This blog was started in 2009 at the begining of my journey to motherhood. It was a testament to the journey my husband I were taking to create a life. It has become Abbey's Story. My hope is that someday she will be able to read this and know that she has brought a joy to this world, the likes of which her father and I could never have known.
"When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say, For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today"
- The Kohima Epitaph
For all our brothers and sisters in arms, be safe, be loved, be courageous, for you will never be forgotten. Your sacrifice allows the rest of us to enjoy our holiday weekend, spent with friends and family without worry.
So what do those sacrifices buy? The opportunity for my daughter to enjoy her first ice-cream cone on her first Memorial Day holiday...
I personally think that is the greatest gift I could be afforded at this point in my life...enjoying these moments are what makes life worth living. I mean seriously, look at this face?
The ice-cream at Gammy & Papa's was definitely the highlight of the afternoon. We hit the kiddie pool in the afternoon to try and beat the oppressive heat to little avail. After a late afternoon nap the sun had finally made it's way behind the big maple tree in the yard and made the deck a great place to hang. Like we said, the ice-cream made the day!
Thanks for a great afternoon Gammy & Papa and Happy Memorial Day to one and all!
Every now and then Mommy & Daddy get a night out on their own...Friday night was such a night. Abbey spent the evening with Grandma & Grandpa Gardner after a plea from the Monkey and Bear...
Dear Abbey & Myles:
I have asked grandma to send this message on my behalf. When everyone left last week, my room got very, very quiet...
Yep…..very, very. Quiet…….like – whistling to yourself quiet...
SO!!!!!! Grandma and Grandpa brought home a friend to help me wait for you to come back…
And then, instead of a mobile grandpa hung up this really cool music, ocean, fish swimming thing…that is so cool I think you should come right away to see it. Did I mention the octopus?
AND when you are not watching this cool new undersea thingy….grandma and grandpa bought all kinds of toys to play with…..even in the bathtub.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE…..COME BACK AND VISIT SOON!!!! It is not as much fun playing with all of these toys with grandma and grandpa.
Sincerely yours,
The monkey and bear, yet to be named, waiting in the Gardner nursery……yep, waiting and waiting and waiting.
This plea combined with an offer from Auntie Cindy to use some of her Marriott rewards points for a freww night away was all we needed to hit the road! While Michael and I spent the evening together enjoying dinner at the Olde Bryann Inn, drinks at the Wine Bar and an overall adults only evening, little Miss got to enjoy all the toys! Spoiled rotten is not a phrase that anyone utters except Mommy...needless to say the Princess had a great time - as did Mommy & Daddy!!
FYI - Myles, everything has been kid tested and is Abbey approved so enjoy!!
I was recently reading this article written by a mom who, despite her best efforts, didn't like her kid. Every new mother's worst nightmare, right? Okay, maybe it was just mine but either way, as I read this mother's confessions of inadequacy I wondered what would have happened if my little girl hadn't turned out to be the healthy, vivacious, spunky, and whip-smart, socially savvy and self-assured child I had always wanted? (I know Abbey's only 9 months old but I can tell already she's going to be all of this and more!)
During my pregnancy I worried constantly that I wouldn't like this little life that I had worked so hard to create. I couldn't blame a wild night of abandon for knocking me up, we spent a lot of money to get this way. But I had never liked kids, never liked baby-sitting, was never one to want to hold someone else's bundle of joy. Kids just never appealed to me that way. I loved my dog, I loved my husband...what if I didn't like this little person growing inside me? All of these feelings were for not because the moment she was laid upon my chest and I looked into my husbands eyes, then back down to her, I just knew. In a single moment I had received everything in this life I was meant to have, life was complete.
Even before becoming a parent I wondered how people could bring a child into this world and not love them. Although I had not "loved" children, they weren't mine to love, which was why I wanted a child of my own. I could see it in the eyes of the great parents I know, that unconditional love, that look like they're staring into the sun - forever blinded by the light.. I wanted to know that love for another person.
But what would I have done had she started screaming when they placed her on my chest, and never stopped for months on end? What if she never wanted me to hold her or if she never looked me in the eyes? I can't imagine the heartbreak, so as I read this woman's admissions of failure I wondered - would I have done any better? It took years for doctor's to figure out that the little girl had a hormone deficiency that was not only stunting her physically but emotionally and mentally. Once they began treatment the little girl, now 9, began to improve and the relationship between her and her mother slowly did as well. I guess unless you're put in the situation no one can't honestly know...we never know what we're capable of until we're tested right?
