Blizzards, Family, and Abby's First Christmas

Christmas for us was great. We were worried cause Brian was one of the unfortunate ones that got stuck in the Denver blizzard. He was on business and was supposed to be home the Wednesday before Christmas and didn't get home until Christmas Eve-Eve. Fortunately his sister Kristine lives up there and so he was able to stay with her and wait out the storm. We are so grateful to her and to everyone who prayed Brian home.

The good thing about situations like that is it makes you extra-extra grateful for spouses and family. Suddenly all the presents, parties and plans that we had made seemed so insignificant. All I wanted, all I needed was to have my family together for Christmas, and I learned that nothing else in the world matters except being with the ones you love.

We went to Brian's parents on Christmas eve and had a wonderful prime rib dinner (mmm!) and got to hang out with all the brothers (except Elder Kevin) and their wives, which was great fun. The fourth brother, Eric and his family, just moved down this week to join the family business and we're excited they're here! Now we just need for Marianne, Jill and Kristine to move back home!

On Christmas morning we went to my mom's house and had brunch, and opened stockings and presents. I think the whole family was here this time, except for maybe two people, so it was wonderful that we could all be together. I love the traditions that both of our families have and I'm so grateful that we get to be with both families during the holidays.

For some reason I've been super bad about taking pictures lately, especially at family parties. The only Christmas shots I got were of Abby on Christmas morning.

This is Abby discovering her Santa toy. Darn Santa gave her the good stuff so then she didn't want to open the other presents.

Dress #2

I love this dress on her with her little black stockings and shiny shoes. All she needs is a big black bow on her head.

Dress #1

This is one of Abby's Christmas dresses. For some reason we ended up with four. Hey, a girls first Christmas has to be special, right? What a priss!
In this shot, she was shimmying back and forth in her chair and flirting with the guys in the room. Look out, boys!

Thanks to Brian's dad for taking these great shots!

Free Money! (The Repealed Federal Excise Tax is Retro-active)

After a long-running legal dispute, the Treasury Department announced in May that it would no longer collect the outmoded tax, which was originally established as a luxury tax on those wealthy enough to own a telephone.

The IRS agreed to offer taxpayers refunds, which are estimated to total $15 billion.

The Dallas Morning News did an interesting article.

You can look up your phone bills and find the actual amount or request a standard credit depending on the number of exemptions you claim on your W4.

•$30 for one exemption.
•$40 for two.
•$50 for three.
•$60 for those claiming four or more exemptions.

This is a credit, not a deduction, so you don't have to itemize your taxes in order to take advantage of it. The IRS will soon be releasing a form on http://www.irs.gov/.

An additional website is also setup to help get the word out.

http://www.refundphonetax.com

Christmas Work Party

One thing that I always look forward to is Brian's work Christmas party. The party coordinators always come up with creative ideas to make the parties interesting and fun. This year's was no exception and we really did have fun. Any negative comments I may have made on my previous post only reflect my picky, uncomfortable, pregnant self and were not meant as a slam to the company or to those who work so hard to plan the parties.

See Mom? I can feed myself!

Books on the Window Seat

Abby has been really into books lately. There have been a couple of times where all she's wanted is to sit on her window seat and play with the books. The other day Brian was putting Christmas lights up outside and Abby stopped to say hello.

Desperate Measures

We knew that a Christmas tree would be way too tempting for Abby, so Brian built a podium for the tree. It's pretty tall, and looks kinda silly at first, but it keeps the Abbinator at bay.

Abby manged to get a hold of the lights, so we baby-proofed some more. "Just inspecting them, Dad!"

Abby and Ben

I watched my sister's baby, Ben, on Monday and he and Abby had a great time playing together. Can you believe he's only 6 months old? He's almost the same size as Abby! What a cutie.

The Big 30

Ugh. So my 30th birthday was on the 24th. It's actually not that bad to be 30 so far. On Thanksgiving my family presented me with "30 Memories of Mandie" written by my family, and designed and framed by my fabulously talented sister, Missy. All the memories were really sweet and meaningful to me. Thank you to everyone that contributed!

Abby in Black and White

The Stage of Cuteness

We can't get over how big Abby's getting and how much fun she is! This is definitely the cutest stage! (Okay, we say that at every stage...) The other day she accidently marked her face with a watercolor pencil (get it wet and it writes) and so I marked up both of our faces and Brian took a picture. Oh, you can see a glimpse of my short hair too. I'll take a better picture later.

Abby's Favorite Past Time

Abby loves to stand in front of the the TV while it's on and talk to the objects on the screen. Although it is extremely cute, I'm afraid she's going to damage her eyes. Should we be worried?

