Just For Fun

Court and I are so lucky. We just love this kid! Here's a picture I thought you all might enjoy.

Happy Belated, Mama!

We got back from Florida, and I turned around and headed to a conference in Chicago. So, this is the first chance Abel and I've had to wish Court a happy birthday. You have to love the picture here. If you know anything about Abel, you know that he's getting ready to pop a few teeth. Therefore, he double fists on a regular basis. As is typical, Court and I have lots of fun imitating the chap, and this photo is one of my favorites. Happy Birthday Courtney!

New Posts Alert!

I posted a ton of new posts tonight. They even go into the next page and kind of chronical our trip to Florida among other things. Anything listed under the April tab to the right is new. Someone along the way told me this was the same thing as scrapbooking Abel's journey. Since I'm not remotely crafty, I thought this was a brilliant point! Enjoy!

Mortimer the Moose competes with Rafa

So, I think Abel might possibly be enjoying Mortimer the Moose as much, if not more than Rafa. We also have Laney the Lion and Eleanor the Elephant. He's just getting to know them. No matter what, he LOVES chewing on them all!

Thanks Grandpa Dave and Grandma Peggy!

We can't thank Peggy and Dave enough for making this trip happen for us. Over the years, Ryan and I have loved our trips to Florida with them over spring break. We've gone with them almost every year since we were juniors at Butler! It's so fun including Abel in this tradition now!

I love to stand!

Abel loves to stand. In fact, it's pretty much one of the only ways he's happy for long periods of time right now. On the count of three, he'll stand right up (holding onto your fingers, of course). When you say 1, he smiles. When you say 2, he lifts his arms up in preparation. And when you say 3, he uses every muscle in his stomach to help himself get up. He'll play this game for a long long time and he knows exactly what's going on!

I look around at EVERYTHING!

Abel is getting to the point where he is beginning to notice all things. He'll spend many minutes just looking around, laughing, and talking about what he sees. Ryan took these pictures...I think the expressions on his face perfectly capture his curiosity!

Relaxing at the Beach

The water on Longboat Key was the bluest water I have ever seen in Florida...except for maybe Key West. It was positively crystal blue. The sand at the beach was white and soft...this area of Florida is a great find! Way to go Peggy and Dave! Abel loved the beach. The people who ran the place we were staying put up a tent for him, so he was able to spend more time outside. Notice how the onesie coordinates with the towel. This was actually not planned but made for some great photos!

Family Photo

Here we are outside of the place we stayed. The weather was beautiful every day. We were so so lucky. I really love my family and being together!

Swimming!

Abel loved the water. The first day we put him in, it was early in the day and a bit cold. He didn't like that so much. The next time we put him in, we went at the end of the day. The water was very warm and he kicked all around. It was so so fun. Plus, he looked super cute in his swim trunks! We're going to sign him up for swim lessons at the Monona pool this summer. Hopefully, he'll continue to learn to love water!

DJ Abel Chillin'

For whatever reason, we had particular fun putting Abel in this outfit. Ryan has nicknamed him DJ Abe. He LOVES music and to be sung to. He has his own DJ Abe mix that we listen to regularly....I'm pretty sure his favorite band so far is The Black Eyed Peas.

I take planes and trains!

Abel was an amazing travel companion. He didn't make a peep and impressed all the people on our plane...who were probably pretty nervous to have such a young baby traveling with them! We had to switch planes in Atlanta on our way to and from Florida and he got to take a train to the new terminal. I found this to be very exciting as it was a new method of transportation for him to take!