Buffalo River MMM-K!!!

I haven't been able to upload anything for awhile, but here are a few pictures of me and the boys on the Buffalo River trip August 15th. The picture on the left.... Matt, Sam, Tanu, Shawn and Joey. Below... Taua'I left, (top to bottom), Lance, Matt, Joey and Mr. T, Shawn right. The trip to the Buffalo was a blast. We camped at South Maumee, 7 miles north down a dirt road from Morning Star, Arkansas. Shawn, Sam, and I got there on Wednesday at about noon. We set up camp and then went swimming all day except for the occassional grilled burgers and brats back at camp.

That night the rest of the guys got there. We sat around talking for quite a while, some of the young men stayed up the entire night. We woke up about 5am to get started on breakfast burritoes and so we could get ready to meet the bus with canoes by 8 am. The pictures are from the trip.... North Maumee (just the other side of the river) to Highway 14 bridge. We stopped for lunch (ham & turkey sandwiches, Nacho cheese Doritoes and Sunchips for Tanu) and that is where these pictures are from. The tower is pretty cool huh? We sure had a lot of fun!

The night we got back, we made hobo dinners and fresh strawberry/banana cobbler before the storm came.---Zac.

Our family calendar

I keep a four week calendar on our fridge so that we (I) will know what's going on. From the time we got together, Zac has referred to me as his 'day planner.' I love the man, but he rarely (I won't say never because it sounds mean) remembers what we have going and when. Tonight he joked "You should put our calendar on here...then I'd actually look at it." Since the blog is our home page, I figured it might be worth a shot. So, here's our schedule for the rest of the week!

Wednesday, Sept 10
*Sarah works 8:00am-5:00pm (Going to try to hit the gym after that)
*Zac works 9:00am-3:30pm
*Zac goes to Mutual with the Young Men

Thursday, Sept 11
*Sarah works 7:30am-4:30pm (Again, may be hitting the gym)
*Zac off work - empty out/rearrange storage buildings
*Sarah shopping at Rhea Lana 1/2 price sale at 7:00pm

Friday, Sept 12
*Sarah works 9:15am-6:15pm
*Zac off work - probably working in the storage building/house again
*Sarah goes to Scrapbook/Craft Night 7:00pm-midnight (WOOO HOOO!!!)

Saturday, Sept 13
*Sarah off work at bank - working Rhea Lana sale 3:30pm-8:30pm
*Zac works 9:00am-9:00pm (STINK!)

Sunday, Sept 14
*I think it's our turn to do FHE with the Backus and Call families....Natalie, Kelli - are you reading this?

Stay tuned for next week's update....lol. I'll let you know how Zac did on keeping up this week!

Quick update

Ok, I have to get to packing, but I wanted to let everybody know that we close on the house THURSDAY! Now we just have to figure out what the job situation holds....eik!

Getting sick and growing up

My punkin has been sick this week. Sunday evening she was running a fever and by bedtime it was around 102. Monday morning I called in at work so I could take her to the doctor. Her strep test came back negative and we were told that it was "just a virus" that would go away in 3-5 days. As much as I didn't want her to have strep, at least that's something that you can give them meds for....viruses just stink because you can't do anything.

So, I stayed home Monday but then went back to work on Tuesday because my new mgr was being a punk. So Abby has stayed with my Mom all week and probably will tomorrow and Friday, too. She's so pitiful....her little eyes are swollen and red, she has this awful, gunky cough with a runny nose. She's coughing so much that I know her throat is sore. My poor punkin.

A few funny things this week, though. Every day it seems that her language skills are getting better. Yesterday she told Zac, "I don't feel good." Her second totally complete sentence....the first was last week when she said "I want another cracker." She puts words together all the time, but these two sentences were actually whole and made sense. Smart girl!

And, I'm off to bed. Abby has slept with me in the bed all week while Zac slept on the couch. Which meant that Zac is the only one that's gotten any sleep. But today he moved our couch into storage, so Abby had to sleep in her bed. Which, BY THE WAY, is a toddler bed. Today Zac took down her crib and she's sleeping in a real bed. I cried when I tucked her in and shut the door. I'll report tomorrow on how she did...

TAG!!

Ok, my friend Jennifer posted this on her blog and I stole it! She didn't tag me, but I love these things so I'm gonna do it anyway. :o) If I tag you, then you fill this out on your blog/Facebook and tag four more people. I know, it's kinda dumb, but it's fun to learn new stuff about people....


Four, four, four, four...

1. Four places that I go over and over: US Bank (work), Ms. Janet's (daycare), Wal-Mart (ick) and church

2. Four people who email me regularly: Mom, Hope, Sherry, Christine

3. Four of my favorite places to eat: Mt. Fuji, Casa Mexicana, Moe's, Larry's Pizza (I've only been once, but I REALLY want to go back)

4. Four places I would rather be right now: The Angel Rose in Eureka Springs with my hubby, the beach with Zac & Abby, on a cruise, or in Dallas for a weekend with Christine

5. Four people I tag (you can do it on Facebook, too): Lori T., Christine A. (almost Christine S!!), Erin M., and Nikki R.

