Thursday, December 31, 2009

My parents got this toy among others for Abbi for Christmas. This happened to be the one that Jenn opened up for her first. She seems to enjoy it. I of course like it because of its musical and drum influences. Hopefully one day Abbi will grow up and want to learn to play drums like me, or at least be involved in music like her parents!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

I would say that Abbi had a good Christmas. She got a lot of wonderful presents from all of her family, and she got to spend a ton of time with Jenn and I! Jenn took this picture last week at some point when I was showing Abbi the tree up close. Since she loves to touch things, she did well with the tree. Next year should be interesting when she's hopefully walking around and we're trying to keep her away from the tree and total destruction.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Here's Abbi again hanging out with Santa. There were a bunch of pictures taken when we visited and I realized I only posted one on here. With Christmas only two days away, I figured it would be a good time to share another!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Here's a picture of Abbi hanging out on the couch. Working on those muscles that help her sit up without assistance. She's been doing pretty good recently with eating food. We're working our way up to 3 tablespoons at breakfast and dinner. She's up to 2.5 so we're almost there. Once we get her good on the rice cereal we're gonna move on to the good stuff like peas and carrots and other veggies.

Monday, December 21, 2009

I've posted a few pictures of Abbi with us over the weekend on my other blog, but i figured this would be a good place to post some of just Abbi. She didn't mind the snow, I think she's a bit young to get to excited about it. None the less, it was still cute to see her i her snow outfit and to help her make snow angels!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Last month as Abbi was developing her obbsession with putting things in her mouth, we had her sitting on the table while we were in the kitchen and she was playing with some paper. Since she was playing with paper, I figured it was a good opportunity to make her a little paper hat and put it on her. She didn't seem to mind!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

With Abbi getting older she's not as interested in sleeping on Jenn these days. This picture is from when Abbi was just 5 weeks old! She used to sleep on Jenn or I all the time!

However, these past few days, Abbi has had a cold so she's been a bit more inclined to snuggle up to a giving parent. I hope she gets better soon, but I know Jenn sure does love all the extra snuggle time she's getting with Abbi!

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

The week before Thanksgiving some of Jenn's coworkers came over and enjoyed the Ravens game with us and they brought their kids. Evan and Kaitlyn seemed to have a good time interacting with one another, and as you can see here, we put Abbi down with them for a little bit in her bumbo. However, when Evan would laugh it scarred Abbi, so the sitting together didn't really last all that long.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

When we got back on Sunday from our cruise Jenn's mom and grandmother were waiting at the airport for us with Abbi and Jenn couldn't have been happier to see Abbi. She grabbed her right up and hugged her and kissed her and immediately began making up for lost time. I took this picture of the two of them after we finished taking Abbi's 5 month picture.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Personally, I can't believe Abbi has been around this long, it certainly doesn't seem like its been this long, but yesterday, Abbi turned 5 months old. So that means another reflection about her.

A TON of things have changed about Abbi in the last month. The biggest most obvious change is that she now has a tooth! It sticks up pretty good out of the bottom of her gums and looks cute too.

She is still just as wiggly as she has ever been but now when she wiggles it seems to be with a purpose. We still haven't seen her roll over, but Mrs. Debbi says she does it pretty consistently. This past week she learned how to grasp her feet and so now when you change her diaper she's grabbing at her feet trying to hold on real tight. Very cute!

Another huge milestone this past month - we started feeding her rice cereal, the first steps to solid food. We're still working on 1 tablespoon at a time, but she does seem to be making progress at it. Once she's got a good hold on the whole spoon to mouth concept we can move on with tastier foods!

She's of course gotten bigger, which is cool too. Her hair keeps getting longer, and I noticed last night that her head is really getting pretty solid. It seems like each month that goes by she makes these huge leaps and bounds in progress and it just seems unbelievable.

She's talking more than ever now, and of course loves to put things her in mouth. She's able to reach out and take something from you to put it in her mouth which is really cute. And to wrap that all up, she's got an awesome little laugh. When you actually get her to laugh out loud, and not her cough laugh, its really cute.

It's amazing watching a little person grow up and learn new things. Last night she sat with me and cheered the Redskins on to victory. She sat on the couch, assisted only by the side boundaries of couch and father for a good 20 minutes. Playing by herself and watching the game. It was awesome!