Deck the Halls

We plan on putting up Christmas stuff this weekend even though it's one week earlier than usual. I guess I really have the Christmas spirit early this year. It's Abby's first Christmas (labor on Christmas day last year doesn't count) and the holidays seem so much more special because of it. Abby's even gotten into the decorating spirit by sprucing up our bathroom with greenery and toilet paper.

Our Big Announcement

We're expecting baby no. 2!

I'm 11 weeks along and the due date is May 31, 2007. We're super excited, although initially very suprised. But we can't think of a better suprise to get!

Aaargh!

Brian and I dressed up as pirates so of course we made Abby our parrot. We had lots of fun as a pirate family. Aaargh!

Like a Kid in a Candy Store

Saturday was our ward Halloween party and Brian and I volunteered to make witches brew, complete with dry ice. (mmm!) We had a ton of dry ice left over and Brian got a little crazy with it. I've never seen him have so much fun!

We Share Everything

It started last week when Abby woke up with a runny nose, then Brian started complaining of a sore throat, then the next day I got one too. Next thing we know, we're both laid up in bed, coughing, wheezing and sneezing on a beautiful Saturday. Abby's little runny nose only lasted for a day or two, Brian's just getting over his, and me? I guess I got the worst of it, cause I still gots it. I've felt so bad I haven't even wanted to blog. Gasp!

Bubble-Doos

Abby loves bubbles, and we do too! Before our batteries died, we caught a couple of bubble-doos on camera. This is the Elvis-doo, or the Ace Ventura.

Not sure about this one...maybe we could call it a fro-hawk.

Abby's new car seat

We waited way too long to get Abby into a convertible car seat, but we finally forked over the money and got her one. She loves looking out the window and feeling like a big girl, and it's so comfy she almost always falls asleep!

Oh! Am I not allowed to do this?

Pumpkin Patch

We went with Scott & Carrie, Mark & Michelle, Carrie & Matt and Deanna and all the kids to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch this Saturday. We had a good time, but boy was it crowded!

Abby got a kick out of all the pumpkins. I don't think she saw the point in all of it but she knows by now that Mom and Dad do silly things.

We thought it was going to be a perfect picture taking day, but then the sun came out and Abby would do this every time she looked up. aaw.

Me and Abby on the hay ride.

We all got a little silly at the end. Definitely time to go home.

Gasp! Abby's actually smiling in a posed shot! Must have been crazy Mark making faces at her.

Faithful to the End: The New York Pilot Trainer

I received this email from a good friend, Nathan Child. Very interesting and thoughtful.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Most if not all of you have heard about the plane that crashed in NYC yesterday, ended up killing a NY Yankees pitcher and a flight instructor.
Once they announced that Cory Lidle had been killed, I was naturally curious to find out who the other guy was. So I scoured the internet as best as I could for info about who this dude was.

What I found was this - before his name (which is Tyler Stanger) was announced - a phone call of a friend of Lidle's, a poker buddy was who was waiting in Nashville for Lidle to show up with a 'friend' who was also his flight instructor. This dude in Nashville was expecting Lidle and Stanger to show up that afternoon, where Lidle and his poker buddy were gonna play poker somewhere.

The whole reason I tell you this is that according to this guy, Lidle said before takeoff that Stanger was a devout Mormon who didn't want to gamble or drink, that he was a straight-laced kid that was an awesome friend and flight instructor. I have absolutely no way to confirm that, but it was apparently straight from Lidle himself that this kid was LDS. Like Lidle, he had a wife and young child (Lidle was 34 and Stanger was 26).

I felt a moment of joy that this dude, although young, was true to the gospel to the end of his life. That in the moment when the world was mourning the celebrity, that this Stanger dude gave his last quiet testimony of faithfulness in keeping the word of wisdom and not gambling, and it was noticed by the guy who was waiting for them to show up in Nashville.

We never know for sure when we will go, but what will someone say about us if we go tragically some day? I wrote this all to tell you how grateful I am, that even though I don't know this dude, that he was an example to me that I hope to copy one day. (hoping that I don't die tragically, but rather as some old geezer - haha)

Nathan

Carrollton 2nd Ward Friends

Thought I'd share that Katherine Packard is 3 months pregnant with their third baby. There was concern that it would be difficult for them to conceive because she had her thyroid removed, but she went in for a checkup to find out when they could start trying and she was already pregnant! Crazy!

Seriously, People

If a baby is wearing a pink shirt and flowers on the jeans, then she's a GIRL!

Abby and I went to the grocery store yesterday and THREE people mentioned what a beautiful boy Abby was. Yeah, cause she's a girl! Finally, a girl in line called her a cute little girl and I thanked her profusely. I mean, Abby is not the girliest girl in the world, especially cause she doesn't have hair, but I always dress her in gender-appropriate clothes, and usually in pink. Oh, and bows only last a few minutes on her head before she pulls them off and eats them.