Neither of my birth parents possessed that unconditional love for me, and I was a healthy, happy baby, which may be the reason for this not so happy detour from my normal witty banter on this blog. The article just really hit a nerve with me. No one start crying or dialing a therapist for me for goodness sake I'm fine - I was very much loved by my step-father and my grandparents who always saw the best in me, wanted the best for me and would have done anything for me. I think that the love I received has made me the person I am today...okay, that probably doesn't sound right either...
I love my daughter more than life itself, I do so knowing what that kind of love would have meant to me had my mother been capable. I know that showing her love, showing her how much I love her father, and that I love myself is the best gift I can give her in this life. She's shown me how to love in a way that I had always dreamed about. She is so easy to love that I can't imagine not loving her...I think she gets that from her Daddy, he's so easy to love too!
I'd like to think that mine and Michael's love of our daughter will help her grow to be all those things I mentioned (and more)...check back in 20 years and I'll let you know if that's the case!
So here's to my little love bug...How could anyone not love this kid? Here's little Miss laughing her diaper off at Daddy.
We tell our children they're special and beautiful all the time, but at what point does the world tell them something different? When do our perfect babies become jadded, judgemental individuals? On my way to work this morning I watched in my rearview, as I do most mornings, as my little girl lay sleeping against the side of her car seat. And as I listened to the lyrics of Christina Aguilera's -Beautiful I got to thinking about the awful amount of bitching I do about my body in this blog. I realized that in doing so I'm setting the wrong example for my little girl who will potentially read this some day. We all have our own idea of what's beautiful, we all have our own expectations of ourselves but where do those ideas come from?
I know that most of mine came from my childhood. Having a mother who could never find a nice thing to say about me regardless of what I looked like, acted like or accomplished has made me very critical of myself and sometimes of others. This is something I do not wish to pass a long to my daughter so the vanity posts stop here!!
I guess what I want to say to Abbey is, don't so as I do, do as I say. I can be more than a little vain sometimes, and almost always too critical of myself. You are beautiful, inside and out - you have been since the moment we first saw you. Life is short, spend your time, energy and effort on being the person you want to be. Being a good person for yourself is what makes you a beautiful person to others.
Here are some of my absolute favorite pcitures to date of my beautiful baby girl:
The "behind bars" jokes are funny now but will end after oh, about the age of say 6 or so. After a certain point funny haha becomes funny only on rerun episodes of cops when you don't know the people.
Amongst all the things Little Miss loves these days, climbing the stairs has become one of them. The ability to stand up mostly on her own with the help of anything available to hang onto, in this case the metal banisters of the stairs. We've conquered crawling up the stairs now we need to start working on the going back down part.
They say nothing in life worth having ever comes easy but then "they" say a lot of things that just plain suck...and little Miss's top teeth are falling into the "this sucks" category. The poor kid has four teeth all threatening to break through the gums any day now and for everyone's sake I pray daily that it comes VERY soon. I know how my mouth and gums felt after my reconstruction surgery but I had morphine so that doesn't really count...it's not like I can plug in a drip for her. She can't just say...Mommy my mouth hurts, make it stop! so she grumps, and she cries and then I want to cry, it's a vicious cycle.
So as the drool pours out of her mouth and she howls with the pain of her to-be-teeth, I think what did our parents do? Oh yeah, that's right, they rubbed booze on our gums and sent us on our way! Seriously, I love a good drink as much as anyone, but the idea of breaking out the bottle of Peppermint Schnapps or Blackberry Brandy, that were so "judiciously" used by mine and Michael's parents, to ease my little ones suffering seems, in most ways, very wrong to me. (sorry parental units).
I realize that we all survived - some of us with brain cells that we opted to kill off on our own in later years - however in this day and age, alcohol on the breath of an infant equates to a call from social services so we're sticking to the orajel, anbesol, childrens acetaminophen and ice pops. Slightly more work than just rubbing booze on the gum line but just as effective, without the jail time.
Tonight she cried so long and so hard that I ended up holding her and rocking her in my arms for 45 minutes just to get her sobbing to subside. As she drifted off to sleep she did that gasp for breath, silent sob thing that makes your heart break a little with every breath. Even after her eyes were closed and her arms went limp against my chest I continued to stand in the middle of her room with her in my arms, breathing softly, unable to lay her down. After a few more moments of watching her sleep and feeling my fingers go completely numb from holding her in the same spot for too long, I laid her down.
