These pictures are from our fabulous beach trip back in June-I know it's been forever since I've updated!! We had a wonderful time, Abby loved hanging with her cousin Marcus, and we were just happy to be away from home, here are the highlights!

Abby didn't love her first dip in the ocean, it was a little cold..... Abby and Marcus just hanging out....

Fourth of July pictures........

getting ready to hit the beach in her new bikini!!

Best Buds

I know all of you have seen a million pictures of our first child, Roxy. We joke about it but she really was our first-she was the trial run!! I never understood dog people until we had Roxy, she's part of our family and we always laugh because we can't remember what we did before we had Roxy and Abby! Roxy is always some where in our pictures-it's usually not intentional, she just likes to be where the action is. And now Abby is obsessed with her. She stalks her all day, she looks for her everywhere and once she sees her she won't take her eyes off of her. It's really funny because Roxy is pretty much over Abby, Roxy couldn't be bothered. Whenever they're near each other Abby wants to get as close as possible, so with a little help from dad she got pretty close last night. I think Abby wants to just grab her and love her and just get her hands on her! Luckily Roxy doesn't mind, she just sits there while Abby tries to get her, it's the cutest thing. So here our girls.......

Abby's got her sweaty hands all in her fur and Roxy's just hanging out....
Why won't you play with me Roxy!!!!

Look 'Ma I got her!!

I think I'll just lay here with my best friend, Roxy......

Yummy Food

We finally have started feeding Abby baby food, she is a growing girl and we've been trying to keep up with her growing appetite-I think she gets that from mom and dad! We started her on a rice cereal a few weeks ago, but that didn't work out-she got a little backed up :( After she was back on track we switched to oatmeal and she loves it. I can't shovel it in her mouth fast enough. Once she was on that for a few days we tried some good stuff. First came the sweet potatoes. She really wasn't sure about it, but by the second day she was loving it. We've give her the veggies and oatmeal at night to try and fill her up before bed time, and we also give her some oatmeal in the am. She's only on formula now and she is definitely packing on the lbs! She is getting so big! I am proud to say that for a girl who didn't want to nurse, I lasted six loooooong months and pumped and nursed for the first three of them. We had enough breast milk that we just finished it up last week, so she certainly got her fill. I'm really happy I did nurse because whatever we did certainly worked, she's so come so far and is so healthy. Two nights ago we switched to peas and Abby loves the peas-yuck! As soon as she sits in her seat she knows shes getting the good stuff and gets excited. Here are the pictures from the sweet potatoes, she's is pretty darn cute!


First bite.....Hmmmmmm..... What the heck did you just feed me mom!

Ummm I don't think I like that......

Another satisfied customer.....She was still making faces through the second feeding but she still ate them!

Family

Last week Matt's family came down for a visit from Massachusetts. We were so excited to see them and for them to see how big Abby has gotten since their last visit. Even though they live about six hours away, we still manage to see them every six weeks or so. They really are troopers, They make that six hour drive each way pretty often and we're lucky they don't mind long car rides!! We had a wonderful visit with them, It's really an excuse for us to relax while they're here and we always enjoy having them. Matt's mom, dad and brother came down, and they had a great time loving on Abby. We went out to dinner a few times, Matt's mom and I did some shopping, planted some flowers and we celebrated Danny's birthday. Here are a few pictures from the visit, We took a million as usual but here are the highlights....

Grandpa and Roxy are best buds and she LOVES when he's here-I should say she loves any visitors, but especially her Mass family, and grandpa always plays with her. Grandma and Abby having a chat, Abby loves to stand and talk to us and she's full of smiles these days.....

The Long family, Abby is sitting like such a big girl!

6 Months Already!!!

That's right, Abby was six months on June 1st-it was her 'half birthday'-I can't believe it's already been six months! It really has gone by so fast, especially the past few months. Abby is wonderful and her personality is starting to show; she's also over being a baby. She's ready to be on the move, she doesn't like to lay down, she's always trying to pull herself up and stand up, she thinks she's really a big girl!!
On Wednesday we had our six month check-up at the pediatrician. The Dr was pleased to see how well Abby is doing. Abby weighed in at 13lbs 6ozs and 24 inches. The Dr now uses a full term six month old chart to compare Abby's growth instead of a preemie chart, and even though she's in the bottom percentile she's catching up!!
We also started Abby on rice cereal on Wed, it's very exciting, and sad that she's growing up! She wasn't sure if she liked the cereal, it was pretty runny and I think she wanted to drink it, but she's figuring it out. I think more ends up on her face and bib but we still try. We start baby food in a few weeks-that'll be an adventure!
We are also trying to get Abby to sleep in her room and slowly stop swaddling her. She's been in our room so far because she's so attached to the pacie, every time it falls out she wakes up and I really don't want to have to get up and go to her room all night-but that's what we're doing. She really doesn't know how to settle herself either and we're trying to let her cry it out-today at her nap was the first time she cried herself to sleep and it was probably because she was exhausted from being up so many times last night, but it's a start!
Other than the Dr updates, Abby's smiling and talking a lot more, it's SO exciting to watch her smile! I love when I go to get her up from her nap and when she sees me smiling at her I get a huge smile back and I just love that big gummy smile!! Speaking of gums, I think she has a few teeth coming in up top, the Dr said they usually come in on the bottom first but I'm pretty sure I feel some up top, and she's been chewing on anything she can get her mouth on. Maybe we'll have a few teeth in the near future.
Next weekend our Massachusetts family is coming for a visit and we're very excited to see them. We always love visiting with them but it's even more exciting having Abby. We can't wait for them to see her and love her, and see how big and healthy she is! Well that's all I have for now, I'm sure I'll have a ton of pics from their visit. Sorry for the long rambling...I know everyone just wants to see pics so here are some of the latest......


