Michigan Family Reunion, July 2011

Well Abigail took her very last plane ride without her own seat on July 20th. Mommy and Abigail flew to Fenton, Michigan to go visit GGMa and GGpa DeCew as well as Aunt Lori, Uncle Brad, and cousins Alison and Emily. Dad flew in the next day and Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mike were already in Michigan.

The trip was wonderful but a whirlwind of activity. Wednesday we arrived in Michigan and attempted to unwind from a long day of traveling (a 21 month old crazy monkey on your lap for almost 6 hours alone is insane). We went for a boat ride and had some of GGMa's awesome meatballs and noodles. The next day, Daddy arrived so we spent the evening on the boat and played in the water. Abigail is crazy about the water to say the least. Then Friday we had a fantastic day. Grandpa Mike drove us to a few herb farms where we saw tons of real frogs on lily pads and made the frogs jump into the water. Mom pretended to be a mule and pulled Daddy and Abigail around the herb farm in a cart. Then we went to Halo Burger for Abigail and Shawn's first Halo Burgers and cream ales. So Yummy!! That afternoon we went on Lori and Brad's boat and Abigail jumped a good five feet about 50 times off of the boat into the water!! Then it was off to Lori and Brad's house for an awesome dinner of lamb, shrimp, and lasagna. Mom and Dad loved the rum punch!!!!!!!!!

Saturday morning we all piled into cars to drive to Traverse City up North. Mom and I rode with GGMa and GGPa while Dad rode with Grandma Judy and Grandpa Mike. It was a very long trip but Lake Michigan was absolutely gorgeous once we got there. We then drove to GGPa's sister's house, my great-great Aunt Linda, right on the water. I had a blast there playing in the lake, going for a paddle boat ride, and playing in a bucket of water with a little fishing game Aunt Linda gave me. I also met tons of cousins and ate great food. Sunday we drove around Traverse City and went shopping, then we made the long trek back to GGMa and GGPa's for another boat ride and FIREFLIES!!

GGPa and Daddy caught me a bunch of fireflies and it was so cool to see them light up. I was amazed and also loved the bonfire.

Our new boat

Today we got the boat of our dreams!! Shawn has never been happier. We drove the boat off the lot and I thought his teeth were going to pop out of his head from smiling so hard. I will post pictures as soon as I can!!

Las Vegas and Michigan here we come

This last week has been so wonderful. Last Friday, Shawn, Abigail, and I all flew to Las Vegas where we promptly rented a car and drove to Aunt Connie and Uncle Joe's house so they could meet me and Abbie. It was a blast and we even got to meet Shawn's cousin Tony and his wife Nikki. Tony and Shawn used to get into all kinds of mischief when they were little and Shawn would go and spend the summers in Vegas with his grandma and grandpa. The two boys had fun regaling each other with stories of their past and catching up on what had happened since they were last together. Connie and Joe were wonderful hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed spending the night and the following morning with them. Then we went to get JayJay and went off to get some lunch and to visit the pawn shop from the show Pawn Stars. It was fun but not quite as cool as the show makes it out to be. Then it was off to Uncle PJ's for a family barbecue with Aunt Elena and johnny and nick. Lil Sam also came to see her great granddaughter and that was wonderful. We spent the evening eating great food and relaxing in the pool and hot tub with Shawn's family. Next it was time for Abigail and me to fly to Michigan bright and early at 6am.

