She also knows the sounds for a duck and a snake, but I forgot to ask for those. Oma, Bapa, Nana, & Gragon are her grandparents. So far she hasn't been brave enough to try any other names. Sorry Auntie M and Lauren... and all you other aunts and uncles. We'll keep trying.
I'm feeling rich and a little bit clever today. A few weeks ago when I was driving home from the grocery store, I spied our neighbors getting rid of a perfectly good six-person patio table and chairs. We've been garage sale-ing for patio furniture for years, and this stuff looked way better than what we'd seen before. I pulled over just as Ed began tacking up a sign that said, "FREE. Please take."
Um, all right. I will, thank you very much.
I know I shouldn't care so much about getting/having stuff, but this was FREE! And I'm so excited - the set looks brand new. The other two chairs are residing on our screened porch off to the left of the photo. Plus, David and Mom2 bought me the umbrella for my birthday, and he had a chance to put it all together this weekend. So last night after Abigail went to bed, we sat outside, lit some candles, and actually enjoyed being in our backyard. How nice.
After our trip to Ocean City, we spent a long weekend in VA with David's sister. R & S have three kids. Their youngest, Anna, was born just 4 hours before Abigail. It was a blast watching the baby girls play together.
David's nephew, Adam, pulled out his guitar shortly after Uncle Vid started strum- ming. Look at how he's trying to play left-handed!
Daniel reminds me of Ralphie (from A Christmas Story) in this picture. Not sure why he donned the glasses to read, but I thought it was pretty great.
The girls spent a lot of time swapping toys, following one another around, and staring each other down. They really enjoyed having one another to play with (at least from what we could tell).
The family that bought The Little House has lived here for just over two years now. This is what it looked like the morning we moved in.
And this is what it looks like now:
I'm pretty proud of us.
Since we've owned our home we've redone a bathroom, waterproofed the basement and put in a sump pump, installed an attic fan, replaced every single window, installed central air, replaced the front door, removed some bushes and planted new ones, and pruned the trees. Oh, and of course we repainted every room in the house and tore up old carpet, too. See why. (Does that count as crucial home repair? I think it does.) I just talked with a tree guy today about taking down a tall spindly pine on the east side of the house. (I'd love to plant a dwarf Redbud in that empty spot on the right side of the photo. Someday, maybe.) On Wednesday a contractor friend is coming to price what it will take to replace our second bathroom (that we had to tear out during the waterproofing job) and better heat our partially finished basement - we want a playroom for the Babblegail. I know we won't be able to afford both jobs, but I'm excited about his visit anyway. We will be able to afford the bathroom, and it will be nice to be a two-bath house once again. We had some near-emergency situations during my pregnancy, and I want to avoid that before we start on the next one.
The trouble with blogging as infrequently as I do is that when I finally sit down to blog, I have too many things I want to say. Like right now. I know I ought to talk about our now three-week-old vacation to Ocean City, MD. But I also want to tell you about David and the Bee, and David vs. That Tree Root. And I want you to hear about and celebrate with me because today I got a "Save the Date" email for the annual Best Fall Party Ever (not its real name). And I suspect one of my friends might be pregnant. All post-worthy stuff, at least according to this blog's standards.
But that's too many topics for one post. So I'll stick with vacation. But now that it's so far gone, I can't think of much to say, other than this: My family goes to Ocean City, Maryland every summer. I've posted about it before - a week of gluttony and sun-worship. I'm a big fan, despite the fact that I don't actually like swimming in the ocean. But this year was a little different. Still indulgent and gluttonous, definitely - just not so much sun-worshiping for this Yeager. I was conscientious and careful for the first time, ever. And it was torture. And it will be that way for the rest of my life, thanks to my dermatologist. Sigh.
Also different - and probably more important - is that we brought a toddler with us this year. Well, when we left for vacation she wasn't a toddler, but by the time we returned home, she was. Abigail took her first steps in front of the whole family (about 25 people), during our "Appetizer Night".
It was Abigail's first time seeing the beach. First time in anything bigger than a bathtub, and first experience with sand. And she loved every minute of it. Here she is with her Aunt Lauren and her cousin, Luke.
She showed no fear whatsoever, which thrilled her father, aunt, and grandmother - and worried me just a bit.
He's an IT guy by day, musician by night. I was a teacher... now I'm a wife/mom/woman trying to find creative outlet. We were married in June of '07. Bought our first house in May of '08. Celebrated our first baby June of '09. Waiting for Baby Boy to join us in spring of '11.