Friday, December 4, 2009

Abbi was "kissing" Jenn during this picture. She had taken a breather and was investigating Jenn's face and testing its stretchability!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Big News: Abbi is getting her first tooth! Jenn discovered the tooth two nights ago. It starting to pop out and you can definitely see and feel it! She's been cranky as all get out for about a week now, so thankfully it appears to have been for some good reason. We've been doing good with the rice cereal too. Abbi ate a full tablespoon of food last night so tonight we're planning to up her to 1 1/2 and work our way up to 3 at both breakfast and dinner. Never a dull moment with Abbi!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

This picture is from Sunday. Abbi actually took a reasonably long nap that evening. About 1 hour or so...

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Sunday Jenn dressed Abbi in one of many Christmas dresses. We are thankful to have a few dresses that my parents have bought for her, and then a few more that Tina let us borrow that Julianna wore last year. This is one of the dresses from Tina.

Monday, November 30, 2009

This weekend we gave Abbi her first solid foods. It was exciting and messy for sure. When we visited the doctor for Abbi's 4 month visit we were told we could start her on solid foods. To start with rice cereal and then move onto other one food items like carrots or peas.

So Saturday afternoon we gave the rice cereal a go with her. She doesn't hate it, but she wasn't immediately gobbling it up either. She does seem to have a pretty good idea though about the spoon, so hopefully that will help in the adoption of eating the food and not spitting so much out. Yesterday was better than Saturday, so lets just hope that we continue to get better each day!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Yesterday was a big day for us. We had the pleasure of taking Abbi to see Santa for the first time! We took her to see Santa at Arundel Mills because we heard that we would be able to take our own pictures. The cheapest package that they offered was $20, but when I asked if I could make a donation and use my own camera, I was told that was $5 and I could take as many as I would like, and of course I did!

Abbi seemed to enjoy herself, at least as much as a 4 month old can. She didn't get upset, which we were of course worried that she might do. She was very intrigued by Santa's beard as you can obviously see here in this picture. Jenn was thrilled to be able to take Abbi to see Santa, and I enjoyed it as well.

While I know she'll never really remember yesterday, it will live on in pictures. She looked cute and Santa played his part well. I look forward to the coming years when Abbi will get excited about seeing Santa, and then eventually of course, that fascination will go away and be replaced by who knows what.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Here's a short video of Abbi laughing. We took this about a week and half ago. Jenn is holding Abbi on her legs and tickling her to get her to laugh.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Tonight will be a first. I will be picking Abbi up from daycare because today is the one day a year Jenn has to work late. Its conference day which means she's working a 12+ hour workday to see all of the parents of her kids for individual conferences. So...I'll be picking up Abbi and probably giving her a bottle. I'm a bit nervous about it, but hopefully she'll do ok with just me and won't scream herself to death while we have our first alone DD time (that's Daddy Daughter btw).

And as for this picture - its a shot of just Abbi while she was playing with Jenn, same night/time as the picture I posted the other day.

Friday, November 20, 2009

After we took pictures of Abbi for being 4 months old, we of course played with her some more. Jenn was laying on the floor getting her to laugh and smile when I took this picture.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

She's a growing little girl! Yesterday Jenn and I took Abbi to the doctor for her 4 month visit. She got a few shots which knocked her out pretty good for most of the day unfortunately, but she seemed to do ok. Abbi is strong and healthy according to the doctor. Doctor said Abbi has a strong core which is helping her to situp and so forth. Abbi seems to be developing just as she should, which is awesome.

We were told that we can start her on solid foods if we'd like. So I think the next week or so we will probably start giving Abbi some rice cereal, and I'll be sure to post pictures and info on that.

Finally - Abbi got weighed of course and measured. She now weighs 15 pounds 7 ounces and she's 25 inches long! The weight gain has slowed down a little bit, thankfully, we were thinking she'd be in a 20 lb car seat by January, but now maybe not!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Last week Abbi wore this outfit and Jenn thought she looked really cute, so of course there were a few pictures taken. It was some neat clothes, sleeveless vest and all.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Last week when it was really cold outside we had to make sure to bundle Abbi up to keep her warm. So Jenn put this little hat on her, and she seemed to happy to be headed out for the day. Had to take a picture.

Friday, November 13, 2009

So today Abbi is four months old! Every month she gets older, I still can't believe it. Like I've done the past few months, today I wanted to reflect on Abbi and how's she doing.

I suppose I should start with the newest development, and that is the result of Abbi's first laser treatment yesterday. Things went very well for Abbi, and Jenn and I were able to deal with it. Jenn definitely had some anxiety over putting Abbi in pain when she didn't consent to it, but as her parents we felt it was the right decision.