The flight was uneventful and we both slept about three of the four hours of the flight, which was nice. It was awesome to see ggma and ggpa waiting for us and then we were off to Fenton for a week of fun. We went to Aunt Lori and Uncle Brad's for dinner and even spent some time at an apple orchard. At the orchard Abigail got to see goats, lambs, ducks, geese, turkeys, and a rabbit. She played in a giant barn full of corn and walked in a sandbox with ggpa. After some fun at the farm we went into the little shop and got fresh apple cider and homemade donuts. Abigail loved both and fell asleep as soon as we put her in the car. The next day we went to find a Halloween costume and found an adorable carebear suit but will have to do a
Bit more looking before we make a final decision. We then went out to lunch with Darlene at coney island and she gave Abbie the coolest book ever. The book is called The Tickle Monster and comes with gloves that the reader wears to tickle the kiddo. We also went to the Steck's house for dinner and had a blast hanging out with them and Abbie fell in love with these two tiny green pillows she carried around. So funny. Today we went to meet all the employees in ggpa's office and then went to lunch with ggpa. They served homemade macaroni and cheese that was sinful and Abigail loved her pizza. Tomorrow we fly out, but beforehand we are going to hopefully go to the Aplle Festival in Fenton so Abbie can ride a pony, per ggma's request. Then we are going to meet up with Shawn's maternal grandfather Carmen and his wife Nancy. This is yet another great grandparent Abigail has and we are excited to meet him. This has been the best trip and we wish we lived closer!!!!!

Long time no update

It has been way too long since I last updated this page and I apologize. I am going to work my hardest to update this page once a week as I was doing in the past.

The summer has flown by and Abigail has experienced many new things. She went boating and camping for her first time and absolutely loved it. Memorial Day and Fourth Of July were spent at Standley Lake with our friends the Aker's family. We had a blast. Unfortunately on Fourth Of July it poured rain so Abigail has yet to see a real fireworks show, but we will try again soon. As a family we went on our first RV trip to Guernsey, Wyoming which was quite an adventure. The journey was fun but camping was difficult because Abigail was crawling/trying to walk and we were on a slight hill with lots of small rocks that she loved to eat. We spent most of the trip in the RV and ended up going home early.

Three days before she turned ten months old Abigail started walking on her own after walking on the furniture and squatting for about six weeks. She wanted to walk so baldy but she could crawl so much faster. The first time Shawn saw her walk, Abigail walked down the hall to him saying Dada the entire time. The look on Shawn's face was absolutely priceless and a moment neither of us will ever forget.

Now Abigail is walking all over the place and will be a year old in less than a month!!!!! She loves animals and can say many words such as Mama, Dada, Dog, Ek (Shrek), and What? She even shakes her head no when she does not want something and can make choices. She loves clothes and shoes and has Grammy Judy wrapped around her fingers in regards to shopping. If Abbie even looks at something with interest, Grammy buys it for her. Abigail is quite the little tomeboy and loves playing in the rocks, sticks, and mud. There are few moments where she is not happy, smiling, and laughing. She loves to be on the go and is extremely easy going. We are so happy she came into our lives and can hardly believe how much joy she has brought to our family.

Abigail and Shrek are the very best of friends and follow each other around the house. Abigail chases Shrek around when he has a toy or bone and he will play growl and let her take the toy or bone right out of his mouth. He is such a sweetheart. Shrek hardly ever leaves Abbie's side and goes and opens her door to check on her when she is asleep, sticking his little nose between the slats of her crib to see if she is okay. The second she wakes up he is waiting by her door to greet her and she smiles the second she sees him and says dog. So adorable, we are so blessed.

At the end of this week Abigail, Shawn, and I will be flying to Las Vegas to visit Lil Sam (Shawn's maternal Grandmother), and his aunts, uncles, and cousins. I can hardly wait for Abigail to witness the strip and the lights and energy. She will love it. Us girls are then leaving to fly to Michigan to visit GGma and GGpa DeCew for the week while Shawn stays in Las Vegas for a work conference. Abigail and I are going to meet Shawn's grandfather for the first time while in Michigan as well. We are looking forward to another great trip and to introducing Abbie to more of the world and new people and places.