So here's to little Miss and her swollen, sore gums...your asleep now, I'll drink to that!
I'm not going to attempt a blog post that will cover from crib to college. Though I do plan to blog about my little one until she leaves for college, this particular blog is in reference to our ongoing crib crisis.
In March 2010, when I was just 4 months pregnant my in-laws bought us Abbey's nursery set (thank you again). It was an amazing and generous gift, made even more amazing because the set we chose was called "Crib to College," converting from a crib, to a toddler day bed, then to an adult bed that Abbey could take off to college with her if she so chose. As part of the purchase we had the store (which will remain nameless) order the conversion kit which included all the parts that are necessary for converting the crib into each of the different stages. Let me just say that this small inconsequential portion of our order has become an epic tale.
You know, those tales like Moby Dick or maybe this story is more like War and Peace - either way, we're referring to a continuing struggle... Bear in mind that I've been reading mostly childrens books lately so my frame of reference is sure to make the following sound a lot more like Cindarella gone awry then Othello...Bear with me while I attempt to give the G-Rated, short version of our Crib to College tale now...
In a land not all that far away, unsuspecting new parents and generous grandparents were tricked into buying baby furniture from the Crib to College collection (http://www.cribstocollegebedrooms.com/ ) through a local distributor, as no local show room exists for this particular collection.
This poor family was foolish enough to think that all the parts they would need would come to be theirs sometime shortly after their purchase. So fool hardy were these new parents, for it was one year hence that they were still calling the store which must not be named...Huck Finn's (not saying the name only gives it power), to try and collect the pieces necessary to change the crib into anything but a toad.
Mommy had lost patience with the store clerks and their inability to perform the most menial of tasks long ago and had passed the nagging duty on to Daddy. Being in sales, Daddy was diligent, calling day after day, month after month - hearing promise after promise of manufacturing delays, discontinuations and delivery date guarentees. All was in vain for they continued to wait. From; "your parts will be in house within 3 weeks" to"the parts will be here the first week in May," this epic tale continues to this very day.
This past week Daddy spoke with the General Manager who assured him "the parts will arrive in 5-6 weeks"...this tale is officially To Be Continued...
Last year I participated in the Corporate Challenge while 6 months pregnant and to the surprise of many I actually managed to jog a good bit of it coming in with a time of 56 minutes for the 3.5mi course.
I miss you Rita Ramos!!
I was mortified by the possibility that I might not be any faster this year, and without the excuse of carrying another life with me (Abbey wasn't riding on my back or front for the race) I would have had to hang my head in shame. Having run a total of 3.5miles since the 2010 race I was honestly concerned I might not even make it up the .3miles up the Madison Ave hill to start this years race.
9,200+ people participated...have I mentioned I get claustrophobic and don't like crowds?
So with a little help from the new iPod nano my hubby had gotten me, blaring Rihanna - S&M in my ears, I was able to drown out my heavy breathing and finish this years Corporate Challenge at 39 minutes flat - Whew!! Which meant I could go to work today, show my face in public, and most importantly prove to myself that I can still "hang."
And I even managed to receive a special mention in the company wide announcement of our teams standings:"And our winner of Most Improved is Kelly Vincent with a time difference of 17:00 over last year!!! Guess it’s a little easier to run a race when you’re not seven months pregnant!"
The non-pregnant version...
So now that I've conquered my local "Everest" I'm determined to put BOB to work (again ladies, it's not the BOB you're thinking about...minds out of the gutter). With Abbey strapped into the new jogging stroller my goal is to run at least twice a week. I've signed up for spin class at The Revolution in Clifton Park for Wednesday nights and will be unmerciful in my pursuit to get my girl friends signed up to suffer along side me...Becki...hint, hint...
On top of the new running regimen little Miss is just weeks away from walking which mortifies me for so many reasons. Though I'm trying to stay positive, focusing on the additional exercise I'll be sporting once she takes her first steps and I spend the next decade running after her...hey, maybe I'll manage to be most improved again next year!
