Abby--2 Years Old

Two years ago...
One year ago...
And now!

Miss Abby had her two year old check-up today and let's just say it would fall into the "not sensational" category. She must have had some PTSD from her visit to Primary Children's Hospital because she FREAKED OUT the second we walked into the room and she saw a stethoscope. And when I say "freaked out," I mean it! It was the shortest doctor's appointment in history because they could not wait to get us out of their office and we could not have gotten out of there soon enough. Please pray that Abby does not have to return to any sort of medical facility until next year when she is three years old and maybe a bit more easy to reason with...or at least understands the fine art of bribery. I think Greg can take her to that appointment. She likes him better than me anyway, so it will work out nicely for all parties.

We managed to pry her off from the death grip she had on me long enough to discover she is still at the top of the charts in her height, weight, and head circumference. That's our girl.

A few things I want to remember about her at 2 years old...

*She is a delightful little mixture of sweet and sass.

*Everything is a big deal to her and she "needs" everything and she needs it NOW. She has the whiniest little voice (in a cute way) and repeats everything she says about 15 times just to make sure you've got the point.

*She loves stuffed animals and is quite the little hoarder. She currently sleeps every night with her sheep, lion, duck, two Minnies, shark, baby, and beloved blanks and "nother one" blanks. We realize this is not a good thing and are working on it. Thanks.

*She loves her mommy, but she is a daddy's girl all the way. She cries every time he leaves and she only wants him when she is hurt or sad. She collided with a little girl at Church on Sunday and cried "Daddy hold you" until we were able to find him. She loves to ride in "daddy's tuck" (truck) and will always choose to go with him over anything else. She also loves to put on her cowgirl boots and tromp around outside with Greg.

*She also loves Garrett and really misses him when he goes to pre-school. They play well together (for the most part) and Garrett is always looking out for his little sister. He doesn't like to go places without her and gets worried about her when she is not around.

*She is a great little talker and loves to sing. Her favorite songs include (in her words): "Twinkle Little Star" "Monster Mash," "Frosty," "Mad Alvin," "Follow Prophet," "Knees and Toes," and "Popcorn." We go through the line-up several times a day.

*She loves treats (especially suckers), but is a pretty good eater and will eat just about anything.

*She loves books and asks just about every day if we can go to the library.

*Like most little girls, she loves the Princesses and all things Disney. Her favorite movie right now is Rapunzel, but she also has a thing for Elmo and anything Sesame Street.

Abby was a bit of a surprise package for us, but we are sure glad she came to our family when she did. We weren't sure how we were going to handle a girl after having Garrett, but she has been such a joy and we love her so much!

Phillips Family Fun

We loved having the "East Coast Siblings" visit last week and enjoyed just being together. It doesn't happen nearly enough these days. :(

Garrett and Annabelle were thrilled with the skiff of snow on the ground and loved playing outside.

We went to Golden Corral to celebrate Aunt Mainie's birthday. The kids loved the place--especially the chocolate fountain. We loved it when Abby threw up in the truck and we got to re-live (via smell) the whole GC experience all the way home from Salt Lake.

The kids were so excited to see Uncle Mike and Aunt Mal Pal. We also loved meeting Irina (Mike's girlfriend) and enjoyed visiting with her and getting to know her. She is darling and so sweet.

We had a great time at Gini's baby shower.

That Mal is so hot right now... (I couldn't resist.)

Abby loved "Rina" and could have spent all night playing with her jewelry.

Mike and Irina brought back the most amazing cupcakes from The Cocoa Bean in Provo. Apparently this cute little cupcake shop is right across the street from the apartment complex that Mike, Greg, and I lived in while we were in college. It's a good thing that place wasn't there ten years ago...I had a hard enough time just resisting these!

P.S. I didn't resist very well. I think I had a sliver of every single one and it was worth it! Don't even think about asking me to choose a favorite.

Abby is slightly obsessed with "Caffy" and thinks she needs to be near her at all times--especially while Cathy is taking care of Lydia. Abby is such a huge helper and thinks Lydia either needs to be eating or have her binkie in at all times.

Garrett absolutely adores Mal Pal and was so excited to see her. He was especially impressed with her iPhone and asked if she could leave it here when she got on the airplane to go back to Virginia. (You may notice I said "back" instead of "home." Her real home is with us and always will be!)

We took a nice little family trip to Delton Lanes to get our bowling on...so fun!

Greg took this awesome picture of me and said he is going to start a new blog called "Awesome Pictures of Nat" and fill it with crap like this. I hope you're excited. I know I sure am.

We ATTEMPTED to get a nice picture of Mike and Irina with the kids. Valiant effort, but no luck.

I'm sad it's over. Please come home again soon. :(

Silly Kids

Our Abby will celebrate her second birthday this week and is acting more like a little girl and less like a baby all of the time. It's a bit sad, but mostly just a whole lot of fun! With much help from her older cousins, she is starting to appreciate the art of dress-up and I have to admit it melts my heart every time.

She comes up with some pretty delightful combinations--here she is wearing two beanies and three tiaras. Awesome, I know.

Or how about four different headbands? Everybody knows that just one (or two, or even three) will never be enough!

We've had lots of fun cooking in the new aprons Chelsea made the kids for Christmas.

Garrett loves to make "mean" faces at the camera and then giggle at his own pictures. I can't help but laugh along with him, so we usually end up taking lots of pictures every time. Thank heavens for digital cameras with handly little "erase" buttons, huh?

Notice how his pants have a little hole in the knee? Most of his jeans are looking like that these days. I am now officially the mother of a true-blue little rascal (holey pants and all) and couldn't be prouder. Our lives would be so boring (and I would be so "with it") without this little ball of rambunctious energy. Now we just need Grandma Jan to give us a nice little lesson on mending/patching and we should be set for the next fifteen years or so.