Abby in her seat, not sure what's going on...

She's still not sure if she likes it.....

Doing some tummy time...she's started pushing herself onto her back because she hates being on her belly ....

Thursday my cousin Marissa graduated from eighth grade and is on her way to high school...talk about growing up! Abby and I went to do her hair and makeup so she was all set for her big night and she looked beautiful! Nicholas is making a goofy face but I still think it's a cute picture!

So is everyone ready for summer or what?! We certainly are!! I'm not ready for the humidity but I'm ready for the sun and warm weather...and most importantly-the beach!!! I can't wait to introduce Abby the Jersey Shore-even if she doesn't have a clue what's going on!
Everything here has been great, Abby is wonderful-as usual. There isn't too much to report, Abby did have a little cold last week, but she got over it pretty fast. Even though the Dr told us not to worry if she got sick since RSV season is over and she's other wise healthy, we were a little concerned because she was coughing for a few days, so we took her in for a checkup anyway. I think we did pretty good since she went over five months without being sick-it was bound to happen at some point. Abby did get weighed at the Dr--12lbs 8oz!!-that was higher than Matt and I both guessed. She is definitely packing on the lbs!
Other than the little cold, everything is great. Abby is smiling and talking-mostly yelling-at us more and making more eye contact, even though we can still see her right eye wander a bit, she's still making progress. We go back to the eye Dr in July and they'll decide whether to patch her-poor thing! She likes to just hang out and play, and she's getting more fun to play with since she's starting to smile when we try to play with her instead of staring at us like a couple of dorks! I keep telling her that she thinks she's such a big girl but she's really just my baby. She LOVES to stand all day long on us and we just can't get over how strong her little legs are, it's crazy! She also tries to pull herself up if she's laying down or sitting on our laps-I think she's over the baby thing! She has also started to push herself onto her back from her stomach, it's pretty funny because once she flops over she looks like she scares herself and just kind of lays there in shock!! Abby is definitely ready to get a move on!
And as for the summer we have lots planned. Matt's family is coming down for a few days in June, his mom, dad and brother are coming. Danny-Matt's brother-has yet to meet Abby so we're very excited. And of course we're excited for his parents to see Abby-and for us to see them-We always have a great time with them and we can't wait. We are also headed up to see them and the rest of the fam in Mass in August, again we're very excited for everyone to see Abby and we love a good road trip. Matt, Abby and I are headed down to the shore with my Aunt Jeanne and fam(did I mention how much I love her?? she hooked us up big time with a rental), in June, and we can't wait! This year has been so intense and we can't wait to relax. I'm not sure how Abby will do on the beach, it's probably a good thing she isn't on the move yet so she'll hopefully just hang with us and we don't have to chase her-next year I'm sure we're in for it. And wait until I get pictures of the cute pink bikini with ruffles on the butt-it's too cute! Sea Isle City or bust! We have about a million pictures of Miss Abby, and with everything we have going on we'll have a million more, so stay tuned...here are the latest few......

shouldn't someone be sleeping?!

daddy and Abby...

Abby standing like a big girl...checking things out...still no hair, but it's one cute bald head!

Abby giving daddy kisses....she's always trying to stick both hands in her mouth, even if there's a pacie already in it, and she doesn't wanna let go of those hands!

Hi everyone! We have the best news ever for you all! We took Abby to CHOP on Tuesday for another ultrasound of her liver....and whatever was there is even smaller! The surgeon said it is a 'known hemmatoma'-which is a collection of blood, they think it's from the line that was in her belly in the NICU. So this means there is NO surgery! YAY!!!!!! Is that good news or what?! We are beyond happy about this! The surgeon did say he was disappointed because if the growth on Abby's liver was a hammoratoma like they originally thought he said it would have been a great case. Sorry to disappoint ya doc! Matt still swears the growth went away because he gave Abby his blood-I just let him think whatever he wants. After we received our fabulous we news, we stopped at PF Changs on the way home and celebrated-Abby thankfully slept the whole time and Matt and I-especially myself-were thrilled to be at a restaurant, and I love PF Changs! Other than this fantastic news there isn't really anything going on. Abby weighed in at 11.8lbs, definitely a growing girl! We are still working on strengthening Abby's wandering eye, so hopefully our exercises will work. We go back to the eye Dr in July so we'll see what happens. Thanks again to everyone for all of your prayers, they certainly worked...someone out there is looking over out little girl!

This pic is from about a week and half ago when it was really hot and I thought she looked super cute....