Abby’s Saturday // Two Hundred And Thirty-Four

Highlight of the Week

This past Tuesday was my favorite Tuesday of the month: Tuesday’s Together day! If you’re unfamiliar with me making this claim & wondering what Tuesday’s Together is, it’s a monthly meeting of creative entrepreneurs, who get together to discuss a central business topic, but also for the purpose of encouraging & lifting one another up. I’ve missed the last two meetings (in November because I was in so much pain & in December because I had just had Leander!) so I was absolutely dying to go this month. Thankfully, Derrick bravely took on watching both kiddos by himself so I could go – and that includes doing bedtime with Braelynn & giving Leander a bottle – which he actually drank! (Braelynn never drank a bottle & I could hardly leave her). That may not sound like anything special, but trust me when I say: the transition from one kid to two is pretty scary & quite the adjustment! I’m still terrified at the thought of taking both kids with me to the store! Anyways, it was so wonderful to get out of the house, see my friends, and talk to some other adults for a little bit!
If you live in the Irwin/North Huntingdon/Greensburg/surrounding area & consider yourself a “creative entrepreneur” – you should come hang out with us! We always have a ton of fun & I always leave super encouraged & full of new ideas!

Yes, This Happened

• We took down all of our Christmas decorations today – talk about depressing. All I could think about was how excited we were putting all the Christmas stuff up: it was early November & we had so many fun things in store for us over the next few weeks (Leander’s birth & the holidays). And taking everything down today just seemed so sad! Thankfully, Braelynn’s birthday is right around the corner & we had to take everything down in order to start prepping for her party – I hope to start decorating for that this coming week!
• I know babies grow extremely fast & develop at lightning speeds sometimes, but it just seems so crazy to me that my tiny little baby boy is already 10lbs. and doing all sorts of fun new things! This week’s accomplishments include: grabbing onto (and holding on with a death grip) anything that comes in contact with his hands (watch out if you have long hair) & smiling! He’s always been a “smiley” baby, but he’s actually began smiling at us! Omigoodness, there is absolutely nothing better than laying him down, looking him straight in the eye, and having him smile back up at you – it’s the best.
• This past week was an “anniversary” week – it marked our 8 year anniversary of adopting Abby (8 years! Can you believe that?) and also marked 10 years since I moved to Florida & started working at Disney World. If that figure doesn’t make me feel old, I don’t know what will! I worked at Disney World a whole decade ago – it still seems like just yesterday. Someday we’ll go back to visit – maybe next year (fingers crossed).
• With a newborn baby & it being the dead of winter, we’ve really laid low the last few weeks. It’s something I planned on & mentally prepared for (and plan on continuing for at least the next few weeks – there is simply no reason to go out & expose my babies to sickness they don’t need). But Braelynn has been going a little bit stir-crazy the last few days. We’ve gone over & visited my parent’s house, but the cabin fever has been growing. Thankfully, my Aunt came to the rescue & invited Braelynn to come over to their house to play with the twins (who Braelynn calls “my girls”). She had literally the best time ever & is already counting down the days until she can see them again!
• Speaking of count-downs, we have a big count-down calendar going on our fridge – every morning, Braelynn marks off another day & we get one day closer to her birthday! It’s coming!

Feeling Blessed

This week, I found out that I had won (for the 5th year in a row – wow) the Wedding Wire Couples’ Choice Award. Wedding Wire awards this accomplishment to wedding vendors who receive the highest reviews over the course of the year – and the statistic is that only 5% of wedding vendors receive this accolade. Needless to say, it’s always humbling to receive! I’m so thankful for my incredible brides & grooms who never fail to leave me such sweet 5-star reviews after their wedding days are over!
Anyways, just as I was reading the email, saying I had won this award again, Braelynn came up to me. I was sitting on the couch, nursing Leander, and she walked over & said, “Mommy – you’re the best Mommy in the whole world.” Cue me melting into a puddle on the floor.
Let’s just say: between the two awards – I like the “best Mommy in the world” award best.