6. Four TV shows I watch: Oh, geez, there's not much time for TV - usually Food Network is just on as background noise. But I do like Rules of Engagement, How I Met Your Mother, Iron Chef America and my parents have me hooked on Wipeout

The Divine Institute of Marriage

I found this on a friend's Facebook page and thought it was interesting. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (my church - woo hoo!) has "accepted an invitation to participate in ProtectMarriage, a coalition of churches, organizations, and individuals sponsoring a November ballot measure, Proposition 8, that would amend the California state constitution to ensure that only a marriage between a man and a woman would be legally recognized." You can check out more details on the group on their website and you can read the Church's press release at The Divine Institute of Marriage.

A little soapbox time....Some of you may or may not know that my bachelor's degree is basically in Political Science. I spent a lot of time with very liberal classmates, not having very many conservatives to back me up. It is sooooooo very important that we all take the time to make sure that our voices are heard and that we are protecting the Lord's values as best we can. Get involved, write letters to your elected officials and VOTE! :o)

Two years old

Today is officially Abby's birthday - my baby is TWO YEARS OLD!!!! If I hadn't had Christine here with me this weekend, I might have spent the day balled up in a corner, crying. We were doing wedding things for most of the day, but tomorrow will be just me and Abby, so we're going to play with all of her new toys and just hang out. I'm so excited to have a WHOLE day with her when we don't have anything we HAVE to do unless we want to. Doesn't happen very often for us working-outside-the-home moms. So I'm pretty pumped about trying out her new tricycle and her other fun toys.

I am sitting here thinking about what my life was like exactly two years ago. I was doped up in a hospital bed while Zac and my Dad followed an ambulance that was taking our precious newborn baby all the way across town to the bigger Baptist Hospital. What was the most wonderful day of our lives also turned out to be one of the worst. Watching someone wheel your baby away in a stretcher/incubator is one of the worst feelings I’ve ever felt.

For those of you who don’t know Abby’s story, we spent the next week going back and forth between our house and the hospital in Little Rock. I know we were so fortunate compared to a lot of the NICU babies, but that doesn’t make you feel better when your baby is sick. I’m so grateful that my wonderful anesthesiologist let me wheel down the nursery to hold Abby after she was born – I didn’t get to hold her again until she was 5 days old. What a blessing her little life has been to Zac and me.

It amazes me how much she’s grown since that day. She says so many words and does so many things that amaze me.

*She’s good about manners. She almost always says “Tank you” and is getting much better about “Pease!” So cute.

*She says her “S” sound a little funny and it’s so cute. Of course, I hope she grows out of it, but it’s so sweet.

*Favorite things to eat: "ticken", “gapes”, “cackers”, "foo nacks”, and “dot dogs”. Still no milk/cheese because of the food allergies, but that seems to be getting better. I think they’ll test her again at her two-year checkup, so we’ll see how much better it’s gotten according to the doctor.

*She looooves her baby dolls. She loves to carry her babies around, give them their bottles and love on them.

*She’s also a huge music fan – go figure! If we’re in the car and she gets tired of the radio, she says “Song!” which means that she wants to listen to her Backyardigans CD. She knows a couple of parts in the songs and will sing those to me. She also likes the action songs on her Primary CD. We are especially fond of Popcorn Popping, The Wise Man & the Foolish Man and Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes. She’s also getting to be a pretty good dancer…hahaha.

*I love the forgiveness of children. Even if Abby has gotten in trouble, she still wants me to hold her while she cries about it. Amazing unconditional love.

*She's a pretty amazing belly dancer. Not sure if that's something to brag about, but it makes for great entertainment.

*She loves the water. Whether it's the bathtub, Wild River Country, the Buffalo River or her little plastic pool, she loves to be in the water.

*As much as I hate going to work and leaving her, I love seeing her run to me and yell, “Mommy!” when I pick her up. She is so in love with Mommy and Daddy and it melts our hearts.

The Lord blessed us with such an amazing gift when He allowed us to raise this precious child. I know that when we have another baby, our love will grow, but I think my heart might burst, too. I thought my love was complete when I met my wonderful husband, but I’m amazed at how it keeps growing. How grateful I am for the opportunity that I have to keep my wonderful family with me forever.

Our first Christmas season together.


What a babe!


In her fish towel from Grams.


Abby & Mommy on her 2nd birthday!


She zonks out just like Mommy & Daddy.

