Oh, I do love her…

Each stage is precious and amazing – don’t get me wrong.  But, I can say confidently (I think!) that this past week has been the most fun for me with abi.  Seeing a little bit of her independent woman spirit (always with a healthy dose of momma time, which is good for my heart!) has been such an intriguing joy.  This morning I was watching her as she played by herself in the kitchen, singing to herself, – and I realized that I’m the person who spends the most time with her – and she is still a mystery to me.  Wow.  I get to watch this beautiful person’s personality unfold in front of me.  What a privilege.

The same activity earlier in the week:

Oh, Daddy – please stop!

Nothing like having your nose picked by someone else…

Just sitting here, minding my own business, waiting to get picked up:

The approach:

The execution and removal:

Freedom:

 

Oh, the joys of being parents before Kleenex really work!

Why my Mom is crazy…

 

Here's the scene: Dallas, TX - Spring Break 2009

From the Dallas News: "The Dallas Arboretum is expecting 20,000 to 25,000 visitors during spring break. "The crowds are great," Arboretum spokeswoman Terry Lendecker said. "We've gone into overflow parking every day and been busing people from off-site."

Yep - we did that. We had to park by the lake, there wasn't enough room at the Arboretum's lot!

Abi & Emory (sorry Caitlin, I brought out my camera too late!)

From the Zoo Employees: Wednesday - 10-15,000 people in attendance. Oh yes, we thought that would be fun too. To make matters worse, we went with all people who used to work at the zoo - we should know better!

Abi, Austin, and Ella

We are thankful those crazy kiddos are back in school this week. Dallas can once again return to normal. Ahhhhh.

The next best thing...

I really do love making Abi's food. Mainly for two reasons (well, OK maybe three)

1) I love how fresh it is - and I feel way more comfortable tasting the food when I just made it versus coming out of a jar (haha, yep- I taste it all!)

2) I can be creative! Who knew mangos and carrots tasted so well together! I wouldn't know that Abi loved avocados because you can't buy them pre-made (which is understandable, they go brown very quickly!)

3) It has made me more responsible. I am not the most organized person in the world - although I would like to be, it does make life easier - and having to make abi's food ahead of time has really allowed me to practice bettering an aspect of myself in a very practical way. Thanks, Abi!

BUT, I always keep some premade food on hand in the event of an emergency, traveling, or my laziness! This is like why I keep those super easy disposables around too! Tyler Florence, inspired by his own son, developed this brand of baby food called Sprout - and it is amazing. Really cool food combinations, organic, and in this awesome resealable pouch. Wahoo! Tyler Florence was at Central Market in Plano this week, and I was planning to go - and then I missed it because I was thinking it was a different day (there's that super-organized gene revealing itself again!) Oh well.