Update

Thanks for your prayers for my grandmother. She is still in the hospital - although moved to St. Mary's now instead of Baptist East - where she underwent another procedure yesterday. She came through it fine and now has a coil inserted in her pulmonary artery. The doctors are hoping to get her back on her blood thinning medication soon so the blood clots in her arms won't move to her heart. Please keep her and my family in your prayers as she heals.

Another Video

I've been using my camcorder more lately. I feel like I missed a lot of video opportunities during her second year, so I'm trying to make up for it here at the end. Here she is doing one of her favorite things... naming objects, animals, letters, numbers (almost anything) she sees in pictures.



Uuuuuuuum, that's it. :) I have another video of her at the beach. If you're not sick of these videos, maybe I'll post that one soon as well.

ABCs and One, Two, Sevens

Our daughter loves to sing. The only song she fully knows is the alphabet, so she sings it to us all day long, over and over. No matter though - we love it! She has been doing this for months now, and I finally caught it on video on our way to the beach yesterday...



She's now working on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. :)

She started counting several months ago as well. At first, she had numbers one through eight down, not missing a beat. But lately she has decided that she just doesn't have time for three through six and has discarded them entirely. Now it's 'one, two, seven, eight, NINE!' no matter how many times we say 'one, two, THREE!'

She is so much fun. We laugh with her nonstop and continue to enjoy each stage of her precious life.

Fun in the Sun... er, Rain

William and Abby Kate, Ft. Myers Beach, FL

Vacation with my family in Bonita Springs, FL, was great - even if it did rain (read: POUR!) almost everyday. We just had to change our focus is all. Instead of playing in the sand and waves on a beautiful sunny beach, we played in the racks of clothes and shoes and accessories in the outlet malls. No complaints here!

We did have a wonderful time spent together. We stayed in my aunt and uncle's beautiful condo and the kids had plenty of room to run and play. William and Abby Kate cracked us up the whole time with their dancing, singing, and yelling at at the rain... "go away rain, go away!" Abby Kate loved her Uncle Brian... every time I put her in one of her pretty little dresses - before I'd even buttoned her up - she'd say "go show Bwian?" So cute. We did get out to the beach one of the days and to the pool one or two times as well. And thankfully I took a lot of pictures on those days!

Hanging out with Pawpaw.

Mommy wanted to do sandcastles, but the bucket was much more interesting. I think she could've sat there for hours filling it with sand.

"Hha you?" as William would say.

Running so fast she's kicking up sand!

After a delicious shrimp dinner and key lime pie!

They were having entirely too much fun bouncing on the bed!

Telling Mimi stories on the patio.

Our trip ended in a rush home to see my grandmother who was not doing well. I changed my flight to take us to KY to see her. I stayed for a day and a half and was pleased to see her doing much better when I left. She is such a special lady. I love her dearly and ask for your continued prayers as she is still in the hospital.

Mawmaw is in the same hospital as Dad. In fact, he was in the Critical Care Unit and only two doors down from where my she is now. It was weird (yet so good) to see my dad walk through those hallways. He looks so strong and so much leaner. I just can't tell you how great he looks. And he feels great, too. God is so good.

We're back home in NC now and we are soaking up Daddy as much as we can when he's home from work. Mike was very happy to see us, and Junah was, too!

Prayers for Mawmaw

Please pray for my sweet grandmother (my Dad's mom). She is in the hospital after having chest pains earlier this week. She will undergo a procedure tomorrow where doctors shoot dye up into the heart to determine if there's trouble (forget what it's called). She is in good spirits, but fearful. Please pray that all goes well and that the doctors take great care to fix things.

Vacation!!!

AK and I are busy packing our swim suits and beach towels for a week in the sunshine state with my family. We are very sad that Mike won't be able to come. I feel bad that he has to miss everything. We haven't been able to plan visits to either of our families' homes together or plan a vacation for ourselves in what seems like years. We only travel on holidays together anymore. We are hoping Mike gets a break in the coming weeks, but with his schedule, you can never predict.

The Marine community has this saying "semper gumby," which I hate. Semper is the Latin word for "always" and gumby, well, that's just referring to being "flexible." You get the point. It's stupid. But whatever. I think most people say it with a smile on their face while gritting their teeth.

Anyhow, we will kiss Daddy 'bye tomorrow morning and fly down to Bonita Springs, FL, to spend time with my Mom, Dad (who is doing great, by the way!), Brian, Carrie and William. Thanks to my Aunt Darlene and Uncle Lin for letting us all stay in your beautiful condo! We are really looking forward to it.

Can't wait to share pictures from the trip!

Settling

Abby Kate, enjoying the view from her new front porch.

The movers came Saturday with all our stuff. When the big moving truck pulled up, Abby Kate said, "Oooo, BIG TRUCK!" Followed by, "petter?" As in can I pet the truck? We did not pet the truck, nor did we go in it. If I HAD gone in it, maybe I would've seen the box I'm now missing. :) Mike's brother, Bill, drove up from Wilmington to help us unpack. Thanks, Bill! If it weren't for you, we'd still be living in a cardboard fortress!

The painters come tomorrow morning. I'm so excited to see how it turns out. I'll wait to share pictures after it's painted - and clean, for that matter. Mike has been busy working on his "Man Room." I agreed to let him decorate the upstairs room. So far, he has our old 52" big screen TV in the corner and a desk and bookshelf. What more does a guy need? Apparently a couple of leather recliners and a kegerator. Hmmmm. :)

Abby Kate is loving her new room. (And I love her new room, too - specifically because it's on the first floor. I love not having to run up and down the stairs carrying a 30 lb child 20 times a day.) This move hasn't really affected AK one bit. She has adapted so well that I'm not even sure she realizes we've moved!

We are planning to spend the 4th out near the bay with friends. I'll be sure to take pictures for all you Nicholas Sparks fans. I'm looking forward to exploring our new surroundings a bit more this weekend.

Happy 4th of July everyone! ...and happy birthday to you, Dad, on the 4th.