Update

On my to-do list - start packing. We are laid out to close on the house by September 4th, hopefully sooner. I know I've asked for a lot of prayers from you guys lately, but if you could just keep it up a little bit longer....we'd really appreciate it! ;o)

We had some friends in town over the last weekend. Chris and Shirin came to visit us from Switzerland. Chris stayed with the Elliotts as an exchange student when Zac was in high school. He comes back to visit every few years and the last two visits he's brought his girlfriend Shirin with him. We love them both and they're just like family - Shirin fits right in, too. Abby had a lot of fun with Shirin (who was wonderful with her!) but her true love is Chris. It was HILARIOUS to see her with him. Her little eyes just sparkled and the last night they were here she was just all over him. Hilarious - although I had to tell her that boys have cooties and she needs to stay far, FAR away!! :o)

Chris and Shirin cuddle with Abby



Abby loved Chris



Anyone else notice the strange resemblance between Daddy and Shel Silverstein?



Aunt Kirsten and Shirin trying to convince Abby that PJs are better on your body than on your head...

Birthday Party!!

Tonight we had Abby's 2nd birthday party at Funtastic in Cabot. It's a (usually) less chaotic version of Chuck E Cheese that Zac and I really like. They were pretty crazy tonight, but that's beside the point...we're dwelling on the good here! :o)

We had the party tonight, even though her birthday isn't until the 22nd. Read my post labeled "AHHH!" for more details if you're interested in that story! ;o) We had a lot of fun tonight. Abby got her cake (she's been saying "I want cake!" for about a week now) and lots of great presents. With both of our families living in this area, it makes for crazy, fun parties! We had a lot of fun and really love and appreciate all of our family and friends!!



CAKE!!!

Blowing out the candles

Cousin Hope and Aunt Hope

She loved her Dora backpack from Aunt Sherry and Uncle Jeff - we had to put it on right away!
(She's very in to backpacks and purses right now)

I was VERY grateful to Aunt Kirsten and Natalie Backus for helping so much with the cake!

Finally getting her yummy cake!

First kiss...

Not sure what I think about this...lol. Last night, we had a women's meeting at church. Kirsten and Michelle were in charge of the nursery and only had 4 kids - Abby and the Climer boys. They kept them in the Young Women's room. In the room, they have a little decorated table that has a lace tablecloth thing hanging off the edges. Apparently, Abby kept crawling under there to 'hide' under the tablecloth. Kirsten told me today that Spencer climbed under there with her a few times. During what would end up being their last visit under the table, Kirsten caught Spencer KISSING Abby!!! (Are you reading this, Kim?) haha If I didn't know that this boy came from such fine upbringing, I might be mortified!! lol I must admit, after one panic-stricken glance at Kirsten, I laughed. It's pretty cute - I just wish I'd had a camera so it could go in their scrapbooks...

AAAAHHHHH!!!!!

So, I had Abby's birthday all planned out. Her birthday is on Friday, one of Zac's days off, so we would have her party then. Balloons, cake, a pool, tons of fun, right?

NOT!!!!

I don't do well when my plans get all topsy-turvy. I get all upset trying to make things work and usually end up crying and acting like a crazy woman. And my poor, wonderful husband still loves me after it's all over. (I know, I'm a lucky woman!)

For starters, the pool is booked. I'm a dummy that didn't make reservations early enough.

Then there's a Scout campout that Zac is going on. Not that I'm upset about that - I'm thrilled that he has a job at church now, and I love that he works with the boys and Scouting, since it's one of his favorite things. But the dates of the campout interfere with our friends Chris and Shirin coming to visit from Switzerland.

Loooooong story short, Abby's party is now going to be held Saturday, August 16 at one of two places. Which kinda sucks because my friend Christine won't get to be here. But I can make that ok because I'll still get to see her on the 22nd. And I need to get invites out, like, yesterday.

Why do I do this to myself?

Catch 22

So, I'm at home with Abby today....always a good thing!!! But, as usual, I'm only at home because she's sick. And that STINKS....literally in this case! All morning, I've been cleaning poo off of surfaces that should NEVER have poo on them. Not fun AT ALL. But...I had been telling myself that I really needed a day off to get some things done and spend some time with Abby....so I am trying to look at the bright side here...

Wild River Country

We've been to WRC twice with Abby and she loves it! These pics are from last Thursday. We had a blast!!

Elliott's Excellent Eats

I created a new blog! Actually, I just took the 'junk blog' that Zac made awhile back and decided to do something with it. I love to get and share recipes, so I started a recipe blog! You can link to it from the right of this blog, under Websites to Visit. If you have any yummy recipes, please e-mail them to me (sarah_e04@yahoo.com) and I will gladly put them on my blog. If you try any of the recipes, post a comment and let me know!!

NOTE: I have some Pampered Chef stoneware that I don't use, it's just taking up space in my cabinet. I have a 12 cup muffin pan and a pizza stone - if anybody wants it, let me know!!

