Month: April 2010

A Day In Anaconda

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Today we headed over to Anaconda to visit with my Aunt Diane, Uncle Barry and Grandma Prueter. Not only were we there to visit, but they had decided to hold off on a full Easter dinner until Abby and I arrived.When we got there, we spent a lot of time visiting and catching up with everyone. Abby had the chance to sit and talk with her Great Grandma Prueter. Great Grandma gave her a very special toy, a kitty cat that had belonged to her Great Grandpa Prueter. My mom had given it to him during one of his stays in the hospital. Abby played with it very carefully and seemed to like it very much.

Dinner was very yummy! It was much like the Thanksgiving dinners I remembered having as a child. We had a turkey that my dad had placed in a brine overnight (which was the most amazing, moist turkey I have ever had), mashed potatoes, stuffing, roasted vegetables and my moms orange jello salad (my favorite). It was perfect!

After dinner, Abby had some fun trying to play with Diane and Barry’s cat Sasha. Sasha is a very prissy kitty that we all adore, but she doesn’t always feel the same way about most of us. Abby was no exception to the rule, at all! I have to say though, Abby was very good with her. She didn’t run at her, or chase her. She sat close by and didn’t try too hard to touch her. Still Sasha hissed and bat at her, but thats just Sasha. Abby quickly learned how to say Sasha’s name and pretty soon she was asking, “where’s Sasha?”. We have video of that, but I will have to post it later.

Before leaving, we went out into the backyard to visit with Mary and Bob, Diane and Barry’s neighbors. They have an adorable Golden Retriever named Crockett who is quite the character and of course we knew Abby would love him. He is a lot like Jack! Crockett was just a small puppy the last time we visited and now he has grown into a very handsome pup. After visiting with Mary, Bob and Crockett we said our goodbyes and made our way back to Bozeman. We are hoping to see everyone once more time before Abby and I go. It was a lovely evening that we all enjoyed very much.

Abby is playing with the very special kitty that Great Grandma Prueter gave her.

Four generations of Prueter/O’Donnell girls. Such a special moment in time.

Abby and Jillian hanging out together. They either look very innocent or as though they are up to no good. Hmmm…. I wonder which one it could be?
Strike a pose… Abby, Auntie Jillian and Great Grandma Prueter smile big for the camera!

Great Grandma Prueter looking through and reading Abby’s new book.

Handsome Crockett!

Grandpa Taylor and Abby are talking with Mary and Bob. Grandpa is telling a story and because she wants to be in on it too, Abby is trying to tell a story of her own. Gotta love that little girl!

Montana or Bust! Day #2

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Well after some sleep, I wake up at 4:30 am to my beautiful little girl. Nothing like hearing her bouncing around in her crib way too early in the morning. But when I open my eyes and looked up at Abby, I see her standing there, her little chin sitting on the side of her crib and then she says with a smile… “Hi”. My heart melted and of course it made only five hours of sleep worth it. The only issue I had was the fact that now I couldn’t get things in order BEFORE Abby woke up.

Thank goodness for PBS though. Even at 4:30 in the morning, there is childrens programming which was a great help to me. I know I know, using the TV as a babysitter! But when you need to shower and pack everything up, it helps a lot. Abby sat in her crib with her sippy cup and some Cheerios and was happy until it was time to go.

After packing the car up and a lovely breakfast at the hotel, Abby and I were back on the road again. Luckily the early wake up call for Abby caused her to take several good naps in the car, which helped mommy out immensely. The weather the entire way from Salt Lake City to Bozeman was gorgeous! It was cool but sunny and the roads were dry and clear. We always try to cut over in Idaho Falls through Targhee National Forest, which saves us nearly an hour of travel time. The only problem with that drive is it can be greatly affected by the weather. Lucky for us, it was warm and sunny. The drive through Targhee and Island Park was beautiful and gave me plenty to look at and enjoy. As we cut off from Norris over to Bozeman through the Madison River canyon, you could see green starting to peak through the brown grass. It was amazing! It also made the time go by quickly, especially as we got closer to Bozeman and the excitement was building.

