Zoë and the Art

Zoë went to her first Art museum this Thursday. I was so blessed to have my friend Jessica with me. She helped me A LOT with Zoë. All went well during the time. Zoë did try to sneak in a few squeals in the areas that had good accustics that could carry her joy to all areas of the museum. Needless to say Jessica and I hurried Zoë through many different exhibits to keep her happy. :-) It was very fun! Thanks Jessica!! Jessica also had Paul and I over for a wonderful dinner Wednesday night. She and her husband Peter had us over, Jamie (Jessica's sister), Jason Bolt a freind of ours and Micheal Tong and his family who Paul knows from college and works with Jessica and her husband. What a small world it is!! The evening was awesome and how great to catch up with friends! Although I had a fantastic time it is sooooooo nice to home in our own bed. :-)

One More Sleep

Well one more sleep and we will be on our way home. Please pray that Zoë is able to sleep on the plane. She has begun squealing again at the top of her lungs... we have a hard time in Caribou Coffee. :-) I am going to explore downtown today. I will be going to the Minnesota Art Museum and the Midtown Exchange which is a global market... I am excited. I am also going to try to make it to eat street and try some new food. :-)

Another Fun Day

Yes, I ventured by myself into the deep depths of downtown Minneapolis. I am so glad that I did because I regained some of my "Big City" confidence. I went to a MOMS meeting with Sara Garrison. It was so kind of her to invite me. I really enjoyed being the outsider this time. So often I know everyone so it is good for me not to. Zoë screamed most of the time so I was in the back. She was not crying...just a joyful squeal to the Lord I guess. :-) The speaker was wonderful and very encouraging to all of us moms. (We are not insane as we sometimes think we are!) After the morning I had lunch with Mitch and Sara and their daughters...WONDERFUL!! What a great family! I am blessed to call them my friends. I decided after lunch to venture to downtown St.Paul here is the sequence of what happened next:...found it...had fun walking and shopping.... decided to leave before rush hour... followed the GPS... almost go up a one way street... miss the turn off... U turn...on the right street....oh no! ....new intersection... on wrong on ramp... on a new highway...where am I???...off an exit ... on again...wrong highway...drive a long way and then back track....continue doing this three more times in the middle of nowhere...yell at the GPS... Zoë sleeping.....FINALLY!!back at Bethel frazzled but proud I made it!!

Are You Ready for This?

Well, what a better way to say thank you for having us over for dinner by having your child poop everywhere. Yes folks, it has happened again... the magic and mysterious poop climbed out of Zoë last night right in the middle of dinner. Shirley Roehl, bless her heart, was chatting with me during dinner at their house when I heard these words: Abbie, I think Zoë is turning green. Hmmmm, I thought, I wonder if that green bean I just gave her fell onto her shirt...I WISH!! There was poop everywhere, all the way up to her neck. It was crazy, and she was happy as a clam...Paul had to help me strip her down and give her a bath right then and there in the Roehl's bathtub. I am so thankful I had an extra pair of clothes too. (Note to self for future...maybe pack TWO extra pairs of clothes!!) We returned home exhausted...whew!! Who knew having one child would be so adventurous?? Once again... this is a shout out for cloth diapers...has not happened once with the cloth...only disposable!

Beautiful Day

Today is a gorgeous fall day. Zoë and I are hanging out at a Caribou Coffee while Paul is in class. We will be going to the Como Conservatory today. Hopefully we will find it OK. Zoë is starting to scream right now and I am feeling bad because the guy beside me looks as if he is writing a paper... Zoë... Zoë ...Zoë. :-) I just need to distract her with the seat belt in her car seat and she should be good.

OK...I have a big prayer request today. My Aunt Julie goes in for an MRI today to see if the cancer has blocked off the lung please pray 1st that the Lord will heal her completely and 2nd that her lung is not blocked up so that she can stay home and not have to travel to Seattle again. Thank you for your prayers!!

-Abbie

Fun Weekend

The weekend went fast but it was so much fun! Paul and I had the pleasure of visiting my Aunt Winona and Uncle Wayne's house for two days. They are so much fun and full of hospitality. They let us stay at their house and we were able to the Mall of America with them then they treated us to dinner that night, THANK YOU Wayne and Winona! We really didn't spend much time there...just looked in at the baby stores. :) Paul and I went to an IKEA the night before and we LOVED it!!! IKEA is huge but so much fun to walk through. We bought a few fun/cheap things for Zoë's room. If you have never gone to one be sure that you do someday...very cool. hmmmm....what else.

Today, (Sunday) we were able to have the chance to go to John Piper's church (Bethlehem Baptist) it was great. You know, the church surprised me. It was very simple and to the point. It really was not showy at all. I liked the church and the sermon was about Jesus feeding the 5,000 (John 6) and how God created things in our life to point to Him. (go with me here, I am not good at explaining things) for example...we are hungry... we need to be filled... we eat bread and are satisfied... we are thirsty....we need to have our thirst quenched...we drink fresh water and we have the feeling of being satisfied. Piper's point was that these human things help point us towards what it is that we have in Chist... Bread of Life.... Living Water... Christ uses the human needs to point to the spiritual. I hope you followed the gist of the thought. Of course there was way more to it. :-) Paul and I then joined Mitch and Sara for lunch and we went over and watched a football game with them AND had dinner. THANK YOU Mitch and Sara for puting up with is. We love speding time with you and your beautiful and fun filled girls.

Right now I am typing away while Zoë is sleeping at a Caribou Coffee. (white chocolate mocha anyone? YUM!) I am going to try and venture out tomorrow and visit a conservatory with Zoë I am hoping we make it there in one piece.