Abigail is standing and crawling

Abigail began crawling and standing all in the same day!! She stood up for the first time all on her own while leaning on me in the bathtub on April 26 and that same night she actually crawled forward twice a few paces. Before that she was doing pretty well crawling backwards and could stand up with some help. Now we are in deep trouble because she thinks Mom is the human jungle gym and she is constantly standing up and has begun just letting go. So funny. She is also really eating a lot of solid foods and loves drinking out of a regular cup like Mom and Dad. She is an absolute riot and talks and laughs all day and night.

Viva La Mexico

Grandma and Abigail taking a siesta in the casita by the pool




The three of us right outside of Senor Frogs on the Playa del Carmen beach



Abigail and I with the Mayan warriors in the Playa del Carmen square



My mom and Shawn drinking their daily dose of pina coladas




We went to Mexico, Abigail, Shawn, myself, and my parents. It was fabulous and Abigail even had to get her own passport. We had such a wonderful time and celebrated my turning the big 30. We spent most of our time at a beautiful resort called the Mayan Palace. It was enormous and absolutely gorgeous. The resort is known for the world's largest pool and sits right on the ocean. Unfortunately the ocean floor is a bit rocky right at the beach so we did not spend much time swimming in it. However, we spent a lot of time at the pool. Mom and Shawn spent most of our days drinking pina coladas and we discovered that Abigail loves a pina colada as well. Luckily all of the staff were in love with her and would fix her her very own mini pina coladas. Everyone thought Abigail was adorable and the staff began calling her the princess. We went to a nice dinner at this restaraunt called Tramonto, which serves Italian and steaks, and our server, Guillermo made Abigail a special hat out of a napkin. So cute.



We also spent an afternoon in Playa del Carmen and went shopping. It was fun and nice to see some local scenery. The weather was very hot that day and the streets are all cobblestones and have very high threshholds to cross to get into the stores, so Shawn, Abigail, and I went down by the ferry that takes people to Cozumel and hung by the beach. It was gorgeous. My mom and dad shopped like crazy and my dad even tried on the traditional Mexican fighting mask.




We also went to his amazing place called Akumal. There you can just wade out into the waters and there are giant sea turtles everywhere. It was icnredible and the beach was absolutely gorgeous. We had so much fun and the town is this little artisan town with fun things to buy.

The next night we all went to a Mexican Fiesta. It was very fun and there was great food and a great show. Abigail was so hot and tired that she slept through almost the entire show, despite the fact that there was a live Mariachi band and loud music.



Overall we had a great time and cannot wait to do it again!!!!

Abigail is six months now

She can finally sit up and play by herself



I love Mommy



Talking away and playing with a bottle




So cute in her pink tutu bathing suit

Easter

Getting ready on Easter to go to church for the very first time




Abigail channeling the Easter Bunny from her Bumbo chair



Abigail had a wonderful first Easter. The weekend was very fun because Shawn's birthday was the Monday after Easter. Because of that we spent the entire weekend having friends and family over to celebrate Shawn's birthday and to party!! Easter was great. The three of us slept in and then went to the local Episcopal church for Abigail's first church service. She did really well and made it almost 40 minutes. The priest was enamored with Abbie and even pointed her out to the entire congregation in the middle of the sermon, explaining how Jesus gave his life so that we could all experience the gorgeous happiness in life, like the beautiful baby. Then we took a nap and went to Grandma and Grandpa Decew's for dinner. What a great day!! Oh, and Abigail got her first Easter basket. An Elmo basket filled with cute bath toys.

Eating my first ice cream cone at the zoo. It was wonderful and I could not get enough of it. I am just like daddy, I love ice cream!!




Watching the elephants with my Great Grandma Max.



We are going to the zoo!!!!!!!!!!!!

The zoo

I am sooooooooooooo cute!!

Drinking Out Of Her Cup

Happy St. Patrick's Day


On St. Patrick's Day Abigail went to the zoo for the very first time. She loved it!! We went with her great Grandma Max and she bought Abigail her first ice cream cone. Abigail devoured the ice cream and kept grabbing my hands and shoving the ice cream into her face. It was so cute. I do not think she really noticed the animals but she had a blast watching and listening to all of the kids that were running around.

