Monday, September 1, 2014

All About Abbey

Today's post will be all about our sweet Abigail Mae. I want to always remember how much fun she was at four and a half years old...




Abbey was a difficult infant. She cried a lot. Like, A LOT, a lot. I sometimes worried if she'd ever be happy! Looking back I realize it was really ignorant to worry much about personality in the first three months of ones life. But it was my first time having babies and I didn't know any better. And I was utterly exhausted, so everything seemed like a really big deal.
I have a picture I took of her at about seven weeks old, where she is just chilling in her bouncy seat, calmly.  It was note worthy, because it was the first time it had happened for more than three minutes.
Three minutes. In seven weeks.
She was a fussy baby, I tell ya.

Anyways, now she is just such a little delight! And she really has been for years. She is so goofy, and full of spunk. She is one of the most nurturing people I know as well.


Abbey loves animals. LOVES them. All kinds. If she sees a dog, she immediately looks up to Dave or I and asks "can I go ask if I can pet their puppy?"
And she always wants to know their name before petting them.
She's respectful like that =).

She wants to pet any cat she can...



And she's Dory's best friend (and ardent defender) in our family...


 
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She's adorably silly. She cracks us up all the time around here!




She is incredibly detailed and thoughtful when she is doing anything creative...
 
 





She's super fun to play games with, and while very self-assured and competitive, she's also a pretty gracious loser.

 
She can be as stubborn as a freaking mule.
Seriously. When Abigail Mae digs her feet in, prepare to battle.
But can I tell you secret?
I kind of dig that about her.
It's true.
Whenever she's arguing with me about something, or freaking out about something that she wants and is not getting, there is a tiny part of me that's like YES. Yes baby girl. You be a FIGHTER. You don't give up on your hopes, dreams or even thoughts without a fight. If it's important to you, you go down swinging.  
 
But it's a tiny part of me that digs it. A large part of me is exhausted by it =).

But then she's just as quick to drop all defenses and go into nurturing mode if anyone she loves is sick or hurting. She instantly wants to take care of them. She is so sweet the way she loves to just sort of stand guard next to the injured party...stroking hair or just sitting near to be available in any way.

She loves being helpful and is often asking "is there any chores around here I can do?"
(And we're taking full advantage of this stage while it lasts!!)

 
Oh look, a cat stopped by to say hello...




She loves to play, and loves to get dirty...


I love how confident she is in new situations. I never EVER would have guessed she'd be this way at four years old during her first year of life. She didn't really like people or new places and was so clingy to me. And now she just walks into new situations and joins right in. It's amazing.
She and Luke both played soccer this summer, and then Luke took baseball classes while Abbey took basketball. She was the only girl with about seven other boys her age.
And she never even noticed.
I totally dig that about her =).
I'm sure part of it comes from growing up side by side with a twin brother, but part of it also comes from being comfortable in her own skin. I pray she always feels that way.


When you see our Abbeygirl, you almost always see a lovey animal with her. Her favorite lovey of all time is Wiley (a white stuffed little lamb, whom she deemed a kitty very early on, and whom we also thought was given the moniker "Whitey", until like last month when Dave and I learned she had in fact been saying "Wiley" for years. Dave and I were seriously stunned. Luke knew all along. Must be a twin thing.)
 
Snuggling with Ellie while watching a show on the laptop...
 


Bringing Scratchy to Church with us one morning...
 


So there you have it. Our sweet Abigail Mae at 4.5 years old. Such a joyful gift from God. We are so proud to be her parents.


3 comments:

nbrown said...

wait…what? WILEY?

Vanessa's Dad said...

U R blessed, as is Abbey. She is a product of your nurturing and disciplining (in love) and encouraging.

She believes she is wonderful and living in a wonderful, friendly universe. Thanks for showing her both of those Truths.

LOVE, GRAND DAD

Linda Lee Brown Ayers said...

"Wiley"? are you sure??? It made sense that her "kitty" was white and was "whitey". I wonder where she heard Wiley?

Love the stories. She's a lot like her mama. The strong-willed-stick-up-for-yourself attitude will serve her well and exhaust you when she is a teenager (remember?)

I love you, Kendra. You and David have done such an amazing job. You must be a real encouragement to moms of twins who are younger than yours!!