Abby @ 5 Months

Abby is 5 months old now.

We think she is going through a growth spurt because she is starting to eat much more than she used to. As a result, she is getting so much bigger.

She has had some troubles with her digestive system, but things are starting to clear up.

Abby isn't crawling yet, but she is sitting up like a pro!

She is also starting to demonstrate a strong attachment to us. My heart melts when she turns from her crib and makes a huge smile when she recognizes my face.

Abby Sits Up: Video

Abby Sits Up

Abby is now sitting up... and she isn't even 5 months old yet!

I was about to take some pictures of her tripoding ( sitting forward propping herself up with her arms ), but to our amazement she started sitting upright by herself for about 2 minutes!

I captured the moment on my video camera as well ( check back here for the video in the near future ).

Since this initial moment she has been regularly sitting up. I guess she is raring to reach the next developmental marker.

She is growing up so fast. Before you know it she will be crawling and walking all over the apartment! We have some baby proofing to do before that happens :)

Abby Meets Great Granny

Today Abby met her Great Granny ( Andrea's Maternal Grandmother )!

Granny lives in an assisted living facility in Columbia, TN.

We met Andrea's parents near Columbia and then we all went to visit Granny. Granny was in good spirits today. She appeared to enjoy meeting and interacting with Abby. The sight of Abby brought many smiles not only to Granny, but also to many of her neighbors.

After visiting Granny we all went back to Carmack and Nancy Skelton's house ( Andrea's Maternal Uncle and Aunt ) to eat lunch. It is always good to see Carmack and Nancy.

In addition, the trip to and from Columbia was nice. We took the very scenic Natchez Trace Parkway. I imagine its even more beautiful during the spring or fall!

For more pictures go to my Abby Meets Great Granny Yahoo! Photo Album.

Puzzling New Birth Year

As of December 29th I am now officially 29 years of age.

For my birthday and New Years we went to Andrea's parents house in Jackson, TN.

We had a very relaxing time putting together a puzzle ( Children on the Beach (1884) by Mary Cassatt ), watching The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the theatre, and sleeping in!!!

As you can tell from the bottom picture, Andrea's parents are always thrilled to see Abby when we come to visit.

Lipscomb Reunion

Andrea attended Lipscomb High School and one year of Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN before she transferred to Harding University in Searcy, AR.

Now that we are in Nashville, some of Andrea's friends from highschool decided to come together during the holidays for a reunion.

The original core group (plus their families) that came together consisted of Carrie McLean (Moss), Gere Acevedo (Shaw), Andrea Manor (Hall), Emily Choate, and Garrison Strickland.

Although I was not part of this initial group, I had a great time and enjoyed getting to know these individuals and hear stories of old times.

A Manor Christmas

This was the year to spend Christmas with the Manors. Andrea and I swap Thanksgiving and Christmas between our families from year to year.

Since we moved so quickly after Abby's birth, this was actually the first time for my Grandparents and Uncle to see Abby. We brought tons of pictures of Abby to give away and she was available for new pictures too :)

My Mom out did herself again with a vast array of food and goodies. In addition, we had a fun time decorating ginger bread men and houses.

For more pictures go to my 2005 Christmas Yahoo! Photo Album.

Beauty and the Beast

Andrea and I went to see Beauty and the Beast at The Arkansas Repertory Theatre in Little Rock, AR while we were visiting my family over the Christmas vacation.

My parents were happy to babysit Abby while we were gone for the night.

This show, was actually one of the best ones I have seen there. Outstanding! The costumes and actors were extraordinary!

Since we have season tickets, I look forward to going back to see the next play in a few months.

While we were at the show we ran into the Alan family from CrossWalk Family of God where we attended Church in Little Rock. It was good to catch up with them and see how things are going at CrossWalk.

Harding Reunion

On the way to see my family in Searcy, AR we stopped in Memphis, TN to meet with some good friends, the Wrights and the Livingstons.

We first met these couples at Harding University and have had many fond memories with them since our first introduction.

Actually, Alison Wright was the one who introduced Andrea and me together.

We hadn't seen them in several years, so it was a great treat to meet up with them. We hope that the time between our meetings will be shorter in the future.

Abby @ 4 Months

Abby is now 4 months old.

We went to her pediatrician appointment the other day and Abby weighed in at 12 lb, 8 oz and her height was 23 1/4 inches.

Abby is starting to roll over much more frequently ( especially after she wakes up from a nap ).

She is also drooling quite a bit ( as seen in this photo ). This apparently means that she is about to begin teething. She seems to put almost anything she can get her hands on in her mouth.

For more pictures go to my Abby @ 4 Months Yahoo! Photo Album.

Abby's Pretalk

In addition to laughing, Abby has recently started talking up a storm. Actually, I’m not sure if it’s called talking. It might be more defined as a type of mumbling, pretalk, or cooing. I guess it doesn’t matter what it’s called. It’s just neat to hear Abby making new sounds and trying to communicate with us.

We captured some of this pretalk on our camcorder. Take a look at the video to share in this experience.

Note: The video is uploaded on Google Video. I have noticed sometimes the link does not find the video. If not, please try it again later. Also, you may be prompted to install Macromedia Flash if you do not already have it installed on your web browser.

Abby & Santa

This weekend we went to the Gaylord Opryland Resort to see the ICE! display. Besides being veerrRRYY cold the ice sculptures were impressive and amazing.

We walked through a huge castle made out of ice and then I slid down an ice slide! There was even an ice nativity scene. It was quite beautiful.

