? The break has shifted down about 4mm even since Saturday, which is why I need the surgery. That is really the only way they are going to be able to fix it, by putting pin's and screws in there. Or something like that. I left there with another prescription for Vicodin and STRICT instructions to not put ANY weight on my foot what so ever.

So that was my weekend in a nutshell. I have to though give praise to my husband who is doing an amazing job with the kids while I am immobile. Not only is he constantly catering to their every need, but now he has me to take care of as well. I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate you honey! I love you!

Messy, Messy, Messy!

Note to self: Do not, under any circumstance, give Lexi an Oreo Cookie....

Orme Dam Victory Days 2008

On Sunday, we loaded up the "Big One" and headed to the Fort McDowell Indian Reservation for the Pow Wow in celebration of the Orme Dam Victory.

Brief History: The 27th Annual Orme Dam Victory Days celebrates the social and economic gains made by Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation in the 27 years since Interior Secretary James Lee Watt announced the decision to not build Orme Dam. The dam would have destroyed the culture and reservation of Yavapai People and its land. When Congress approved the Central Arizona Project (CAP) in 1968, the plan called for the construction of Orme Dam at the confluence of the Salt and Verde Rivers. "I propose," said Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, "to make the small but fine little reservoir we are creating here into an Indian recreation development." What Udall didn’t say was that the dam would have flooded more than half the reservation, including most of the tribal farm. The Yavapai’s fought the project for 10 years. In 1981, after years of struggle, including a three-day march from Fort McDowell to the Arizona State Capitol, the government gave up its effort to build the dam.

I loved going to this! The dancers were all so beautiful all dressed up in there costumes and head gear and I loved watching them dance. So did the kids. At first I was a little nervous because the drums were so loud and so was the singing, but the kids really got into it. Asa was in a complete trance the entire time we were there, and didn't move a muscle, but kept his eyes locked on all the dancers. Lexi (our little rock star) was of course moving to the beat of the drum. They both did so great! On the way home, at home and again this morning, Asa was talking about the Indian's Dancing. He loved it!

FYI... I did not get any pictures of the dancers. I would have loved to though. They were amazing. However, it is a strict rule in the Indian Community that you not take any pictures unless you check with the POWWOW host first. And I didn't get permission.

I thought this picture was cute, love the way she's holding on to John's cheek!

Yep - this is how he looked - the ENTIRE time. Totally focused and mesmerized.

Don't know why she is frowning, but she has a cute little frown doesn't she?

Car Seat Upgrade!

Time to upgrade Lexi into a forward-facing car seat. I had already done this for my car (aka the "Little One"), but we needed to get another one for the "Big One". Sunday we stopped at the BX and made the purchase. This was a big deal, because I don't think Daddy was quite ready yet for his little peanut to transition out of the Infant Carrier. Daddy got over it pretty quick though, when he found happiness by being able to just turn around and seeing her pretty face and big blue eyes smiling back at him.

Here she is in the Infant Carrier. As you can see - it was time to upgrade as her head is almost reaching the top and her feet are definitely reaching the back of the seat. We are really going to miss her Infant Carrier though - it is made by Chicco and probably the best Infant Carrier EVER MADE! We love it and we would have gotten her a Chicco Car Seat, but they don't make them. Total bummer!

Big girl in her big-girl Car Seat. She wasn't too happy about it at first, so I took this picture after she had calmed down a little bit.

Here they are - both facing forward! Ugh - they are growing so fast and too soon!

While I was installing Lexi's new car seat, Daddy took Asa and Lexi to the playground to burn off some energy. (See picture below - kinda uploaded out of order - sorry!). On his way back from the playground, Asa and Daddy found a Pine Cone. Asa thought it was pretty cool. Here he is showing it off - oh - and he threw in this ADORABLE smile for me too!

As stated earlier, here is the pic of them walking to the playground before I started installing the car seat.

Another Lexi First!!!