In other news, Abigail can now sit up on her own. She needs a slight bit of help just to be sure she does not topple over, but she can sit up and even pick herself up if she slides over.Also, she can now drink out of a sippy cup and loves it. She is obsessed with crunching up paper and loves laughing all of the time.

Crawling!!

Abigail started crawling last night!!!! It was more of a slither but she moved about two feet across the living room floor to get to her daddy. She has been moving in her crib for about six weeks now but this was the first time she moved substantially towards an object. What an amazing moment. And Shawn's face was priceless and he was so proud. Abigail has begun talking almost constantly and loves to laugh and smile. It is wonderful and we love her so much. We can hardly believe that she is almost five months old. She loves to lie in her crib when she wakes up and just babble to herself and her fan. She is such a character and loves to play with anything that sings and moves.

Abigail is almost five months

Abigail is now eating at least one meal of solid foods every day. She loves carrots, sweet potatoes, peas, and now is starting to eat bananas. She cracks me up because she wants to be a big girl so badly that she tries to feed herself and grabs the spoon. She has also begun laughing this real hard laugh and it is absolutely hilarious. Abigail loves peek-a-boo and is just such a wonderful baby. I feel so blessed to be her mom and to be able to stay home with her everyday!! She has a jumping seat and loves to bounce in it. Abbie will actually hold her feet up in the air so the bouncy seat continues bouncing. Hilarious. The other thing she has started doing is trying desperately to crawl and this means that she is doing 180 degree turns in her crib and skooching from one end to the other. Luckily she now takes a couple of one-three hour long naps per day and is sleeping atleast six hours at night, waking up to eat, and then sleeping another three to four hours!! Strangely I am more tired now that she sleeps than ever. Maybe I am just adjusting to sleeping again after not sleeping for eight months.

I love being a mom!!

Abigail is 4 months old

Shrek and his Abigail



Happy Valentine's Day!!






Abigail in her Exersaucer watching her favorite Singing Bear Toy



Abigail laughing at Mom in her Bumbo Seat




Abigail is 4 months old!! Holy cow how time flies. She is doing wonderfully and growing in every way every day. She can now sit up almost by herself and loves to play in her jumping stand. She stands in it and then holds her feet up for like ten seconds so it just bounces up and down. All of a sudden she is grabbing at everything and she loves to talk all day long.

At her four month wellness check-up on Monday she weighed an amazing 15 lbs and 7 oz!! She was 24 inches long and doing great. The doctor even said she could begin eating solid food. So that night we put her in her little pink chair on the dining room table and fed her some sweet potato. Needless to say she did not love it and made the funniest faces. She would eat a bite from me and turn to look at Shawn and make this disgusted face. It was hilarious.

Shrek has become Abigail's dog and he goes and sleeps on her little pink sheep skin rug while she naps during the day. He sticks his nose between the slats on her crib and I swear if he could jump into her crib he would sleep with her. It is amazing and we are so grateful he loves her so much.

Abigail's First New Year's, Florida, and 3 month birthday

I do not like this bikini one bit Mom and Dad!!

Finally home and now I am 3 months old!!

Getting ready to take a nice swim in the bathtub with Mom.

As if she had not had enough time on a plane, GGma and GGpa got this great plane for her to play in while she was visiting them.

We spent a few days at Dennis and Becky's, with their giant lap dog Buster

Ready to boogie on New Year's Eve with GGma and GGpa in Briny Breezes!!

Abigail's very first time at the beach with Mom and Dad on January 31st

Waiting in the airport to go to Florida for her first time.