The whole process only took about 30 seconds. The doctor used a little laser pen to treat the birthmarks on Abbi's face. So that we would know the level of pain involved, the doctor also lasered our forearms. I would equate the pain to that of a needle or pin prick. It was uncomfortable, but wasn't to bad. And, it only hurt for the split second while it happened.

So Abbi has a little bit of bruising from the laser yesterday and it will take her about 7-10 to heal back up. We've scheduled our next appointment for February. The doctor said we should expect to go 8-15 times in order to significantly reduce the visibility.

In other Abbi developments, she is strong! That little girl has got some crazy strong legs. I like to help her get up on her legs and then help her stand, and she loves it. The other night she stood barely assisted for like 30 seconds or more, it was incredible. Just like last month, she loves to sit up and isn't to much a fan of laying down these days. She's also go incredible control over her neck!

As for Jenn and I, I think the pains of a new baby in the house are taking their toll. I don't think either of us ever get enough sleep, and Jenn is pretty much non-stop busy with school work that needs to be graded and otherwise taken care of. There just doesn't seem to be much time these days.

Luckily, the time we do have is made better and more enjoyable by Abbi and her smiles. She smiles pretty much all the time now. Yesterday we were in Target and Jenn was goofing off with Abbi, walking weird and singing to her in the car seat and Abbi loved it. She laughed and laughed over and over. She doesn't laugh a whole lot, its almost as if she hasn't quite figured out exactly how to do it.

The final awesome thing Abbi is doing these days - she is starting to get some great control with her hands. If you put something in front of her she will reach out to you/it and grasp it. She got a strong grip too! She still loves bathtime, changing time, diaper changing and all that. Something she's not to fond of though, a new development, is being left alone. We used to be able to walk away from her while she was in the bouncer or bumbo or whatever and she'd be fine, not anymore. These days she wants more and more attention. So Jenn and I are working hard to try and give that to her and make sure she feels all the love we have for her!

This picture by the way, was taken last week before all the leaves got soaked. I wanted to get a "fall" picture of Abbi and I love how this turned out. Her sticking her tounge out pretty much epitomizes her personality these days.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Today is a pretty big day for us. Today we are taking Abbi to get her first laser treatment for her port wine stain birthmarks. As I'm sure everyone has noticed throughout the multitude of photographer I've put online, Abbi has two birthmarks on her face, on her forehead and one on her right cheek.

Back a few months ago we took her to see a specialist at Johns Hopkins to have the birthmarks looked at and verify that they were in fact port wine stains, and they are. So one of the options that we have is to attempt to have them removed using lasers.

Jenn and I have gone over and over the idea of having something done to Abbi without her knowledge and consent to do so. So as her parents, we are doing what we believe to be the best thing for her. Today, at 3pm Abbi has her first of what will be many laser appointments at Johns Hopkins. Today starts a process that will likely take more than 3 years to "complete". I put that in quotes because there is no guarantee that the birthmarks will go away completely and even with the laser treatment they may not stay gone forever.

However, the doctors told us before that we should expect a 50-90% reduction is visibility with the treatments so we're hopeful that by treating them at a young age she won't really remember, and it will be a non-issue for her as she grows up!

All that being said, if you're reading this please keep Abbi and us in your thoughts and prayers today as we take this first big step.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I really hope that as Abbi gets older and Max gets calmer, they can get along. Right now Max doesn't really seem to care at all about Abbi. He does make some attempt not to step on her when shes in his way, but thats the extent of his efforts. He was however ok with me holding Abbi on top of him while Jenn took this picture.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

She wasn't really stuck, but its kinda funny to think she might have been. Somehow she twisted herself around the other day when Jenn stepped away and BAM, she had put her legs through the poles. She loves to grab onto the sides while we change her in there to. Always an adventure!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Yesterday Abbi took a nap with us in the afternoon and Jenn commented to me afterwards that she thinks its might have been the longest nap Abbi has had since Jenn went back to work. These days Abbi takes short little cat naps for 15-30 minutes, usually short ones and then wakes up happy and ready to be engaged again. But yesterday like us she was beat and took a nice long nap. Looked kinda like this picture.

