Sisters

I just love these girls so much!!!

Snow Fun = No Fun

Abby was so excited that we finally got snow, because she got a chance to use her new snow boots!  We got all bundled up, then unbundled so I could change her diaper, then rebundled and ready to head out!  The second we set foot outside, she wanted to go back inside.  She didn't like that her new boots got snow all over them!  I made her pose for a couple pictures, but she was NOT happy about it.

Play Doh

We made homemade Play Doh today, so I got a few candid pics of Abby playing with it.  I think almost all of my pictures lately are candids, but that's ok because Abby's such a goofball I get some good shots no matter what!

She loooooooves to hug Charlotte!

And she loves to kiss her, too.  I don't know if the feeling is mutual yet...

And a self portrait in the mirror of me and my favorite big sister ever!

Prayers for Reesey

I've been fortunate enough to have bonded with a great group of moms online on various internet forums.  We've known each other since we were pregnant with our now 2-year-olds (starting way back in 2009!) and we've been through so much together - the ups and downs of pregnancy, labor, childbirth, sleepless nights, milestones, etc.

One of my friends on the forum is a supermom named Amanda.  She has four adorable redheaded girls at home - Aidan (5), Sawyer (4), Reese (2) and Miller (10 months).  On Halloween, Reese (who was born exactly a month before Abby) was taken into the hospital when her parents noticed she wasn't focusing her eyes well.  That night, she was diagnosed with a large brain tumor, which was later determined to be malignant (though not rapidly spreading).  

Reese immediately underwent surgery to remove part of the tumor and she started chemotherapy soon after.  She finally got to go home to her family after 6 weeks in the hospital.  After only a few days at home, she was back in the hospital for precautions after vomiting once.  Thankfully her parents are proactive, because while she was in the hospital they did a CT scan and discovered that the tumor had grown back and is not responding to the chemo.  Had they not gone into the hospital for a small bout of vomiting, they may have discovered the regrowth once it was too late.

Reese underwent surgery again this morning to remove more of the tumor and she will be starting a stronger dose of chemo very soon.  In support of Reese and her family, I ordered Abby a #gingerfight t-shirt.  The hashtag has been Reese's calling card, so to speak, and she has supporters all over the world.

We received Abby's t-shirt just in time to show her support for her "e-friend" Reese!

To read more about Reese's story, here's the link to Amanda's blog: http://www.thisyearslovewilllast.com/

To order your own #gingerfight shirt or wristband (proceeds go towards helping the Skelte family): http://www.gingerfight.bigcartel.com 

Happy Hanukkah!

A few pics from the past few days...

Thanksgiving

(I'm going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted in forever... but you can head over to http://babycharlotteswebsite.blogspot.com for more updates!)


We had a great time on Thanksgiving!  We spent the morning at my parents' house with my whole family (uncle Danny, aunt Hopee and cousin Ella came in from Los Angeles!) and Abby had a blast seeing her favorite girl cousin, Baby Ella!  It was great getting a chance to introduce Charlotte to her aunt and uncle, too!

We then drove up to Ben's parents' house to spend time with his side of the family (and to eat dinner!)  Everyone loved spending time with Abby and Charlotte, and it was great getting to hang out with uncle Jon, uncle Daniel and aunt Rachel... and especially cousin William!

Feeding the Ducks

I know, I've been REALLY bad at updating my blog!  I've been good about posting pics to Facebook, though, so that's gotta count for something!

Anyway, we went to feed the ducks at Lake Quannapowwit today... Abby had a blast!!!  And how cute is her little Dora shirt?  (Backpack is on the back!)

Then we went to the Gingerbread Construction Company and devoured a strawberry shortcake! (cell phone pics this time)

Tooth Day at Fenway

Here's last year's Tooth Day at Fenway Park: http://anabbyaday.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-214-tooth-day-at-fenway.html

It's amazing how much Abby has grown in a year!  She's been a huge baseball fan (though we haven't really been watching it much lately with the way the Red Sox season has been going...), so she really loved watching batting practice and seeing the players up close!

She had a minor meltdown while we waited to go on the field, which included pulling out her pigtails and refusing to let me fix them.  But she still had fun running around on the dirt and trying to run onto the infield grass.

Then she spotted Wally the Green Monster and got so excited!  We've been talking about him for a few days, trying to prepare her to not freak out when she saw him...