Wordless Wednesday - Winnie the Pooh Sandwich

The Heat Goes On, Milestones, Tooth #20

This triple digit weather had better come to an end soon because I am running out of fun things for me and Abby to do that do not require layers of sunblock, sweating and me turning any browner than I already am.  I wouldn't even be able to recall what we've been up to if it weren't for the pictures on the camera. 

But first, a few milestones for my benefit:

1.  Abby's bedtime entourage: Bunny, Froggy, Cheep Cheep and Dumbo.
2.  Latest most used phrases: "Why not?", "Can I?", "I don't want to pee pee in the potty" (more on that later), "I do by myself!"  I'm sure there's more but that's all I can recall now.
3.  As I mentioned above, we have regressed in the Potty Department.  She only poops in the potty and occasionally pees in it now.  I've been told this happens so we're just going to ride this out like everything else.
4.  She officially gets out of bed and walks around until she finds us now. 
5.  Instead of reading books to Abby at bedtime (because I swear I read ALL. DAY. LONG. to her), we sing duets together and it fills my heart with happiness and I go to bed a very happy mommy.  I love when she says to me "Mommy, I love to sing with you." 
6.  My little cuddle bug is still a cuddle bug.  I hope that lasts forever.
7.  And lastly, her last molar came out probably 2 weeks ago but I lost track.  It's her top left molar, I think.  :P

Me reading Sleeping Beauty to Abby for the 100+th time.  Luckily, it never gets old for me.

This is Abby's favorite past time.  She has played with her hair while drinking milk since she could hold her own bottle.  Now that her hair is longer, the hair twirling has really stepped up a notch.  We love it.

Abby and Mommy being goofy.

Abby playing dress up in my clothes and dancing with Lao Nian.

Very happy Lao Nian and Lao Yie with Abby.

People think Abby looks like me but in reality, Abby looks more like my mom.  Can you tell?

Grandma reading to Abby whilst she plays with her hair.  :)

This is Abby's "I'm scared, Mommy" face because you can see the little boy coming up behind her. 

Pet Peeve #3452 of Mine: When other parents don't pay attention to their children in a public setting and let them get away with anything - including being rude to other kids.  Nothing irritates me more and because I am who I am, I will let the other parent know.  Hmph.

Abby was playing with this steering wheel and this little boy comes barreling up and pushes Abby out of the way while MOM just stands there and watches!  Abby says to me "Mommy, I was playing with the wheel" so I say "I know, Abby.  But this little boy was being rude and shoved you out of the way so you'll have to wait until his Mommy says something."  It took a few more seconds before MOM got my drift and asked her boy to let Abby finish playing.  I swear.  Some moms are just stupid. 

End of rant.

Chai Tea

My best friend Amee taught me to make an authentic Chai Tea this past weekend and amazingly, I was able to recreate it at home!  She was gracious enough to send me home with the ingredients and I can't wait to make it again to share with friends and family!

Ta-da!

Go, Go, Go!

That is how I've felt in the last week and it's not going to stop anytime soon!  I'm so glad Abby is having so much fun even though I'm beat.  :)  Here are a few highlights since last Tuesday.

As some of you may know already, the Baldwin's are moving to Perth really soon so Abby and I stopped by one day for a playdate.  We're going to miss seeing the 2 cousins play and grow up together and I'm going to miss my cute little nephew so I had to get a picture of the 2 of us.  Isn't he the cutest?

This may not mean a lot to other people but I thought it was so sweet they were playing and their feet touched for quite a while.  I have a weakness for chubby little feetsies!

An attempt at a hug.  Seconds after this, Elliott pushed Abby away.  :)  I think she was in his personal space.

Elliott really wanted to eat Abby's pretend sandwich - yum!

We've been having some work done around the house and the most exciting new addition is Abby's new closet doors!  Her previous accordian doors were all out of alignment so she absolutely loves these doors now!  The next step is to add some elfa shelves when they go on sale in December again.  I can't wait!

I decided to try giving Abby cereal.  Nope.  She later requested Cheerios "with no milk please Mommy!"

As I mentioned before, Bryce recently got a smoker and he smoked his first brisket (and pork butt underneath) and it was a resounding SUCCESS!  In a mere 10 hours, this beautiful 11 pounds of meat transformed into...

...delicious, edible this!  I'd hate to toot my own husband's horn but this is Bryce's BEST "first shot at making something" yet.  I forsee this at a future game watching party for sure!

