As I write this, my precious baby girl is asleep in her crib in the next room. She was so tired tonight. It has been a busy week. Heck, it has been a busy 2 months. :-) I'm just so amazed at how Abby just kind of rolls with whatever it is we happen to be doing though.

Alright, let me go back a bit and see if I can capture some of what we have been up to. Last week Abby and I went on our first real vacation. Oh it was wonderful!!! We went with my friends Julia and Dawn. I met them for the first time last summer. Both are now also single moms of precious children born in Kazakhstan. When we first met, Dawn had just that day received her travel dates to go to Uralsk (yes, the same city, and in fact the same baby house where Abby was!) to bring home her adorable son, Alec. Julia and I have truly gone through our adoptions together. It was like being pregnant with a good friend. She was even in Kazakhstan (though a different city) at the same time I was there. Her beautiful daughter Katy is just 2 months younger than Abby.

So we all decided to head to St. Simons Island for 5 days. Julia and Katy live in Ohio so they flew down the night before we were to leave and spent the night with us. The next morning we picked up Dawn and Alec (they live about 45 minutes from us) and we packed up the van and headed out. I must admit that though I was incredibly excited about the trip, I was fully prepared for a lot of crying and fits. I mean, we were after all traveling with one almost 3 year old, one 15 month old, and one 13 month old. But I needn't have worried. The kids were amazing. I mean we had minor stuff but nothing lasted long and the vacation proved to be wonderful!! The only downside the whole trip was when poor Katy got sick one day. Fortunately, she recovered fairly quickly.

Abby's first day at the beach was priceless for me. She was actually pretty hesitant at first and did not want me to put her down. Katy, on the other hand, was ready to dive right in. :-) It didn't take Abby or Alec long though and we were all out in the water with our kids. Suffice it to say Abby had a blast. She spent most of our time at the beach covered (and I do mean covered) in sand. She got pretty brave running towards the water too! Her mommy had to quickly put down the camera and chase after her. :-)

We pretty much ate dinner out and ate breakfast and lunch in our condo. The kids did great. For our dinner at the Crab Trap, Abby was pretty much dinner entertainment for the people sitting beside us. Lots of clapping, waving, and blowing kisses. I guess if she was a 45 year old woman doing those things, people would have been nervous, but as a pretty adorable 15 month old, Abby got away with it. :-) After dinner that night we went to the pier and walked around, ending the night with ice cream. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Dinner the next night was, shall we say, comical. We had decided to eat at Barbara Jean's Restaurant by the pier. It was early but apparently not early enough as we had to wait awhile in a tiny hallway by the bathroom. This meant that every time someone had to go to the bathroom they had to do a dance to get by the strollers, kids, sippy cups, and Aldo the Alligator (Alec's new acquisition that night - a 2 foot plastic alligator that I helped him find at the toy store). Going by the number of people frequenting the bathroom, I do believe they kept the sweet tea refills coming.

By the time we finally sat down, we were all pretty happy to do so. Another family had taken up all but one of the high chairs they had, so Abby sat on my lap. Imagine everything on the table (ketchup, silverware, napkins, glasses, sugar packets, etc.) and how fun that looks to a baby. Poor Dawn was sitting across the table from us and had EVERYTHING on her side of the table. It was really fun though. I personally love seeing how fast my little Stretch Armstrong (Abby) can reach for something. Probably my favorite part of that dinner though, was when the waiter asked us if the kids were adopted, or were we all married to Asian American men. I guess we did attract attention. :-)

It was really great seeing the kids play and interact with each other. They are all the cutest kids ever. We have decided to make this a yearly thing so next year it will be fun to see how much the kids have grown and changed.

The rest of the last couple of months has been a blur of baptisms, birthday parties, a graduation party, and just, well, wonderful normal stuff. Being in Kazakhstan for a month truly made me appreciate the normal regular stuff. In the middle of that though, we did get to meet another precious baby from Kazakhstan. My friend Kris returned home from Almaty in May and we already had a play date with them. Avery is the same age Abby was when we returned home. She is such a cutie!

Abby is doing so incredibly well. She is talking up a storm now and pretty much repeats whatever I say to her. She still loves music and dancing, being read to, playing with her toys, the pool, and cuddling with mommy. She is doing so well at her daycare. Her teacher is fantastic and Abby adores her. They do fun stuff like Splash Day. Ms. Kim reports that Abby talks all day long (ha!), rarely cries, and loves to repeat Ms. Kim when she says the kids' names. She can drag out Will into about 15 syllables too. She also did this with Katy's name. Thank goodness both Dawn and Julia heard her say it or no one ever would have believed me. My little girl already has a southern accent. :-)

Friday Abby had her 15 month check up. Aside from 5 yucky shots, it went well. Abby now weighs 24 pounds and is 32 inches long. If you are into such stats, this puts her in the 75% for weight and 95% for height. My tall little girl.

So, we are doing great. Abby is all I ever dreamed of and so much more. Till next time.