Family Living: Abbott Style

My wallet is MIA.  I am so frustrated by this.  Actually a little surprised this is the first time I lost it.  So I am lucky in that I suppose.  But I feel so lost.  I have no identity. I think Bank of America sets up security questions just for fun.  I, of course, was calling in my debit card lost/stolen.  And he was asking me questions like, what is the number on the card.   Umm..not sure...I lost it. What is your driver's license number? Nope lost that too.   Where was check number 1087 written to?   I have no idea.  But I can guess if you would like?    I seriously wasn't trying to be a pain.  What's your husband's date of birth? CRAP, I always suck at that one too.   What is your husband's mother's maiden name?   Smith .  Done.  Got that one. I appreciate the fact that they are trying to be secure, but I am not sure why someone would call and cancel someone else's card jus...

Haley is not a cuddle bug like her momma would like, but every once in awhile...she prefers chilling on the sofa with mom over nap time.  You won't see me complaining.....perfect way to kick off the weekend....here's a few pics of Haley

6'6'', 350lbs., male....  That is the description of possibly the nicest person I have ever met. Let me try to set this up. Haley and I were doing our grocery shopping at Aldi's.  From half a store away, I heard a loud boisterous voice greeting the checkout employee.  I smiled to myself, thinking how nice it is to live in the Midwest where everyone is so friendly... Unfortunately, my perspective quickly changed.  I heard the same booming voice greet several people throughout the store.  I started to take notice of this unusual scene.  One thing stuck out, people's response to this gentleman.  He greeted each person with some variation of: Beautiful day!  Are you having a great day?  or Great day isn't it!!  Are you having a great day?   I noticed that the majority of people wouldn't even look at him let alone response to his simple, friendly greeting.  During his shopping trip, he literally said hello,...

Ahh Friday once again.  I am so ready for the weekend. So last night, I was so exhausted that I actually couldn't sleep.  At 10, I decided to get up and make a coffee cake.  Kinda random, but it turned out pretty good.  Then I decided to turn the charm on and try to convince Ian to get up with Haley so I could get some sleep.  He agreed. And guess what, she slept in.  Really kid.  I had to be up by 8:30 to get ready for my shift at the tanning salon.  I started to stir around 8 and noticed Ian wasn't up yet so I wondered if the monitor was turned up.  I checked it, and sure enough it was on and loud, and I heard...nothing.  She wasn't even cooing or stirring yet.  Figures.   So it is Friday, which means I am at the tanning salon for a few hours.  Nothing too exciting about that besides the fact that it is pay day Friday.  If you get bored, you can always call the salon and hang up on me or solicit to me. ...

Man, it is absolutely beautiful outside.  Hard to have a bad day on a day like today.  I'm absolutely exhausted this morning, but I feel like I got a lot accomplished.  Besides being exhausted, I am in a great mood.  & despite it being a ponytail day, still in a good mood.  I'm ready to take on the day. Haley is already in 18m clothing.  Yes, she is a thick girl, but she is also very long (go figure).  But she had officially gone through her stash of clothing we had for her and had just a small handful of 12m and 18m stuff that fit her.  I was going to go shopping and pick her up a few pieces but was quickly discouraged after facing some sticker shock.  To be honest, I haven't really bought her much clothes from store.  We were lucky enough to receive a large amount of handy-me-downs from my cousin that basically had us covered so far.   So what did we do...Craigslist.  I know....r...

It is so odd being on the same schedule as the rest of the world.  It is Wednesday, which means we are all half way through the week.  The latter part of the week always gets a little crazy for me, but I am ready for the weekend for sure. Yesterday was crazy busy.  I stayed at my parents Monday night which was a nice change of pace.  Then I ended up working late last night with my little buddy.  Haley, my buddy, and I went to Pizza Shoppe in Shawnee for some pizza.  It was amazing and the kidlets did great there.  I ate way too much pizza, but it was pretty good.  The people in the booth behind us thought the kids were pretty awesome and kept complimenting Haley's chubby cheeks and how great my little buddy is with Haley.  As the night trucked on, we all three got pretty tired.  I think Haley was getting slap happy because she kept crawling over to my feet and laying across them and laughing.  At one point she bit m...

Well hello Monday...back again so soon. Haley is taking a nap.  Thank goodness, because she woke up in a nightmare of a mood.  Wonder where she gets that from... I guess we will do the whole weekend recap. Friday night, Haley and I went on an adventure to Peculiar, Mo to visit a girl friend and her fam.  It was a great break and change of pace for this momma--and I think Haley enjoyed being entertained and staying up past her bedtime (she definitely slept in the next day..which was awesome!)  The ride out took forever because people don't know how to drive in rush hour, but the ride back was so peaceful.  I realized that her house is literally only 35 minutes from my apartment, so there is really no excuse for me not to visit more often. Saturday is usually errand day these day.  On our agenda this weekend was finding a new car seat for Haley.  She has outgrown her baby carrier.  For those of you tha...

First off, I updated my music on my blog (finally).  It is difficult to do at home because our internet is SLLOOWW--here at the salon, super fast.  I was in a John Mayer kinda mood, and thanks to Pandora--I had a lot of help with new songs.  If your into that kinda thing, enjoy.  If not, leave.  Actually just kidding, just mute it (it's at the bottom of the page for those of you who don't know). I am not sure I even have much to blog about really.  I'm sure the details of my life lately are pretty boring to most. For example, yesterday: Woke up.  Super tired.  Feed Haley.  Bath Haley.  Watched Sesame Street.  Nap time (for Haley).  Throw laundry in.  Lunch.  Haley wake up.  Feed Haley.  Clean up lunch.  Play with Haley. Nap time again.  Walk dog.  Clean apartment.  Move  laundry.  Enjoy 30 minutes of downtime.  Haley wakes up.  Play with ...

