Video of Abby walking!

Abby has been walking for a couple of weeks now and I FINALLY got a good, short video of her in action.  Enjoy! 

Happy 1st Birthday, Abby!

Abby's real birthday isn't until April 23 but we had a family birthday party this past Saturday and it was sooo much fun!  :) 

We got her some balloons and she just LOVED it!  She played so much she eventually got static in her hair.  :)

Abby still remembered how to open gifts from Christmas and she got lots of fun new toys!  Thank you everyone!  :)

 

We took the wagon out for a test drive and Abby REALLY loved it!!

Grandma made a little heart shaped cake for Abby and she ate it up!  Those that know me know that I have slight OCD tendancies so watching her grab the cake, squish it between her fingers and shove it in her mouth was such a challenge but we all survived.  :P  Happy Birthday Abby!  Mommy and Daddy love you very, very much! 

 

Whole Milk Baby = Gassy Baby, Walking!

*Gasp* our little Abby will turn 1 in 11 days!  We decided to start transitioning her to whole milk (which is MUCH cheaper than formula) last night and the only major observation I've made is that she has the best little farts!  Teehee - is it normal for a mom to think their child has cute farts?? 

On another milestone note, I'm not sure if this is premature but I think we officially have a walker!!  She's totally got the whole standing thing down for a few weeks now and in the last 2 weeks she's been regularly taking anywhere from 1 - 8 steps at a time.  It started out with a few steps a day and now she seems to be walking 10 - 12 times a day.  The definition of walking is the act of traveling by foot and that's what she's doing to get from Point A to Point B so we decided to declare Abby a walker!  Woohoo! 

What have we been up to?  Well, let's see....

Helping Daddy pick out a wine with dinner

Reading a book with Grandma

Helping Mommy with laundry

Helping Mommy sort...

Look!  Matching socks - good job!

This goes in the kitchen, Mommy!

Somewhere between then and now, the helping became more work.  :)

Abby loves to give kisses and she does the open mouth kiss so this bib seems so appropriate.  She's such a good stander and walker - we're so proud of you Abby!

First cousin play date!

GOOD MORNING!

Our little Xiao Xiao decided to wake up at 3 AM and tossed and turned with me until 4 AM when I handed her off to her Daddy.  No crying, just tossing and turning.  Then she started asking for her nai nai (milk) so I made her a bottle which usually leads to a sleepy baby but today, she decided to wake up completely and start playing.  So this is a picture of her at 4:20 AM today.  Normally we would be dog tired and slightly irritated but she is being so darn cute!  She's kissing us, hugging us, making fart noises with her mouth, saying ma-ma and da-da - just general cuteness that cannot be ignored.  She has successfully messed up everyone's schedule today.  Daddy is going to get to work SUPER early but that just means he'll be home sooner - yipee!  Might as well make breakfast now.....

Eating and Drinking our way through California

As I mentioned before, Bryce and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a 4 day trip to California this past weekend.  :)  It was sooo difficult leaving our little baby behind for so long but somehow we managed.  Both Bryce and I had dreams about Abby while we were gone too - we missed her so much!  But as we all know, it is 1,000 times easier to travel without a baby.  Pathetically, yet lovingly, we found ourselves talking about Abby for a lot of the trip (i.e. "I love it when she does [fill in the blank]" or "Ohh, don't you miss her kisses?" etc.).

We began our trip by landing in Ontario and bee-lining to the nearest In and Out.  Man, it was delicious.  I never had animal style fries as well so I indulged this one time.  And by one time, I mean ONE TIME.  I repeat, I will never eat another animal style fries again.  While it tasted yummy, I could feel by veins clotting with each bite. 

Before you ask, yes, I ate a Double Double as well.  Never again, yet oh-so-yummy!

Then we drove 80 miles to Escondido, CA - home of Stone Brewing Company.  They are known for brewing "big character" beers and they aren't kidding.  You must love hops to really enjoy a pint or three.  The brewery also has a wonderful restaurant connected to it called Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens where we further indulged ourselves on beer based organic, garden fresh dinner.  I enjoyed a Stone Pale Ale while Bryce had a Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale followed by the infamous Arrogant Bastard Ale.  Our meal was equally delicious and the ambiance couldn't have been better. 

Sublimely and Pale Ale

One of the few pictures of the 2 of us...we're so bad about taking pictures of ourselves.  Thanks waiter dude!

Stone-Style Soft Pretzels and Artisanal Sausage Times 4

I had the 3 BBQ Duck Taco with pineapple habenero salsa and a side of seasonal veggies

Bryce had the Salad Formerly Known As Caesar with Grilled Jidori Chicken

The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn and drove another 80 miles to Long Beach just to have breakfast at Schooner or Later.  This restaurant was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives so we had to order "The Mess" and see what all the hoopla was about.  Let's just say, it was worth the drive.  :)

We got up so early so we could make our Hearst Castle tour time of 1 PM all the way in San Simeon, CA so we drove another 260 miles and made it with there with 45 minutes to spare.  I say "we" but really I drove the entire trip because, well, let's just say we did it to keep the peace and because I'm a more "efficient" driver than Bryce.  :)  We made several cross country family road trips growing up and I think I'm just really like my dad: we both enjoy driving long road trips.  I think it's very calming and therapeutic.  Anyhow, here are a few pics of the Hearst Castle.

Then we immediately drove 60 miles due west to Paso Robles, CA where we went wine tasting on our honeymoon 5 years ago.  We were able to squeeze in 3 tastings and then headed to our anniversary dinner at a new restaurant called Il Cortile Ristorante.  Again, the food was perfect and extremely authentic to Italy (per Bryce who has been there twice).  We continued to indulge ourselves.

Grilled octopus with fresh vegmarinati in a spicy vinaigrette

Pappardelle al ragu de cinghiale or

"Homemade pappardelle with wild boar and porcini mushrooms"

Beef cheek ravioli with porcini and truffle oil

Filetto al pepe verde or

"Filet mignon with a green peppercorn sauce"

We spent the next day wine tasting all day and thoroughly enjoying the beautiful view and perfect weather.

                                        

That's it!  In 4 days we managed to do a lot and put 850 miles on the rental car.  We tried hitting up In and Out one more time on our way to the airport but it was closed because of Easter Sunday.  We ended up eating at Fat Burger which is not worthy of a blog picture or description.  But I can't post without a quick Abby picture so here it is - it's her new trick!  *sigh*  I just love her so much and I hope she never changes.  :)

Happy Easter!

This past weekend Bryce and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary by making a trip to California sans baby (stay tuned for next post) so Grandma and Grandpa had the pleaesure of babysitting Abby and celebrating Abby's 1st Easter with her!  :)  Because we missed all of the fun new firsts, I couldn't decide which pictures to post so you'll kind of get to see them all.  This first picture is not Easter related - I just thought my xiao xiao looked super cute.  :)

Grandma did a wonderful job introducing Abby to Easter eggs.  :)  She even has her own little basket and eggs filled with goodies!  You can see our ever observant baby is thoroughly inspecting all things new to her.  Look at the intense concentration!  [Click on the picture to enlarge]  

                                      

Grandpa showed Abby how to dye Easter eggs and she looks like she's having so much fun!  Thanks Grandpa! 

                                   

Now that we've had practice with eggs, here comes the fun part of Easter egg hunting!  Good job finding all your eggs Abby (with Grandma's help)!! 

Abby got her very own Easter egg basket and her first bunny!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for making Abby's 1st Easter such a success!