Today Lao Yie, Abby and I spent the morning at the Children's Museum and Abby had a blast!  I just love this smile.  :)

Shopping in the HEB in Kidtropolis.  Can't forget the cheese!

Checking out.  :)

Short order cook.

Eating at the Diner with Lao Yie.  :)

Lao Yie got Abby a toddler sized watering can and so she was really looking forward to "jao sui" all day!

My parents get a nice breeze in their backyard so Abby decided to just chill.

Then she heard the ducks across the pond and had to investigate.  What a great day!

What a fun week!

It's a constant challenge to find fun things for Abby to do in this oppressive heat.  We managed to have a wonderful week this week and poor Abby's sleep schedule is all off but it's worth it because of all the fun.  We also started work on getting new doors, base boards and carpet in the hall and other bedrooms so that it will finally match the rest of the house that we renovated 1.5 years ago.  Of course, our carpet is now discontinued so we're really hoping there is something comparable.  Otherwise, it's been a playdate, Gymboree Camp, birthday party kind of week!

My little girl....don't ask.  :)

Playdate at Ryder's!

Abby's steering wheel and tire track art work from Gymboree Camp!

Choo choo train art!

This little one has been fighting her naps all week.  This looks like she's ready for a nap, right?  Nope, she fought it and only napped once this week.  Fun for Xiao Xiao, not fun for Mommy.  But doesn't she look so darn cute anyhow??  How can I say no to this face?  I'm such a sucker...

Daddy got a Weber Smoker and Abby gave it a test drive.  :)

Abby taking a ride in the water bowl.

I was always my dad's little helper so I love how Abby is her dad's little helper as well.  :)

We attended Abby's friend's birthday party at Jump On In and our little pull-up baby didn't grasp the concept of using her feet to push herself up but with Daddy's assistance, she was still able to make it to the top...

...only to slide on down!  Wheee!  Do again!

We thought for sure she would nap after the party but no such luck so it was out to the pool again.  Then she proceeded to fall asleep during dinner and was in bed by 6:30 PM.  What kind of schedule is this??  So frustrating when she fights sleep...sleep never wins which means mommy and daddy never win.  I hope this phase ends soon!!

Austin, Daddy-Daughter Time, Tooth #19

This last weekend I went on a much over due girls weekend trip with Ruby and Amee in Austin.  I hadn't been to Austin since before I got pregnant with Abby.  I love how some parts of Austin are the exact same but I think I speak for all three of us when I say Dallas is starting to infultrate Austin.  I'm fine with all the fancy new restaurants and shops but please don't bring the Dallas attitude to Austin!  As Amee said, the "Keep Austin Weird" shirts might be a thing of the past soon.  But all in all, the best part was spending quality girl time together and seeing old friends.  There's nothing quite like it. 

This is only about half of our get together minus the random dude at the top.  :)

Bryce had an awesome weekend being a single-Daddy and these 2 had waaay too much fun!  But I love that they had one-on-one time together because the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, if you catch my drift.  :)  It's Double Trouble when I'm gone - haha!  Here are a few pictures from the past week.

There is just something so funny about a toddler doing the downward dog position (or as Abby calls it, "downward doggy").  This is her latest goofy baby dujour thing to do.

I made Abby a heart shaped pancake for breakfast one day!  This may be no big deal for others but this is thinking way out of the box for me.  :)

We got this huge speed bump/crack in our driveway fixed and Abby is waving bye-bye to it.  She actually enjoyed playing on it since she was little because she could teeter totter on it.  But it's a safety hazard and she's getting bigger so it had to go.

On Friday night Abby played and played with her friends and from what I hear, they were hilarious together!  Abby told me she played with cars, trucks, tractors and dinosaurs.  So different from her toys at home and she LOVED it!

On Saturday, Abby played at Grandma and Grandpa's all day and she keeps telling me she "likes having parties at grandma and grandpa's house" - haha!  So it's safe to assume she had yet another fun day!

It must have been hot because it was a 2 popsicle day!

Monkey see, monkey do.

Abby is copying Grandma except she is laying in the shade of the chimney.

Would you believe this is Abby's first time ever to eat a lollipop?  Well, it is and of course, she loved it.

And lastly, I just now noticed Abby's top right molar came out which means the left one decided to stop growing because I could have sworn it was going to come out first when I checked a week ago.  She's definitely a growing girl!