sunday at the park

This past Sunday Mark, Megan and Clara came to visit after they went to church. It was a great time to get together and visit and have lots of yummy food over at Margaret's. There was egg bake and banana muffins and cheesy potatoes, cinnamon rolls, strawberries and apple crisp with vanilla ice cream. It was a tight fit but we all sat around the table and it was quite cozy!

Afterwards, since it was such a beautiful day out, we walked over to the park for awhile. We tested out the swings and the tether ball, Derrick got stuck in the slide (not really, but it makes for a great picture!) and the wooden train. Clara was conductor and did such a marvelous job! Abbie fell asleep while we were there but she was snuggled in safe in the Moby wrap, which I am finally getting to use now that the weather has warmed up. We've gone on several walks with it already.

It all ended too soon, though, and Mark, Megan and Clara had to get back home. I felt like a kid when mom yells that it's time to come in from playing outside and you don't want to because you are having too much fun. But I couldn't yell back that I just wanted 5 more minutes, please, so we did head back and saw them off. But it was one of those perfect Sunday afternoon's where you had good food and great company and the weather was just right. I could take that kind of Sunday every Sunday!

busy month

It has been a busy month. But if you ask me what I've accomplished.... it might take me awhile to think of something. Anything. Dishes, laundry, feeding Abbie, changing Abbie, cooking, cleaning. Nothing too exciting, but it all takes time and I try to get done what I can while Abbie is sleeping. But she has started to play with toys more and even noticed on the swing that there are fishies that rotate above her head! So that helps that I can leave her to play with some toys now while I try to do other things. I'll lay her down with some toys or put her in her swing and keep her in the same room so I can still talk to her while I'm working. She's really started taking off this month. Five months old. Wow. I can't hardly believe that time has passed already. She's talking more and grabs at everything she can and instantly tries to bring it to her mouth. Everything goes in the mouth. Everything.

The doctor gave the ok to take her out for walks if the temperature is above 40º and it's not windy, etc., so we have been going for walks when it's nice enough. Some days are still too cold and others, like today, are too windy. I do love her coat, though! But I got out my Moby wrap and used that the other day and it worked slick, although it does keep a body warm to have that thing and a baby wrapped up against you. Not sure how well it will work for summer so may have to resort to the stroller, which we just got out of storage.

We've done a little bit of traveling. Nothing big or exciting, but a couple of bull sales and she did so well at both of them! Out to see Grandpa and Grandma Fox and Aunties Caitlin and Amy.... and even Great-Grandpa Dempsey and Great-Grandma Dempsey were there, too. Out to Uncle Mark and Aunt Megan's to visit with cousin Clara. Although I always pay for it the next day - Abbie always seems more fussy the day after we go somewhere. Derrick and I have even been to a couple of movies while grandparents or Aunts & Uncles watched Abbie. It's a nice break for me, even if it's only a few hours.

I've become a cloth diapering mama! We are in the process of converting over completely (or 99%, at least) to gDiapers, which I fell in love with once I tried them. I won a giveaway on a blog I follow for one and I had already tried two other kinds of cloth diapers, which weren't my favorite but they did work ok. But I just love the gPants system. So the rest of the diapers, which were mainly bought through diaperswappers.com, are on there way and I ordered the fabric to make the inserts for them so we'll save lots of money not only by using cloth, but also by purchasing the majority of them used and sewing the inserts for about $1.00 each instead of paying $5.00 each plus shipping. I'm so excited! Never thought I'd be excited about cloth diapering, but I really am.

We had Abbie's picture taken professionally and although we haven't gotten them back yet, I'm interested to see the final result. It was a learning experience for me, to see how it works when you go to a professional and the equipment they use, the setup and the costs as well as how they react to kids who don't want their picture taken. ie: Abbie on the day we went. I did everything I could to make sure she'd be happy while we were there, fed her, she slept on the way to town and it was in the morning, when she is usually is happiest. But, she cried anyway and they did get a couple of decent shots in between her crying spouts. I borrowed an outfit my mom had that was hers when she was a baby, so that was cool! (see pics above for the outfit)

I bought some new books, as we've read through all of the ones we have already for Abbie and I was getting bored of the same ones. I absolutely LOVE the newly illustrated edition of "The Little Engine That Could" and have read it over and over and over and still haven't gotten tired of it. It's the best!

A little creative photography above... Derrick had an idea to hold her to make it look like she was standing up and I took the shots. So the last one is the truth - how he held her and I took the shots at a creative angle. I've also been playing with Adobe Lightroom and ended up purchasing the program  because I like it so much. I've been testing out presets, too, so all these photos are the result of the testing. So, that's what I've been up to the last month. Nothing major but just a lot of little things. And lots of photos. LOTS of photos. Over 600 in March so far, although I've narrowed the best ones down to 400+. hehe