'Momnesia'

Ok, I read this article and it makes me feel soooo much better about my occasional ditz moments. It talks about how babies can cause 'momnesia.' A must-read for all moms!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-03-03-momnesia_N.htm

Ponytail Challenge

Ok, so you've all seen my posts about the Ponytail Challenge. This week, Camille is giving away some cool prizes and the challenge is all about posture. I'm pretty sure all of us could stand to pay a little more attention to sitting/standing up straight!! Check her out at http://ponytailchallenge.blogspot.com/

Bodily functions...and other stuff...

Abby pooped in the potty yesterday! Of course, it was at daycare. Not that I miss dealing with poop, but I feel like such a crap mom when she does stuff for the first time at daycare. But she is getting the hang of the potty thing and I am very excited about that.

Still waiting on someone to call us about the inspection on our house. Apparently our buyers are getting some kind of government first-time home buyers assistance and the inspections are pretty tough. So, if everybody would say a little prayer for us, it'd be great. Then another little prayer so that we can figure out what the heck we want to do with the rest of our lives....lol.

Had a great time at Scrapbook/Craft Night last Friday. I just love it! As Jennifer says, "It's therapy." I love talking to my hubby, but I can't talk ABOUT him if I'm talking TO him. hehehe

Our house...

I talked to Wade (one of our buyers) today and the appraisal went well!! I didn't get a specific number from him, but it appraised for enough and that is all I need to know! Now we just have to pass inspections and get the ball rolling - hopefully we'll close by the end of July. wooo hoo!!!!

Some fun pictures

On Saturday, I kept a friend's 4 1/2 month old little boy. Wow - wake up call! Jayden either had a belly ache or separation anxiety; he screamed his little head off for an hour straight! Thankfully, the Lord heard my prayer and Zac got off work around 5 pm, a good four hours early. Abby, Jayden and I went to pick him up. He played with the kids for the hour or so after, till Collin and Carolyn came to get Jayden. I stared into space and wondered if I could get by the pharmacy quick enough to fill my birth control prescription! haha But, Abby did have fun playing with the baby and we got some funny pictures of her playing in his car seat and loving on him.

Zac's schedule is a little different this week and he was off today and will be off tomorrow, instead of his usual Thurs/Friday. Tonight I got home and he'd made dinner (what a great hubby!!) and I had to take a few pics when Abby started making this hilarious face that we'd never seen before...

Really??

I'm in here messing on the computer and listening to the Fox News background (Zac's fave news station) and they're talking about all the craziness in the world...murders, abuse, old ladies falling out in hospital ERs and nobody checking on her...I mean, come on!!! People are doing all this stuff (or NOT doing anything, as in the old lady case) and they REALLY wonder why bad things happen to us??? "Wrath of God," anyone? Sheesh.

Had to get that one out...the gospel according to Sarah, I suppose...

Getting behind...

I think that one problem with a blog is that once you get behind in posting, you just don't know where to start. So much happens around here in one week, let alone two...

Abby's language skills are developing in leaps and bounds. She says something new everyday it seems and is starting to form more simple sentences. I just wish I could take the word 'no' out of her vocab. haha My little angel is starting to develop quite a personality. (That's a nice way to say attitude!)

Last week my nephew, Tate, had his 8th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. I think I could live the rest of my life without going back to that place. So many people, crazy kids whose parents aren't watching them, overpriced not-so-great pizza...sheesh! A fun party, but Abby was not thrilled with the loud, crowded atmosphere. Poor only child, she's used to our fairly peaceful house. I guess I need to get her out more often.

My 5 yr old nephew, Garrett, broke his arm (again!) last week. He broke it a few years ago over July 4th and had a cast for a couple of months. He got his cast today, after a possible surgery scare, and should (hopefully) only have to wear this one for three weeks. Poor guy, he's kinda clumsy and gets himself in the worst predicaments. But he's holding up fairly well. For those who don't know, waterproof casts are available and I can't believe they would even offer the old kind! Garrett had a waterproof cast last time and it was a lifesaver!!

What else...?? My best friend Christine got ENGAGED last week. Very excited about that. If anybody has any wedding tips (things you did that worked or things you'd change) let me know and I will forward the info on to the future Mrs. Schilling. haha, are you reading this, C?

I don't think I've posted about the latest offer on our house. After the last one fell through, I'm wary to tell our stories too soon. Wade and Mandy, a cute couple that's getting married this fall, made an offer on our house. We countered and they countered again and we came up with a pretty good deal. Turns out, Wade's grandfather built this house in the 1960s for his (Wade's) great-grandmother. So the house has some sentimental value to it. When Wade's parents came, his mom would say "Oh, I remember this" and "Oh, this has been added"....fun stuff. It looks like everything is going fairly smoothly so far. Just say a little prayer for us so that the appraisal and inspections go well and we should be good to go!!