Don't people know that pink is the universal color for girls? Geez. It didn't used to bother me until it started happening ALL the time.

ROAD TRIP!

Saturday morning Brian and I decided to be spontaneous and take a road trip. So we packed up Abby and a couple of snacks and headed to Turner Falls in Oklahoma. Neither of us had ever been, and we desperately needed an adventure. We took the long way there, through the back roads of Wylie and Allen and then up 380 across to 35. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time being together.

We were kind of disappointed in the actual falls, though. They allow people to swim and so it ruins the beauty of it, and it's pretty hard to take pictures, which we love to do. Brian managed to get a great shot of the falls. He takes great scenic pictures.

We couldn't leave without sticking Abby's feet in the water.

Growin'

Abby had her 9 month appointment the other day. She's 19.9 lbs. and 28" tall now. And she's in the 75% for height and weight. Finally out of the 90+ percentile! She's got four teeth on top trying to all pop through at the same time. That's really gotta hurt, but she's a trooper.

State Fair

Yesterday we went with Mark and Michelle to the State Fair. We road the rail down and missed our stop, so we took an alternate route further south. We went into areas of Dallas I've never been in my life and had a little culture shock. I mean, the state fair is already full of interesting people, so we got a double dose.

We had a lot of fun though. Brian loved the car show, Abby loved the parade and I just loved watching Abby soak it all in. She was such a good little girl the whole time and I'm glad we got to take her. Next year we'll ride the big ferris wheel, we just didn't think it was worth $6 a person.

Abby's first train ride. She made lots of friends on the trip down. I'm not much of a germaphobe, but don't you hate it when strangers touch your baby's hands?

Abby's first encounter with a billy goat. She really wanted to touch it, but when she did, she started to cry. I didn't get the crying picture, but it was SO CUTE!

Each of the floats in the parade played the same annoying song, but every time a float went by, Abby would rock back and forth to the music.

Gabby Abby

For those of you that live far away or don't see Abby very often, here's an idea of what she's like much of the day. So dramatic... Make sure to turn on your speakers. Oh, and pardon my bad video skills.
I can't get this to post right, and it's driving me crazy. Anyone know how I can just get ONE screen to show up?

Life Lessons

Lesson #1: Blogger is slow. Be patient

I had my whole blog entry typed out, pictures posted and I went to publish and it was so slow! I got impatient and hit publish again and then it got mad at me, and I lost everything. So here I go again...

Lesson #2: Trees are not Toys

We've been wondering when Abby was going to really start gettin' around. Well her 9 month birthday hit and she decided to accomplish everything at once. She's crawling, getting her top two teeth in, babbling mamama, dadada, bababa, eyaeyaeyaeya, pulling up on things and pulling down things. Including this ficus tree. Since this close encounter I've gone through the house and re-baby proofed, now that I know what she's capable of.

Lesson #3: Babysitter Finding is Dangerous Business

We needed a baby sitter three times last week, which is extremely unusual. So we got sitters with no problem but at the last minute, two of the three sitters had to bail cause their kids were throw-up sick. Thank goodness we have a lot of family to help us out on short notice! This babysitting thing is tough! Linna and Ginny, glad your kids are better. Missy and Carrie, thanks for filling in when we really needed you!

Lesson #4: Commando is NOT the Way to go!

Some of the girls and I went to Carries house on Saturday while the men were at Priesthood meeting. Abby took a nap and when she woke up, she started crying the "I'm hurt" cry. I couldn't figure out what was wrong until I opened her diaper to discover a suprise case of diaper rash. So I changed her diaper and sat her bare-butt on my lap to comfort her while she aired out, and yeah, you guessed it... she peed all over my lap. It was bad. I looked like I had a serious case of incontinence. It was everywhere. Luckily I was sitting on Carrie's leather sofa so we didn't ruin anything, and luckier that I live in the same neighborhood so I could change.

What a week!

BYU vs TCU Game

Last night we went to Ft. Worth to see BYU and TCU play. BYU killed TCU and ruined their 13 game winning streak. HA! We had a great time!

Thank you Missy and John for watching Abby! You rock!

Scott and Carrie and Mikayla were there, along with the Furnace's, Carries parents and Taylor and Ashley. Mikayla had a really hard time with the noise. Poor baby...


We had great seats! 12th row!

Gone and Back Again

On Tuesday Brian went to Salt Lake City to help his company with recruiting at BYU. He just stayed overnight, so it wasn't that bad, but we sure are glad to have him back!

Does anyone else have trouble sleeping in an empty house without their husband?