Abby taking her second and longest nap. Such a sweet little face both asleep and awake.

Road through Targhee and Island and Park. Love this drive! And just over the mountains to my left is Yellowstone National Park, one of my two happy places!
Road through Henry’s Fork State Park in Idaho, just before our cut off towards Ennis and crossing over into Montana!

Once we arrived in Bozeman, Abby and I were greeted with a very warm reception from my parents and sister. DUH! I am not sure who was happier to see the other. I know Abby was excited to see Grandpa, who was cleaning out his car when we pulled up and even more excited when she was finally able to get out of the car.

After saying our hellos, unloading the car and settling in Abby had some presents to open for Easter, just a little belated. Auntie Jillian got Abby the cutest little monkey pj’s and an adorable stuffed monkey. The monkey has a belly button that Abby can poke and you can make it an inney or an outie. I know that sounds odd, but its super cute! Abby then opened her basket from Grandma and she seemed to enjoy all of her goodies. Inside were a few new outfits, a cute pail with chicks on them, a puzzle, a soft bunny (which was more for Shaun then Abby), and several books for Abby to read. Oddly enough she has spent a lot of time playing with the bucket and the ribbons used to decorate sme of the gifts inside, but she has played with everything else as well.

After settling in for a bit, we went to downtown Bozeman to the Mackenzie River Pizza COmpany for dinner and had a lovely time. Abby was super social and couldn’t stop talking to all of the kids that were there waiting with their families. Being a social butterfly certainly can make a girl hungry too, as she polished off most of a kids sized portion of Mac N Cheese. When they brought it out, the restaurant had topped with Goldfish, so Abby spent some time searching for the fish, but once she couldn’t find anymore… she shoveled it down. The dry, fresh air and the elevation will do that! It also helped her fall asleep early and fast too! Gotta love the mountains!



Montana or Bust! Day #1

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Well as you can imagine, we spent all day on the road! Pretty predictable if you ask me! Abby and I left our house around 6am and we were ready for the road. My hope was that Abby would just fall back to sleep in the car, but yeah… that never happened. We made a few stops a long the way but for the most part did great! We arrived in Salt Lake City around 8:45 mountain time.

After a quick dinner and a bath, it was time for bed for both of us. Unfortunately after being cooped up in the car all day, Abby had other ideas. Despite being exhausted, Abby turned her crib into a mini wrestling ring. She was bouncing off the sides, trying to hand in each corner, slamming down onto the bottom of the crib. She kept this up for about 45 minutes. Mommy, needing sleep, turned off the lights and TV and let her do this. I knew she would eventually tire out. At the 45 minute mark, she started to tire… Thank Goodness!

Abby sat down in her crib and started to just chatter away. I told Abby “Shhhhh its time to lay down and go to sleep” and then got into bed myself and was silent. She continued to sit up, but was completely silent. Then in one last attempt to guilt me into letting her out I hear this… “Momma?”. Nothing breaks your heart more then to see your child with her face pressed against the crib, asking “Momma?” But within minutes she fell asleep sitting up. I was able to lay her down and the rest was history!

Good Night one and all!

Abby just waking up as we stop for gas. Based on this picture you might think she went back to sleep. Nope! She didnt fall asleep until Barstow, California.

Abby snacking on some Cheerios during one of several pit stops. We were outside of Las Vegas I think!

A nice break in Mesquite, Nevada. Abby was hungry and wanted out of her car seat and I needed a good long stretch as well. Abby sure loved sitting in the bigger seat, but she was back in her own car seat once we took off! 🙂

Snow on the mountains outside of Mesquite, Nevada.

Abby enjoys some White Cheddar puffs from Trader Joe’s. Can you blame her?

