Photo Shoot & Top 10 List

Today Abigail had to wear something "sports" for gymnastics...so I decided to put her in her Bears uniform since I don't know how much longer she'll fit into it. I wanted to take a picture or two..but Abigail was being a HAM! She was really into a photo shoot..I would say "Abigail, Say Cheese" and she would sit down and pose. It was funny...so here's a random photo shoot for no reason other than she was happy!


Can you say "Ham"?



Two cheerleaders


She kept sitting in my lap and trying to get a picture....


Big Girl

This one is not from today...but a few days ago this is how she woke up from nap. Her hair was OUT OF CONTROL!!!!

I love this little pose..and of course Kramer had to get in it too...Abigail had sat in cheese in her high chair so he was helping me clean it up!

Abigail feeding her doll with the bottle.

Rob and I were talking last night about how funny Abigail is and how there are so many things we love that she is doing...so I thought I'd keep these memories by making my top 10 list!

Top 10 Favorite Things about Abigail at 16 months

10. She walks everywhere with her hands behind her back! (It finally occured to me today that it's the same walk my Grandpa Joe used to do....what great memories!)

9. She learned "Thank You" in sign language and knows when to do it now without me telling her. Today the man at Costco drew her a smiley face on our receipt and she signed "Thank You" to him without me saying to.

8. She doesn't know the difference between "Thank You" and blowing a kiss...so it's the same thing! The man at Costco thought Abigail was blowing him a kiss! :)

7. She is really into playing. She loves her 2 dolls (baby doll and cheerleader) and she is always giving them a bottle or making her cheerleader doll clap her hands when she cheers.

6. She learned how to crawl up on the couch doing a crazy move that only monkeys can do!

5. She loves her blankie...it goes with her everywhere. She loves the smell of it (my mom said I was the same way when I was a kid) and is always putting it on our faces so we can smell it too!

4. She has a "dance" she does when she wants us to laugh at her...she walks in circles and always checks to make sure we're watching!

3. She learned to "jump" in gymnastics and loves to jump...she doesn't know her feet aren't leaving the ground.

2. She still LOVES to read. Her favorite continues to be Brown Bear!

1. Even though she has had some rough days teething, she is the most loving, happy little girl. She has a smile that lights up the room! She laughs at herself all the time...and makes us laugh.

That's our little princess at 16 months! You might wonder what we can't wait for next...we have 2 things! 1. Teething to be over! 2 of her molars are all the way through, the other 2 are half way through. We should buy stock in Baby Motrin. 2. Abigail being able to talk more. She lately has been frustrated because she wants something but can't tell us. She has her own little language but I haven't figured it out yet. So she resorts to a lot of yelling and even some pushing. She'll push me to the fridge if she wants milk or to the pantry if she wants food. Oh, this kid...she makes me laugh!

Happy Thursday!!!!

March of Dimes Weekend

This weekend was the March of Dimes walk. We started at the CDH tent where we saw some nurses and hospital staff..and they got to see Abigail. We also spent some time with our 2 favorite CDH NICU graduates, Luca and Cally, and their families! The rain held off for the first mile...then it really came down. Around mile 2 we had to stop because of the massive amounts of lightning surrounding us. Even with the rain, it was a great time and we can't wait for next year! I forgot my camera but here are a few pics from Rob's mom....

Not a great picture of Abigail, but it shows her cute shirt she wore for the walk!

Abigail with Rob's parents and the shirts they made for the walk.

Even with all that rain and lightning, Miss Abigail was a happy kid. This is after standing in the rain for 30 minutes! We love her!!!

Thank you to everyone who donated in honor of Abigail! We really, really appreciate it so much!!!! Also a special thanks to all the grandparents and Aunt Julie who came out for the walk....and a BIG thanks to our neighbors Jenny, Ryan, Reese, and Chase and to The Holtz's for coming all the way out to St. Charles to walk with us! The rain was a bummer...but the cause is amazing!!!!

March for Babies and our little TV star!

This Sunday is the March of Dimes March for Babies walk! Thank you to everyone to donated for this great cause. It's a very, very important organization for us!!!!!

Miss Abigail has been invited to be on NBC Channel 5's Dance Friday tomorrow morning. It will require her and I getting out of the house between 5 and 5:30 am, but I think it will be worth it! I have no idea how many moms and kids are going to be down there, so if we'll even get any air time or not, but either way we'll be there showing our support for March of Dimes!!! So set your DVR players (or VCR's if you have them) for the Channel 5 Morning news between 6:00 and 7:00 am!!! I will be wearing a purple March of Dimes t-shirt and Abigail will be wearing a special shirt I'm working on!

The walk is on Sunday and we can't wait. There are over 50 drs, nurses, and NICU families walking from Central Dupage Hospital. It's amazing how much of a family they are...and how much they support and believe in the families! We can't wait for the walk...we'll be walking along with both our families, some NICU families that have become close friends, and some amazing friends who are joining us!!!!! We'll have pics to post!