Over the last week or so, we decided to "give" Lexi a spoon so she can hold on to it while she eats, thus making the connection when she watches us eat, to use the spoon eventually to feed herself. Apparently that has paid off. Saturday night, daddy gave her a spoon and put some butterscotch pudding on it and gave her the spoon to hold. It immediately went into her mouth! Then, surprising both John and myself, she moved the spoon back into the pudding and scooped herself some more out! Turns out - Lexi really likes Butterscotch Pudding! FYI... Asa didn't, he's sticking to Vanilla Pudding (his favorite).

Fun Pic's from Last Week (11-10/11-14)

As most of you know - weekends in the Abbott house are "clothing optional - diapers required". So you shouldn't be surprised to see our kids frolicking about in nothing but diapers. Asa is getting to the point where putting anything on him is a fight and major source of drama. So on the weekends, it's just pretty much a free-for-all. They are happy, we are happy.

Here's a sweet pic of them coloring together in the big coloring book. Surprisingly most of the marker actually made it to the page and not on them. There was very little clean-up involved and I was so impressed with both of them. However, Lexi did manage to bite off the tip of another marker. I was watching her like a hawk, but she is so sneaky!

This is a favorite, they love to take all of the plastic bowls and lids out of the cabinet. They are so happy doing it and it entertains them and keeps them quiet while I am folding laundry or doing dishes.

Just wish they would pick up after themselves!!

Asa being a big-boy and eating off his first ear or corn. He really seemed to like it and was pretty satisfied with himself afterwards!

Big Kids and Big Apple

For some reason, when we got home last night, Asa wanted an apple. Now normally I would remove said apple from the refrigerator and cut it up for him and Lexi. Not today. Asa watched my movements closely and announced rather loudly (as I got the knife) that he, "Don't want it cut up, the apple!" I had never actually given him a whole apple so I was interested to see what was going to happen. It took him a few tries, but eventually he bit into the apple. He seemed to really enjoy it. And even seemed proud of his big-boy accomplishment. I was too, although a little sad to see my son taking big-boy bites out of his first big-boy apple.

Sitting on the couch with his apple watching the Backyardigans.

In his high chair - 30 minutes later (after fried chicken and biscuits) still munching on his apple. He actually became quite obsessed with it at this point and wouldn't give it up.

Finally Asa gave up his apple and oh-boy can you tell by the look on Lexi's face how excited she was to finally get it! I only let her have it because I thought for sure she would just lick it or something, but nope...

She's a big girl too! Here she is taking big-girl bites and loving every minute of it! After each bite she would chew what she got and then smack her lips like she does when she likes something a lot.

The treasured apple. I wish I could keep it forever. Maybe shelack (sp?) it or something to preserve it. I never imagined when I became a mom how many little things (such as a simple apple) would make me realize how big my kids are getting. You expect the big things, like crawling, walking, feeding themselves, talking, etc. But then the apple event occurs and you are completely caught off guard.

Circles and Noses

Over the weekend we were working with Lexi on pointing out body parts, starting with faces. She got really good at pointing out our 'noses'. Over night, suddenly she could point with almost 100% accuracy, our noses, eyes, and ears. I was totally amazed! Not only could she point to it on our faces, but she would actually say "Noooo" when she was pointing to my nose and "Eyyyyyyeee" when pointing to my eye! Totally blown away! Her speech is really coming along!

Now yesterday, Lexi started in the 1's room full time. I have to admit that I was a little nervous. Turns out I was worrying for absolutely nothing! She was a champ! I spoke to her new teacher, Ms. Veronica a few times during the day, just to check on her. She walks around, plays with the other kids and participates in all the activities like she has been in that room forever already! I'm so proud of our little Lexi!

Last night when I was giving the kids a bath, Asa announced to me that he wanted to draw with the bath crayons. I gave them to him and he said, "I want to draw a circle." I was like, okay - does he even know what a circle is? LOL. Of course he does! He is so smart. So sure enough, Asa goes about drawing circles all over the tub walls! Not the most perfect circles, but circles none-the-less! They were the most beautiful circles I have ever seen!

So Lexi is pointing out eyes, nose and ears and Asa is drawing circles now! It was a big day for us! Every day I am amazed and thankful for the 2 amazing little people that God has blessed us with!

