Abby's Tree

For Abigail's first birthday we bought her a weeping cherry tree. We want to take a picture with her and the tree each year as they grow.

Our Two Year Old

Dearest Abigail Faith,

Two years ago today you entered our world. You have brought so much joy, laughter, and love that we could never have imagined. Your smile and sense of humor brighten my days. I am so blessed that God chose me to be your mommy. What a wonderful addition you are to our family.

Abigail, you love life! You absolutely love your family, asking to pray for people by name every night. You light up whenever we say we are going to see your grandparents or your aunts and uncles. When they come into view, you excitedly say, "Hey!!!" You also love our neighbors, the Harneds. You actually seem to be drawn to older folks. You enjoy your peers as well, but family trumps all. Some of your friends are Eli, Ethan, Marcus, Halle, Lizzy, Gabby, Abigail, Madeline, Lucy and Ben. You also love our neighbor girls, Leecy and Ali. You always go over to the fence to talk to them. I have absolutely loved seeing you with your new baby sister. We can tell that Kenzie loves you already. You have shown nothing but kindness to her. There has been no signs of jealousy at all. You try and make her happier when she is sad. You are independent when mommy is taking care of her needs. You are quick to help with her. You want to give her hugs and kisses often and tell us to do the same. I could not ask you to be a better sister to her. Your love for this new addition blows my mind.

You wake almost every morning with a huge smile on your face. You go to bed with that same smile. You sleep really well and go to bed without a hassle. That's been such a blessing to us. You normally sleep from 8 p.m. - 7 a.m. The night time routine is normally done with daddy and consists of brushing your teeth, changing into pajamas, reading a couple books and praying. We pray every night before bed and you contribute. You love your books. Right now you are into your "God book" (beginning Bible) and are especially intrigued with the "guy who bonked on head" (David and Goliath). You also like "Are You My Mother?" and "Dr. Seuss ABC."

Abigail, you adapt to new situations really well. With some new activities you are hesitant very briefly. However, just a little exposure and you enjoy whatever the new activity is. You especially love music and nursery rhymes that are set to music. You love your little piano and sit at it often singing your favorite songs: I'm a Little Tea Pot, Happy Birthday, ABC's, Jesus Loves Me and the Itsy Bitsy Spider. You also seem to love art. You sit at your table by the window and color, do sticker books, and stamping. You enjoy any craft project I put together for us to do. You enjoy puzzles and books. Taking care of your baby doll is a new favorite and you are so sweet to her. You love to be outdoors. Throwing rocks in the water is always requested, as well as bubbles and playing in the water. You are so much fun!

You are an independent soul. You love to be in the same room as people, but you can easily entertain yourself. You also would wander away if I let you. You are not afraid of anything, and I can tell you want to explore the world and don't need anyone there to assist you...or so you think. It's nice to have you want to be near me because you often do. However, I do not need to entertain you constantly. You can easily do that yourself. Your independence has really shown itself lately with you saying, "Abby do it." You want to do and try everything by yourself. You're unaware that you would be incapable of driving a car or trying your own shoe. You always insist, "Abby do it." It's hard to sometimes let "Abby do it," but I love that you are ready to conquer anything.

Abigail, you are goofy. I love that about you. You make us laugh by your randomness all the time. You can put on funny outfits or say things that are so weird. Often times we can watch you when you don't know we're watching, and we are completely entertained. The whole family loves your random humor. You understand and contribute to our jokes. I love that you have such a strong sense of humor.

You have a bit of a strong will that has shown itself lately. You are a pretty obedient child, but lately you've been pushing the limits a bit to try and see if you can get everything your little heart desires. We love you too much to let that happen. We are working to stear your strong will in a way that is going to benefit your throughout your life. There has also been a bit more whining and crying lately, so we are working on that.

You are such a smart girl, Abby. I am amazed at your memory. You constantly bring things up that I have almost forgotten about. Grandma Kern is convinced that I talk to you about all your memories together before we go see her because you always talk about everything special you've done with her right when you walk into her house. You remember it all. You basically know all of your capital letters and are working on your sounds. You know how to count to 20 and are working on counting actual items. Shapes have been mastered - even the octogon. You are pretty good at knowing your colors as well. We played Candyland for the first time today (Auntie Julie gave it to you for your birthday), and I was impressed at how quickly you picked it up...3+ - Ha! You can do a lot of activities that are labelled for the 3+ age group. Your vocabulary is insane. You know too many words to count. You easily piece words together. Full sentences with articles (all the small words like a, an, the...) are developing rapidly.

Eating is not very interesting to you, although you love sweets. Your favorites, besides sweets, are fruits and vegis. You also like adult food. When I try to give you bland kid food, you have no interest. However, you'll eat ethnic food easily. We have been into dipping things and letting you eat things with a toothpick to try and promote more of an interest in this activity.

Abby, I am so impressed with how potty training is developing. You were showing some interest over the last two months, but we've let it be self-initiating. You received big girl panties at your birthday and have been determined ever since. I let you be in your big girl underwear yesterday and you went to the bathroom a number of times with no accidents. I put you in a diaper for your nap but you stayed dry and went pee after the nap. We went out and about after that, so you were in a diaper the rest of the day. Today, you were in big girl underwear all day. You had one accident while we were outside, but you've been great the rest of the time. You've got this thing, Girl!

Abigail Faith, I cannot imagine life without you. You are loved. Thank you for always offering up your hugs and kisses. Thank you for working so hard at being obedient. Thank you for working so hard at saying "please" and "thank you." Thank you for loving so genuinely. Thank you for the smiles. Thank you for the joy.