Friday, November 6, 2009

I took this late last week of Jenn and Abbi taking a nap together up in the office. Jenn and I have been so exhausted pretty much constantly for the last 2/3 weeks. She's still struggling to adjust to working and then coming home to Abbi. The burden of grading papers and other miscellaneous work tasks needing to be done at home just seems to pile up and takes Jenn away from Abbi. So I know moments like this, where she can just sit and enjoy her daughter, and very precious to her.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Last weekend we gave Abbi her first "toy". Its not so much a toy as a "blanket buddy" as its called. Its part blanket material/thickness part toy. She loves it. She puts it in her mouth and slobbers all over it and smiles while she's doing it. We keep checking her gums for teeth because this baby is drooling like crazy and can't keep her hands out of her mouth. Its nuts!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

When I was showing Jenn the pictures that I was posting online she commented that this was Abbi's GQ pose. Completely random moment in time caught as if it were perfectly posed.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

While i was getting the backgrounds set up to take Abbi's Halloween pictures the other day, we sat her in the bumbo chair and Jenn talked to her. As you can see here, Abbi was having quite a good time talking with her mom and was smiling while doing it!

In other Abbi news, a recent "issue" for the Harrah family is that we've needed to get flu shots but haven't been able to. The worthless doctors office kept telling Jenn to call back the next day or later that afternoon. After about 2 weeks of this, Jenn lucked out and was able to get a flu shot last Friday given out by the county department of health.

So that left me still vulnerable. Today on a quick trip to Target to try and get some Redskins pumpkin patterns on clearance (no luck btw), I saw a sign for flu shots. I was able to get one thankfully and now I don't have to worry about Abbi catching the flu from Jenn or I. Since Abbi is under 6 months we had to get vaccinated instead of her, in case you were wondering.

Monday, November 2, 2009

For Halloween we dressed Abbi us as a pea pod. We got the costume from Tina who graciously let us borrow it. She bought it last year, even though Julianna never wore it! Abbi didn't seem to mind being in the costume, but she appeared to loath putting it on!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

If she could talk in such a way to speak with intention, I think she was probably thinking "Oooooh" as she touched the pumpkin stem for the first time!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Taken at the pumpkin patch. Jenn and I took turns holding Abbi as we wandered through the pumpkins looking for a good one. While I was holding her, I of course took the opportunity to life her into the air and see her smile. Or in this case, stick her tongue out at me.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

You know those cardboard cutout things they have everywhere so you can stick your head in and take a picture. Well they had them at the farm, of course, so we put Abbi's head in there and took a few pictures. This is the result.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Here's a picture of Jenn and Abbi taken the same time as the one yesterday, after her Tuesday bath.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Update on the eye appointment: everything went well! The doctor doesn't think that the birthmark around her eye is enough to be worried about. They checked the pressure around her right eye, and it was normal (apparently the birth mark can cause increased pressure leaded to decreased vision and other issues). Abbi did well with everything else the doctor tested her for, and she's good to go, developing just as she should!

As for this picture, which I choose because of her big beautiful eyes, is from Tuesday night after her bath. Jenn got our her duck bathrobe and put her in that. Such a cutie!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Monday I mentioned that we attended a birthday party for the daughter of one of our friends, Sarah. Olivia turned 3 last week, so Saturday was her birthday celebration. Because of the rain, plans changed from a trip to a local pumpkin patch, to painting pumpkins at the family life center at our old church (PAG).

We weren't initially going to bother painting one since Abbi couldn't really do it, it didn't seem worth it. Then Sarah and Corie suggested we do her hand/foot prints on the pumpkin. Genius idea ladies! Here you can see Jenn putting Abbi's foot on the pumpkin!

In other Abbi related news, today we are taking Abbi to a pediatric ophthalmologist (that's a mouthful). Because of the brithmarks on Abbi's face, particularly the one on her forehead, the doctor suggested we have her eyes checked. And today's the day! What nuts to me is that Jenn scheduled this appointment about 2.5 months ago! I'll be sure to update here with results tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Technically this picture, and many others, were taken so that Sandy could see the outfit that she bought for Abbi. Jenn commented to me the other day when she was wearing it that I should take a picture so Sandy could see it. So...mom - make sure Sandy see this.

As for the picture itself, here's my awesome daughter just chillin' on the play mat and sticking her tongue out!

Monday, October 19, 2009

This a picture from last night. I took this picture and a few others because Abbi was wearing some clothes that I bought for her, the first clothes I've personally bought for her!

It was a pretty awesome weekend with Abbi. Its been a week or two since I've been able to spend a good amount of time with Abbi since I've been busy with marching band, and Jenn has been busy with stuff as well keeping us apart some. This weekend because of the rain marching band things got canceled and I was able to attend a friends daughter's birthday party with Abbi and Jenn. At the party Abbi painted a pumpkin with her hand and foot prints, which is of course cute (pictures coming soon).