I know that everyone raises their kids differently and I always say "to each their own" - whatever your perogative is - go with it. Parents, for the most part, are supposed to know whats best for their kids. As long as you're not caught doing any of the things noted on the following website I completely agree with that. http://www.badparenting.org - this site is like AFV gone bad. Back to my original point, you raise our kid your way, I'll raise mine my way...unless I ask you, don't volunteer information... Case and Point:
My daughters ears are peirced, we got them pierced when she was just over 3 months old - I'm sure you saw the video on my blog. Obviously this was our choice as parents. Some people don't agree that babies should have their ears pierced, other parents hold off hoping to use it as a bargaining chip later on in life, some people don't believe in pierced ears. Whatever your cake, eat it...but don't, when seeing my childs ears are pierced launch into a diatribe about how your kid is 7 and you don't believe that little ladies should have pierced ears, and you won't let your daughter wear toenail polish any other time than on vacation and she's never allowed to wear make-up not even for her dance recital...Wah wah wah wah, Charlie Brown.
Really people, do what you like, I'll do what I like and if at the end of 17 or so years your kid is still a virgin princess and mine is a hot mess then you can say I told you so but if my daughter is the validictorian and Miss America I get to punch you in your stupid face, K?
So here's a pic of my princess with teeth showing, playing with mommy's high heels - with her ears peirced... this is the don't "F" with me I'm cute look. I have the urge to go home tonight and paint her face and nails...
The following link should (if I did this right) take you to the Zulily baby photo contest where you can vote for little Miss with her Bunny Tail...our favorite pic to date!
I think you can click this link every day until the contest is over - they pic a "cutest kid" once a week so stay tuned for more pictures - my chubby cheeked munchkin will be famous...or infamous...one or the other!!
I've been experiencing a little technical difficulty lately with Blogger so pardon the late posting here of these clips but they were cut enough that I couldn't just let them sit on YouTube without any attention.
Last week, while Daddy was fighting to get in and out of Atlanta, little Miss and Mommy were making the rounds, visiting Gammy and Papa Vincent one night and Grandma Gardner the next. I know I've aired my appreciation for my amazing family, friends and extended family before but it bares repeating - it's a true blessing to be surrounded by such loving, amazing people.
Sometimes this world likes to kick us while we're down. Although we've managed to kill off our #1 terrorist threat, Bin Laden isn't this nations only threat. I watch the news, I look around my own town and I see so many people struggling. The economy is still in the crapper, home ownership is still a pipe dream for so many hard working people, children are managing to graduate high school without a solid education, health care costs are crippling and little ones are still going hungry, homeless and without the love that they so deserve.
All of the madness makes me all the more thankful for the life I live and for the people that I share that life with. I have a beautiful baby girl that needs to grow, learn, laugh, love and live in this crazy 21st century world and I hope as she does all those things she appreciates all that she has - especially when so many have so little.
Sometimes I know I'm not as appreciative of things as I should be (i.e., I'm healthy but I bitch about the cellulite on my ass) but I do hope that I instill in my daughter a level of appreciation for the things that really matter in this life - people.
The following clips are little Miss showing her appreciation for her Grandma's...
Let me clarify, I haven't been watching CNN or anything, when I refer to the Atlanta Airport Hostage I'm speaking of my poor hubs who begrudgidly packed his bags and boarded a plane to Houston early last week. After departing ALB at 6:00am on Tuesday morning he had two connections, and was to arrive in Houston by 3pm. The day was looking promising, but then the Atlanta airport took him hostage. For this iw where he sat, and sat, and sat, and sat, and sat...until the flight to Houston was cancelled so after 7 quality hours spent admiring the walls of the Atlanta airport he was shuttled off to the lovely Comfort Inn where no WiFi exists to wait until dawn the next day and the hopes of a flight to the hot, humid, buggy state of TX. Thankfully at 9:30am on day two of the journey he arrived. needless to say the trip he didn't want to take started to feel a little like Planes, Trains and Automobiles...
In preparing for Daddy's return Abbey wanted to draw him a picture. She was so excited to know that Daddy was coming home, I took her picture to send to Daddy:
Of course Michael's travel troubles didn't end there because I wouldn't be blogging about it if it did. Michael happily boarded the plane headed for home on Friday afternoon only to sit on the tarmac at Houston hobby for a number of hours, missing his connecting flight through...you guessed it, Altanta.