One last thought... a 5 1/2 month old dressed as a giraffe walking around with her mom and dad at the Mall of America... SO CUTE!! :-)

Zoë is so funny

Zoë is so funny! She is definitely a charmer. Zoë LOVES people. She will smile and smile at anyone who will look at her. Zoë even makes little noises and giggles to try to get a strangers attention. When someone does pay attention to her she will suck in her breath and make a little squeal. It is so great to watch because she is so excited. When I see her little face light up I am amazed at how fun a baby can be. Just a year ago I didn’t even know if we were going to have a boy or a girl. There are times right now that are going too fast. Zoë will be 6 months old on the 7th of November. I wish that I could capture some of the moments we have with her in a bottle and save it for the future. I just can’t get enough snuggles, hugs and kisses from her. She is very petite and long…just a tiny peanut! ( maybe she will be like her petite Grandma Janice!)

Zoë and I have been exploring the city very little. I really am not a BIG CITY driver. The on and off ramps here are crazy. There are these one types of ramps that circle around and while you are going off the ramp you need to move over a lane because there are other cars trying to get on the ramp and if you don’t make it off in time you will be traveling down the wrong ramp and will find yourself on a highway that you did not want in the first place! (uuummmm….can you tell that this happened to me? Zoë and I were going somewhere…we didn’t know where…good thing we figured out how to get on the right highway!!!)

This morning Zoë was hungry. So, I fed her like normal and we were just about ready to leave when she threw up all over me… I mean, ALL over me. Puke was down my sweatshirt, inside my shirt in my pants… underneath everything…it was crazy. I had to change everything that I was wearing down to my underwear! It really went all over. Sheesh.

Today Paul and I will head to Wayne and Winona’s house. What a great weekend we will have!

and in Zoë news...

Here are things Zoë can do:

1. scream bloody murder at the top of her lungs...except she is really insanely happy!

2. giggle and giggle when you fake cough at her.

3.touch your face non stop.

4.charm any stranger with smiles and giggles and then when they leave she will turn on the water works.

5. will balance and stand at a table and play with some toys.

6. can almost sit byherself.

7. blows bubbles non-stop :) quite funny

8. babble and babble and babble... :)

She is a blast and I am thankful that the Lord entrusted us with her. :-)

Yesterday we had a chance to catch up with some freinds. I was able to spend some time with Jessica Melling. She was so gracious to come and visit with me at Bethel.
Paul, Zoë and I went to Mitch and Sara Garrison's house. They made a DELICIOUS meal. They are very hospitable and we had a wonderful time with them and their two girls Anika and Faith. :-) I am typing away and listening to Zoë trying to go to sleep. Paul is offsite today so I think I will take Zoë to R.E.I. and then to a noodle place for lunch. The weather is crumby today so Zoë and I can't go for our normal walks around the campus. Tonight Paul has class into the evening so Zoë and I will explore some more. :-) See you later!

And the Truth is....

So, the truth is I give my baby real things to play with. How funny that you give your child a new toy and you are so excited to give it to her and then she goes and wants the cup that you are drinking coffee out of? Of course I don't give her coffee...not because it has caffeine...but because it is too hot. :) I have to laugh, that as new parents we think that she will go ga ga over a new toy, but instead she plays with her coat, or a plastic cup or my necklace.
Here are some other "failures" of sorts:
1.Tried to give her a pacifier...nope, didn't take.
2. Tried to give her a bottle... no such luck.
3.Think baby Einstein would be fun for her to try.... pediatricians discover that is causes ADD. (sheesh...you can't do anything these days!)
4.working on getting her to drink from a sippy cup....she drinks from a normal cup.
These are just a few of the many failures. I guess what it boils down to is that in reality no one person is a perfect parent. We all just try to do the very best that we can with what God has given us. I have to realize that I love Zoë and I am looking out for what is best for her. I think I get the tiniest taste of what God may think of us. He loves us so very much, more than we can ever imagine and still puts up with our shenanigans. How often have I tried to "make a deal"with God? (only to find myself disappointed.) How silly is that? That is totally my humanness shining through like someone trying to cover up the smell of dog poop. I think that I am getting more mature with my walk with God only to discover that I am still a baby needing milk in so many ways. The things I think are best for me end up hurting me... why don't I trust in God at all times? Zoë is teaching me a lot about how very human and imperfect I am. Thank you Lord for using someone so tiny to teach me gently. So here is the verse I read today in my quiet time:

Ephesians 5:1 "Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children"

hmmm...yep, I think Zoë is trying to imitate Paul and I who love her dearly... and we are to do the same with God.

ZOMBIE ON THE LOOSE!

I am serious... Paul and I both slept horribly last night. We had to sleep on a full size bed which we do not fit on and it was super bouncy...so we kept rolling off, hahahahahaha!! I just think that is funny! :-) I am also laughing because we are both sooooo tired today. Zoë slept great. Paul woke up with red eyes and sneezes (the house is kinda musty). Don't get me wrong, I am soooo thankful for the place we are staying so that Paul can go to school and we can be here with him. But, it really was a hilarious night last night. I feel bad for Paul because now he is in his intensives and they are not easy. I am hanging out at the school today, wandering around because I really have no clue where anything is. I am hoping to see Zach and Lauren ...that would be soooo cool! I guess Carolyn and Rob will be coming too and it would be so neat to see them and maybe spend Halloween with them. So, back to the school. Everyone has been really nice and the campus is beautiful! I am getting my fill of fall here as the leaves are changing and falling from the trees...gorgeous! I have been walking around on the paths and I have gotten myself into some hilarious situations. There are lots of hills here and so it is difficult to manuver a stroller around the campus. Let's see...what else? We may go see a Timberwolves game next week... that would be fun. I have never been to a professional basketball game before. I will check out for now but I will try to write more later. :-) ~
Abbie