Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Pleasant Valley Days & Squish's 1st Birthday!
















Well speaking of official things...Abigail Browning is now 1 year old. The time just goes by faster and faster every year. I can't believe it's been a whole 365 days already. She had a birthday bash in Young at the "ranch" while we were all there for Pleasant Valley Days. All things pink and pastel with cupcake sundaes and presents too! She really enjoyed her cake...from her head all the way down to her toes!













Pleasant Valley Days was just as small town fun as I had imagined. Although, we missed the kids roll by in the wagon because Russell Maynard decided to go on a walkabout and just vanished into the thin air and tall grass... It was a good thing I jumped in Grandpa Bill's truck at the last minute to ride down and watch them get loaded up so at least I have those pictures of them in the wagon. Cute pictures too! With the exception of an unneccesary amount of flies it was a perfect relaxing weekend at the ranch! We will definitely be making it a tradition from here on out.




Little Boys, need I say more?













Emi (4 yrs. and 10 months) and Hayden (6 yrs. and 11 months)








Monday, July 14, 2008

Crawling

Well, it's official....Abi is finally a crawler. She gets around! She can even pull herself up on things (i.e. her crib, oh boy!). Only problem is she can't get back down....Aghh, it must be rough learning all the basics! She has also become quite the little biter. Lucky me I have the teeth marks to prove it. She doesn't just nibble, she chomps, with fervor. Hopefully that one won't last long. On a more positive note she can eat snacks in bites, without me having to tear them into a billion tiny little pieces that will get stuck in her hair, creases, highchair, tile, carpet, etc. Pretty exciting all in all!

We had an amazing 4th of July in Carlsbad, aka "Carlsmountain" (Emi had a hard time remembering the name, I think this one sounds right). The new house is perfect and we will have lots of great times there. The neighbors are all great, the weather is perfect, tons to do...It's going to be a favorite spot for sure. How lucky are we? How lucky are these kids! They will get to have all these fabulous memories from all these great adventurous places. ... Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa D.

Just a small recap of our trip: We had a terrific time. We left here early and were able to get there with plenty of time to enjoy the day. We only made it to the beach twice. Mostly because we were having such a nice time just relaxing, eating and exploring the new digs. Plus Abi was kinda a handful in the sand. Let's just say she ingested her annual allowance of sand in a matter of seconds. YUM! Emi and Billy had a blast while we were there though. They loved playing in the waves with Dad. I failed miserably in the photography department. I forgot my camera everytime we went to the beach. Bad mommy! Emily got to spend some quality time with Grandma and that was good for her. They went shopping together and the went out to Coronado one morning to visit with the Craft fam. They went to the beach and had way to much fun, from what it sounds like. For the 4th we crashed the neighbors (Scott and Julia) party. We caravaned down to the dog beach to watch LegoLand's fireworks. Had a great time just hanging out on the beach with the Driftwood crew. Good thing too, because the fireworks were a dismal display of colored fog after the marine layer rolled in!! All's well that ends well though. We went back to the Hill's for an entertaining round of "Rock Band" and ended the celebration. Billy was on fire at the dog beach though. He has everyone wrapped around his little finger like putty. He is hilarious! Emily was playing coy, but once she warmed up she had a blast too. It's great the sense of community over there. Everybody is just so easy to talk to, very welcoming community! Can't wait to go back...............

We're off to the ranch this week for Pleasant Valley Days and Abigail's 1st Birthday!!! I will take pictures of that! Promise.

Oh, by the way......Gas CAN get more ridiculous. $4.55 here and $4.76 in sunny SoCal.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

June 2008


I have really BIG news! Abigail (aka Squishy) started crawling!!! This is huge because I was worried she was getting behind. Must be all the mommy guilt for not taking her to the pediatricians office for regular check-ups and vaccines. I was really diligent with the first two kids, for the record. I drove Billy something like 75 miles round-trip to his doctor after Emily's pediatrician's office fired us. Then I found Dr. Sara and we love her and she's half the distance, but doctors are expensive and that is a luxury we don't have lately. Oh woes..... Anyhoo, Squish is crawling right at 11 months, all most to the day.



More terribly exciting news....Billy actually used the potty today! I suppose it was a total fluke, but we were very excited either way. Seems about right, Abi will crawl and Billy will potty train, at the same time, right in the middle of the summer traveling craziness. We're off to Carlsbad in the morning to see the new pad the elder Deatsch's just added to their collection. Hopefully it will be a great place and we will have lots of memories there!

Update: June 2008

Abigail-
Naps 3 times a day
Sleeps throught the night 6:30 - 7:00
Eats a ton, everything
No allergies
8 full teeth & 4 almost molors
Lots of cute hair
CRAWLS
Still sucks her thumb
Loves her family!

Billy-
Maybe potty training (Mom isn't pushing that one yet)
Still using a binky
Stopped napping
Hungry all the time
Loves trains