Family pictures ~Summer 2013

My sweet little baby keeps growing like a weed and I am so thankful to get a few pictures to capture her at this stage!  She has such a sweet innocence in her eyes and I want to bottle it up and protect it forever!  

Abigail is 18 months old now and it seems like overnight she became a little tornado.  She didn't start walking until she was 15 months, but once she did she took off and hasn't slowed down since!  Mike and I quickly discovered all the weak spots of our baby proofing efforts.  I also had to learn what all moms before me have learned.  There is no such thing as a clean and tidy house anymore!  Despite my best efforts, she can have toys and tupperware in every room of our house in less than a minute.  True story. 

My nature is to constantly pick up after her and keep things in order, but thankfully pregnancy has slowed me down and I am left watching this sweet little girl explore and learn.  I love to see her take care of her baby dolls.  She strolls them around and wraps them in blankets.  She hugs them and will find random wash rags to clean their faces.  

She also loves her accessories.  She will wake up asking for her shoes or her sunglasses.  The minute those little toes touch the floor she is off to find her hat and a hair bow!  My favorite mornings are when I wake up before she does.  I will sip my coffee and enjoy the still of the day before my family wakes up.  And then I will hear sweet little feet trotting down the hallway looking for me.  She is always so excited to find me and as she quickens her pace to get to me, I watch her giggle and dance so proud of herself for knowing just where I would be.  I cherish those mornings. 

Of course, some mornings when I go into her room first she only wants Daddy. She will ask for Mike and look for him with such desperation.  It absolutely melts my heart to see her call his name and march around the house looking in all the rooms for him. 

Here are a few things Abigail is doing at 18 months old that I hope to never forget!

* Spaghetti is her favorite food
* She loves to crawl up on the couch and share cereal with me
* She is just starting to dance and when she sees people sing or play instruments she claps for them
* She can now say around 50 words 
* She knows where her nose, eyes, belly, and toes are and can point them out
* She likes to kiss you on the lips!
* She can get herself a cup and get water from the fridge
* She loves to slide!
* She has been known to take her diaper off while in her crib...and throw her poo on the floor.  Yeah. 
* She scrunches her whole face when she smiles!

Only three more months as a family of three!  I have enjoyed every second of being a mommy and I can't wait to meet Violet.  I am so anxious to see what her personality will be like.  Most of my friends with two girls have told me how completely opposite their kids were! Whether she is sweet and timid or sassy and wild, we can't wait to have her in our arms! 

Violet Anne Harder ~ 25 weeks