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)

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.

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

So I as we all know I am not the best at keeping up with my best intentions! More directly keeping up with tracking my sweetest babies developments and milestones as she marks them. Two whole months have passed since I last logged in to update and since I seem to have digressed into just tracking everyone's doings instead of only hers. Here's the latest and perhaps I will get to spend some more time going backward and adding things as I think of them later!

We went on the annual Smith Family Reunion Trip last week. A family caravan (in a van) to the beautiful San Juans in the Rocky Mountains. Vallecito Lake to be more exact. We had a great time with a few minor exceptions....First gas could not be moreridiculously priced ($4.15)although with a whole summer full of roadtrips ahead of us I imagine it will. Next the picture in the brochure of our humble accomodations must have been about 35 years old because the actual Pine River Lodge looked nothing like the glossy brochure they sent! We rented one of the smaller cabins, 395 sq. ft. It had 2 bedrooms with queen sized beds and a kitchen with a fridge that didn't work when we arrived (at 8:30PM). It was clean though, which was it's saving grace otherwise I probably wwould have raised a he** over the fact that the steps t othe door were a serious safety hazard and the porch light didn't work and whwn you laid down in bed your feet were higher than your head! All in all, the first night we were there Bill & Zaira had everyone over for some amazing tapas. My new favorites, small corn tortilla with Ranchero cheese, a slice of avacado and some tomatillo salsa. Everything seemed great the kids went to bed just fine and I was able to sneak next door to visit. Then we came home to go to bed an Abi woke and progressed to screaming like we were pulling off her toes until 4:38AM. Made for a pleasant next day! Who knows why, could have been her teeth....She went from being dracula baby with two teeth on the top and bottom to having an almost full set overnite, it felt like it anyway! Or, it could have been that days later she finally went poo, it was ugly. Poor girl was constipated! Or, perhaps an altitude problem like all of the elder family members seemed to have at 8,000 feet. Who knows! She did settle down a little more each day until it was time to go home and she was back to her usual happy self. Isn't that the way it goes! Everyone else had a blast. The kids were good and no one got hurt on the 50 year old playground with metal equipment, splinters and no rails. The food was as always delicious and filling. The scenery was unparralled!

On our way home we stopped in Durango for coffee and noticed the train was about to leave the station...Huge news for a 2 year old boy. So, we jumped out and waited along the sidewalk for it to pass. Billy was so excited. I must admit it was pretty cool!

So, as I mentioned Abi now has 8 teeth. They are all at different stages of newness though and still look pretty silly. She has a ton of hair that looks so pretty with a bow. She is eating table food and loving it. Formula is now a thing of the past, whew! And she is still not crawling....

Father's Day was yesterday, June 15th. We hada really nice day at home working on our "Home-Improvement Sunday" chores. Poor Dad! We went and met the Walker clan at Buca for dinner though and that was a good time. Great Grandma and even Grandpa came.

Abi 11 months:

- 8 teeth

- sleeping thru the night

- 2 naps a day

- not crawling, but rolling

- pulls up to standing

- sits from laying down

- eats table food (loves)

- drinks milk (Yea no more formula!)

- seems to be a mama's girl....

May 2008

MAY 2008

Crazy month. Things seem to go by so fast. We had some amazing weather this month, for AZ in May. Snow up north and relatively cool temps down here, so we've ben trying to get out to the park or splash pad at least once or twice a week. Enjoy it while we can! Exciting things we've done this month would include: A trip to the ranch with Grandma & Grandpa D. There was snow on the rim and rain in the valley. It was great! Travis came home Thursday night and told the kids there was snow at the ranch and we would go see it. They slept in their boots and coats! Not excited at all, really! Billy kept saying, "I want to go to the 'now." Abi was a pretty good sport, she didn't seem to mind the cold air at all. We had a relaxing time visiting with friends and family. We moved Abi into a big girl seat that faces forward (shh, don't tell, she's supposed to be 20lbs. & 1 year). One outta two isn't bad!

Abi 10 Months

- 4 Teeth - 2 up, 2 down

- sleeping though the night

- 2 naps a day

- doesn't like sleeping in the car

- eating solid food

- still not crawling

- waves bye bye

- says Dada, Mama

April Update

So it's been awhile since I've had anything to report! I suppose no news is good news. I was able to escape my family for a long weekend in Prescott with the girls and came home to a clean house. Nice surprise!
Have I mentioned Abi's dracula teeth yet? Her two bottom front teeth appeared right at the five month mark and then nothing....Until the vampire teeth showed up that is. So she has the bottom front and now she has her "i" teeth on the top, but no front teeth up there yet. Not even any sign of them....Poor girl, I just hope they are actually there. We seem to be in the midst of a teeth crisis around here lately.
Emi took Jeeps to school for show'n tell on Monday. She was so excited to bring him. All I heard for the three days prior were, "when will it be Monday, is it time to take Jeeps yet and when can I bring Jeeps to show n' tell?" As it turns out I needed some impromtu dental work and was in no shape to do anything so Travis had to take Jeeps to school. I only wish I had been coherent enough to remind him to take the camera because I can only imagine her excitment to see Jeeps and Daddy.
Gotta go Billy is downstairs eating marshmallows.

Papa's Shop Move

Papa moved into his newest shop this weekend and we all lended our moral and in some cases physical support. The Walkers, Pezzelle's and Deatsch's. He was moving from Mesa (McKellips & 202) to 35th Ave & Indian School. Billy had an absolute blast. There was (in order of importance) sawdust, trains, snacks, wheely carts & dirt. Boy heaven! It was also Abi's first trip to Papa's shop. She was not as impressed. I remember Emi's 1st trip to Papa's shop...We were helping him make our dining table in December of 2003. She was a good sport as long as she was the center of attention, Papa didn't look at her and there were no loud noises. Abi's reaction was pretty similar, not quite as dramatic, but similar none the less. She just didn't have any of the above mentioned treasures to keep her busy like Billy did. She did have a great time dancing to Quiet Riot's Come on Feel the Noise. There was some shaking, lassos and her first flashing. Everyone thought it was pretty funny. I also noticed she is getting some more teeth. Her I teeth on top, weird huh? She might look kinda funny with the 2 bottom center teeth and fangs up top!
Billy brought along his little CAT front loader and he was perfectly happy to lay on his tummy amidst all the sawdust driving his tractor. Classic Billy. He also went bizzerk for the trains that run across the street from Dad's new place. They blow the horn right as they're passing Indian School so as you hear the horn everyone has to drop what they are doing and run to the driveway to watch the trains go by. He loves trains, I love that.