Abigail loves Bible stories!

Abigail is our big reader, really takes after her Mommy! I always have a book that I am caring around, that I am in the middle of reading. I think that Abigail has picked up my love for reading and is always "reading" too. We can read her a story 1 time and she almost has it memorized and that way she can "read" all by herself. It is the book that we read stories out of before bed and I can't tell you how many times we have gone through it.

A funny story, today Abigail had her Children's Bible Story book, her absolute favorite book to read. I asked her what she was reading today and she told me that she was reading the story called "The Last Breakfast" instead of "The Last Supper"! I was laughing and said " you mean The Last Supper?" She said "oh, okay" and went on reading. It was too funny! I love the things that kids say, it keeps life interesting!

Mitchell & Christmas Lights!

Today we put our Christmas tree & decorations up around the house. We all love doing this! We put on Christmas music and reminise as we get each ornament out. This year the kids were very interested in the different ornaments, especially those that were unique for them.

Mitchell was amazed at the Christmas tree & all the lights (or as he said it Missmiss Mights!) He said "Wowee!" and "I touch it" He couldn't get enough of the pretty lights and just standing there in pure amazement and wonder. Our neighbors also put up their many, many outside lights, which was another amazing moment for him! It is so true that seeing Christmas through the eyes of your child is one of the most awesome gifts that our Father gives us! It definitely always keeps the "Christ" in Christmas, because our children our such a blessing from God!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend as usual, spending time between Steve's side of the family & mine. We spend Thursday-Thanksgiving Day at Steve's uncle's house with his extended family, as well as his parents & sister. The kids had such a great time seeing their cousins and eating lots of great food! We had an enjoyable time getting to catch up with everyone and just enjoying good company.

Friday we woke up and got ready for our trip to Carrollton to spend Thanksgiving with my side of the family. This year was a special treat, as my Grammy & her new husband made the trip north from their home in TX. The kids loved seeing them and again got to play with a cousin and of course, Nana & Poppa's dogs.

I think Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays. I love some good food (and believe me, in our 2 families, there is plenty of that!!) and getting to spend so much time just talking and socializing, without the hassle of presents and everything. I was so excited to see my Grammy this year, that was truly the icing on the cake for me! I am so thankful that our kids come from 2 wonderful families and are blessed to get to experience this kind of togetherness. I know that it's because of those people, that Steve & I are who we are today and in turn, will help shape Abigail & Mitchell too.

Abigail's Kisses

We are very lucky that we have such great kids and I guess that they have learned from us how to be affectionate. There is never a shortage of hugs & kisses around our house and there are always lots of "I love you's" going around. Tonight while putting Abigail to bed, I was able to gather even more goodnight kisses than usual! Daddy was the first to tuck her in tonight and he taught her a butterfly kiss, where you let your eyelashes flutter together. She thought this was so great, another way to kiss! So, when I went in next to say prayers & tuck her in, she showed me how to butterfly kiss. After the butterfly kisses, she asked for some Eskimo kisses that I had showed her to do several weeks ago. Then off the top of her head, she asked me if I wanted a giraffe kiss. I said sure and asked how we did giraffe kisses. She preceded to tell me that you have to rub your foreheads together to giraffe kiss. So, we did some giraffe kisses. Next, she sat there for a minute and I could tell she was trying to come up with another type of kiss, and she asked me if I wanted to zebra kiss. At this point, I am trying to hide my laughter, but she was being serious and had given lots of thought to these. I asked her how to zebra kiss and she said that we had to rub our chins together, that was a zebra kiss.

So, needless to say, on many nights we now have a plethora of kisses to choose from and never know what crazy thing she will come up with next! She is so creative and has such a vivid imagination that we never know what she will dream up! As a parent, it is so amazing to watch your kids' personalities take shape and get to take part in their dreams and of course to share many, and sometimes, silly kisses!

Trick-or-Treat 2008

Tonight we enjoyed a evening of Trick-or-Treat around our neighborhood with Nana & Poppa. After getting prepped with the Halloween Party at Daddy's office, the kids were more than ready to head out & collect some more goodies to add to their already large stash! This is the 2nd year that Nana & Poppa have joined us, so we are officially claiming it a tradition for them to come to our house to trick or treat with us.