So as if Christmas was not enough, the O'Neill's packed up for Florida on January 30th. It was Abigail's very first plane ride and her first big trip. She did absolutely fabulous and just sat on Mom's lap and talked to her and Dad the entire four hour plane ride. Not even one cry escaped her beautiful mouth. Then it was off to GGma and GGpa's for New Year's Eve in Briny Breezes. That was a blast and there was a little party planned so Abbie could meet all of her Briny grandparents. Everyone thought she was adorable (of course) and she was the life of the party. That was also the day that Mom and Dad took her to the beach for the very first time. She slept through most of it and then played in the sand a bit. Abigail hated the bikini she had received for Christmas so we only got one picture of her in it, screaming to get it off. She loved the sound of the ocean though, and now she listens to the waves on a sound machine as she goes to sleep.


Then on New Year's day the O'Neill's made the four and a half hour drive up to Micanopy to see the O'Neill grandparents. It was Dennis' first time meeting Abigail and while he was a bit unsure at first, her sweet face melted him and they loved each other right away. We hung out there for three days and watched entirely way too much football for one household. Abigail received some very cute clothes and even a Harley Davidson teddy bear!! Overall it was very nice and we hope to see the Southern O'Neill's out west in Colorado in the next few months.

It was then back to Briny Breezes for some much needed rest and relaxation. Abigail very much enjoyed hanging out with her GGma and GGpa. She particularly took a liking to her GGpa and he was able to lull her to sleep. This was also the first time she had slept in a playpen and she did fabulous. Now when she is home she is sleeping in her crib and we are making progress on this. It was extremely cold our entire trip, like 30's to 40's, so we were not able to make it to the beach. But we hung out and just enjoyed being a family. We ate good food and had awesome company!! The trip home went easy as pie as well and Abigail slept most of the way home and was a complete angel. We can hardly wait for our next adventure!!

Abigail's First Christmas

Christmas Eve and waiting for Santa!!

Abigail on Christmas Day. She is worn out!!

Abigail had a fabulous first Christmas. She received a bunch of books and some gorgeous clothes from her grandparents and aunts and uncles. The week started out with an all out family feast at Grandma Diana's and Rolando's. Quibian and his family, Ariel, Dorian, and Alyria and her family were all there with all of their kiddos. It was pretty hectic!! Then the next day was Christmas Eve so the day was spent with the DeCew grandparents' opening presents and eating. Abigail received the sweetest porcelain shoe Christmas tree ornament for her first Christmas. She basically slept through most of it, as she was beat from all of the commotion the night before at Grandma Diana's. Then on Christmas morning Abigail spent the day first opening presents with her mom and dad. Not only was it Abbie's first Christmas, but it was also the O'Neill's first Christmas in their new house. It was wonderful!! Shawn can hardly wait to play Santa in the coming years and even discussed the logistics such as the fact that he wants Abigail to leave him ice cream and chocolate milk!! Then we packed up for the day to go to Grandma Diana's and Rolando's for Christmas brunch and more presents with Uncle Bert and Aunt Kat!! Next it was off to the DeCew grandparents' house for our stockings (Abigail got her very own with her name on it and it is pink and everything!!) and Christmas dinner. Needless to say the O'Neill's were very tired at the end of Christmas Day!! Now we are just getting ready to go to Florida for New Years!!.

Abbie is two months

Abbie with her great grandpa Jack.

Abigail meeting her great grandma Lois.

Abbie sitting on Santa's lap. She is so cute!!

Abigail is officially two months old. She had her two month check-up with the doctor and she now weighs 10lbs 12oz and is 23 1/2 inches long!! Wow!!

Abigail met Santa and absolutely loved him. While all of the other kids were screaming and crying, Abbie sat on his lap and smiled and cooed. Then she pooped, which was absolutely hilarious.

Then Abigail's great grandparents, Jack and Lois, came to Colorado to meet her despite record cold. It was so cold one of our pipes even froze!! Abbie loves her GGMa and GGPa and we are looking forward to going to Florida to see them on the 30th of December.

Abigail is 8 weeks

Learning to cook green bean casserole for Thanksgiving and dancing.

