tell me a story

So Abbie's favorite thing is to have us tell her stories, not read stories tell her stories. I'm not so good at that, need to work on it, but in the car I had one for her. It was a story about a big girl who managed to sleep without a paci for a whole week and her mommy took her to the store to buy a new toy. She loved it we talked about it, she was going to be a big girl and sleep with no paci. LOVE IT. So we do bed routine, books, pj's, brush, hug, kiss, snuggle, mommy leaves. Didn't ask for a paci 10 minutes later SCREAMING for the paci. I said remember the story about the big girl who didn't need her paci. Abbie's response



MOMMY DON'T TELL ME THAT STORY ABOUT THE GIRL GIVE ME A PACI



Well we are down to one paci anyway. That's an improvement, have you seen this picture? There are at least six paci's in this shot!

she's reading

Ok not for real, but I'm in the computer room paying bills and I hear her looking at books and telling the story. Books I haven't read her in ages, bookes I didn't think she knew. It's amazing the memory she has. My mom broke her foot and made up this silly story about how it happened and Abbie asked her to tell it SEVERAL times over the last week when they were here. Tonight I asked her to tell me the broken foot story and she did, she even remembered that the princess captain broke her foot on the toe rail. I don't even know what a toe rail is, but she remembered it.

I am contiunally amazed by her and the things she has learned and I didn't even notice. I look at her and she's this big girl, a kid not a baby and I can hardly breathe just thinking about it. As I backed the car out of our spot at daycare today she said so matter of fact "So Mommy, how was your day, mine was wonderful" For real, she said it. And just when I'm so sad but resigned to the fact that my little baby has turned into a little kid I see her in her new big girl bed, curled up in a ball looking so tiny and small. She's so big and tiny all at the same time.

I'll try to post pictures of the bed and the kid this weekend. Rick is traveling most of this week though so I don't know for sure if I'll have time. Not sure I like being home alone in our house yet. I was actually looking at alarm systems today :( but when I walk at night I notice that there are ony 2 or 3 houses in our area with alarms so probably I don't need one. Someone said get a dog, as if I didn't have enough to do already :)

hope everyone is good.

quick post

We are doing our best to settle in. I sent pictures of the new house to those I had emai for, if you'd like to see it let me know. Also if you know how to make the picture at the top smaller tell me PLEASE. and if you're reading let me know too. No one ever leaves messages. More tomorrow I hope.

Abbie has a back yard

And we are here watering it right now. She thinks the whole house is the back yard. If we go out front she says "lets to out to the front back yard" We closed May 16th and will be so glad to be done moving and packing and unpacking.

Abbie's room is pink, ours is kahki, grandma's is yellow and we'll be glad to never paint again. We got the fence we thought would never happen today.

Oh and can I tell you, Abbie told her first joke today. We were in her new bathroom and she was looking around under the sink, there was no toilet paper. For some reason I asked what she'd had for lunch and she grinned a big old grin and said "mommy, I had toilet paper for lunch" then she just cracked up!

I'll post pictures of the house soon, but it's likely to be a mess as we move in. I'm not sure where I want anything, or even if I want everything ;) We may hvae a big old yard sale eventually.

anyway, hope all is good with everyone reading.

new pictures

SO I got a new photo thing with my new scanner. It's totally cool. Look at the pictures from the snow.


and here are some of our house

school pictures

Ok so we got her the cutest outfit, matching ribbons, matching shoes the whole 9 yards. Guess which picture is taken at home :)

April First, a day of firsts

Abbie’s first have to leave the store right now temper tantrum. It lasted at least another 10 minutes of drive time. We finally pulled over so dad could get us something to drink (diet coke) and Abbie could catch her breath. We still don’t know what set her off, but man was she angry.

Our first meal in our new house. Ok it was McD’s on a blanket over the plywood in front of the not finished fire place, but it counts in my book. It was sort of cool to spend sometime really looking around. It’s bigger than it seemed before they put walls up :)

Abbie’s first night in her toddler bed. Her crib converts to a toddler bed so I don’t think it was a big deal for her, but I was missing my baby. Course the paci’s in her mouth and each hand helped me find that baby :) We’ll work on those next.

just a quick one

in case anyone is actually reading. Abbie's learning so many words, but getting them all wrong. Her latest word is CRAZY. For example she'll say "I want to watch backyardigans crazy mommy" or "read me a story crazy" I think crazy must mean REALLY BAD, but it's so funny.

And she's getting compound words backwards like her mom, I said hangaburger, regiscaster and many other hystical to repeate things. She says gotfor, like we gotfor my gloves in the car, papertoilet, if you need me to tell you what that one is you gotfor your brain. and others, I can't think of them right now, but I'll write them down.