Goin on a Road Trip

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Tomorrow morning Abby and I leave for Montana! Yay! I cannot wait to see my parents, my sister and well… my family! It is a much needed trip and the last big trip I will take until after the Little Marshmallow is born and I have recovered. I am bringing my laptop with me and of course will take lots of pictures, so I will try and stay updated as best I can. Until then I am off to bed!

27 Weeks and 2 Days

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Here I am at 27 weeks 2 Days… its a far better picture then the last one I took, at least in my opinion it is. You can actually see the baby belly! And while it may not be noticeable to anyone else, I have grown since the last picture which was taken less then a week ago! I definitely feel pregnant.

27 Weeks…

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Today I am at 27 weeks and feeling great! The baby is moving around a lot and I am feeling more and more pregnant as the days go by, but I am feeling good. There isn’t too much change that occurs, but here is what has happened with our Little Marshmallow in a weeks time!

  • Our little Marshmallow now weighs over 2lbs and has stayed around the same length.
  • Although wrinkled the skin continues to move from translucent to opaque and our little one begins to look like the baby we will see at birth.
  • Our Little Marshmallow’s eyelashes are growing in.

As a little factoid that I thought was funny… Did you know that the jelly the covers and protects the umbilical cord from tearing when it twists around called Wharton’s Jelly? Interesting if you ask me!

Easter Weekend

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Easter weekend was a quick one, but nice none the less. After a very lazy Saturday morning full of cartoons in bed and a late breakfast, Shaun, Abby and myself headed out to run some errands and then spend the evening with Nana, Grandpa, Uncle James, and Aunt Brittany.

When we got to their house, Abby had a special something waiting for her from the Easter Bunny (he came early to the Wharton house). Abby got a Little People horse and carriage with blocks to build a castle! She liked it a lot.


Abby generally loves to spend time with her Uncle James, but she does require a little time to warm up to him. However, on Saturday night she took forever to finally let him pick her up without starting cry. Not sure what it was, but he is the only person she has done this to. Luckily though, she did and they had a wonderful end of an evening with one another as Mommy, Daddy and Grandpa and Nana watched the Kings played the Ducks. They shared some pizza too and Abby was very dainty about keeping herself clean!



The following morning Abby woke up very excited. Not sure why as she is still just a little to young to understand the Easter Bunny, but when we walked into the room she was jumping up and down in the crib just like a bunny!

When Abby came out into the hallway, she found an Easter basket waiting for her. The minute she saw it and all of the goodies inside, she said “WOW”! It was too cute. She loved everything in her basket, but she really took to her Easter Egg Magna-Doodle. As you can see. 🙂 Abby also had a taste of her very first Peep, and boy did she enjoy that. All she kept saying was “Mmmmmm” and I think she got a few “Yummy’s” in there. Mommy and Daddy did only give her one and that was really all she needed. Lets just say that even when she crashed her nap that day wasn’t great. Oh well, it was a special treat and its not something we do often, if at all.





In the afternoon, we all headed over to Grandma Zoe’s house. On our way there, while sitting at the light on Corbin at Devonshire, things began to shake. Shaun and I turned to look at each and then at Abby as we thought one of us was moving the car. It wasn’t and as it turned out it was an earthquake. It was one of those rolling and long lasting earthquakes, which I would prefer over the violent shaking that occurred during the Northridge quake. I have never been sitting in the car during an earthquake, so that was definitely an interesting experience. Later on we found out the earthquake was a magnitude 7.2 out of Baja, California.

When we arrived at Grandma Zoe’s house, Abby was able to tell right away that the Easter Bunny had also visited her house and there were several very cool baskets waiting for her. One of the baskets contained a red Mickey Mouse outdoor chair and a Mickey Mouse lawnmower bubble machine. The other basket contained a plastic gardening set, several books and a CD of childrens songs. Abby loved the chair, and because our yard isnt summer ready yet we have kept it inside and she loves to play on it and sit in it while watching TV.