We filled up with some yummy dinner before heading out to trek through our neightborhood (actually just 2 streets, but that is a lot for a 3 1/2 yr old & 21 month old!) The kids were both great at asking for their treats and Abigail even performed a song she had learned at school for several of our neighbors. And to make Mommy & Daddy happy, they both used their manners after every house & said "thank you"! Mitchell wanted to walk this year, just like his big sister, but tired out fairly early and enjoyed riding on Daddy's shoulders between houses.

When we were finished walking around, we came back to our house to pass out candy to other kids and to enjoy some dessert that Nana had brought. It was such an enjoyable night and the kids both took in lots of loot! I am not sure who will eat more of it, the kids or Mommy & Daddy!

Halloween Party at Daddy's Office

Today the kids & I went to Daddy's office to have a Halloween party with his co-workers & their children. It was so much fun to see all the kids in their costumes and watch them "trick-or-treat" from office to office. Abigail & Mitchell were also excited to get in their costumes, Abigail was our version of Tinker Bell & Mitchell was a fighter pilot.

Abigail was her outgoing self, as usual, and had no problems going up to everyone and asking for her treats. Mitchell was a little more reserved, but followed along behind Abigail. As soon as he knew there was chocolate involved, he was much more eager to participate! After the kids had all collected a heaping bag of goodies, we all headed to the conference room for pizza and some coloring, both of which were a hit!

It was so much fun to get together with the families of Daddy's co-workers and enjoy some much needed down-time. We hope this is a tradition that we get to participate in again!

A Wonderful Birthday Weekend!

I have to say that I had one of my best birthdays ever this year! My husband is so wonderful and always goes out of his way to make my birthday a memorable event, but it was even better this year than he anticipated!

Friday, October 24 was my actual birthday and he surprised me by bringing home a yummy ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. Not sure who was more excited by this, me or the kids! Daddy & the kids also gave me my birthday present, which was a gift certificate to the spa! A day of pampering & relaxation for Mommy, great gift!

Saturday morning we dropped the kids off at my parents house for an overnight stay and we had an entire day for just the 2 of us, that in itself was enough of a gift! We ran some errands and then came home and relaxed before getting ready for a dinner out at Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse downtown. We have been to other Jeff Ruby's restaurants, but never for dinner at the main one downtown, we were both so excited! While valet parking the car, the valets asked us if we were staying for the show. We had no idea what show they were talking about, we didn't know what was playing at the Aronoff, but when we walked in the restaurant we saw a poster for the musical "Hairspray". I told Steve how awesome that would have been to get to see that, it was only playing in Cincinnati for 3 nights. He told me to hold on and he ran across the street to the box office at the Aronoff and came back with box seats for the 8pm show that night! How perfect! It turned an already incredible day/night into something to always remember! We enjoyed a fabulous dinner of Ruby's award-winning steaks and then headed across the street for the show. We had a private box seat and it was a great show! My hubby knows how to celebrate a birthday!

Sunday we enjoyed a morning of sleeping in and then headed to my parents' house for my annual birthday lunch my mom prepares every year of vegetable soup & cheesecake. The kids had a great time with their Nana & Poppa and were excited to see us too! My parents got me the Shark Steam Mop that I have been wanting (I know, it's so sad to be excited about cleaning products!).

So, I just had to share what a wonderful 29th birthday that I had and what a wonderful family that I am surrounded by! I know how much they each love me and appreciate me, but it still feels good to get that little bit of extra attention now & again!

Disney on Ice!

Today Steve & I took Abigail to see Disney on Ice: Worlds of Fantasy at US Bank Arena, it was a wonderful date with our daughter! We all had so much fun together and the show was awesome! Abigail was so excited to see some princesses and Tinker Bell! This was really the first big outing we have gone on with just Abigail and she was beyond thrilled to have Mommy & Daddy all to herself and get to watch Disney too! We decided Mitchell was a little too young to attend this year, so he got to spend a fun-filled day with his Nana & Poppa (he had much more fun, he got to ride a tractor, made his day!)

