Swimming, swimming, in a swimming pool...

Today I took Abigail swimming at Splash Cove. That pool is amazing! They have a fun dump bucket and fort (don't worry, we didn't visit that) and a wave pool. It's really a neat pool and I think we're going to have to get a family membership there! Our friends, the Kluck's, met us at the pool and Abigail and Skylar had a blast. Skylar is just a few days older than Abigail (we met them in baby class) and I can tell the girls are going to be friends when they're older :)

Abby didn't want to take an afternoon nap before we went, so needless to say she was getting fussy by the end, but hey! we lasted an hour and a half, so that's excellent! We spent most of our time in the wave pool (Abby didn't mind the little splashes that she got) and then went into a deeper part. Skylar is a little fish and LOVED the water! I think Abby and I will be spending more time at the pool this summer... we'll have to take daddy next time (he was at home, doing his Cpt's career course). I need to take someone with me next time so I can go swim laps while Abigail naps or plays, I think. Here are a couple of pictures from our day!

Matt, Skylar, Abigail and Kendra

Abby and Kendra

Miss fussy pants

Lollipops or Buttons?

So, Abigail's birthday is 4 months away, but already I'm thinking about her party... I need help! A lollipop party? Or "Cute as a Button" theme??

Kisses!!

Yesterday morning I was getting ready to leave for work and to take Abigail to daycare. Jordan gave me a kiss good bye while I was holding Abby. Well, she must have gotten jealous, because when I turned back to her she gave me a big slobbery kiss on the lips! It was so precious! I melted, seriously! Who knew that a buch of slobber could be so sweet?!?

Father's Day weekend... kinda

Last Friday Jordan called me at lunch with terrible news, his grandmother had passed away. She has not been herself for many years, and we know that she is in a better place now, with Jordan's grandfather, and for that we are very thankful.

For those of you who keep up with us, you know Jordan was at annual training at the time, not due to get back home until tomorrow... well we got to "test the military system", if you will. I had to call the Red Cross and jump through some hoops to get him home, but in the end, the system works (good to know!) and he got to come home a week early.

Saturday evening he got home and Sunday morning we headed to Mercer. We had a fantastic few days (the funeral was Tuesday) and got to see lots of family. Some of them hadn't ever met Abigail, so it was really great to see everyone (I think Abby stole some hearts).

Here are some pictures from the weekend...

Mason giving Abigail loves ~ how freakin' cute!!

Grandpa with his grandbabies!

Her newest way of holding her bottle (yes, she really does this)

Mason in his pool!

Abby swimming!

Such cute cousins!

The boys reading to Abby and Mason

Bonked her head...

Tonight Abigail and I were going through her clothes, taking out what doesn't really fit anymore and putting in ones that might now. Well she was sitting next to me on the floor, in front of her crib, and she fell over (intentionally, I think, b/c she wanted to crawl around) and hit her head on her crib. I said "Yea Abby" to help her not cry, well she cried anyway, but nothing too horible. A little while later this is what I saw...

Her first bump and bruise...

This is the first of many, I have no doubt. I had a really hard time capturing it... it's turning purple and everything (above her right eye in case you can't see it). She has been fine ever since it happened, but I had to share.

(And, yes, that is a bottle of hand sanitizer she is chewing on, but no worries, it's closed and I was watching her carefully)

A rainforest, gorilla valley, aquarium...

This last weekend Abigail and I made a trip to Nebraska! I took the day off work Friday and we headed to Hooper, where Lisa, a good friend from HS, recently bought a house with her husband. The house is beautiful and we had a great evening (we had dinner at a great, local, restaurant and then sat up talking all night!).

Saturday morning Abigail was too excited to sleep (she woke at 5am). She must have known that a my parents and a bunch of friends and I were going to take her to the Omaha zoo (if you haven't been lately, it's a must see!)!! Lisa, her niece (3 years) and mom came, along with Jennifer and Jenilee, two other friends from high school, and two kids that Jenilee was babysitting (15 months and 4 years). Did I mention my parents and grandma came also? We had a big group, but we had a blast! The amazing thing was that we left from three different cities and all ended up making it to the zoo within minutes (okay a half hour) of each other, and it was the college world series (for those of you who aren't familiar with the Omaha area, the zoo and Rosenblat stadium - where the world series is held - basically share parking lots). Abigail wasn't sure what to really think of anything and, unless it moved she didn't notice most things.

We started our day in the rain forest. I think the thing Abigail liked best about the rain forest was the waterfalls. Next we made our way over to the Zebras, then to the Giraffes. We then saw the sea lions, and there was a brand new baby! It was born at midnight, and to tell you the truth, I thought it was dead at first (see the picture below). Next we walked across the large bridge and saw the monkeys on the island and the coy. My dad asked me for a quarter to buy food to feed the fish, but the little girls with us took all of his food :( how sad (actually what a nice grandpa!). After the bridge we went to the new Gorilla Valley. It is so amazing! They have a lot of gorillas and most of them were moving around a lot. A gorilla walked right up to her (through glass, of course) and she just stared! It was pretty funny. After Gorilla Valley we walked through the cat house. Apparently they had just had lunch and it was nap time, so we made our way to the farm. Here we had lunch and the little girls rode the carousel. After lunch Jenilee and her kiddos left us to pick up the kids' big brother and my dad decided it was his nap time (as did Abigail ~ see below photo). There were only a few things that we hadn't yet seen, and we decided we couldn't do them all, but the Creatures of the Night and Aquarium were the last stops. The aquarium is really neat, and has a tunnel you walk through with sharks, rays and lots of fish that swim over, and all around, you. Over all we had an amazing day and all of us were exhausted!!

Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Abigail is excited about crossing this bridge!

Holding Jen's chin up! :)

Grandpa! We're up here!

Abigial and I both very excited about the waterfalls!

Looking over the ledge

The baby sea lion and it's mommy (see the blood?)

"Whoa! What's that?!"

Looking at the white Tiger

All tuckered out!

Sunday morning kisses from Aunt Allison!

Note: I have decided after looking at the pictures from this trip that I'm a much better photographer than model!

Air Show!

My blogging capabilities have been hindered by Jordan's annual training ~ he took his lap top with him. "Why does this make a difference to you, Ashley?" you may be asking yourselves. Well the answer is simple - his lap top allows me to slip the card from my camera right into it allowing for easy transfer/upload of pictures. Now that he's gone I have to sync my camera with our desktop computer. No, it isn't that hard, but it's not that easy, either. This is my excuse for not blogging for two weeks. I apologize!

Two weekends ago was "Wings over Whiteman" ~ an airshow at Whiteman. Jordan had to help with all of the behind-the-scenes things, so my mom, dad, Allison, Tim, Jim, Ann, Megan and Rhiannon all joined Abigail and I for a little fun. We got to see Joe and Annie and Wayne, also. It was a really hot day with lots of wind, but I think we all had an enjoyable time. There were a lot of neat fly-overs and demonstrations, as well as static displays. About half way through Jordan joined us and we got a family picture :)

Aunt Megan got Abigail to sleep, finally! (this was her only nap of the day)

Mommy and Abby
(if you look way back you'll see a similar picture with Abby in my tummy)

Our happy family!

Rae Gun: Giveaway: Citrus Summer Ruffle Diaper

These are adorable!!

Rae Gun: Giveaway: Citrus Summer Ruffle Diaper