The Cake

The Birthday Party

My sister is home from Missouri.

We had such a fun birthday party with Abigail's friends. We had a bunch of activities planned but most of the kids just wanted to be in the lake. We are so blessed to have tons of kids her age our church. Thanks everyone for coming!

The Birthday Set-Up

The Fishing Hole

Pixie Stick Necklaces

Making paper lanterns.

Lollipop Pull

The Duck Pond

Potty Training

Today was a great day for potty training. Abigail self initiated successful bathroom attempts four times. She even woke up from a nap with a dry diaper and asked to go potty after about 5-10 minutes after naptime. She went right away when we got to the potty rather than her usual wanting to sit there forever until something comes out. We're on our way.

Cousin Time

Charlie Safari

We had a great MOPS event at Charlie Safari. The best part is that moms get to play too. I was able to jump in the bouncy toys, crawl through the tunnels and slide through the slides. This was Abigail's first trip here, and she really enjoyed herself. She's really working hard right now at trying to learn how to jump.

Kidgits

We discovered Kidgits at the Tacoma Mall at Christmas time. Basically, you pay $5 for your child to become a Kidgits member, and you get to go to the VIP quick line for Santa Claus. So worth the $5. However, you also get to go to a variety of events they put on at the Tacoma Mall. The event this Saturday was for mini-chefs. Abigail was given her own muffin tins, a wire whip, measuring spoons, cookie cutters and bowls for her kitchen. She then was able to decorate her own apron, play games, dance and make a fruit loop necklace that she only wanted to eat. After the fun there we were able to go to See's Chocolate and use a gift card we had on hand. Then, we used our Kidgits discounts to "buy one kids cone at Baskin n' Robbins and get one free." Well, we had a $2 gift certificate there. We basically had a fabulous day spending no money. Can't complain about that!

Baring Cabin Weekend

Our friends, the Huebners, have a wonderful cabin in Baring, WA. We decided, at the last minute, that we needed a weekend away. What a good choice! What a blessing that they were willing to share their fabulous cabin with us. Our good friends, Ty and Rachel joined us, and we were so glad they did. Abigail was so easy on Friday and Saturday, which made the trip extra better. We played cards, read, went down to the river to throw rocks in the water, cooked together and ate together. It was all very relaxing.

Smiles

Who Loves You?

Today I was getting Abigail into the car after she was with grandma. I said, "Grandma loves you so much! Who else loves you?" She replied, "Jesus loves me this I know." I love that she knows that already!

Time Out

Abigail has been pushing the limits a bit more lately. She still is a pretty obedient child, but we have had more tantrums lately. If she doesn't get what she wants, the whining and crying begins. We're trying a variety of tactics to see what works. The current strategy is to let her be in time out until she calms down. She often says she's done whining and crying right when we get into the time out area, so that's good. We had a rougher period very recently where we couldn't seem to help her get a grip even though we weren't giving in, being consistent, disciplining, complimenting positive behavior...trying everything you're told. We're still working through that somewhat. When Abby goes to time out, once she calms down, she apologizes for what she's done. Then, we hug and pray together. There are times when I put her into time out for disobeying, and she apologizes by saying, "Sorry, obeying (she can't say disobeying yet), whining, crying." I've tried to explain she hasn't been whining and crying, so she doesn't need to say sorry for that, but I don't think she gets it. When we go to pray, she also says, "Pray, Whining, Crying." So, we pray for that even if she's not struggling with it at the moment. A funny moment the other day was when we were in the car and I heard her playing with her edible "bunnies" (similar to "Goldfish"). She was having them walk around her car seat and saying, "Walka, walka, walka." Suddenly, in a firm voice she says, "Time out, Bunnies! No walking!" Love that kid. As the Pritchards say, "We love you too much to let this behavior go unpunished."

Kenzie at 2 months

Two months have flown by so quickly with our newest edition. She has been such a joy to have around our house. I recently said that it's amazing how you can love someone so much who has only contributed a lot of poop, spit up, sleepless night, a warped body and a greater lack of independence. However, she is now contributing more than that. We love the smiles she's showing that are often so huge. She's cooing at us, so we're having our little conversations together. She's a very easy baby to have around - fairly low maintanance and very sweet. Her eyes seem to be staying blue but a darker blue. Her hair is still dark with a slight red undertone. She seems to have darker skin. People say she looks more like Jeremy, and I agree. She's checked out perfectly at the doctor. She is 10 lbs 4.5 oz (36%), 23" long (76%), and her head circumference is 14 3/4 (19%). She is growing at a steady and healthy rate. She is sleeping fantastically - giving me 5-7 hour breaks at night. She is awake more but still is sleeping a lot throughout the day. She has blessed me by having the same nap time as Abigail. She is very loved by her big sister. She is very loved by us all.

Potty Training

I think potty training has officially begun. I know the bottom picture is gross, but it's classic. Abby has gone poo poo on the potty twice. Once was inspired when she heard me talking to her friend, Markus, about his successes on the potty. The second one was right before a bath. She said she wanted to sit on the potty. We've been trying to have her sit on the potty for some time with no luck, so when she was on there long enough, I told her it was time to get in the bath. She wouldn't come. I patiently waited when all of the sudden her poop face occurred. She did it! She peed on the potty once while watching a movie. That's been our attempts lately. I need to give the kid more water I think. She seems interested in it...probably because of the candy reward she gets in the end. I'm glad she's shown interest and has experienced success. A new phase has begun.

My Family