Also, a side note...Miss Abigail turned 16 months yesterday!!! Wow..a year ago she was 4 months old...so little!!! Here's a pic of our little princess at 4 months old to remind you why we support March of Dimes!!!! Look at this peanut..she probably weighed 8 or so pounds....

Have a great Thursday...we are headed to gymnastics!!! See you tomorrow on the tube! :)

Happy Birthday, Aunt Katie!!!

Sunday was my sister Katie's birthday!!!!!
We went down for brunch in the city to celebrate...it was a great day!!!

Happy Birthday, Little Sis!!!! We hope you have a wonderful time in Nashville and come back with LOTS of stories!!!! (She's running the Nashville 1/2 marathon this weekend...and she may have a beer or two in the BEST place EVER!)


Aunt Katie and Abigail enjoying breakfast together

On Saturday, our family decided to head over to the Naperville River Walk and enjoy the beautiful weather. It was a great morning walking along the river, looking at ducks, and even finding time to play in a GREAT park!


Abigail got very brave at the park and played on the jungle gym for like 15 minutes without us (she loved that she could run away from us) until a fall ended the fun!



Daddy is the BEST pusher!

These pics crack me up. Somehow, Abigail got one of Kramer's bones stuck in her pants. She had no clue...but she thought it was hilarious that Kramer was chasing her around. It went on for like 10 minutes until Kramer finally tackled her and got his bone....all to her laughter!!!

This was on Thursday. Abigail had gymnastics (which she LOVES by the way...she is getting good at the beam) and then we met some friends at the park. We got home just in time for lunch...or should I say nap!

Happy Monday! Hope you have a GREAT week!

What we've been up to....

Here's what we've been up to this week....

While I am still going to watch the kids every now and then, this was my last week with Reese and Chase on Mondays and Tuesdays. So while Chase took a nap, Abigail and Reese had fun finger painting with pudding! Abigail really doesn't know what to do when the kids aren't around..she used to look for Kramer when she woke up, now she looks for Reese!

Reese declared a tu-tu party...so here are the girls together..this picture is so cute!

Also, on Saturday, Rob and I took Abigail to Brookfield Zoo.

Our 1st zoo trip with the wagon! It's much better than the stroller!

Daddy and Abigail looking at...of course...the monkeys!

We packed a lunch and had a great time!!!

Abigail was exhausted. It's literally only noon and she passed out in her wagon!

Today we are headed to Baby Bugs Gymnastics. This weekend we are celebrating my sister Katie's birthday! So happy early birthday, Kate!!!!!!!!

Easter Weekend

This weekend was full of fun, family, and food! We had a great Easter weekend!

On Friday, we colored eggs. Abigail really enjoyed dropping the eggs into the colors..and laughed when we took them out! We had a lot of fun!

Come on Daddy...look at all those eggs waiting for color!

Easter was a blast with Abigail this year. We started Sunday morning with an Easter Egg Hunt through our house. Abigail found all 10 of her eggs. The eggs were filled with change...so the more eggs she found, the heavier her basket was. By the end, she decided to let Daddy carry her basket for her!

Not wasting any time putting her money in her bank

Among other things, the Easter Bunny brought Abigail a new stereo for her room. She sleeps to music but her old stereo has been acting up! Of course, it's very "girl-ie"! We rocked out to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse all morning!

Sunday afternoon, we headed over to my parents' house. They had a Easter Egg Hunt ready for Abigail..and with all the attention, she was in heaven. She made out like a bandit with Easter. I was like Christmas!!!! Thank you to everyone for thinking of Abigail! Sorry I don't have more pictures of the family...I was very bad about taking pictures!

Abigail got lots of presents to get ready for our beach vacation this summer!

After our great Easter afternoon with the Muskovich family, we headed over to Rob's family Easter. It's always so much fun to be with the whole, big family!!!! Again, Abigail walked out of Easter with a whole bunch of presents! Thank you to everyone for thinking of her and thank you to Great Nani and Papi for the delicious meal!!!!

While I didn't have my camera out for most of the day, I did grab a quick picture of "part" of the family as we attempted a family picture. I am proud to say in the end, there was success! I will post it when I get a copy!!!

Abigail had a GREAT Easter. She sure is one lucky girl to be surrounded by so many people who love her!!! We end with a picture taken 1 minute after getting into the car to head home! Priceless!

Words, Fits, and a Pink Purse!

Abigail Grace Update!


Abigail is turning into quite the talker. Within the last week, the words are beginning to flow. Now, these may be words only a Mom could understand, but they are coming! She does a lot of repeating sounds in words I say. She is OBSESSED with her book Brown Bear. She has been reading 100's of times a day since Saturday. She will say "Brown Bear" when she wants to read it. So far she will name "bear, cat, duck, and dog" when she's reading it. I'm working on "fish and frog" but the d and b sounds are much easier for her. She is also starting to get a hang of this sign language thing. I have been showing her the same 3 signs for 10 months now: more, all done, milk. She's been doing more for a while and has recently started doing all done. Yesterday she was getting a bath and I said "Abigail, are you all done" and she did all done and said it too! Then this morning I asked her if she wanted milk and she did the sign. I couldn't believe it...I gave up on that sign weeks ago! She also LOVES the word "hi". When we are out she says hi to everyone we pass. It's so cute. It's especially funny when we are checking out because she'll say hi and when they say hi back she says hi again...it goes on for a while! But she hasn't learned "bye" yet!