She starting to make more talking sounds, and of course she smiles more and more each day!

Thursday, October 15, 2009

How about another picture from the other night. Doesn't she look so cute!

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Since yesterday was Abbi's 3 month birthday, we of course got her setup and took some pictures of her to commemorate the event. Jenn wanted to put her in something nice for the picture, so she put her in this dress that her mother made. Then we put her in the bumbo chair and she just starting having a good ol' time. As you can see here.

I thought this would be a good time to reflect again on the last month of Abbi's life and how shes continued to grow.

Just like the last two times reflected on Abbi, I went back and re-read what I previously wrote to know where to start. The older she gets the more she seems to want to smile. When I come home in the evening Abbi is always with Jenn either in her arms, or in the bouncer on the island watching Jenn cook. I find my two girls, give them kisses, and than smile at Abbi to see her smile back at me real big. It goes the same way in the mornings as well. Jenn gets everyone up and then once I'm ready and downstairs I find Abbi and she smiles at me, its a pretty awesome feeling!

As for work, and day care, things seem to have evened out some. She spends part of the week with Grandmom and the other part with Mrs. Debbi, our pastor's mother. Abbi seems to enjoy it, if nothing else, it seems the women that watch her enjoy watching her, which I suppose is more important at this age. Jenn had a really hard time getting back to work a few weeks ago, and she is still pretty sad each morning when Abbi and I leave, but it does appear to be getting better, and slightly easier for her. Lucky for us I have the ability to take Abbi, and Jenn gets the joy of picking her up.

In other Abbi developments, she's starting to sit up. The last week she's been siting up with assistance, last night no assistance was needed. She was laying on Jenn and decided she wanted to sit up. It was pretty awesome. Its so funny to see her sit up or stand up with help because you can see all the concentration going on in her little head to keep it all together.

She also becoming fond of sticking out her tongue. Its not really one of those mimic things, its just something she likes to do. And on the tongue thing, she drools like crazy. Its nuts. I can't imagine what its going to be like when she actually starts to get teeth in, but its pretty wet around her neck these days.

I guess to wrap up on Abbi's last month, its still pretty awesome. I enjoy taking her to day care each day, its a little bit of time when its just me and Abbi, and I enjoy driving with her. She keeps getting bigger and bigger, and learning new things, which is awesome. When we give her a bath she loves it. She just kicks and kicks and splashes the water around, again though you can tell she's really concentrating on what shes doing. Finally, something I'm sure all parents say, she just keeps getting cuter every day. Her hair is growing, but slowly and as such shes always got this crazy hair, and looks absolutely adorable.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Abbi turns 3 months today. Its crazy. I can't believe that 3 months have already gone by. Tomorrow I should have a picture of Abbi celebrating 3 months and I'll post about the last month then. As for this picture, its from the other night we were playing in the kitchen and she seemed to be having a good time!

Monday, October 12, 2009

We've been working with Abbi on different things the past few weeks and one of them has been her sitting up. If we give her some support then she loved to pull herself up. As you can see she's both pulling herself up and smiling! Awesome combination!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Here's a picture of Abbi and I from last Sunday's dedication.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

The title sounds so godfatheresque...this is our parents and Jenn's grandparents with us from Sunday. Everyone was all dressed so nice, there had to be pictures taken!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

This past Sunday, a portion of the service was spent dedicating Abbi. In it, as parents we dedicate Abbi's like to the Lord and we promise to be good parents and stewards of her. We were lucky to have our friends and family in attendance for the event and then celebrate with us afterwards. I've posted a TON of pictures that can be seen here. We took all kinds of pictures of family and different arrangements, it almost felt like a wedding. I'll be sure to post some more as the week goes on.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Abbi making her serious face. I wonder if she was getting a little tired of having her picture taken? Eh...she's to cute not to photograph!

Monday, October 5, 2009

Yesterday was Abbi's dedication and it went wonderfully. We had a lot of family and friends with us to enjoy the dedication, and then many of us were able to get together and have lunch afterwards. It was a good time. There were a bunch of pictures taken so hopefully I'll get those online soon to share. This was taken last week, and as you can see Abbi is just smiling away looking cute and happy!

Friday, October 2, 2009

On my original blog today I posted a family picture that we took at the beach. This is another one of the images taken then.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

The shirt and title say it all!