An Everyday Adventure

Abigail is such a cuddler lately! She loves to come up next to us on the couch or chair and be held, it is so fun!

Abigail had her 18 month check-up on Friday (Nov 6).

Weight: 33lbs 1oz
Height: 34.25 inches
Head: 18.25 inches

She is growing just fine and got herself 4 bandaids to bring home.

We were going to bring her to daycare late but got a call before we left for the doctor that they were going to have to close early because both of the ladies weren’t feeling well. So Terry came home early so I could go to work for the afternoon.

Abigail had a good nap, a late lunch and then the two of them piled in the car to head over to Como Zoo. Unfortunately, they got there just as it closed for the day. So instead they walked around a park nearby, saw some ducks, played in the leaves and shared a granola bar.

“Daddy, why are you taking pictures of me chewing?”

Terry & I were chatting on our way home and realized we were really close to each other and Sam’s Club. We met up there for some free samples, cheap supper, 25lbs of flour and a set of half sheet pans. I’ll tell you later what that last item was for!

We walked down the toy aisle with Abigail and she immediately latched on to a big box filled with a doll stroller, pack’n'play, bassinet & diaper bag. She was so excited about it that she wanted to pick up the box and bring it with us! I had to explain to her that we couldn’t bring it home now and she might get something like it for Christmas and she finally released her hold on it and we walked away. There was a little bit of crying and stubbornness but she did very well overall.

Last Saturday (Oct 31) was Terry‘s 28th birthday. I decided over a month ago that a surprise trip was in order since his birthday conveniently landed on a weekend. I booked the hotel, lined up a sitter and managed to keep it quiet from Terry. Most of his family and my family knew where we were going, even our daycare provider knew but thankfully they all know how to keep secrets!

As the day got closer I realized I had two small snags. The dogs needed to be watched and I needed to pack Terry‘s clothes and Abigail‘s without him knowing. I got ahold of Terry‘s mom and she graciously offered to come over Saturday evening to keep the dogs company and hand out candy and then come back in the morning after her night shift at work. I was very appreciative! I also managed to get Abigail‘s clothes all packed up on Thursday night. On Saturday at 2pm I finally told Terry he needed to pack an overnight bag. He was curious and asked if he needed a swimsuit and I told him that he didn’t.

We hopped in the car and brought Abigail to her aunt’s for the night then I started driving. As we got into the outskirts of Stillwater I finally told Terry that this was our destination and I had to tell him the address of our hotel so he could navigate the last few minutes.

We stayed at the Water Street Inn, in a Water Street room on the third floor.

Terry was very excited about the room and the hotel. He especially liked the gas fireplace and I knew he would so I made sure we got a room with one! Once we checked in and dropped off our stuff we left to go find our restaurant for Terry‘s birthday dinner.

I looked over the list of restaurants on the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce site and checked out all the ones with websites. I landed on Smalley’s Caribbean Barbeque. I thought the food looked good (you can access their menu online), the price was right and the atmosphere looked fun.

Boy, was I right! Our server was dressed as a pirate (now this might have been because it was Halloween) and she kept Terry‘s Diet Coke (or Pepsi?) full (Terry‘s marker for a good server). We decided to go with Pirate Burgers. These are 1/2 pound burgers with 14 toppings (you can pick and choose but you can take all 14) including 3 types of cheese, 2 types of onion, 3 kinds of mayo, coleslaw, bbq sauce, bacon, lettuce, tomato and pickles. I had 7 toppings and Terry had 10. Also included was one side. Terry picked the roasted sweet potatoes with sausage and caramelized pork and I went for the skin on potato salad with bacon and eggs. All of that for only $9.50 each! Oh yeah, and everything tasted so good!

Terry couldn’t even fit his mouth around it!

Both of us by the fire

We were so full Terry didn’t even order dessert for his birthday!

We decided to go walking around town after dinner and try to get some pictures.

Sunday morning we slept in, got some breakfast then drove over the lift bridge and into Wisconsin for a few minutes. Terry was driving and I was in charge of the camera. Glad I snapped this shot when I did because you can really see how steep this hill is!

On the bridge

We found a spot to park once we got back to Stillwater and did some window shopping. They have a new knitting & fabric shop so I had to check that out. Real nice stuff and some of the cutest fleece clothes for kids! I’m thinking of trying my hand at recreating one of the cute dresses for Abigail. We also looked at a kitchen store and a Christmas ornament store. We probably looked at a few other places too that I can’t remember right now.