Oh and today, she said "I only like my daddy crazy" You can interpret that one :) but she's such a daddy's girl these days to the point that I can do NOTHING right for her. Rick had class tonight and so when she asked where he was and I said schools, she said no way he's at school, he needs to come home now. Then we were driving by O'Charley's where we had dinner last night and she said we need to go get daddy he's eating still. LOVE IT sort of. Except that I bribed her with a shopping trip she could have cared less that I picked her up. And unlike her mother she's content to just walk around the store, or ride as she does like the queen in her cart.

k, I'm sleepy and going to sleep but here are some pictures. First one is of my girl in a dress and big old boots shoveling the snow with a rake, yes a rake. She's a creative girl and does what it takes. Next one is how much snow was on our patio before it stopped snowing. And the last one is abbie helping to salt the walk.

too hot

just a quick little Abbie story.
I was drinking hot chocolate last night and Abbie was convinced it was meant for her. I knew if it was too hot for me it was too hot for her so I was going to make her some chocolate milk and she told me no way. I had her touch my mug and she yelped and said “hot like coffee” yes I said, too hot for Abbie. To which she replied nope, I want some chocolate coffee. Anything hot is coffee. She touched the mug again and yelped and I told her it would burn her mouth. Then she stuck her finger in it and really made a face and yelped. Then she said she had an owie and she needed a bandaid because the chocolate coffee burned her. I kissed it and convinced her she would survive AND SHE DID IT AGAIN :)

Finally I poured a little into a cup for her and swirled it until it was cooler and she had some. She liked it but scrunched up her face and said too hot.

Yikes, it's been a while

So I haven't been here in ages. We survived Thanksgiving and even Christmas. We even managed to survive a week without Abbie while she was in St. Louis. Ok so it was like 4 days but still. I really missed her. I decided to try to potty train her today. Just underware unless she was asleep and it went ok. Accidents all morning but after nap we only had 2 and even a great big poop in the potty. If I was more disgusting, or more on top of things (I'm not sure what) I'd have taken a picture for posterity :) Ok not really that's gross.

Rick is in St. Louis for today and tomorrow. I'm hoping he'll be home by bed time, because Abbie was looking for him this afternoon and when I said he was in St. Louis she sat really quiet for a while and then asked if we could go for a ride. I asked where she wanted to go she said St. Louis. Course not grandma's house, not quite yet. SHe was there a week or so ago and she's had her fill. They brought home for new years and when they came back new years day she thought they were taking her with them and she gave them the dirtiest looks. She's a smart cookie!

I'm tired, short post, if you don't like it leave a comment so I know someone, anyone is reading :)

funnies

We rearranged our living room. We moved the couch and tv to one side, took the living room up to Abbie’s room and the whole other side is “Abbie’s space now" We were able to bring her table in and put it next to her kitchen and she’s got plenty of room to play. We did it during her nap and I was worried she would be confused so I was telling her we’d moved things around so she could play better. She saw it as we were coming down the stairs and she said “oh thank you mommy” Made my day.

Another funny Abbie story. Rick helped her pick a card for my birthday and there was something inside on a spring so it bounced when you opened it. Well she gave me the card and the pointed out how she drew on it and she was telling me all about it. So when we were done I put it on the table and she said “hey I want that back” I cracked up!

yesterday she was struggling with her slipper, she couldn't get it off and she kicked it and said damnit. I SWEAR I'M TRYING TO STOP, so Rick says don't say that word. She huffed and said Mommy says damnit, so now I get a time out if I say it too :)

Earlier the same day she was trying to pick up something that was stuck. I don't know what it was or what it was stuck on, but it was stuck good and stuck. All of a sudden I heard her yell "what the heck" another mommy term, at least it's clean, but coming out her mouth it sounded so silly. It's hard not to laugh.

fun stuff

Purple dress is post dinner, see story below.

Picture on the phone is Saturday, just like Mommy

And the other one, do I need to explain? She has a paci problem.

We had a lovely evening singing and squealing and laughing to be had by all. I'd composed a wonderful little blog and deleted it somehow, so not sure how, but it's gone. So all you get is pictures and quick sentances. Enjoy.

You can try looking at the rest of the pictures I uploaded ot kodakgallery.com. Lovemyabbie is our site, don't know if you can just search for it or not. If I have your email I'll send you an invite tomorrow, if not leave me a message here and I'll add you to the list

she's perfect

Abbie's wonderful. That's only one of many words I could use to describe her. Last weekend was great. We hung out on Saturday and then got pumpkins on Sunday. She had a blast. She pulled the wagon empty and full and I think she would have walked clear back to the edge of the patch. I'll load pictures soon. But we took them with our camcorder so they are grainy.

She's so funny these days. She'll just say out of the blue "I'm pretty" or "I'm cool". Now that Halloween is coming she's been saying "I'm spooky" Just so many funny things that make me wonder where they are coming from.