There are portions of my life that I tend to omit from my blog.  Simply because I want to honor others' privacy.  Just because I don't mind broadcasting my life, doesn't mean others share the same enthusiasm.  So please forgive me, if sometimes I seem vague.   Anyways, so I often mention working with my 'little buddy'.  A little about that.  Many of you know that I am a SAHM.  I suppose that is not entirely true as I work a part-time job.  It is two hours a day, 5 days a week.  I really don't consider it a job for many reasons.  One of which is that I take Haley with me.   At this 'job', I am working with a young man who happens to have special needs.  Down Syndrome and Autism.  It is strange, after some time of working with him, I tend to forget that he even has special needs.  Through the years, I have adapted to his communication style and his needs.  Each day is hardly seamless--but I ...

This morning, on the 8 month anniversary of being a mother, I woke up--not liking my kidlet all that much.  It was nothing personal.  I know I am a terrible mother for admitting that, but it's the truth.  I hope I get points for that.  But no parent can tell me that they like  their children all day every day. You see, we had this great thing going.  Sleeping through the night and all.  Rockin' and rollin'.  Nap times were great.  Life was peachy.  Then all of a sudden, my 8 month old has started waking up every 2 hours in the middle of the night screaming .  The third night straight of this, and I am exhausted.  When she was a newborn--she didn't wake up that much.  6 times I got up with her last night.  SIX.  That is not including the two additional times Ian got up (after probably hearing my grumble and say curse words that I would never want my mother hear me say).  It was brutal.  The t...

Haley's new bff.  Winston is so tolerant of kidlets. My very enthusiastic Aldi shopper   Playing with my hoodie strings.  She thinks it is hilarious to put the strings in my mouth. A girl and her ducky Chilling with Aunt Heather Showing off her baby blues and two front teeth Christmas time! She gets her table manners from her momma

....I was nagging about how to have a good marriage.  Let me refresh your memory: Selfishness and Thoughts on Marriage As I mentioned in the above link, Dr. Laura was really my muse in writing that post.  In fact, I was basically summarizing the things I have learned through the many hours I have listened to her show.  If your interested, here is basically what I was trying to convey in her words: The Importance of Generosity in a Marriage   by Dr. Laura People love to hate her.  But that chick is smart.  The things she has to say are compelling and challenging.  Don't be too quick to dismiss her thoughts on this topic even if you have already written her off.

I knew this day would come eventually, but never like this.  Never to this magnitude.  I figured a sinus infection or a runny nose would eventually set in, making taking care of my daughter difficult. Today, it hit.  Unexpected and swift.  The stomach flu.  I'm not talking the soft stomach flu where you get sick once and call in sick for the day.  I am talking, sitting on the porcelain thrown while tossing cookies in the trash can (ya picture that one, real sexy hu?...at least I had make-up on.).  I don't think I have ever gotten so sick in this way.  And a reminder that I need to stop and chew my food better.     This morning, Ian was on his A game taking care of our girl.  But then he left.  And it went downhill again from there.  I was okay just laying around, but as soon as I stood up--it was like walking around while hammered.  I literally felt drunk.  While trying to prepare a bottle, I e...

I'm trying to decide if I have time to sneak in a post, so here goes nothing. Ian had his first weekend off for his new schedule (YAY).  It was awesome but went by way to fast.  He actually took a few extra days off so he had Thursday thru Sunday off. Thursday, Ian enjoyed a guy day.  He went to Perry with a buddy to ride ATV's then went out with the guys from work.  I was glad he was able to blow off some steam.  Friday night was my turn to blow of steam. I've been dying to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, so I made plans with a girl friend to go see it.  One thing after another occurred and we ended up not being able to see the movie.  So instead we went and ate this: I had never eaten sushi before and now I know why.  Seriously, I gave it a shot and I am not sure how people do it.  I am not a picky eater.  But I now draw the line here.  No raw fish ever again, thanks.  I was polite and ate it...

Okay, so it isn't a secret anymore.  Maybe it is a daddy thing (my dad has red hair, but the only thing I inherited from him was my sparkling personality).  Maybe it is the fact that hot gingers are as mysterious as unicorns.  But let's face it, hot gingers...are hot.  Guys love them.  Blonde hair,  blue eyes; while hot, yes--overplayed.  Brown hair, brown eyes--too girl next door-ish.  Hot ginger girls are where it's at.  (And brown hair, with light eyes..jealous of the light eyes for sure.  My guess is Haley will be a dirty blonde- hair color not personality - with blue eyes or brown hair blue eyes.  I am hoping for brown hair, blue eyes). (If it was only mildly creepy, I would post a pic of Megan to prove my point.  Not only is she a hot ginger, but she breeds adorable ginger babies as well. ) Baby on hip, I found myself standing in Wal-Mart trying to decide on a hair color.  And if you think this is post...

Hey, remember when I sent my husband across country to pick up a CL sofa?  The yellow dot on the map below represents where he met the gentleman.  As you can see, a lot closer to St. Louis than Columbia (I thought I was sending him to the Columbia area..Eek!) Can you believe, he returned home after driving all day, in good spirits?  That is a good man.  Anyways below is our newest CL catch! I am shocked that this deal turned out okay.  The guy was completely normal.  The sofa is super nice.  It is well made and was indeed brand new.   It obviously doesn't look spectacular in the apartment, but it is the perfect piece for our more "formal" living area in the next place.  You can't really tell in the picture, but it is a funky color with stripes.  To be perfectly honest, the color had to grow on me at first.  But now I love it and I think it will go great in the next house.  I just can't exactly g...