We got a big tub of popcorn & some drinks and found our seats. Abigail, being as impatient as her mother, could barely stand waiting for the show to begin. As soon as the lights went down, Mickey & Minnie came out and the look on her face was priceless! She didn't know what to think or do! She started waving and saying hi to them, even though we were up quite a ways. She watched the entire show so intently and was just mesmerized with the action on the ice. She knew a bunch of the songs and sang along and even danced. She stayed glued to Daddy's lap, which Steve was most happy with! He got to get lots of good hugs and kisses throughout the show!

I sat there and watched her reactions more than I watched the show. I was just so overwhelmed with love and admiration for this little girl that captured my heart over 3 1/2 yrs ago! To see the pure astonishment on her face was enough for me! She has just gotten to be so big over the last year, definitely not a baby anymore. It even made me cry as I watched her because she is growing up so fast and I want to cherish every moment that we have with her because they are already counting down. But no matter how big she gets, she will always be our little girl!

Kinman Farms with Friends!

Tonight we took the kids & met our friends for a night of fun at Kinman Farms (our 2nd trip this year!) First, Abigail & Mitchell were so excited to spend time with their friends Mary & AJ and then add to that all the neat things to do at Kinman's and it made a great evening out!

We started off in the barn, once again, for some animal viewing & petting and then loaded up for the hayride. The hayride was out to a shelter area at Kinman's with bonfires, food & a corn maze. We all dined on hotdogs & nachos (very healthy, I know!) and then enjoyed finding our way through the corn maze. Abigail decided to lead the way, so it wasn't the quickest trip, but was fun! We then got our roasting sticks & marshmallows and headed to the fire pits for some marshmallow roasting & s'mores. This was the 1st time that Abigail & Mitchell had roasted marshmallows before, so they were both eager to see what it was all about. Abigail had fun, but refused to eat the roasted marshmallow, she wanted a plain one. And Mitchell stayed pretty mesmerized by the fire itself! All the kids got nice & dirty, except for Abigail, who does not like her hands to get "uckie"--such a girl!

It was the perfect night for the pumpkin patch & hayride, with a crisp feeling in the air. What made the night even more perfect was spending some quality time with very dear friends and watching our children all have such a great time together! What a wonderful way to celebrate this fall season!

1st Pumpkin Patch of the Season!

A few Sundays ago, Steve & I took the kids to Kinman Farms for their first pumpkin patch experience of the season. We all had such a great time! The kids each picked out their very own small pumpkin and then we got 2 bigger pumpkins to carve for the front of the house. Steve pulled the kids on a flat-bed wagon with the pumpkins and they thought it was so much fun! Then, went to the barn and the kids got to pet several different animals, which is always lots of fun! There were even baby pigs, which Abigail just couldn't get enough of! Mitchell found hay on the ground and was trying to feed it to all the animals, none of which were that interested in it, but he didn't care! Both kids also got to take a turn riding a pony around a ring. Abigail loves animals, so she was all for it, but Mitchell was a little hesitant. Steve walked around with him, and Mitchell finally relaxed. He started saying "Giidy-up horsey!" Very funny!

We had so much fun that we are going back this weekend for another fun time! There are hayrides and bonfires, so it will be an entirely different experience! Watch for another post coming soon!

Date Night for Mommy & Daddy!

Tonight was a first for us, we went out on a date and left the kids with a sitter at home! Big step for us, we have always left the kids with the grandparents when we go out! But we decided that they were old enough now to stay with a good, responsible sitter and we found a teenager that lives just a street over, so it worked out perfectly! I have to admit that I was a little nervous, as this was a first for all of us, and she would be putting both kids to bed, but everything went very smoothly for her and the kids. The kids were so excited when Sarah Jane came over (they had already met her a few weeks ago) and the report when we got home was a good one! So, I am sure we will be using her quite often now and are excited about that!

For our date, Steve & I went to dinner & to the movies to see "Fireproof". We had such a good time, despite the fact that we are both pretty sick (Steve has a sinus infection and I have mono & a sinus infection-yuck!) It was so good to be out together and just get to enjoy each other's company. The movie was great and it made us so appreciative of what a wonderful marriage that we have and how great it is to be married to your best friend. I have to be the luckiest woman in the world to have found such a caring, loving, God-centered man to share my life with. He is the best daddy and takes care of all of us, always putting our needs before his own. And even after an extremely hard day at work, he will come home & give the kids & I 100% of his attention and love. I love him with my whole heart and I know that God led us to each other, as we are a perfect combination. With God at the head of our marriage, I know that we will make it through anything and will always show an unconditional love for the other.