When I told little Miss that Daddy wasn't going to be home when she woke up in the morning to watch cartoons with her this was the face I got:
Needless to say this is when my calm, cool and collected husband lost it and officially launched Planes, Trains and Automobiles the Sequel...Since I wasn't there to record it you'll have to imagine Michael as Steve Martin from the first film:
DISCLAIMER: If you're offended by the F word you won't want to watch this clip...
After Michael's "traveltastic" week we're just glad he's home safe and sound!
P.S. We won't ever be flying on Delta through Atlanta.
It's not often that we find true love. Seven years ago I was blessed to have found Michael. So it came as a bit of a surprise to both of us that I would find yet another perfect partner and even more of a surprise that Michael would allow me both.
Not long ago I came home to deliver the news to Michael that I had fallen in love with Bob and to my surprise he was perfectly calm. Starring at me like I had lost my mind, he tilted his head to the side and gave me the puppy dog Huh? look. With a coy smile I said...I'm in love with Bob, I have to have one! Michael being Michael, simply said, if you're in love and you have to have one I guess you have to have one. So what is a Bob?
I'm not talking about the latest hair style...I already had the hair falling out meltdown and chopped it all off into a "bob" but I'm talking about a differnt kind of bob. For those of you with minds firmly planted in the gutter, no it's not that Bob either...nor is it any guy named Bob...
Bob...is...the most amazing baby jogger ever!! I am so excited about the possibility of finally firming up this stretched out, worn out, sagging ass, loose skin having body I've been bitching about for going on 9 months now. You know the one I'm talking about ladies, that body that got returned to you post childbirth in the same fashion we return a rental vehicle...with just enough gas in the tank not to get charged back and with more wear on the tires than it had when we took it out!
For those who know me, you know I'm not lovin this post prego body but I now have the tools to do something about it...albeit I would prefer to just check myself into a clinic and get a full tune up from the crows feet down to my newly formed bunion...I'll smile and start with Bob. Although the price tag being what it is I could have had a down payment on lipo - maybe next year :-)
For the time being here are some pictures of my adorable kid "Rockin the Bob" -
This is my personal fav...seriously, I know I'm cute but enough with the pictures, can't a girl just chill?
Okay, okay, you want cute...here you go...
Being this cute works up an apetite...
For everyone to admire the Bob, here's a full frontal for you ;-)
Just like any other "first" in my life, I doubt I'll ever forget this first Mother's Day. Not because of the amazing gifts my husband surprised me with, or even the words in the cards that brought tears to my eyes, but because I got to wake up with my four legged kid curled up under the covers with me and the first thing I saw was my smiling baby girls face snuggled next to her Daddy in our bed. Folks, it just doesn't get any better than that.
Caveat: If we had won the lotto and could have replayed the previous scene from a bed in vista overlooking vineyards in the South of France, that would be the only way it would have been better - a girl can dream right?
Michael actually started my Mother's Day off on Saturday with a special surprise that I have to cover in a separate blog because it's just too good of a topic to bury amongst my current blatherings...so after waking up with my family all around me Sunday morning, within the first 15 minutes I smiled, laughed, and was brought to tears (happy tears) - let's just overwhelm the emotions first thing on a Sunday morning shall we...all good stuff.
So on to the day...At first I was bumbed that my hubby had to work from 8 till noon, staffing a booth at the local Tulip Festival, however that turned out to be a great excuse for little Miss and I to pack a lunch and meet Daddy in the park. Fortunately it was a beautiful day (couple rain drops - Albany's other name is Eastern Seattle this year) so with mostly sunny skies and some decent temps we enjoyed taking some pictures with all the pretty flowers.
My husband also gave me a camera, albeit it was his old one, which in Michael's world means it's been in use for the past 6 months and is professional grade. I continued to smile because I know he gave it to me in hopes that I will get up to speed with all the photography stuff so I can help him with the new business...he's looking for a young, hot, cheap assistant...look no further - keep the comments to yourselves peanut gallery - you know who you are.
After Michael headed off to run barefoot through the tulips (that was the only image I had when he said he had to work the Tulip festival), I got a visit from the parental unit...aka Gammy & Papa. Of course little Miss was in a comma type nap - that had they not shown up she surely would have woken from but after a couple hours she finally awoke from her slumber to put the smiles on their faces. After they got their "Abbey Fix" she and I packed it up and headed down to join Michael in the park. I hastily threw together a couple sandwiches, having had initial plans of a grand picnic in the park , it quickly became two turkey & cheese sandwiches and a bag of gold fish...remember...post baby life = less time and brain power for proper planning.
