Abby's First Haircut

Yes, that's correct. Abby is nearly 4 years old and is just now having her hair cut. She has had it trimmed before by a non-professional (me), but this was her first trip to a "salon". I went first and Abby was FULL of questions....well, when is she not? I was curious to see how she would do. She went with me about a year ago to get my haircut and burst out crying when she looked at the place. This time, she did really well...she even went with the shampoo girl and had her hair washed all by herself! Mom/Daughter manicures here we come!!!

Ta-Dah!! Finished product. CUTE!!

Norton Art Gallery - Shreveport, LA

While visiting my parents, we went to the Norton Art Gallery to take some pictures.

Abby kissing the pig statue.

Then it turned into Abby's personal photo shoot. I guess she's developing her portfolio.....

Work it...own it....

The Dallas Zoo

Abby and Dan climbed to the top of a rock...this is Abby's "I'm super cool" dance.

Learning about turtles.

The car ride home. It was a fun day!

Maddie's 1st Birthday!!!

Spring has sprung! Our Maddie is one! We had a "Spring" themed party. Hence, the cupcake flower cake.Elaine (Dan's mom) and Ray (her husband) were able to come to party. Thanks for coming, Nanna and Pops!

Maddie LOVED the cake! Mostly the icing.

She also enjoyed eating the wrapping paper.

Abby helped open presents (of course). Maddie said "thank you" to everyone. Well, she stood and looked at them and thought it.

We then went to my parents house for another birthday celebration the next weekend.

Oh, yeah...she knows what's coming. Bring on the cake!!

Thank you for my cute new clothes, Pawpaw and GG!

Please Pray

When I was pregnant with Maddie, there were several of us at my school that were pregnant (4 total), and we were all having girls. Kate Wallace delivered her baby girl, Nora, a few weeks after I had Maddie. Recently, her husband, Dustin, has been involved in an accident and has required several surgeries (mostly to his pancreas). It looks like he's going to be okay, but will have a long road of recovery ahead of him. Please pray for them!
www.kateanddustin.blogspot.com

Mission: Stranger Danger Status: Failure

Okay, so I saw on Oprah a while back (yes, I know she could possibly be 1/3 of the unholy trinity, but it was quite a while back) where they set kids up to see if they would leave with strangers. I always thought to myself that I would try that should I ever have children. Well, the opportunity arose today. We went to the park to have dinner (Sonic - it is half price burger Tuesday) and Abby was playing on the playground. I approached an unsuspecting woman to see if she would try to lure my child off of the playground. After she recovered from her surprise and hesitation, she agreed to help me...if I did the same for her little girl. She walks up to Abby, tells her she is a pretty little girl, and asks her some questions. Abby tells the lady her name and says, "yes" she does want to go with this lady. WHAT!!?? Note to self - more stranger danger teaching!! Me and the nice lady (Monica) confront Abby and she starts to cry (Abby, not Monica). Good - it's always good to reinforce a lesson with some tears, right, Dad?

So, then it's my turn with her daughter (who is a little older - 1st grade). I walk up to her, tell her I like her cute jacket, and ask her if she wants some candy I have in my car. (yuck - I feel so dirty!) The girl politely says "no, thank you". I then say, "come one, just come with me over here", and start walking toward the parking lot - away from her mom. She starts coming with me! Her mom was shocked. Needless to say, she got a lecture.

Point being - always talk to your children about strangers! Practice, set them up! You can never be too sure!

January 09

January has been slow - which is good. Here are some pics of the Reinhards hanging out - literally. Dan had Maddie in the carrier, and Abby wanted to try it. Yep, she still fits.

We had an ice day a few weeks ago. Dan and Abby built a "fort". Lots of static in that fort.

Maddie is growing up so fast. She is 10 1/2 months old. Here are some of the things she can do: wave, shake her head (they learn "no" quickly), play peek-a-boo, and pull up on furniture and cruise. She can sign "more", "finished", and "water". She has one syllable "words" for bottle (this was her first word), bye, and more. She's learning "dog" right now. What happened to "Mama" and "Dada"? She loves eating, but prefers her finger foods to being fed with a spoon. We tried asparagus tonight and it was a hit!

Abby is growing cuter and sweeter by the day! We were talking about the rain the other day. Of course, she was asking "why", "why", "why"? I told her that God made it rain because the lakes and rivers were thirsty. After a moment, she asked, "they have mouths?"

She is so positive. We asked her the other day if her ice cream was good. Rather than yes, she said, "it's great!". She then told us later that evening that she was going to have a WONDERFUL day tomorrow. She is so sweet. (Most of the time) :)