Sleeping beauty

If we don't swaddle her, Abby's preferred sleep position cracks me up!

Christmas 2012

We hope all of our friends and family had a very Merry Christmas! My parents (will Abigail call them Nana and Papa like her cousins Cadence and Clay do?) flew in from Kansas City on the 23rd. Abigail attended her very first church service on Christmas Eve. I had been holding off taking her to church until she got her 2 month vaccinations. The candlelight service was beautiful and Abby slept in my arms throughout most of it. Thanks, Nana, for the beautiful Christmas dress! My parents couldn't believe how much she's grown since they saw her in October.

Abigail got all kinds of fun gifts on Christmas day. My mom asked me the night before what Santa would be bringing her. Robert and I hadn't bought any Santa gifts. Oops! Parent FAIL. She's only 2 months old, after all. So...Nana to the rescue. She and my dad made a quick trip to Target and picked up a few fun toys: the classic "popcorn" popper walker and a Fisher Price teapot toy that has a fun British accent. :)

From the Zajkowski Christmas exchange, Abby got a fun VTech bunny from her Salt Lake cousin, Haley. 

Nana picked out some cute new clothes, too. We love the kitty cats!! 

Abigail was spoiled with lots of books, ornaments, and more clothes. Christmas is definitely fun with a new baby girl. We look forward to all of our future Christmases with her and we're especially looking forward to the Santa years. It always makes me so sad to have to pack up the tree and all of the decorations. Until next year...

The "Abby flower"

We have some beautiful flowers blooming in our front yard but neither Robert nor I know what kind of plant it is. I like to call it the "Abby flower" because it first bloomed right around the time Abigail was born. When there are no flowers, the plant basically looks like a big dead stick. :) 

My mom has a sweet story about how lilacs always remind her of me because when she first came home with HER baby girl, it was Spring and the breeze coming through the windows smelled of lilacs. I love that.

My dear friend, Suzanne, and her husband Isaac visited us yesterday. Suzanne is a friend from Wichita State. We realized during this visit that we have been friends for 12 years! How does the time go by so fast? We were especially happy to have them visit because Suzanne and Issac usually call Germany home. They both work as teachers at Black Forest Academy but are currently spending a year back in the states. I'm crossing my fingers that the next time we see them we'll all be eating spaetzle together in Germany. Abby needs a little European culture.

Suzanne and Isaac, thanks for making time to stop by and see us! We love you!

Christmas festivities

Baking is one of my favorite things of the Christmas season. I have fond memories of making all kinds of cookies with my mom and sister, and now I hope Abigail and I can create our own *sweet* memories. For Abigail's first Christmas tree ornament, I opted to not go with the standard "Baby's First Christmas" one. Instead, Hallmark has a new series of cookie cutter ornaments that I couldn't resist. I've decided that making sugar cookies should be one of our family holiday traditions. Maybe we can also buy a new cookie cutter shape each year?

We went to a cookie exchange party today and I made one of my mom's Christmas cookie standards: chocolate Andes mint cookies. Yum.

Robert says I went a little overboard with Abigail's outfit for the day but I disagree. I love the ruffly pants and festive socks!

Aww...kisses from daddy.

2 month stats

Abigail has grown like crazy. The doctor says she is in the 100th percentile for all of her measurements! I used an online calculator and each one said "above 95th percentile."

• Weight = 14 pounds
• Height = 24.5'' (21.5'' at birth)
• Head = 16.5'' (14.5'' at birth)

2 months old

I took these pictures a day early (it's 12/12/12!) since Abigail has her 2 month doctor's appointment tomorrow and may be feeling a little yucky after getting a round of vaccinations. I can't wait for the doctor to see how much she has grown! We're so grateful that she's such a healthy little girl.

Grandma & Grandpa Z

Grandma & Grandpa Z left yesterday. Abigail made a new face and stuck out her bottom lip for the first time...I think she was letting us know that she was sad to see them go. I can't believe Betty was here for 6 weeks! How lucky am I to have such a great mother-in-law who is so easy to be around? She helped us tremendously by cooking meals, washing dishes, doing laundry, and taking care of her sweet granddaughter. She loved picking out cute outfits for her each day and taking her on long walks in the stroller. Robert likes to tell Abigail that her Grandma Z is her very first friend. I love that! 

Here are some fun pictures of Abigail with her grandparents. Our cat, Cora, is always checking in on Abigail when she gets a bath or her diaper changed. I think she wants to make sure we're doing a good job. 

This might be the sweetest picture ever: Grandma reading to Abigail.

She loved meeting Grandpa Z, too.

Sleepy Saturday

Robert left around 7am this morning with his friend Ryan to run the Tough Mudder...basically a 10 mile obstacle course where he has to scale walls, run through electrical wires, swim through ice water, and other crazy things like that. It raises money for the Wounded Warrior Project.

That left Abigail and I at home for the day and I had a huge pile of quizzes and essays to grade for my Music Appreciation class that ends in a week. Abby must have known I had work to do, because she was content to sleep on my lap in the Boppy for 4 hours (2 different naps) while I graded. I'm super uncomfortable from holding still so long and my legs are asleep, but it was totally worth it for this view:

Happy 7 weeks, Abigail!