That should catch me up so I can get back on track with my blogging.....

Potty update

Potty training is by no means completed, but we are making progress. Abby wears panties all day at daycare and (so far) hasn't had an accident in them. And EVERY DAY since Sunday she has gone in the potty for me. Granted, she's still wetting her pull ups some, but when she says she wants to go (she takes me by the hand and walks me to the bathroom) she ends up peeing. WOOOO HOOOOO

And some new words...she said "Aunt Kirsten" the other day when Kirsten was over. Her other new words/phrases include:
"Hopey" (my sister)
"Where's it at?" (I told her not to end a sentence with a preposition, but we're still learning...haha)
"Bawpaw" (Grampa)
And she has FINALLY starting saying "please" instead of using the sign language.

I can't believe how fast these babies grow up....

Potty time!

Mrs. Janet, Abby's in-home daycare teacher, has about four girls that are all around 2 years old. This week they are all (if they haven't already) starting the potty training process. Today, Abby actually peed in the potty -- wooo hooo!!! Only a start, I know...but hey, it works.

This picture is actually from last week on her potty that we bought her. Here's hoping that she'll catch on to the potty training thing; I'm super excited to be rid of diapers for a little bit. And I can start thinking about babies now -- I plan to do what I can to avoid having two kids in diapers....eik.

Reminder...

Ok, I've gotten a few comments on my last post, but nobody is giving their five amazing traits. COME ON we all need to do this!! :o) And to those of you non-bloggers who read this (ahem, Christine and Sheila) you can leave comments, too!! Just do the Name/URL option instead of the others. I expect to see some lists soon! :o)

Ponytail Challenge

Thanks to a friend's blog, I've discovered a blog called The Ponytail Challenge (http://ponytailchallenge.blogspot.com/). It's the coolest blog. Every week she gives a new challenge to her readers - challenges that are basically meant to make you a better person, usually with a humorous twist, or at least a funny story about how she came to give that specific challenge. Last week's challenge, "Awesome Me," was a little more serious and it's one that I'm just now doing. She challenged everyone to list five good things about themselves and to think about those five things whenever you felt yourself starting to sink down. She had this quote on her blog:

"There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man, but there is something noble in being superior to your former self."

I like it. And so, after MUCH thought, here are my five things:

1. I have great curly hair. It makes getting ready in the mornings super easy.
2. I love to help my friends.
3. I'm a good cook.
4. I have a pretty good talent with music.
5. I stick to my guns when something is important. I've gotten better at this since having a child with food allergies...non-understanding church grandmas like to push cheesy, milky foods on small children!

It's kinda sad that this is probably a hard challenge for most moms. So, I am challenging all of my blog readers to let me know what your five AMAZING traits are...can't wait to hear them!! But you should also check out the Ponytail Challenge - you can win prizes if you do the challenges!!

Have a great week!!

VACATION!!!!!!

Oh, how we've waited for this week! Zac and I are both off work ALL WEEK!!! Today we woke up late (thankfully Abby did, too) then laid in bed and just talked for a little bit. It was nice to wake up slowly, no alarms!! AHHH!!!!

Tomorrow we're going to Lake DeGray (near Hot Springs) to camp for a few nights. We have some friends coming up Thursday night for the last night we'll be there. Friday the ward is having a cook out at Burns Park, so we'll hang out with some friends. But I don't want to think about the end of the week yet.....

Updates

First, Abby's newest word...We went over to Zac's parents house yesterday and while Abby was playing, she said "Pawpaw." (That's what we call Zac's dad). YEA! One more word to add to our vocab list. Now if she will just start telling me what she wants instead of whining....

Zac told me not to blog about this, but since he mentioned it, I will. We got an offer on our house about two weeks ago. The amount they offered was in the dead middle of what we were asking and the minimum we could accept. So, OF COURSE, we accepted. We are still waiting to hear for sure if they will get their loan...so we are trying not to get too excited yet. The couple that wants to buy it owns several rent houses in this neighborhood and they will be renting our house out. Soooo....hopefully it will all work out!

Hawking stuff!!!

I guess this is as good a place as any..... ANYONE WANT TO BUY AN ORGAN? This is a Yamaha Electone organ, absolutely in fantastic shape and since we are planning on moving.... would make a great item for family home evening for someone else. I just don't feel like moving it. It's not really heavy, but the less the better as far as moving is concerned. SO, ALL REASONABLE OFFERS ACCEPTED!!! We also have a china cabinet, file cabinet, and some other things people may be interested in. ----Zac.

BLOG UPDATE

Sarah is having me help her learn how to edit all of the blog. She sure has gotten addicted to this blog. Maybe I could get her addicted to rubbing my feet every night..... ha ha! We may have to get a second computer the way we keep fighting over computer usage! Wow! Hope everyone likes the new style!

