The Beach

Today it rained all day!  So Abbie decided that her and her dad should go to the beach and wear their beach hats!  She is a girl after my own heart!

The nativity set

You  may be asking where are all of the people in the nativity set?
Well . . .

The people of the nativity set are now a train!  Abbie is obsessed with trains and turns everything into a train.  Now if you look very closely you may notice there is 1 important piece missing from the nativity set. 

Yes, baby Jesus is MIA!!  He was last seen 2 weeks ago in the car.  Now he can not be found anywhere.  The prize for finding baby Jesus is a hug and kiss from a very happy 2 year old.  Currently, she walks around the house yelling "Baby Jesus, Baby Jesus Where are you" .  So far baby Jesus has not answered back! 

Of course, we could have lost the second sheep or second angel.  But no, we had to lose the most important piece of the set.  Isn't that how life goes!!!!

Christmas Tree

We finally got our Christmas tree and decorated it last night. 
Abbie was so excited about the tree. 
She said to me "We have a Christmas tree, now Santa can come" 
I guess, How do you explain you still have to wait 2 weeks.
Abbie loved putting the candy canes on the tree.
We have a nice little row of 6 candy canes at the bottom of the tree. 

This year we set up our tree in the new office. 
We have never had a place to hang our stockings so I always end of laying them under the tree.
This year there was a window right next to the tree so I could hang the stockings. 
I was so excited to have someplace to hang the stockings!
It's the little things that excite me!

Visit with Santa

Last night we took Abbie to see Santa.  We went with our friends, so Abbie watched all 3 of their kids sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted from Santa.  Then it was Abbie's turn.  Abbie was still not so sure of Santa.  So Steve sat with Abbie next to Santa.  Santa talked to Abbie while Abbie sucked her thumb.  We did get a good picture and she did not cry so all in all a good Santa visit!

A Blah Day!

Abbie had been stuck at home with her mom for 3 days with Strep Throat. 
I knew I was getting tired of being stuck in the house.  I was not sure how Abbie was feeling.
Before lunch she went into her room and came out wearing her flower beach hat.
She said to me, "OK mom I am ready to go to the beach"

I guess I was not the only one tired of Winter and being stuck inside the house!

Christmas lights in Ocean City

We went with our friends to see the Christmas light display in Ocean City.
The kids had a blast hanging out together and looking at all of the lights.
Abbie was so excited to see the Christmas trees.
I think she will be really excited to Christmas this year!

Halloween!

For Halloween we went got together with some friends.  We ate dinner together and then set out to go trick or treating.  There were 7 kids in the pack.  Abbie dresesd up as a princess.  When we started I am not sure she understood what she was doing, but as soon as she started seeing people placing candy in her pumpkin basket she was sold.  As we walked down the street she would see houses that were lit up and she would point to them and say let's go.  She would walk up to the house sometimes past scary lights and pictures right up to the person sitting outside.  Quickly Abbie learned to say trick or treat without prompting.  As a family we have decided it is way more fun to trick or treat with friends! 

Pumpkin Patch

One of Abbie's good friends had her birthday party at a pumpkin patch.  During her party we got to take a hayride, pick a pumpkin, and play in a sandbox of corn kenerals.  Abbie took her time and looked through all of the pumpkins unitl she found the perfect one. 

ELMO Live

In October we took Abbie to see Sesame Street Live.  She loves Elmo and so we thought she would love this!  On the day of the trip I told her we were going to see Elmo.  Abbie loved the show and sat very still through the entire thing.   Anytime Elmo left the stage and another character started singing,  Abbie would put her hands up and say Where's Elmo?  As if Elmo should have been the only character on the stage for the entire show.  I guess I should have explained that some of Elmo's friends would be there too!

Abbie's a Dancing Machine!

Here is a link to a video of Abbie dancing at a wedding on Saturday. It links to a Facebook site, so you'll probably have to log in. Enjoy.

Facebook Videos Posted by Cindi Knobel Whitehead: This is how we do it.

Vacation out West

We took a two week trip by car (Steve flew) with my sisters and mom to Kansas and Colorado.
First we stopped in Goodland Kansas to visit with my Grandpa. On the car ride out I told Abbie that we would be visiting her great Grandpa. She looked at me with wide eyes and said Big pop pop. So during the whole visit Abbie called him Big Pop pop.
We enjoyed our time in Kansas. We got to ride on a very old carousel, go swimming, and go to the local fair and parade. It was great to spend time with my Grandpa.

Then we traveled on to Denver Colorado to visit with my Grandma and Grandpa. We had a good week in Colorado. We took advantage of all of the beautiful parks in the area. Abbie loved hanging out with her Great Grandmom and Great Grandpa and her Uncle Joel, Aunt Stacy, Aunt Marci, and Grandma and Grandpa. During our visit we visited with lots of extended family, went bowling, played at the park, visited Tiny Town and White Fence Farm. The only disappointment of the week was Thursday. We were suppose to visit Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak. However the weather was awful so we opted for indoor activities.

One day we visited Tiny Town, CO. Abbie had a blast. There was a train we could ride and lots of many houses to explore.