We walked along the water

As we got back to the car we saw this

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So we climbed up (and got lapped at least once if not twice by someone who was doing the stairs 14 times that day) and saw a beautiful view. BTW, I’d say the stairs were probably 2x as high as you can see in the picture, it turns there and keeps going up!

We convinced the guy that he needed a little break before his last trek up & down so he came over and took our picture.

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We had a wonderful relaxing weekend and I am so glad I could take my spectacular husband away to celebrate!

Though she has a renewed passion for “Rock-A-Bye” recently (not just the song but also being rocked in our arms over and over and over) there are only memories left of her time as a baby. Our sweet little girl is now 17 months old.

She doesn’t sit still long enough for us to simply stare at her like we did in the past. Our evenings have become more fun as we play with her dollhouse, take her doggie on a walk around the house and put her stuffed animals in her highchair complete with bib when they are hungry. She loves story time in the evening and tries her best to copy us when we add actions to the stories. She will start spinning in a circle when she wants to play “Ring Around the Rosy” and she will do it over and over until she can’t stand up anymore!

Abigail is a baby no longer but we wouldn’t want it any other way!

All these photos were taken while we were waiting for Terry and my dad to complete the Flying Dutchman Ghostly Gangplank at the Mall of America.

Terry is at the uppermost section on the right side and my dad is in the middle of the photo about to go across a diagonal section (he’s pretty hidden though). They had a great time but said it was a little scarier than it looks once you’re up there!

It’s a great deal though, only $6 to enter and you can stay on the course as long as you want. If you want to go up multiple times per day an unlimited pass is only $10. Next time I’m going to go up too!

Terry‘s sister Tracey got married on Saturday, Sept 5th.

It was a beautiful wedding and a gorgeous day!

Here are a few pictures he got while taping the wedding.

Matron of Honor (me) & Best Man (Tim)

The beautiful Bride & her father

The Bridesmaids & Flower Girls

The Groomsmen & Ringbearer

Mr & Mrs Gnemi

Congratulations Brandon & Tracey!

I guess I’m due to give a little Abigail update since it’s been over a month since I gave you any pictures of her.

She’s up to 10 teeth now 4 on top & 6 on the bottom. Also, a child at daycare used their teeth to make an imprint on Abigail‘s arm yesterday. That’s all I have to say about teeth. Oh, and she still loves to brush her teeth at night. Speaking of brushing she loves to use my brush on her own hair and Terry‘s but I haven’t let her near mine yet.

On a side note, I have been knitting but I haven’t taken any pictures so you’ll just have to trust me on that one.

So back to Abigail.

At daycare she made me the cutest handtowel for Mother’s Day. Not a great picture of the towel but the cutest pic of Abigail! It’s her footprints in a heart shape!

One really neat present she got from my parents for her birthday was a doll I received as a present for my first birthday!

My mom washed, fixed, restuffed & added a belly button.

She does really like it despite her expression in the photo.

We got a free 1st birthday cake from Lunds & Byerly’s.

She also enjoyed that. Mostly just the frosting though!

Abigail helped Trevor open his birthday present from us and then got inside it (with a little help)!

We took a walk in the park near our house about a week later.

We found a stick later to give her to play with and she had lots of fun tapping & poking Terry‘s shoulders with it.
She also loved the swings!

Memorial Day Weekend we spent camping at Terry‘s mom’s house. We had a relaxing weekend. You can read about the one part of the weekend that was less relaxing here.

Isn’t this a great picture? We worked on teaching her how to throw the “donut” to Hershey that weekend. She’s getting it & it keeps them both entertained!

She is looking like a big girl trying to get past the barrier in front of the stairs. She’s wearing big girl clothes too!

We went to a graduation party in Isanti for a cousin and she managed to get in a swing here too! She also had two of the worst almost overflowing dirty diapers within a half hour of each other while we were there!

This past weekend we had a wedding to attend near my hometown. It was outside and the weather was gorgeous!

My sweet Abigail wanted to run  around rather than sit (who can blame her after a 3 hour car ride!) but she paused long enough to get this picture taken.

These two have been friends for a long long time and all of their friends & family were so happy they finally saw what we’ve seen for years!

What a joy it is to be married to your best friend!

Terry summed it up best on his blog so I’m just going to add some new pictures.

Not too messy!

A new chair & some farm animals.

Ready to open her presents.

Enjoying her birthday supper at CiCi’s Pizza.

Having fun at the Tax Cut Rally.

After feeding herself some oatmeal a couple days ago.