After opening her baskets, we all went outside to play with the bubble machine. It took a little while to get things working but once we did, Abby had a blast. A family in the neighborhood walked by and their little boy seemed very intruigued by it. Abby, on the other hand, became distracted by their Beagle. For Abby, an animal especially a dog, out does a toy on any day. Abby and grandma also stayed outside for a bit and played with the sidewalk chalk, drawing flowers and enjoying the last bit of the day before it got too cold outside. Unfortunatly I only have the one picture as my camera battery died way too soon. My camera somehow was switched on when I packed it into our bag and the battery hadn’t had the time to charge completely. The pictures I tried to take with my phone didn’t look good at all. Bummer.


Pretty soon the evening came to a close and we headed home for dinner and then early to bed for all of us. Abby was tuckered out after a fun filled weekend, so were Mommy and Daddy. The rain that night made it very easy to go to sleep and relax and made for the perfect end to a very nice Easter weekend.

26 Weeks and 4 Days

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Just wanted to add an update picture of where I am at. This shirt is not the best to show belly pictures as it is a tad too loose and well hides the baby belly a bit too much, but I will post one next week just before we leave for Montana! So here I am at 26 weeks and 4 days! Getting bigger every day though!

Happy Half Birthday Abby! 18 Months Today!

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Abby turned 18 Months old today… Happy Half Birthday to our little Punkin! My goodness time has flown! Didn’t we just celebrate her 1st Birthday? She has grown and changed so much over the last 6 months, it makes me just a little teary eyed.

She has grown so much, both physically and mentally. She chatters all of the time and with each passing day Shaun and I can understand more and more. Her vocabulary has quite a few words in it! She currently says, but is not limited to, the following words:

Mommy, Dada, Nana, Papa, Moon, Star, Cat, Kitty, Dog, Puppy, Fishy, Bird, Jack, Bubble, Butterfly, Tree, Apple, Kite, Keys, Car, Water (she calls it WaWa), Cheese, Baby, Abby, Caillou (thats the main characters name on her favorite show), Yes, Please and Thank You (we’re still working on using these at the right time), Purple, Shoes, Hi, Bye, Sit (although sometimes this one sounds like a certain 4 letter word, I swear she is saying sit though).

Oh the list continues I am sure and each day something new pops out of her mouth. She is getting very good at mimicking things she hears mommy and daddy say as well as what she hears on Sprout or Nick Jr. Shaun and I are now very aware of what we say around her.

Abby is walking like a pro now and now loves to run as fast as she can, that is until she falls. Falling isnt so much of a traumatic experience as it used to be. There have been many times where Abby has taken a spill that I thought for sure would induce tears, but I got giggles instead. She is also starting to try and walk up stairs instead of crawling up them and she is now learning that she has to walk down them carefully, holding onto the rails or mommy or daddy’s hand. We had a few near accidents, but thank goodness we were right there to catch her.

Abby also had her 18 month check up today! She did great and Dr. Calig says she looks very very healthy. Music to the ears of her mommy and daddy. Her measurements this time around were as follows: 32.5 inches and 27 pounds 7 ounces. That means in 2 months she has grown nearly 2.5 inches! She only put on 2 pounds but that is excellent. Dr. Calig said that weight gain generally slows down at this age. Abby has been eating like crazy but I think that is because she is growing in height not weight. She can still fit into 12 month clothing as long as the shirts were cut a little long and pants can be made to look cute as capris. Some 18 month items are a little big still, but she is growing fast. I am sure that will change very soon!

Abby’s doctors appointment must have been very grueling for her, because as soon as we got home she went down easily for a nap. I checked on her about 15 minutes after I put her down and this is what I found…



She was literally cuddled up with her stuffed friends, especially her new Minnie Mouse. It was too cute to pass up. I had to risk waking her up to get a picture. Luckily she was passed out cold and I was even able to cover her up before I left her room. Boy how I love this little girl!

Happy Half Birthday Little Punkin!