Big girl hairstyle

Sunday I decided to try something new - I put Abby's hair into a ponytail. Now, we've been doing the little half-ponies for awhile, but I was going for the whole ponytail. As cute as it was, it made me sad because she looked SO GROWN UP! :o( I'm just not ready for all this...

Quick update

Abby said two new (albeit very similar) words tonight. She was walking around saying "baby, baby" and pointing to her doll -- YEA!! A little bit later, she started screaming and I said, "No, Abby!" and she said "Babby." She can say her name! Her cousin Megan calls her "Babby" and it's so cute!! The rest of the evening when I would say her name, she would repeat "Babby." SO SWEET!!

Challenge and updates

Since we need to work on our budgets (monetary and caloric) we decided to challenge ourselves to NO EATING OUT for the next week. This includes even stopping for a drink at Sonic. I will update you next week and let you know how we do! For our 'last supper' so to speak, we went to Shorty Smalls and used some gift certificates my sister gave us. We split a bbq pork salad and a Monte Cristo sandwich. For those of you (like me) who had never heard of that sandwich, here's a description from the SS website:
Slices of ham, turkey, Swiss and American cheese sandwiched between Texas toast then battered and deep fried. Topped with powdered sugar and a side of raspberry sauce for dipping.
Sounds disgusting, doesn't it? Strangely, it was really good. I'm a fairly picky eater (not nearly as much as I used to be) and I liked it. Weird...

Thursday we went shopping to get Zac some new clothes. We've both lost 35+ pounds (working on more!) and need new clothes, but this paycheck was for Zac to get some stuff. At JCPenney, we got him two new pair of dress pants, three dress shirts and some new dress shoes. Then we went to Old Navy for two pair of shorts and two shirts. My hottie husband is looking mighty fine these days!! :o)

Abby is doing some funny stuff now. When music comes on, she will spin herself around in a circle and/or make fists and shake her arms up and down. It's sooo cute! We're still working on getting her to talk ("use your words" is what we tell her) instead of just saying "uh! uh!" and grabbing toward what she wants. She has developed a slight interest in the potty, especially if she comes in the bathroom while I'm there. We'll probably get her a little potty in the next few weeks, just so she can start checking it out. I can't believe we are approaching potty training - EIK!!

Poor, poor pitiful me

I don't see how single moms do it. I was just in the middle of having a pity party for myself and realized that. I put in my 40 hours at work, then come home and work some more, trying to do all the 'normal' wife/mom stuff - cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc. And in the middle of all that, I try to put in a little quality time with my child. HA.

But, in trying to get out of my pitiful funk, I realized that I at least have someone who comes home at night and will take out the trash or put some dishes away. (He used to cook, but now he comes home too late...lol). There are a lot of parents that are doing it alone - and they have all my respect, because I don't think I could do it.

Then there's the stress I (and probably all moms) put on myself about Abby maybe not being 'up to par.' Maybe if I could stay home she would be talking more, learning more, blah blah blah. Why do we women do this to ourselves?

Sheesh.

Growing girl

Abby's 18 month checkup was last Thursday -- technically she was already 19 mos old, but oh well. Zac took her, since he was off work and I wasn't. Here are her stats:

Height: 34.25 inches (94th percentile)
Weight: 27.5 lbs (82th percentile)

I can't believe how fast our girl is growing! 19 mos old and almost 3 feet tall - craziness!!

I've put in some pictures of Abby from yesterday. I was cleaning house because we had some friends coming over and the weather was GORGEOUS so I had the doors and windows open. Abby was sitting on the back steps calling "DaDa! DaDa!" Then she would babble a little bit and just sit. It was so sweet to see her just enjoying the goings on of the backyard. We should all take time to enjoy the simple things and truly be as humble as the little children.

Crazy weather

As some of you may know, we had some crazy weather last night in Central Arkansas. This morning I noticed we'd even made the national news. (We never make news for anything good...hmmm).

Anyway, I knew it was going to storm last night but I had no idea that it would include tornadoes and such. Zac got home late and we were watching all the radar stuff on Channel 11. My mom called and told us to switch to Channel 7 because they were forecasting tornadoes for Gravel Ridge (our neighborhood). Zac watched for a few minutes and saw that the storms were SURROUNDING our neighborhood. He told me to put my shoes on and he grabbed Abby from her crib. We have a storm shelter in our front yard (crazy, I know) so we went outside.

Zac opened it up and got in, then I ran out (through the POURING RAIN I should add), handed Abby down to him, then got in. He closed the door and there we sat in our concrete underground box, with each other and a flashlight for company. EIK! Four years in this house and we've never had to get into that thing. Luckily Zac cleaned it out last year so it was not too terribly bad. We could hear the pouring rain, the storm sirens and a few REALLY loud claps of thunder.