Trying to stowaway in Grandma’s suitcase for a trip to Hawaii.

Both Mommy & Daddy are so proud of all you have accomplished in the last year!

1.  A Sock

2. A Jeep (not ours)

3. A Wedding

& bubbles

Last night from about 5:45pm until 11:30pm I was in the kitchen cleaning & cooking like a good wife.

After spending much more time than I intended removing the skin, fat & bones from 1 chicken leg quarter I fully realize why boneless, skinless, chicken breasts are more expensive. While my hands were covered in chicken goo I asked Terry for a quick hand getting a frying pan down & the garbage closer to me. Then I remembered Terry saying Abigail was playing in her room and my thoughts immediately went to her garbage. It has a lid but Abigail has been really curious about it and likes to pull on the edges of the bag.

Terry hurried around the corner to see Abigail standing up next to her garbage pulling dirty diapers out and tossing them on the floor. As soon as she saw him she tried to close the lid but she had already been caught! I really chuckled from the kitchen while terry deposited the diapers back into the garbage, washed both of their hands and firmly closed the door to her room. I wish we had had the camera ready because I would have loved to see the expression on her face! Abigail is really good at emptying containers, her other favorite is the laundry basket!

Now back to the chicken. I didn’t do a very good job cleaning the bones so I decided to make some chicken stock out of my leftovers. Basically you put some water in a pan toss your chicken bones in with whatever else you’d like (veggies, spices) and simmer for 4 hours. I started with 2 quarts of water,  1 chicken leg quarter with most of the meat off and realized I didn’t have any fresh veggies in the house. So I tossed in some dried onions, 1 clove of garlic, some basil, thyme & celery salt. I ended up with about 1 quart of liquid when it was finished at 11pm last night. I let it cool for about 1/2 hour and then poured it into square plastic freezer containers.

While the chicken was becoming stock I watchedTerry of House, most of 24 and baked 9 dozen monster cookies. Terry brought 2 dozen to work today for a friend’s birthday and I hear they went pretty fast!

Abigail also turned 11 months yesterday. We’ve taken her to a couple of parks recently and she loves the swing! She just laughs and laughs and laughs! She moves really fast and we have to keep a much closer eye on her now.

Here are two pictures so you can see how much she’s changed. In the first one she’s 3 weeks and the second one she’s 10 months 3 weeks.

Yes, that is the same sweater!

Since the Fall of 2007 I’ve changed clothing  sizes a few times. I guess having a baby can do that to you. We recently got a nice size tax refund and a small portion of that was set aside for the procurement of nice work clothes that fit & were appropriate for summer. Most of the items I found will be year round additions to my wardrobe.

The first shopping day I went to Upscale Consignment, Goodwill & Kohl’s

Upscale Consignment:

Dress: $16.00

Gray short-sleeved cardigan: $7.00

Black lacy bolero: $5.00

Red & Black top: $8.00

Total: $36.00

Goodwill:

Ann Taylor dress pants: $5.99

Kate Spade purse: $4.99

Total:  $10.98

Kohl’s:

Clearance black dress pants: $9.60

Clearance gray skirt: $17.60

On Sale mint/brown top: $16.99

On Sale magenta floral top: $16.99

Total:  $61.18

Total for day 1:  $108.16

Day 2 shopping trip I went to Walmart & a different Goodwill.

Walmart (all on clearance):

Black Suit Jacket: $9.00

Gray Pants: $9.00

Gray Skirt: $9.00

Black Top: $9.00

Total:  $36.00

Goodwill:

White/Black Top: $6.99

Blue/White Top: $4.99

Gray & black Jacket: $8.99

Total:  $20.97

Total for day 2:  $56.97

Average Price Paid —— Total Items Purchased

10.49 —— 6  tops

9.00 —–  2  jackets

6.50 —— 2  “over” items

8.20 —— 3  pairs of dress pants

13.30 —— 2  skirts

16.00 —— 1  dress

4.99 —— 1  purse

I think I did pretty well and I didn’t even use the whole allotment! I found some great deals by looking places I hadn’t considered in the past. Next time I go out I’m going to think about the prices I pay even more.  If I hadn’t shopped at Kohl’s my averages would have all been below $9/item.

Kohl’s was the most expensive even by only shopping sales/clearance.

Goodwill was the cheapest but I had to look much harder to find some really good stuff. But the stuff I found (especially the 1st day) was REALLY good!

Upscale Consignment had  great deals and everything looked really good. I will probably stop back there in a couple of weeks to see if they have anything new!