So, date night was wonderful! We have always tried to have a date night at least once a month, but lately we haven't been able to line up the grandparents to keep the kids for us. Finding Sarah Jane and her doing such a good job is such a blessing to us because now we will be able to have these date nights as frequently as we would like. I know I am already looking forward to the next one!

The sweetest words to hear

Abigail & Mitchell are typical brother & sister, they love each other, but they get on each other's nerves quite a bit! Being close in age, I think this makes it even more difficult and they tend to fight quite a bit, but I chalk it up to being siblings. I have a younger brother and we use to fight horribly, actually until we were 18 & 16!! So, I know that fighting comes with the territory.

However, the other day, I heard & saw the sweetest thing between our children. They were playing separately and Mitchell walked by Abigail to get to something else. Abigail got down from the table (she was painting) and just out of the blue went and gave Mitchell a kiss & said "I love you Mitchell", then she went & got back in her chair. Mitchell stopped what he was doing and went over to where Abigail was sitting, he laid his head on her legs and said "I love you GaGa" and kissed her leg. It was so sweet to witness this random act of love between the kids! I have never doubted that they love each other, but when you see the fighting all the time, it's nice to see the actually display of affection!

I am so happy that they have each other and to know that they will grow up knowing about love and how to show it to each other & to those around us. It warmed my heart to see the love that they share & the bond that they have as brother & sister, it makes all the crazy times a little easier to bear!!

It's hard when Mommy is sick!

I have not been feeling well since last Fri, running a high fever and just feeling all over yucky. I finally broke down and visited the dr yesterday and I have strep throat! I never would have guessed that since I don't have a sore throat or blisters, but the dr said you can still have strep without those symptoms, since the other symptoms I have are also related to strep. So, I am now on an antibiotic and the dr said to drink plenty of fluids and get lots of rest--sure, that is so easy to do!!

This is the problem, as a sahm, I don't have sick days or personal days, so when I am sick and need rest it is difficult to get that. Steve is not able to take off any this week, so I am left taking care of both kids on my own, even though I can barely drag myself out of bed! Now usually, Steve is really good about taking off when I am sick, he is a great hubby & Daddy, there are just other circumstances going on at work right now that make it impossible for him to take any time off. Just bad timing for Mommy to get really sick!

So, hopefully I will get a little rest in between taking care of the kids and just pray that they are super-cooperative the next few days. Because I do have a great husband, he comes home and lets me go straight to bed and takes care of dinner, cleaning up and taking care of the kids all evening, even after he has had a rough day at the office! What a great man I married! I hope that my antibiotic kicks in soon and I get a little energy back because when Mommy is down the whole house suffers!

Abigail's 1st Day of Pre-School!

It's true! Our little girl is growing up! Abigail attended her 1st day of preschool today. She will be going Tues & Thurs from 9-11:30am. Normally, I will just drop her off since her school offers a drop off/pick up service, but today Steve & I took her in, thinking that she may be a little nervous, but we were wrong! She walked right in like she owned the place! She was so excited she could hardly stand it!

We had already been to the school a few weeks ago for orientation and found out that Abigail's teacher is actually one of our neighbors, which was so nice! So, Abigail was already familiar with her teacher and her classroom. This past weekend we decorated her preschool bag with iron-ons & jewels (or as Abigail calls them "diamonds") that she had picked out. All weekend she kept asking when was it time to go to her school!

She had so much fun at her first day. She was so excited to show us all the cool things that she had made, including learning how to write an upper & lower case "A" and making an apple tree that said "God made the apple tree". She was very enthused about tearing up the paper to make the leaves for the apple tree & then getting to glue them on. She also used ink on her fingers to make the apples, she was so impressed!

We are so happy that Abigail is enjoying her school and her time that is just her own. While Abigail is in school, Mitchell & Mommy also get to enjoy their own special time, which is so great! Mitchell was sad today when she left and kept looking at her carseat in the van and saying "Ga-Ga seat, Ga-Ga cool". But he adjusted and enjoying spending some time alone with Mommy.