Poor Abby was shaking and whimpering, but she was a real trooper. She hardly cried at all. After Zac made a few phone calls -- couldn't believe we actually got reception down there -- I started singing hymns to Abby to calm her down. Zac said a prayer and that helped her, too. She laid her head on my shoulder and I rocked her. We were down there for about twenty minutes. My mom finally called and told us that the storms were past us; they were watching it all on TV in their den, so they were close to their basement space. So we came back up and went in the house. We kept watching the weather because there was another line coming, but thankfully it went way around us. Abby was all wound up, so it was about an hour and a half before we could get her back to bed.

This morning it took me an HOUR to get to work -- normally a 20 minute drive. There are three ways out of our neighborhood and two of them were totally blocked. Of course those were the first two that I tried! The NLR airport was blown to smithereens...airplanes smashed, hangers with the roofs ripped off. Trees were uprooted just a few miles from us. Houses had trees laying on top of them. It's so crazy to think about -- I've never been so close to the actual 'path of destruction' before.

I've included three pictures of storm damage that was within HALF A MILE of our house. I'm going to try and take some of the storm shelter so everyone can see our concrete box. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father was looking out for us and kept us out of harm's way. I'm also grateful for a quick-thinking husband that stays levelheaded in emergencies....I would be a wreck without him!!

Sign language

We've been trying for several months to teach Abby a few signs -- "more", "please", "thank you". It's been kind of futile. I'm not home during the day to reinforce it, so her lessons were pretty random. BUT -- Thursday when she was eating, she started whining because she wanted more of something and when I reminded her of the "more" sign...SHE DID IT!! A little light bulb must have gone off, because we did "please" right after and she did it, too. The sign for "thank you" kind of confuses her because she thinks it's the same thing as blowing kisses. So now we're using those and trying to add "thirsty" and "finished" to her repertoire. And trying to get her to talk some more, especially since she's not using her paci during the day. (YEA!) Lots of work for a little girl...she amazes me every day that I'm with her. If adults kept learning and growing as quickly as kids, we'd have a world full of geniuses.

Aunt Kirsten

I need to do a lot of updating, but we'll have to take it one topic at a time! We'll start with Aunt Kirsten. Kirsten is Zac's oldest little sister....she'll be 16 in a few days. She's become quite the babysitter and Abby adores her. Her first ''real'' almost all day sitting experience was Saturday, March 1. She kept Abby from about 3pm-10pm and had to change her first poopy diaper. (She managed with some technical, over-the-phone support from her friend Michelle). The pictures are from last Sunday (March 2) when she came over to help me clean house because (we thought) someone was going to come look at the house. Unfortunately, the person bailed, but my house was a lot cleaner for it...dusted parts of the house I don't think have been dusted since we moved in. hmmm Anyway, the pictures are of Kirsten getting Abby dressed after her nap. Jeff (my bro-in-law) got Abby and her cousin Megan matching t-shirts....I think it's quite an appropriate shirt for her to be wearing while she's throwing such a fit. lol

Tutts and Elliotts

The day after our anniversary started pretty slow. We got ready for our family pictures which we had decided would be fun to do every year around our anniversary. That went pretty good. Abby was a bit of a pill! Then we preceded to drop off the rental car since my truck was finally fixed and come on home. After a quick bite and doing around, we all came outside to wash the cars. Abby had been taking a nap, so she ate a PB sandwich in the back of my pickup. About the time we got done, John and Ashley showed up ready to take the kids to Burns Park. It was a pretty awesome day! Afterwards we went out for some pizza and salad, the ladies went to Rhea Lana and John and I went swimming at the hotel with the girls. THAT WAS FUN! Two grown men taking 3 little girls swimming. Too bad we didn't get pics, probably looked pretty funny.

Our 4th Anniversary!!!

Yesterday was our 4th anniversary and I had planned a nice day for the two of us. I didn't tell Sarah what we were doing until we needed to get ready. We have been working out and losing weight and I decided we would have an awesome breakfast at Cracker Barrell. Then since our bodies had gotten so used to exercising, I thought it would be fun that we go on a hike to the waterfall at Petit Jean. Here's the description for all of you who are not familiar:

Cedar Falls Trail
Length: 2 miles, 2 hours
Trailhead: Through Mather Lodge breezeway and to the left behind the swimming pool
Trail Ends: backtrack to the starting point
Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous
Trail Blaze: Orange
Description: The most popular hiking trail on Petit Jean descends into Cedar Creek Canyon. Only those in good shape should attempt this walk. The park staff recommends wearing shoes or boots that provide ankle support and a firm grip. The first ½ mile descends more than 200 feet down steps cut from rock by the Civilian Conservation Corps more than 60 years ago. The trail follows beautiful Cedar Creek another ½ mile to the climax of the hike, Cedar Falls, one of the state's most spectacular sights. Cedar Falls cascades more than 90 feet to the canyon floor. Cedar Creek Canyon was added to the register of Arkansas Natural Areas in 1977.