Halloween Cake

On Saturday night, Aunt Diane and Tracey came over to babysit so Mommy and Daddy could go to an After Halloween Party. John came up with the idea for the cake that I made and I pretty much just took the project over. Here is a pic... Pretty cute, huh?

I used Red Velvet Cake, Chocolate Frosting, Black Icing for the lettering on Milano Cookies. I crushed up Oreo Cookies for the dirt mounds. However, the cake itself was HORRIBLE! I think we can narrow it to 2 possible issues. First, the Crisco I used to coat the cake pan, looked (and smelled) kinda funny. But Crisco doesn't ever expire, right? Figured it was okay and continued. Next I made the cake batter, except the bottle of what I thought was Vegetable Oil didn't actually have a label on it confirming that it was actual Vegetable Oil. I think this is where the problem was. I used it anyway, however I'm not really sure what kind of oil it really was. Needless to say, it looked cute and according to one taster, "It tastes kind earthy." LOL. Next time I promise I will use recognizable ingredients!

Trick or Treat!!

Our first Halloween where both of the kids are walking! I was so excited! I can take them both door to door and they (okay, just Asa) will ring the doorbell and say "Trick-or-Treat", he'll hold up his plastic pumpkin for his goodies and then say a really cute "Thank You"...

Apparently that was a dream. I knew Lexi wouldn't walk very far, so I decided Asa could walk and I would push Lexi in the wagon. Of course, once Asa saw the wagon he wanted to get into it too. Neither one of the kids actually did any walking. They were really super cute none the less and got a lot of "Oh's and Aw's" over their costumes. I decided with them both being in the wagon, we would only go to houses where people were out in front (instead of ringing the door bell). This worked out great! I tried really hard to get Asa to say "Trick-or-Treat", but the only thing he would say was "Don't want to say Trick-or-Treat". People would laugh and think it was cute. They would give him the candy and then I would say, "Can you say Thank You?" and Asa would reply, "Don't want to say Thank You." That was pretty much how trick or treating went for us. A lot of fun though!




Lexi was so adorable! Every time some one would put something in her pumpkin, she would immediately take it out and stick it in her mouth! Wrappers and all!




I really didn't take that may pictures. I think the most fun we had was when we got back to the house and Daddy. It was pretty warm out and I knew that Lexi must be getting uncomfortable, so I took off her costume and let her walk around in her onesie and shoes. Asa was in shorts and a shirt so he was fine. Asa got to hand out candy to all the trick or treaters and he had so much fun. He was a little intimidated at times when the bigger kids would come up, especially if they were wearing scary masks, but he did great for the most part. Lexi just continued to chew on candy wrappers. We stayed out in front with Daddy for about an hour until I could tell the kids were getting tired and took them in. Saturday morning I had the opportunity to go through all the candy, and you could definitely tell which candy was Lexi's - by all the little teeth marks! Too cute! Can't wait till next year!

More Pic's from Gramma & Grampa's

Here's the rest of the pictures from Gramma and Grampa's house from last weekend.

Lexi "petting" the metal kitty cat in the backyard.

Asa found the dog's "monkey" toy and said, "Monkey live in tree". Here he is trying to put the monkey back in the tree.

Like I said before, the kids were exhausted after the day at the Car Show, and Grampa has magical powers of putting grandkids to sleep.

Just thought this was cute. Make yourself comfortable, Lexi...

Lexi got to try on her new jacket that Gramma and Grampa got her. I think you can tell by the look on her face that she likes it.

Here we go again with the Grampa's magical powers!

Okay, so Gramma has the magical power too, I guess!

Here is Pugsleigh "guarding" Lexi while she sleeps.

Pugsleigh making sure Lexi is breathing.

Nothing sweeter than a baby's face when they are sleeping!

Grampa finally moved! Now I can stretch out a little!

Playing with Sasha and Pugsleigh.

Minus the crusty nose, do we all agree that this is a face that should be on the cover of a magazine?

Asa giving love... well, to himself!

Giving some love to Gramma too!