Enjoyed a small birthday party for our baby girl tonight...my mom made the butterfly cupcake cake. Super cute!
Abbey really enjoyed squishing her cupcake before eating it!
Special time with Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Seefried
Opening gifts...she got a lot of really nice clothes and a special butterfly pillow and some toys! A really nice time celebrating with family.
Can it be a whole year already? I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by for us. A year ago tomorrow, our precious baby girl entered the world. How richly God has blessed us with this special baby girl and all the beautiful moments with her that we have enjoyed along the way! Here are some of my favorite things about Abbey: her awesome smile that shows her dimple and then turns into a great laugh that makes me laugh, her beautiful blue eyes and her strawberry blond hair, how intently she observes people and how she's not afraid to try new things, how her 4 names have a great story behind them and lastly, how much joy she brings to our lives! We love you baby girl!
Nathan waiting for the ball
Seth is a stellar outfielder!
Seth get's ready to make a home run!
Nathan gets ready to knock it out of the park!
The boys after the game enjoying a snack!
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Yes, we do it backwards around here sometimes. T-ball in the fall for us! Love that Jeff has already spent many a summer night helping the boys with their baseball skills. They absolutely enjoy hitting and running the bases. Today was the boys' very first t-ball game! Love the team that they are on: The Marlins. Jeff is assistant coach and we have parents and a coach all ready to make this a great season for the players. There are 2 sets of twins on the team: ours and another girl-boy set of twins. Really fun to have the boys interact with others their own age. So proud of the boys today...they both had great hits and both scored runs!
Abbey is pulling herself up; check out that smile...so proud of her accomplishments!
I LOVE this funny facial expression....it's my upset face!
Crawling around and I love it when people crawl behind me and "chase" me with hugs and kisses!
So we headed to Sunset Beach for a week in September where the breezes are just right, the sky was very blue and the water was warm. Our first day, we had fun at the beach, playing in the water, jumping the waves and building castles in the sand. Since we have been to Sunset Beach multiple times, we let the boys pick what we would do each day. Nathan wanted to go mini golfing at the volcano course the next day. Last year was mini golfing at the pirate golf course and the year before that at the airplane / helicopter course. The next day, Seth wanted to ride the ferry across to Fort Fischer and go through the aquarium. Both boys got a lot out of the exhibits this year because they were able to relate to what we were reading. We did a Maritime Unit and read "A House for Hermit Crab" by Eric Carle, "The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge by Hildegarde H. Swift and all sorts of books about maritime life--including a couple of books about the Hunley, the Monitor and the Virginia. Really fun day!
Both boys really wanted to go mini-golfing the next morning again and then we headed to the beach in the afternoon for some more sun. We got in some souvenier and shopping time at our favorite store in Calabash, where Jeff always buys me a Christmas ornament in the huge Christmas shop there. Also loved visiting our favorite icecream shop, the Calabash Creamery, where we learned that Abbey goes wild when she sees cows! She can almost say cow. She loved to touch all the cows in the creamery and Jeff discovered that she can suck out of a straw because she kept reaching for his shake. When he gave her a little taste off the end of the straw, she took the whole straw and sucked everything she could out of it! Soooooo cute!
So much fun and lots of great memories for our family!
Grandma with Abbey
The boys helping daddy open his birthday gift. Love celebrating his birthday at the beach!
Grandpa and Seth after Seth made a whole in one!
The boys loved mini golfing and did really well!
Jeff mini golfing
Grandpa and Abbey
Jeff and the boys at the Southport Village before riding the ferry.
Nathan checks out an old gas pump.
Seth investigates a store
Riding the ferry. Abbey is sleeping in the car with grandma watching her.
Daddy saves Abbey from the alligator!
The boys enjoyed the sting ray, the crabs, starfish, urchins, and other hands on exhibits!
Nathan in the crab
Seth in the crab
Daddy hangs with Abbey while she looks at the fish
This time, Abbey loved the water!
Jeff and the boys jumping the waves
A cooler day at the beach....
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But still fun to run around!
Nathan in his new snorkeling gear!
The boys near the new bridge
The old, retired wooden bridge that serviced Sunset Beach.
A while back, Jeff and I decided to homeschool the boys, and what a joyous and challenging decision it has been! Joyous because we have those precious leaning moments with the boys and challenging to fit everything in...including time with Abbey, piano lessons, and everyday chores.
Here are the boys on their first day of school...all ready to learn! I added a picture of Abbey at lunchtime too =)