Her new favorite cd is Violent Femmes thanks to her Aunt Molly, and although Blister in the Sun is old after the 20th time in a row DANG DOES IT BEAT WHEELS ON THE BUS.

Sad times though. Abbie's wonderful teacher Rachel has found another job. I truly believe Rachel is the reason Abbie settled into Kids 1st so quicly and easily. And I know her smile in the morning is what set my mind at ease those first days. She's moving on to a better job with more security and I'm happy for her, but am oh so sad for Abbie. She only took care of her for almost 2 months, but it came after we'd had so much trouble that I didn't think day care would ever be smooth. We wish her luck, but will miss her every morning. I know that Abbie will be just fine with the new teacher, Miss Patsy and Miss Ashley though. I just hope she stops saying Miss Rachel at dawn before too much longer. It's true, some mornings she wakes up screaming "I want to go see miss rachel!" GOOD LUCK MISS RACHEL.

I'm too tired for more :)

How different were you 5 years ago?
September 2001
How old were you? 31
Where did you go to school? Didn't
Where did you work? Cingular
Where did you live? Dallas
Where did you hang out? at home
How was your hair? long straight and red
Did you wear glasses? yes
Who was your best friend? Jackie & molly
Who was your regular-person crush? no one
How many tattoos did you have? zero
How many piercings did you have? 4 two in ech ear
What car did you drive? 96 aspire
What was your worst fear? staying in Dallas forever
Had you smoked a cigarette yet? yep
Had you been arrested? nope
Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: married
*LETS SEE WHAT YOU ARE NOW !!!!!
**September 2006:
How old are you? 31
Where do you work? Horizon Hobby
same town? no, rantoul IL, middle of absolutely no where
Where do you hang out? where ever abbie is :)
Do you wear glasses? yep
What is your hairstyle? short brown bob
Who are your best friends? Molly & Elaine
Still talk to any of your old friends? sure do
How many piercings do you have? now it's 2, one set closed up
How many tattoos? no
What kind of car do you have? Chevy Malibu
What is your biggest fear? Abbie not being happy
Have you been arrested since if so how many times total? still zero, I'm a nerd
Has your heart been broken? yep
Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: still married

biggest change? everything is different, but Abbie's the biggest change.

Wow has it really been a month?

I did not realize things were quite so busy. Abbie's still doing wonderful at school. Sarah's surgery went really well. And Kirk's on the football team. Rick's been traveling as usual which leaves lots of Abbie and Mommy time which is good and bad :)

We took her to the zoo the last time we were in St. Louis. She was completely non plus (if that's how it's spelled) You know totally not interested or impressed. Even at the penguin house. She was how ever ready to jump in with the ducks and swans, believe it or not we have those here, we don't need to drive 3 hours to get to the zoo!

We also took her to Soulard Market. Grandpa had a buddy playing the banjo so he stopped and played his harmonica. Well Abbie couldn't let the have all the fun so she picked up a harmonica and played for just about an hour. She was so happy it was hard to make her leave. I think I found a way to pay for college! Every time they'd finish a song she'd stomp her little foot and say "another one" or "I'm not done" She was bare foot, it was warm, she hates shoes. I was cracking up watching her, at one point someone walked by and said "that baby ain't got no shoes" I wanted to grab her and tell her she's got shoes, shoes from stride rite, $48 shoes, honest, she just won't wear them :) Osh Kosh, bare feet and jammin on the harmonica! Soon as I figure out how to get the pictures from my mom's phone to here they'll be here. Of course I didn't have a camera with me, I didn't think anything cute would happen amongst the fruit and tiny donuts!

She's talking up a storm these days. Very clearly and some of the things she says make me want to just fall over laughing. Thankfully the worst word she's got from me these days is crap, and I'm really working on it. Sure beats the oh shit she was saying a year ago. Huge long strings of words that actually make a great deal of sense. I'm so amazed who this little person is growing up to be.

more later.

Kid's 1st is First Rate :)

Abbie loves her new place. She cried pretty much every morning for the last 2 months when I was dropping her off. Not just a little whining, but throw yourself on the floor kicking and screaming crying. She hasn't cried at all at Kid's 1st, even the first day I left her. She waved and told me bye bye. Last night she went to bed talking about Miss Rachel and woke up talking about her and I'm so glad! She started acting crazy before we left and I said "we have to stay calm and get ready so we can see Miss Rachel" BAM!!! She was perfect! Now if Miss Rachel could just move in with us we'd be all set. I was so worried and anxious that this wouldn't be any better, but if the first 2 days are any indication I'm thrilled.

Miss Rachel said all the parents came in asking who Abbie was because all the kids were talking about her last night! And they've said she's very smart which we already knew. She also said Abbie's warming up to the group and just jumping right in participating with the other kids. I was worried she'd be shy.

Anyway for now all is good and wonderful and peaceful in the Vessell household, really it is!

