Minnesota in May

This past week we took a mad-dash trip to MN to attend Liza and Dave's wedding. Congrats to a beautiful couple! Watching them really makes you see what it means to have friendship in your relationship. The wedding was absolutely beautiful and the reception a lot of fun! In addition to the wedding, we got to spend the entire long weekend w/my brother's two girls and then he and his wife as well as my parents. More time with extended family was squeezed in when possible. So many fun pictures were taken, but of course I'm not going to make an entire album on our blog. One of the most precious sequences of photos I took all weekend was "peekaboo". While having dinner at the wedding reception, Steven started playing peekaboo (using a linen napkin) with Abi. She finds this game VERY entertaining right now. Pretty soon, both Michaela and Danielle were playing peekaboo also... by pulling their dresses up over their heads! It was absolutely precious!

In the blink of an eye

Everybody warns about how fast they grow up and life changes. Today was one of those days. Abi played shy at daycare when I dropped her off but never fussed. When Daddy picked her up, she had only had a half hr afternoon nap and didn't nap the rest of the afternoon. At dinner, she attempted to blow a raspberry w/a mouth full of food, but when she got a stern look from both Steven and I and I told her "Abi stop. We do not do that," she stopped(!). In the bathtub, she figured out that she could maneuver to the drain if she rolled to her tummy and open in up (?!) and then maneuver back into a seated position. Wow, where did all of those behaviors come from?!... It's been a busy last week for us all and is just the start of a rat race we will call June. Thankfully, Steven is done w/doubles for awhile, we enjoyed conversation over dinner and are very much looking forward to a few chances to get away together in the next 3 weeks!

Walking buddies (pseudo commercial)

SDAO is going to have a Portland to Coast relay team again this August! Since I WON'T be 9 months pregnant, I'm excited to be on the team! But in getting assigned my legs of the relay, I realize I'm not quite in shape to do each of my 5.5mi+ legs (one of which is all up hill) at a very brisk pace. So each night if the weather is cooperating and there isn't a ton on the "to do" list, Abi and I hit the pavement (Buster in tow most of the time too). I had no idea that when my Mom insisted that we get a Bob stroller, that I would completely agree that it is the ONLY way to go for a stroller!! We're excited to be going to San Diego as a family in a few weeks and I was absolutely ecstatic to read that the airline we're flying will allow us to check in both a carseat AND our favorite stroller (gate check) w/out any charges. We've gotten rather spoiled so the thought of renting something other than a Bob for San Diego Zoo and Balboa Park wasn't exactly appealing. Here's a pic of Abi chillin' in her Bob this Sunday evening: She's quite the ham and smiled for the picture on cue, but was snoozing within 100 yards.

Very Special Mother's Day

Not only was it my first Mother's Day with a child, but we had the joyous event of Abigail being dedicated at Mountain View Community Church (our church home). Although much of our family live far distances from us, today was another reminder of how God has filled our life with love regardless. Grannie and Papa Guchi and Auntie Stephie joined us as well as a plethora of great friends. One of those wonderful friends is Karen Lais who is a musician. Here is the video of Abi's dedication (smiled on cue for Pastor John of course!) and a snip of the song that Karen sang for Ms. Abi.