But as a reward, I set us up for a nice couples massage at the local "Massage Shop", and then we went out for dinner at Sakura (Sushi). I think our bodies didn't need all of this extra food though. This morning we woke up feeling funny from all of the extra sugars in our system. But what a wonderful time we had being together and doing things together. We are so glad to have been married now for 4 years and to have such wonderful friends about us.

18 months of Abby

On Friday (the 22nd) Abby was officially 18 months old. I can't BELIEVE it's been a year and a half since she was born; and over 2 years since I found out I was pregnant. Time flies soooo fast! We've been so blessed by our sweet girl. We've recently started reading scriptures with her every night. She knows that we read a few verses and then she folds her arms to say prayers. It's so awesome how quickly littles ones catch on. My baby's so smart! (Not that I'm biased or anything..haha)

This morning I was getting Abby a banana for breakfast and she pointed to it and said "Nana." Adding that to her little list of words, she's saying a few things now. Zac's sisters said that she said "dishes" the other night. She is in love with babies and wants to hold any baby that we come across. When she holds her baby dolls, she hugs them and is very motherly...too cute! She loves to blow kisses at everybody when we leave somewhere.

I've got to drop off my clothes for the Rhea Lana consignment sale that is this coming week/weekend. I can't believe I'm going to be shopping for 2T summer clothes -- yikes!!

Buncha sickos

Took Abby to the doctor yesterday and she officially has the FLU! Yuck. Zac started feeling sick yesterday and when he came home said he was "Aching all over." Again, flu. So we are ALL THREE on Tamiflu. Zac and Abby are on the heavy duty treatment doses and I'm on the prevention dose. On the bright side, when Abby's sick, I get to stay home from work with her! Guess I need to Lysol the house this afternoon...

New blog

One thing I love about my husband -- when he does something, he goes all out! I told him I wanted my blog to look cooler...I wanted a header thing that went all across the top, like Natalie and Erin and that I wanted cooler backdrops (Natalie has a cute one). And I wanted my Friends and that stuff on the side instead of the bottom. I can figure out a lot of technological stuff, but I just didn't feel like trying to figure this out. So, two hours later -- TADA!!! We have a newly designed blog!

Just in case you were wondering, Abby's initials are ACE, that's why he named it ACEBlog...Abigail Christine Elliott.

Crafty stuff...

I like to think of myself as a somewhat crafty person...I LOVE to scrapbook!! It was a sad day when my best bud and scrapbooking pal, Christine, moved to Dallas. But lately I've been thinking about trying other crafty stuff, too.

My mom sews -- very well -- and I figure I probably ought to learn how to do something besides sew a button back onto a pair of pants. I was looking at some patterns and material by Amy Butler and she has a really cute nappy (diaper) bag pattern that I might get brave and try.

My manager at work has gotten into beadwork, making necklaces and bracelets. I'm really impressed with what she makes; it looks like stuff you'd pay $30+ for at some department stores. So I might try that, too....

And then Zac wants me to try selling Mary Kay or something like that...something that will make some $$ so that we can speed up the Stay At Home Mom process.

There's just not enough time in the day.....

Kirsten and Kendyl

Kirsten and Kendyl had Sarah take pictures of them for my mom for her birthday. I remember changing their diapers and babysitting them. Wow! They have changed so much. Now I have a little girl that is my own! It's so much fun getting pictures of your family as the years go by. Of all the things that are worldly that I hold on to, I don't think pictures are such a bad thing!

Here are some pictures of Abby's room. Zac recently moved all of her billions and billions of toys into her room so that we could reclaim our living room. The little chair was from her Uncle Eli and she LOVES it!! She has that chair and a little basketball chair that she loves to sit in. The swing/slide 'castle' was her big gift from Santa Claus. She can climb into the swing by herself and loves to go down the slide. I can't believe how big she's getting!!

Elliott tradition

After Zac posted the washer picture, I got some questions about it. When Rick, my father-in-law, was a baby, his parents took a picture of him in the washer with a box of detergent. My in-laws carried on the tradition with Zac and, of course, we did the same with Abby. Here are all three pictures...a strange tradition, I suppose, but everybody has their quirks, right? :o)

Parenting Pet Peeve

I had to miss work yesterday and today because Abby had a stomach bug and couldn't go to the little daycare she attends a few days a week. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem because my Mom can keep her, but Mom had a doctors appointment yesterday and today she had to go out of town. So I stayed home with my girl. Which is NOT a problem, I would much rather be with her than at work. BUT it reeeeaaaalllly bugs me that I'm a responsible parent who keeps my sick child home while other ninnies send their sick kids to daycare/school and that's why I have to use sick leave. Grrrrr. If people would be a little considerate, things in this world would run so much better...