After driving around for what seemed like forever we found parking, I opted to drive past crack alley and opt for hospital row, at least by the hospital the crack heads were getting treatment. Once we landed we got to enjoy some of the flavors of the festival, took some great pics and then got the heck out...I forgot how much I hate crowds of overweight people fighting for a spot in the fried dough line...it makes me want to jog with BOB (a topic for another blog).
The day was capped off with a visit to Grandma & Grandpa Gardner's and the chance to meet Myles Edward Vedder for the first time. OMG - I love babies...other people's babies that is - this in no way implies I want more. My stance on that issue has not changed. I will take this oportnity to re-post my official statement - "Kids are not Lays potato chips, you can have just one" I can however, hold and love everyone elses so ladies just keep having them!
And here's the one I had enjoying her day with Mommy and Daddy and the Tulips...
We miss you already Daddy...:-( Hurry home from Houston!
Bath time at the Vincent household used to mean romantic candlelight, a pomegranate martini and a leisurely soak...we roll a little differently these days.
Gone are the candles - hello, fire hazard...a pomegranate martini has to be gulped, not sipped between entertaining little Miss during meal preparation or drank during an afternoon nap - which I'm not opposed to but most of the time I need an afternoon nap at the same time. And as for a leisurely soak - only at 9pm after she's sound asleep and by then I want to be too so I skip the candles and the martini otherwise I'd fall asleep in the tub and we're back to the fire hazard issue!
So here's to the new bath - the one where Mommy bathes Abbey and gets more of a shower...I must say bath time is definitely entertaining in our house - at least we haven't pooped in the tub lately...knock on wood...I seriously just jinxed myself...
As I watched the following video clip all I could think about was, man I need to clean my bathroom...and then I think, hey, my kid doesn't seem to care...thank god, because the day she looks at me and says "Mom I don't want to take a bath, the tubs dirty" I think I'll die!
Just so everyone is clear, Michael and I are still adults who like to go out and have a good time with and without each other...I originally wasn't going to share my "Ladies Night Out" pics on the blog being that this is to, for, and about my daughter but then I got to thinking...when she's older and I'm a great big dork to her she's going to chaulk that up to the fact that mine and her father's life revolved completely around her. And although our world has definitley been rocked and the planets of Michael and Kelly have been realigned, we do still have a life besides our beutiful baby girl.
This blog post is dedicated to all the hot moms (many of the ladies in the pics below are moms) and is living proof that at one time Mommy did look hot, I did have friends and yes, we went out like all "fun, cool" people do...not that the word cool will ever be used but you get the underlying point here.
So to all the ladies that made the night out, thank you for reminding me what it is is like to just be Kelly for a few hours. I enjoyed the night and although I bailed out at midnight to be able to get up and be Miss Mommy Sunshine on Sunday morning for my little one, the shots of Jager and the martini's were wonderful going down...not as great coming back up for those amongst us who couldn't keep them down;-) I totally can't hang the way I used to...but I still like to try to look hot. (when I start to look more like a hot mess could someone please get me a gift certificate to a salon/spa/laser treatment center...that's what friends do).
And finally, here's to those of you who danced until dawn, couldn't get into your apartments, fell asleep on the car ride home, stuffed your faces with McDonald's and puked your guts out the next day (I won't name names)...I love you all!
I know we live in upstate NY where we get killed with taxes but seriously this cold weather is killing me! Sunday we're sitting out on the deck in shorts and tank tops, today I'm putting a winter hat on Abbey's head because it's 40 degrees. Global warming be damned, I'd just appreciate a little warming in my own backyard.
Mother Nature needs to kick Old Man Winter's ass to the curb and get the Heat Miser a job in the northern hemisphere!! Can you tell how tired I am of the cold weather? I'm jabbering on about characters from the 1974 children's television special The Year Without a Santa Claus...I need some vitamin D therapy and I'll be fine, really.
Abbey's hair kinda looks like this when Daddy gets his hands on it :-)
I'll stop harping on the weather and focus on the giggles I get seeing my kid in a cute winter hat. The one in the photos below was knitted just for her by a dear friend of my late Gram's, Jeanie Waite. This woman's knitting has kept me warm since I was born and continues to keep my kid not only warm, but cute! (Many thanks Jeanie!)