Shrek loves Abbie. Our little babies sleeping.

A Happy Thanksgiving in deed.

Hanging out with mom and dad.

Going for a walk with Mom and Shrek.

I am so cute!!

Wow has time flown by!! Abigail is going to be 8 weeks old in two days and she is the light of our lives. I figure she probably weighs a little over nine pounds and has definitely grown length wise because some of her clothes are too small. Right now, she has started talking to us in the cutest little coos you have ever heard. She loves to smile and just is an easy going kiddo. We read every day and she runs around with us constantly and hardly ever fusses.

Thanksgiving was awesome and she sat at the table in her high chair with Grandma and Grandpa DeCew, Grandma Diana and Rolando, Uncle Bert, and Aunt Kat. It was great and then Uncle Kyle and Amanda came over for desert. She just sat in her chair and watched everyone and smiled. We had dinner at our house and everyone brought something so it was absolutely perfect!! We can hardly wait for Christmas.

Abigail is now 34 days old

This is Abbie getting her ultrasound, no I did not drug her :)

Smiling

Happy Halloween!!

Watching football with daddy.

Abigail is now 34 days old and doing fantastic. She can eat like a grown man, sometimes devouring about 7 ounces of breast milk in about two hours. Our little girl now weighs 8lbs 6.5oz and is starting to fit into regular clothes. We love her so much and can hardly believe how beautiful and amazing she is. This week she has really started smiling and making a lot of noises. She can already hold her head up pretty well by herself and actually sat with no one holding her for about five minutes yesterday. The doctor said on Wednesday that she is extremely alert for a one month old and that we needed to stimulate her more in order to keep her mind busy and hopefully help her sleep more. We had an ultrasound on her kidneys as they felt she might have had a kink in one ureter while she was in the womb. All is well and Abigail literally just laid on the table for over half an hour and let the radiology technician look at her kidneys and bladder. Life is wonderful and only seems to be getting better!!

Almost 3 weeks old

Abigail saw the pediatrician for her two week check-up last week and she is doing fabulous. She weighs 6lbs 6oz, so almost an entire pound in one week. She had grown 1/2 an inch and is very healthy. We are currently working on breastfeeding as her mouth was too little up until now. It is going rather well and we are getting the hang of it finally.

Perhaps the most wonderful thing ever is seeing her smile and laugh. In her sleep she will laugh hysterically and it is probably the sweetest sound ever. I cannot wait until she laughs when she is awake!! But I am not trying to hurry a thing.

Shawn and I love being parents and can hardly believe how precious and beautiful Abigail really is. We made her, it is just astonishing. She is going through a stage right now where she only wants to be held so she typically sleeps on my chest or else she is not happy. I do not believe you can spoil a baby too much and it is just deepening her bond with both Shawn and myself.

Her great Grandma Max came out and has been spending time with little Abbie. Also for thre days last week her Grandma from Florida, Becky, came out and had a wonderful time bonding with baby Abigail. It was great to have some time with her.

Abigail is 9 days old

Wow, how fast time flies by. Abigail is 9 days old today and she is gaining weight and becoming more beautiful every day. Right now she is such a daddy's girl. Her little face lights up when he comes home from work, it is so amazing to see. We are working on the breastfeeding but her mouth is still too little to feed herself this way so I pump 6 times a day and we feed her. She has this little baby bottle and she loves to hold it while she eats. Abbie is a wonderful baby, she almost never cries and she just watches you and smiles. It is amazing being a wonderful, although the sleep deprivation is a bit difficult. I am still healing from the c-section which is very painful at times, but all is well. Next week we go to the pediatrician for Abigail's two week check-up and then off to the lactation consultant to hopefully get our little girl breastfeeding. Boy would that save me a lot of time!!!!!!!! I do not care how much sleep I lose, or how much work I have to do, I am so in love and I will do anything for my little girl.