At the end of the display we were pleased to purchase two hot caramel apple ciders. The apple cider was a nice treat after almost freezing among the sculptures.

After the ICE! show we headed over to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel to see the lights and decorations. I particularly enjoyed watching the Island Fountain at the Delta.

While we were in the hotel we ran into Santa. We got a picture of Abby sitting in his lap ( as seen in this blog entry ). She behaved herself like a little princess in Santa's lap. Santa was very patient and friendly with her.

It was a long day in traffic, waiting in lines, and walking around, but it was a very memorable and fun outing.

For pictures of the ICE! diplay go to my ICE! Yahoo! Photo Album.

Abby's First Laughs

As I mentioned in my previous Abby @ 3 Months blog posting, she is beginning to laugh. I missed her first few laughing episodes while I was away from Andrea and Abby, but I have come to experience many more occasions of laughter.

We were able to record some of her laughter with our new Sony DCR-HC21 video camera, so now you can experience it too. Take a look at the video.

Note: The video is uploaded on Google Video. I have noticed sometimes the link does not find the video. If not, please try it again later. Also, you may be prompted to install Macromedia Flash if you do not already have it installed on your web browser.

Family Back Together

After being apart for about a month ( minus weekends and Thanksgiving break ) Andrea, Abby, and myself are back together again!

As you can see from the moving truck, our furniture has arrived! Apartment living is not so rough now that it is furnished :)

We are still in the unpacking stage; however, we don't want to unpack too much since we are supposed to move into our house in the near future ( Marchish ).

Although we are very excited about moving into our new house, we intend to make the most of this temporary apartment stay and enjoy ourselves.

Workout Bandwagon

Well, I am back on the workout bandwagon. Basically, ever since Abby has been born I have forgone my exercise and diet plan.

I just joined The Club at Green Hills located right next door to my first Compuware contract with American Healthways.

The facilities at the gym are very nice. I can also workout at their other gym in town, The Club at Westside, which is close to our apartment.

Camping Out Inside

Our apartment is finally ready to be lived in!

I stayed with the Stricklands for the past week and a half. They were very kind to let me crash with them for a while.

Although I have a roof over my head our furniture has not arrived yet, so I'm basically camping out indoors.

It’s really not as bad as this picture indicates. Since I don't have my camera with me this picture will just have to do to capture the camping feel. Don't worry; there is a heater in the apartment... I don't have to make my own fire ;)

I have an air mattress, a lamp, a towel, some pots, and other odds and ends to accommodate me until our furniture is delivered.

Although it’s not a lot right now, it is sufficient. Mainly, I miss Andrea and Abby most of all. It has been hard being away from them.

The Rockettes

This Thanksgiving break we watched the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes in Nashville at the Grand Ole Opry House.

My favorite parts of the show where an interesting tap rendition of the "12 Days of Christmas" by the Rockettes, an impressive feat in marching by the "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers", and an awe-inspiring "Living Nativity" telling the story of Jesus' birth ( with camels, sheep, etc... ).

I want to give a special thanks to Alisa Brandon for putting together this event. She did much of the legwork getting the tickets and organizing the evening.

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year at my In-Law's new house in Jackson, TN.

The above picture was taken moments before we all dove into a smorgasbord of tempting food laid out before us. Unfortunately you will not find Abby in the picture. At that time it was taken she was sound asleep taking a nap upstairs. Before we filled our plates Pawi ( Andrea's Paternal Grandfather ) gave us all a history overview of how Thanksgiving started and how it came to be observed today. It was an informative and special moment. Thank you Pawi.

Not only did we have tons of tasty food, but we also had loads of fun playing games such as dominos, spoons, nine hole, etc...

In one way or another everyone made a contribution to why this Thanksgiving was so memorable. So, my thanks goes out to everyone, however, special thanks goes out to my In-Laws ( John and Freda Hall ). Their contribution to the success of this event was unmatched! Thank you again.

Before my Thanksgiving break ended Andrea, Abby, and I met up with my parents for a while and we showed them our new apartment and our house under construction. I am glad we were able to meet up with them and share our new experiences. They are special to me and I love them very much.

For more pictures of our Thanksgiving break ( which include pictures of Abby ) go to my Thanksgiving 2005 Yahoo! Photo Album.

Strickland Hospitality

Garrison and Annie Strickland welcomed me in their home for the past week and a half while I waited for our apartment to become available.

The Stricklands made me feel very comfortable during my stay and I am extremely grateful for their generosity.

Several evenings we just sat around and chatted. I found this refreshing and as a result I got to know them much better. I accompanied the Stricklands to their Wednesday night bible class at the West End Church of Christ. I enjoyed the class and was glad to meet some of the people there. Garrison and I played several games of Dance Dance Revolution ( DDR ) on his PlayStation. On a side note, I prefer to regard a score of "E" in DDR to stand for "Elijah", instead the bottom of the dancing curve.

Abby @ 3 Months

Abby is now 3 months old. She is getting much bigger and is smiling a lot more.

However, the big news is that she is starting to LAUGH! Ha ha ha ha. Andrea has witnessed her laughing twice now. Unfortunately, I have missed these laughing episodes since I am away from them in Nashville, but I look forward to experience Abby’s laugh firsthand during the Thanksgiving break.

She is still sleeping through the night pretty well. Some nights we don't need to attend to her at all until about 7:00am! Other times we may need to attend to her maybe once during the night. Either way, that’s much better sleep for all of us!

For more pictures visit my Abby @ 3 Months Yahoo! Photo Album.