It is so hard to believe that our baby girl is growing up so fast and becoming such a little lady! We are so proud of her & look forward to the rest of her yr of preschool!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Steve's birthday, so the kids & I made him a cake. Abigail decorated it while Mitchell supervised! We surprised Daddy and everyone got to enjoy some yummy cake! We were so excited to celebrate his birthday because we have the best hubby/Daddy in the world!

Mitchell in the hospital

Everything is okay now, but we had a big scare 2 weeks ago with Mitchell. We noticed on Monday night (8/11) that he had what appeared to be a small pimple on his lower back/tailbone area. When I felt it, I could feel some hardness under the surface. At this point, Steve & I were fairly certain it was the start of an abscess because just last October Abigail had one under her arm. After going to the dr on Tues & Wed and it not getting any better, but actually growing quite rapidly, we were told on Thurs that Mitchell would have to be admitted to Children's Hospital for surgery & IV antibiotics. It was one of the scariest things we have had to go through as parents! Before going to the hospital on Thurs, Mitchell was running a 104 degree fever, was very lethargic and could barely walk and could not bend over, he was in too much pain. It was heartbreaking to see him in that much pain!

We were admitted on Thurs afternoon, the surgeons came in Thurs late afternoon and determined that the abscess would have to be opened up and packed to get the rest of the infection out (our pediatrician had lanced it in the office on Wed, but there seemed to still be quite a bit of infection still there). They did the surgery Thurs around 8pm, he did not go under anesthetic, but instead they put a topical numbing cream on the abscess. I stayed in his room while Steve went into the surgery with him. It only took 10 minutes and he came out a much happier little man! The surgery immediately made him feel better, as the pressure from the abscess was so painful. For the first time in 3 days, he was playing and eating again! It was so nice to see his smile again!

The doctors decided to keep us in the hospital until Saturday afternoon, so they could keep Mitchell on IV antibiotics and monitor his open wound. Mitchell was discharged on Saturday afternoon with oral antibiotics to continue at home. He still had the packing in, but they wanted to make sure that if there was any infection left that it would be able to drain on it's own. We went back to the pediatrician's office the following Monday and had the packing removed.

Mitchell is still recovering, but is doing great. His appetite is back in full force and he is up playing and laughing like his old self. He still has a bandage on and the wound is still healing, but it is looking better & better each day!

Steve & I were so proud of Mitchell during this entire ordeal. He was such a brave little boy the entire time. He was always telling the doctors & nurses "thank you" even after they would do something that hurt him. He went through a great deal, but tried to always keep a little smile on his face! We are so thankful to God that He healed our son and that He is still healing him now!!

Some Mitchell translations

I thought it would be fun to record some of the different words that Mitchell uses at the time for certain things and some of the things he is saying right now. He is talking really well now and a lot (I must here "Mommy" 1000 times a day!) But he still has some words that need some translation, here are a few of them I can think of!

GaGa= Abigail
Oh-Ah-Ah= Monkey
Ni-Nite= His crib
Babi= Paci
Bawk-Bawk= Chicken (Abigail also used this one!)
Jooge= Curious George
Melmo= Elmo (another that Abigail used)

And on to some of the funny/cute things he has said to us in the past few weeks:

Mommy, I go poopy (as he points to his bottom and sure enough there is a dirty diaper!)
Mommy, eye hurt (he did have something in it that was irritating his eye)
Mommy, I go bye-bye

He is also very big into animal sounds right now. He can make the sound for snake, bear, lion, frog (my personal fave), kitty, doggy, elephant, and monkey.

So, all in all, our baby is growing up! He is getting too big, too fast! Last night we found out that he knows how to blow his nose, another step to needing Mommy a little less every day and that makes me sad! He is our big boy, but he will always by my baby!

Some Abigail funnies!

I could really write a daily record entitled "Abigail Funnies" because our daughter is a drama queen and says some pretty funny things, and she is only 3!! So, I thought I would share some recent funnies that happened yesterday in our house!

Unfortunately, the funny things that came about yesterday were during a temper tantrum that Abigail was throwing over not wanting to eat dinner or the dinner that I had fixed. Here is the conversation that took place between Abigail & I at the dinner table:

Abigail (crying & sobbing): I don't want to eat my sandwich!
Mommy: You have to at least try it, you can't just eat your veggies.
Abigail: But I will just eat the bread, okay?
Mommy: No mam, you have to try the whole sandwich, then if you don't like it you can just eat the bread.
Abigail: No mam, I will just eat my carrots!