In addition to talking, Abigail also has a new favorite thing to do...throw a fit!!! I'm telling you, this girl is the queen of throwing temper tantrums! She will throw her body down on the ground and yell whenever she's frustrated. She also likes to throw her head backwards onto the ground. I am in shock of her fits. We had to stop at a store on the way to her dr's app't and she threw a fit on the ground. I was so embarrassed. She looks so small and younger than she is and I know everyone who was watching was in shock of the baby throwing the temper tantrum. Then we got to the dr's office and she didn't want to sit for the dr so she went to throw a fit, but she realized the ground was hard, so the little stinker walked over to the couch in the room and then threw the fit on the couch! Is she 16???? I hope these temper tantrums end soon...I have to admit, Rob and I laugh at her when she throws them because they are so funny...but we are going to have to get strict if they continue. Yesterday she wanted her "people" that she had stuck down a hole and couldn't get back, and she threw her fit. It went on for over 5 minutes!


Anyways, Abigail keeps us laughing every day. She is getting such a funny personality. Right now as I type she's walking around with her pink purse she has. She walks around and sticks random things in it (Rob and I love to check her purse after she goes to bed and see what she collected, it cracks us up) and she has to swing her purse on her arm like Mommy does. It's so funny! We just love this little girl to death and couldn't be more proud of her...or more in love with her!!!!


Word Count
Words Abigail signs: all done, more, milk

Words Abigail says: doggie, da da, ma ma, up, hi, brown bear (as one word), bear, cat, duck, all done

"Mom...for real??? No more pictures!"

Breakfast with the Bunny

On Saturday, we had Breakfast with the Bunny with the Hackneys and Adams at the Bloomingdale Golf Course. It was a great morning...last year Abigail was so little...this year she actually participated in the egg hunt. We had a great time, it's a wonderful tradition we've begun!!!!


Abigail and Mae dancing


sigh sigh...my big girl


So precious...Alex and Abigail talking about something very important


Daddy and Abigail on the egg hunt



Adding to her collection


Don't you love her soccer ball egg basket?

We couldn't believe how she found the eggs, bent down, and put them in her basket. She's practicing for Halloween!

Abigail and Jake with the Bunny. Jake and Alex were so cute because they thought the Easter Bunny was like Santa so they were telling him what they wanted for Easter!

Rob and I also had a great time celebrating on anniversary on Saturday. I wish I would have taken some pictures. We spent the afternoon in Lincoln Park shopping, visiting our favorite establishments, and enjoying our time together reminiscing about how our lives have changed in 5 years. We had dinner at our favorite restaurant Basil Leaf (but they expanded and it's not the same, so sad) and then ended the night with our favorite part. We found a cupcake place called Molly's. We had dessert and played a little Connect 4! It was a great, great anniversary!!!!

Also, Abigail had her 15 month app't on Thursday. I was shocked with her weight..she only weighs 17 1/2 lbs (17 lbs 10 oz). The doctor said she's still following the curve even though she's still not on the scale. She only gained a pound in 3 months, but the dr isn't concerned. She said I could add some more fat to her diet if I want. She also had a ear infection, but that's being taken care of. She's met all her 15 month milestones already...

Thank you to everyone for the anniversary cards and presents...we appreciate it so much! 10 years=Jamaica!!!!!!!!

5 Amazing Years!

Today is our 5 year anniversary!!!! I can't believe it's already been 5 years! It has been quite an amazing journey already...so today I thought I'd post a few wedding pictures!


Rob and I on the Odyssey off of Navy Pier...where our reception was!


The Pour House...where it all began. This is where Rob and I really started dating...it closed down before our wedding, but we still took the whole crew there for a picture out front! This is our favorite wedding picture!


Our crazy, large wedding party!!!!


Rob with is best men, Bill and Brian


Beth with her maids of honors and sisters, Julie and Katie.


Rob's family


Beth's family


On the Odyssey at the beginning of the reception. It was COLD and WINDY, but we had a wonderful time!


1st dance



I think this picture is so cute outside the church. Some of my students at the time came to the wedding with their families. They passed out the "booklets" when the guests walked in and the bubbles when the guests walked out!


And they lived happily ever after...never before have 6 words been more true!

I think most people know that Rob surprised me with our honeymoon. I knew we were going somewhere, but I didnt know where until we got on the plane. It was such a fun surprise. I really, really wanted to go to Disney World, but Rob kept telling me he didn't want me to be disappointed but we weren't going..I was very convinced!


The 1st stop on our honeymoon...Disney World!!!!


The 2nd stop on our honeymoon...Montego Bay, Jamaica!!!

Rob and I are looking forward to celebrating this weekend in Chicago since we weren't able to get back to Jamaica! It really has been an amazing 5 years..and yet it's really just the beginning of our journey together!