She loved looking in the windows of the houses. Also, there were houses you could climb in.

Abbie's favorite part was the train. Each time it went by she would wave and yell out "Hi Train".

Delanco Camp Junior High I

We went to Delanco Camp in NJ for a week of camp. Steve and some of our highschool students led praise and worship for the week. Abbie had a blast hanging out with all of the teens! She loves camp. Steve and I enjoyed getting to know so many campers and catching up with old friends.

Summer visit to PA

We traveled up to Western PA to visit Steve's family. Overall it was a good trip. It was nice to see Steve's family. Abbie had a blast playing her with cousins. The only thing that would have made the trip better is if it had not rained 3 days straight. We did get to go to a park and the Pirates game. Also, I got to travel to Ohio to visit with my best friend and her new baby boy, Ryan.

This is a picture of Abbie and her cousin Ava. Ava is 4 months older than Abbie.

It took a few days for Abbie to warm up to Aiden but then she loved holding him and touching his hands.

Abbie's 2nd birthday

Here is a picture of Abbie's friends that came to her second birthday party.
Sarah, Myles, Tripp, Parker, Anna, Abbie, Shelby, Madelyn.

We have a pooh party. Abbie loved having all of her friends at her house. They had fun playing pooh games and decorating door knob hangers. We are so blessed that Abbie has so many good friends.
After her party each time she sees a candle being lit she thinks it is for a birthday and she says
"Happy to you" . It is pretty cute.

All her friends sat around her while she opened her presents.

We got Abbie and Dora bike for her birthday. She is doing well learning how to peddle her bike.

You gotta love that girl!

Abbie has quite a personality. She is very silly and makes me laugh every day!

I hope this picture brightens your day!

Easter

Abbie had a blast with her first Easter Egg Hunt. She came out to the family room and saw eggs on the floor. Dad was sitting on the floor in a suit (had to run off to church right after the hunt) holding a camera. Abbie got scared and would not get out of my arms. We found the first egg together and I opened it up. She saw that there were goldfish in the egg. After we ate all 4 goldfish she got really excited. Jumped out of my arms and starting running around pickin up eggs. In the middle of the egg hunt she spied her Easter basket. She got really excited and started looking at all of the things in the basket.

In the afternoon my family came for Easter dinner. We enjoyed having the whole family here for Easter. Abbie had a blast playing with her older cousins.

Here is our Easter family picture.

Gymnastics Class

In February, we signed up for a month of Parent & Tot Gymnastics. The place we went had a huge trampoline, a foam pit to jump into, rope swing, balance beam, and obstacle course. Abbie loved the class. She learned how to do a rollover and began to work on a cartwheel. Mom and Dad loved it too except that we had to be out of the house by 8 a.m. on a Saturday!

This is a picture of Abbie & I jumping on the trampoline.

2 of Abbie's friends were in the class too! They enjoyed doing it together!

This is Abbie climbing through the bridge as part of the obstacle course. The obstacle course was Abbie's favorite part of the class.

We were sad when February was over and gymnastics class ended. But we were excited for the possibility of sleeping in till 8 in March. We just signed up for another month in May!

Snow Day

We were blessed with 2 good snows in January and February. Abbie and I enjoyed our days at home! Abbie was excited to go play in the snow. She loved hitting the pushes and plants to make the snow fall off.

Now if we could just get her mittens to stay on.

Her favorite part of the snow was being able to go play on her playground. She liked going down the slide and landing in the snow.

Superbowl Party

We hosted a college age Superbowl Party at our house. Abbie was decked out in all of her Superbowl gear. Too bad bedtime came before the end of the game. I am not sure she watched much of the game but she enjoyed hanging out with our guests.

One of the girls brought 3-D glasses for the half time show. The girls were all sitting in front of the TV waiting for the half time commerical. On her own, Abbie went into her bedroom found her sunglasses, put them on, and then came and sat down with the girls. We got a great pic. of everyone with their glasses on.

And yes, the Steelers won so Dad was happy. Although it was fun watching him during the 4th quarter when the Steelers almost gave the game away.

Christmas Break

I can not believe there is only one more day of Christmas Break. I am not ready to go back to school. Christmas was great. We spent Christmas morning at our house opening presents and eating breakfast together. It was nice to just relax together with the family. Abbie enjoyed her new toys and hanging out with mom and dad.






At noon we left to spend a week in NJ with my family. It was nice to have us all together for a week. It was a packed house with all 8 us in in 4 bedrooms and sharing 2 bathrooms. It was nice just relaxing and hanging out with the fam!

On Monday, Steve and I took Abbie to Kid Junction. It was great. We only had to pay for Abbie and there was barely anyone there. There was a big indoor playground and 6 dramatic theme rooms: Post office, Pizza shop, grocery story, Vet Clinic, Kids gym, Theater. Abbie loved the grocery store and the pizza shop.





On Tuesday, I took Abbie to the Discovery Museum in NJ. It was really neat but crowded. We spent most of our time in the Toddler room. Abbie loved climbing the stairs to go down the slide. Also, she really liked the gigantic light bright.