She is a girl...

Sometimes I feel guilty--photographing my daughter, Abigail, much more than my son, Caleb. The reason behind this is that Abigail is oftentimes way more dramatic than her brother is, or ever will be; I thought it would be great to document such temperament, so I can show her future husband what he should be looking forward to for the rest of his life.

She is a girl, and this is how she was made, I have to remind myself.


The first time I realized this is how she operates, I told my husband that we have to pray hard, starting now. I am all for bringing up a princess, but I am definitely not for bringing up a spoiled princess.

You see, there is a big difference.

Then, every so often, our girl decides to flash a killer smile, which melts the hearts of many.

She is a girl, just like me...and this is how we are made.

Tutu, my little tutu

This is one of those posts that I will just let the pictures do the writing.

How fun it is to have a girl...and you can tell, she enjoyed every single moment.

Every, single, moment.

My weakness....Target

This is for all you mommies, women, ladies, misses, girls out there--you go to Target because you really need to purchase one item. One. Then somehow you become distracted, you tell yourself, "Let me just check out the...." and you end up leaving with 42 more things.

I meant well when I walked into Target this morning. It's my friend's birthday, and I really wanted to get her a birthday card. Just the birthday card.

Then, somehow, like a robot, I had no control over my own movements, I wandered off to the very back of the store, and laid my eyes on these adorable, irresistible, colorful, lovable, delightful, magnetizing, cute, charming tights.

How do you, I mean, really, how do you resist?

First Year

I feel like Caleb was deprived. I was not so into photography when Caleb turned one. All I had of him were snapshots and sorts. But with our girl, she was born to be privileged.

She even had her first official photo shoot.

Abigail

First Word

In story books, one of the deepest bonds ever existed were of mothers and their darling babies. It was one of my dreams before I became a mother, to have my children love me unconditionally. And put me first.

I was sure that both my babies loved me unconditionally--that was, until they realized they had the ability to choose. Not to put me first.

Even before their belly button scabs fell off, I envisioned the day when they would finally converse with me. I dreamed of their first words spoken.

I expected their first word to be "mama".

Since I was the one who would risk losing my sanity--also known as no sleep--over their well-beings. I was the one who was willing to change their poop-filled filthy diapers (well, most of the time). I was the one who would forget to take a shower at the end of the day as a result of complete exhaustion. I was the one who would be shaking with hunger and tried to ignore this unpleasant physical yearning for food just to make sure they had food sitting in front of them first. I was the one who had to wake up in the middle of the night to provide warm hugs and cuddles while they went through a small phase called teething. I was their mother.

Is it too much to ask?

Abby's first word.

Princess Abigail

We just took Abby to her last doctor's appointment.
Of her first year, that is.

Secretly, I have been counting down to these wellness checkups. Harsh as it may seem, bottom line is, she is almost finished with her first year.

Besides being 30 inches tall and weighs only 20 lbs (I said "only" because her brother weighed so much more when he was at her age), she is hardly that tiny pea she was when I first met her. Rambunctious and not a bit meek, her adventurous side comes out when she tries to perfect the act of crawling, even walking. Not that she is walking, but she tries. She even tries to climb into her walker from the floor up. She is not at all content when she is on the floor, at one spot. She has the need to explore and to taste every square inch of her home. She is also independent.....

.....in her own comfort zone, that is.

As soon as she leaves her comfort zone, she becomes a whole different being. She becomes a princess, who whines at anything, and cries to everyone. Princess Abigail does not like strangers, nor does she enjoy being in strange places. She is like that princess who could feel the tiny pea underneath those 20 mattresses in that oh-so-familiar fairytale story. She is not so independent anymore when she realizes Mommy and Daddy are not within reach. She will shed tears until someone, anyone, picks her up in her loving arms and reassures her that she is loved.

But Princess Abigail can be a tough cookie, as well. Her older brother trains her to be. She has been pushed, shoved, landed on, by a 34-lb creature named Caleb. She has shamelessly taken away her brother's food from his hands, and made her brother cry by innocently(and accidentally) slapping him on the face while he was having a diaper change. But they love each other; their love for each other is deep. While he makes sure she is physically safe at all times, she will smile at him from ear to ear, even when he falls on top of her in the morning from climbing into her crib.

Princess Abigail--it's a joy to have her here with us.

The Normal Tuesday Stuff

So I have been lazy. I have not gone out on my wikes for a while--and I keep giving myself excuses. The weather has not been as warm, the kids have been sick--besides that I am just feeling lazy, I just want to stay at home, in my small but cozy home, staring at my constant-lit Christmas tree.

Then I forced myself to get out, not only because the sun was out today, but also because I did not want to just sit around and collect more poundage...yeah. Contrary to what people may think, I was not born small, and no, I cannot just eat whatever I want and not gain weight. I was not fortunate enough to inherit that gene from my mother. I really have to watch what I eat. All the time.

That said, as I wiked up the hill today, I saw some home-grown clementines and decided to take some--as illegal as it may appear--and enjoy them while they last.

"As long as it is on public property, it is all fair game."--As I have heard.



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When we came home, while Abigail enjoyed her banana-and-watered-down-baby cereal (yuck,) I noticed one tooth is sprouting from her bottom gum! It is such a milestone for us parents.

We even celebrated by wearing a special hat!

Abigail's Check Up

Not knowing what's going on.

NOOOOOO!!! The boo boo shots!!

After the boo boo shots

Mommy!!

Abby turned 6 months this past Monday. Where did time go, I wonder. Her current status: 17 lbs. and 28 inches.