No More Little Wings

That's her daycare. I've had serious issues with them as of late, serious enough that I'm willing to pay almost 50% more for another daycare. She's been safe, but somehow I as a mother think that there's more to daycare than being safe. Silly how I think that way. So she and I are leaving bright and early to visit her new place. Kids 1st. I hope they mean it.

She's getting quite the personality lately. She's so much like me that sometimes I can hardly stand it. That little look when she's doing something wrong, she's not sure what she's doing wrong, but she knows it. Then you say, want a time out, YEP. and dang if she doesn't mean it.

I am looking forward to being with her tomorrow. She's been SERIOUSLY attached to her daddy and that's so hurting my feelings. She wants mostly nothing to do with me and has no problem screaming NO MOMMY. I'm hoping tomorrow she'll forget she doesn't like me this week :) Nothing special planned, just the park and the library after the visit and a nice nap. I may even nap with her on our bed rather than doing laundry while she naps.

I'm going to try to get some cool pictures at the park and I'll post them this weekend if that happens.

Keep your fingers crossed that the new daycare is worth the extra money, because if not I'm not sure what we'll do next.

She's a smartie :)

Well we've been working on Abbie being paci free. She still gets it at bedtime, but that's it. This morning she asked if she could go back to bed. This evening we were at Walmart and I was going to let her pick a doll and she picked one with a paci and then stole it from the baby! I know we'll get through this but she's sneakier than I expected she would be.

We've decided to find a new daycare for Abbie too. The one where she is just isn't working out. There's not as much stimulation or attention as I'd like and although I've talked to them about it I get the impression they think I'm one of those nagging moms. I guess I probably am, but the couple of places I've interviewed so far don't seem to think the things I'm asking for are out of the ordinary. Everywhere I'm looking at is more expensive, but I guess right now we are getting what we pay for. Sounds silly, but I expect them to take better care of her than I do. I mean I'm paying them so I just expect they'll do a REALLY great job. So in 2 weeks she'll be at a new school. Not sure which one yet, I've got 2 more to look at, but a new one.

Just a quick update.

We did it

Well sort of. Abbie was paci free yesterday except when she was in her bed. I'm hoping today is a little better. We did our best to keep her distracted and occupied, but there were two HUGE SCREAMING FITS. Both times she ended up being driven all over town. We took her to the Farmers Market in Urbana yesterday morning and wouldn't you know she managed to remember for the ENTIRE 25 minute drive that we were evil parents who wouldn't give her a paci :) Once we got there she only asked for it once. Seemed like everywhere I turned there was another stroller with a baby sucking on a paci. We even took her into the toy store at the mall where there are 2 play tables with trains. That seemed to help. By the time we got home we had just enough time to eat lunch before nap time came. Normally she tells us she doesn't want to go down for a nap, but she was happy to because she knew her paci was waiting for her! The afternoon went much the same way. About 7:00 though she remembered what evil parents we were and threw a full on screaming and kicking fit! I felt terrible, but I know the longer we wait the harder it's going to be. I honestly don't think she'll outgrow it. So Rick took her for a ride while I got dinner ready. She didn't eat much and kept saying she wanted to go to bed so I gave up and just put her in bed! She almost never asks to go to bed.

She did ask for a time out yesterday. Or a naughty rug as we call it. She was climbing on a foot stool by the entertainment center and she knows she's not supposed to. I told her she'd have to get down or she'd have to sit on the naughty rug and she just grinned at me. I asked her if she wanted to sit on the naughty rug and she ran right over and sat down. Go figure! But at least she wasn't climbing on the foot stool!

Cross your fingers that today goes ok with no paci. I know she'll be fine tomorrow because she'll be back at school and they don't use them there. She doesn't even have one there and doesn't ask for it. I guess she knows eventually I'll cave in and give it to her. So I guess it's as much about me not giving it to her as her not wanting it.

Ok, boring post, I know! Have a great day :)

The Party

Whew, it's been quite the week. Cleaning and shopping and working all to get ready for a birthday party. I guess it was good. My parents, sister and grandma showed up. A couple girls from work, one of them with a 2 year old also came. There were people who said they'd show who didn't, you know who you are. So we had too much food, but I'm pretty sure that would have happened even if everyone had come. I always make too much. But we did find out Abbie loves left over guacamole, who knew a 2 year old would like green stuff. Big grin and YUMMY!

I didn't remember to take any pictures, but grandma's camera has some. The cake I made Abbie was really cool. I'll post it later. The carrot cake I made Rick was a hit! I need to make it more than once a year. And Rick and I sort of survived the weekend.

We've decided mommy needs a break. I love him and Abbie, but in 2 years I've only been away from Abbie twice overnight and I could use a REALLY good nights sleep followed by a great nap.

K, I'm actually really tired so that's all you'll get for now :)