leaves!

Now that we've moved to the new house, we have a much bigger yard and no landscapers to take care of it! (Part (most?) of our HOA dues paid the landscapers to mow grass, seed, blow leaves, etc.) So this year we are raking our own leaves.

Olivia "helps"

Playing in the leaves with Daddy

Wheelbarrow rides

At first Olivia wasn't too sure about riding in the wheelbarrow with a bunch of leaves. Then she decided to lay back in the leaves and loved it!

we're back! mostly...

Oh, life has been full lately. We moved a month ago today. I feel more settled than I did a month ago, and I guess it feels like home... There is still a lot of work to do.

We've have major computer problems at our house, which is why I've gone a month between posts. I think that we finally have a personal computer up and running, so I should be able to post much more often in the weeks to come. Now if I can just figure out how to upload pics to this new computer...

I've been tagged!

Well, I knew it would happen someday. I knew when I started a blog that I would get tagged to answer some of those "fun" questions that go around the blog-o-sphere. Really, it's a perfect time for me to one. I'm really not that busy right now with moving or anything. ;) (At least I didn't get tagged with one of those that make you answer 30+ questions. If you are thinking about tagging me with one of those, please don't!)

(Disclosure: I totally copied the following explanation of tagging and the rules from my friend Kendra's blog.)

In case you are a non-blogger and just a reader you may not know what tagging is, it is the passing along of trivial information.

Here are the official rules:

First, the rules.
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write 6 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post.
4. If you are tagged, DO IT and pass it along.

So without further ado:

1. I used to play the flute, xylophone and the piano in high school (though not all at the same time - talk about multi-tasking!) I learned to play the guitar in college. I am really rusty on all four now.

2. I am a member of a book club named the "Friends and Bibliophiles" or FAB for short. (It is too a nice word! Go look it up!) All the members have, at one time or another, taught at Piedmont High School.

3. I get really sad when I log into my blogger account and find that I have no comments. :( So, leave me a comment!

4. My favorite color is yellow.

5. Paul and I named our daughter Olivia because it was the only girl name we could agree on.

6. I just joined the choir at our church.

Okay, 6 things you may or may not have know about me. Now, about tagging 6 other people... I'm not even sure that I know six people that read my blog! No, that's not really true. I can come up with six people that read it, if I count myself. But I definitely don't know 6 friends that read my blog and also have blogs. So, friends with blogs, here's what I am going to do. If you like being tagged, then you are it! If not, you're free and clear. (I can hear sighs of relief coming from you all...)

fishy face!

What we've been doing...

I know it's been 2 weeks since I last posted, but you'll just have to bear with me. I'm moving, and between the crazy business and crazy emotions, I just haven't felt like posting anything. Then I got tagged... but more about that later.

We spent part of Labor Day weekend with my parents and grandmother. They loved seeing Olivia! They like seeing us, too, of course. And Paul and I got to go see a movie! Woo-hoo! We love free babysitting!

Olivia deciding that she wasn't going to let us forget her!

Making a new friend

Olivia enjoying the fountain at the nursing home

Olivia and Grammie

Olivia giving Granny some kisses

Olivia playing catch in Granny's room and having a ball (pun intended) :)

Back home, I finally gave Olivia the chance to use her new crayons:



The final product. This is why I bought washable crayons!



This is Olivia helping me pack a box. This is preferable than her unpacking!

Olivia-isms at eighteen months

One sided conversations I've been having with Olivia lately:

"Olivia! Mommy's pants are not a napkin! Please do not wipe your mouth on me!"

"Use your spoon, please. Oatmeal is not a finger food."

"Oh, Olivia. I love you even when you hug me with your lasagna-y hands."

"What are you ga-ta-ga-ing?" (Ga-ta-ga is her word for, "Give me that".)

Some new words Olivia says: hello, bath, bye-bye (also followed by her blowing kisses), night-night, go, sit (she know this one because we tell her to "sit" all the time!)

New things that Olivia is doing:

She likes to turn herself around in circles.
She can climb out of the bathtub (she still needs some help)
She can climb onto our bed (I fear the day she can climb out of her crib is coming soon)
She sorta helps me make the bed
When something is split on the floor, she sometimes will get a rag or a towel and wipe it up

Our little girl is growing up so fast! It seems like she is learning a new word a day. She still loves to go outside, still loves her bunny and still loves to cuddle up with Mommy, bunny, paci and a good book just before nap time (I love cuddling with her!) I hope she won't outgrow that anytime soon!

On another note, Olivia's diaper rash is gone! Ya'll must have been praying hard, because we started to see immediate improvement on Thursday. Thank you!

life is never boring...

Well, life at the Abernathy's hasn't been boring! We now have boxes all over the house. I considered posting a picture of our living room, but I decided that would be pretty depressing for me. Just take my word for it; it's a mess. Olivia, on the other hand, has enjoyed the boxes. She drags them around the house and puts her toys in the empty ones. We are currently packing an average of 2 boxes a day. Maybe I should up that count a little... I don't want to get overwhelmed the last week we are here. It still doesn't seem real that we are moving - it probably won't hit me until I stand in this house after it is completely empty. Remind me to leave some tissues unpacked; there'll be waterworks!

In addition to packing, we are also dealing with a diaper rash that just won't go away. We are going on 3 weeks now. (Her dr. checked it out last week, but we may end up going back.) It starts to clear up, then it comes back. Now, you know that the best thing for a diaper rash is lots of air. (Do you see were this is going?) So, we have established "bare bottom time" at least three times a day at our house. As you can imagine, this can be, well, hazardous. Maybe not to our health, but definitely to our sanity! Ya'll please pray that Olivia's bottom heals up quickly. Quite frankly, I'm tired of sanitizing the kitchen floor.

And if boxes and diaper rashes didn't constitute enough excitement, we are still waging war with some local ants. Now, I have nothing against ants in general, but these particular ants evidently were never taught any manners. Specifically, the rule about never going into someone else's house unless you're invited. Things are getting better, and we hope to have them completely evicted by the time our renters move in.

So that's what's currently going on at our house! Hope things at your house are a little more tame.