Big Girl

 Abby officially became a Sunbeam in Primary at the beginning of the month. That thought alone is just crazy to me. I have a child in PRIMARY! What?! Anthony and I took turns staying with her each week and going to class with her until her teachers felt comfortable enough to have her on her own. Well, last Sunday she went all by herself and she did great! I am very excited about that. What a big girl!

Her crawling and climbing are continuing to improve. It seems like every time I turn my back she is climbing onto the ottoman. That was always her favorite place to sit before, so it doesn't surprise me that she wants to be up there now.

She has also gotten better at making messes. I love it when making a mess becomes a team effort...

Abby isn't the only big girl around here. I did a very 'big girl' thing this week and I just want a pat on the back for it. First, let me fill you in on some details. Every year Anthony's family takes family pictures and I always look forward to it. I love planning the outfits and I love having a picture of my little family each year as part of it. But this year I absolutely did not want to do it. I was a wreck the night before picture day, and my poor sister-in-law had to listen to me cry about it for an hour! I didn't want a picture of Abby the way she is now. I don't want to remember her blank stare and crooked eyes. It's not how she should look and is only a blatant reminder of what I miss most - her smile. I know it sounds silly and immature, but its how I felt. So picture day came, we showed up, I smiled as best as I could, and we left as soon as possible. Fast forward a couple weeks later to when the proofs were ready. Normally I would have dropped everything I was doing to look at the proofs. But not this time. I was afraid to look and intended on waiting for Anthony to get home from work (for moral support, I guess). My best friend happened to be over that day and she cleverly persuaded me to show them to her. To my surprise, they weren't as depressing as I thought they would be. There was a very cute candid shot where Abby is attacking Spencer and I decided I could put that one up in my house somewhere. But I refused to use the shot of us all looking at the camera. Ironically, that is the picture I ended up using on our Christmas cards (but that's a whole different story and I'm sure you're not interested....). Now, fast forward to last Friday. Take a look at what is hanging on our living room wall...

I did it. I printed both pictures and hung them both on my wall. It is a very big thing for me. Way to go, Karalee.