At this point, Steve & I are busting out laughing, even though we try not to do that when we are being stern or disciplining either of them. But this was too funny not too, she was so upset and being so serious all at the same time!

The next funny came after she had calmed down from the dinner fiasco. She was upstairs putting on her princess outfit; tiara, high heels and all! I was up there and asked her if she was coming back downstairs to play with Daddy & Mitchell. She said "No, Mommy I am going to be a princess in my room for a while, I need some time to myself!" Wow! What do I say to that! I think she is definitely 3 going on 15 and we are in trouble down the road!!

New accomplishments in our house!

This past weekend there was some milestone accomplishments made in the Wright house! First, Abigail has been fully potty-trained since the beginning of January but we have been keeping her in pull-ups at night just in case. She has been dry every night for about 2 months now, so we thought that she probably didn't need the pull-ups anymore and we were right!! She has been sleeping in her big girl undies at night too since Saturday! We are so proud of her!

Also, this past weekend, Mitchell said his first 5 word sentence. He has been talking tons lately and really trying to put words together, he wants to communicate like his sister so badly! So, on Sunday Mimi & Papaw (Steve's parents) were over and Mitchell brought his ball to Mimi and said "I play ball with Mimi". Just like that, clear as day. We all just looked at each other and then made a big fuss over him!

We continue to be amazed with our children and how fast they are growing! They are so awesome to watch and experience all these firsts and accomplishments! How wonderful for us that God gave them to us and chose us to be their parents!

Family Vacation in Charleston, SC

We just got back from our family vacation to Charleston, SC yesterday. We had so much fun! We went down to stay with my friend Jessica & her husband & son-Jeremy & Will. They have lived down there for almost 4 yrs now and this is our 3rd time going down to visit. Will is just 2 months younger than Mitchell, so the 2 of them were always getting in to something and Abigail was just supervising them the entire time!

During our stay we were able to visit downtown Charleston twice, one time taking the kids on a carriage right through the historic streets. We also visited the beach one day, which both kids absolutely loved! Abigail's swim lessons paid off because she was not afraid at all and enjoyed jumping the waves with Daddy & Mr. Jeremy! Mitchell & Will were content to sit in the sand & play with their buckets & shovels, although Mitchell took his fair share of dips in the ocean! Of course, our fearless son went straight out with no hesitation at all!

Steve was able to take a day and go deep sea fishing with Jeremy and Jess & I were able to sneak away and do some shopping at the outlets!! All in all, it was a fun trip! It is so great to be able to get away from home and vacation with our kids. They did great on the long drives down & back and made us so proud the entire trip!

Our Wild Man-Mitchell Alan!

So, we have been spending a lot of time around water now that the weather is nice & warm and Mitchell loves it! We always knew that he was fearless, but around water he is even more crazy! The kids & I went with some friends to the Florence Aquatic Park last Wednesday and Mitchell scared me to death! He did not want for me to hold him or to even hold on to his hands while he walked in the water. The water park has a huge area that is 0 depth to about 1 1/2 ft deep, so Mitchell could walk in it, but he would lose his balance and then fall in face first! I thought a few times of doing that and he would want to hold on to me, but I was wrong. He just wanted to keep going at it, trying to do everything that the bigger kids were doing! Needless to say, I barely made it through the experience without having several heart attacks and went out yesterday and bought him a one-piece swim outfit with the inner tube around the waist. I am hoping that this will at least give Mommy & Daddy some reassurance!

Last night we were at a 1st bday party for Makena Lainhart and they had their huge inflatable water slide set up. Again, Mitchell doesn't see that he is smaller then the other kids and was right in there climbing up and going down the slides! It just amazes us that he is so fearless! Abigail has always been so cautious & timid, especially when she was younger. But Mitchell goes at everything full force ahead! He is climbing and doing things that Abigail is just now starting to do and he is only 18 months old!! We are scared to think what kind of heart attacks he will give us down the road as he gets older!

It is crazy the differences that there are between boys & girls! We are so lucky to have one of each & get to experience both! Life is definitely more exciting with Mitchell in it, we love our little boy so much!