The Girl Behind the Blog {Encouragement}

 Over a year ago, I did my first girl behind the blog post.

And...I haven't done one since.

So, here I am again.

It's naptime and maybe I should be doing something productive like mopping my {really dirty} floors or folding some {really wrinkly} laundry, but here I am posting another video.  

Last time I blamed it on Carina.  

This time its Kerrie's fault.

Ashley and Nadine wanted us to talk about encouragement...

                           

Sammy wanted to weigh-in on the topic of encouragement...

2,920 Days

That's how long we have been married.  8 years ago today I married the man I am so proud to call my husband.

Wes, I love you so much.

I love how you calm me down when I get spastic.

I love how good of a father your are to Max.

I love how you pick up the entire house while I clean the kitchen {mainly because I have cleaning ADD and it's the only way to keep me focused}

I love how you love me.

There are so many other reasons why I love you, but I won't bore the rest of the readers with my mushiness.


In true Abby-fashion, I waited until the last minute to purchase Wes' gift and to make this video....

     

Happy Anniversary, Wes!

He's a Walker... Texas Ranger

It's the only title I could think of and everytime I say it, it makes me giggle.  

Max is walking.  

Last Wednesday, he took a few steps from my mom to Wes.  We, of course, cheered and Max, of course, looked at us like, "What's the big deal, people?"

So, we have spent the last 4 days watching Max get better and better and taking more and more steps.  Here is the latest video.  

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Please continue to pray and think about my See Wes Run Campaign.  If you haven't checked it out yet, click on the button below.  

Some Video Love

Where's the Love? Wednesday will be Where's the Love? Thursday this week.  In the meantime, check this video out.

I managed to waste a good hour watching This guy's amazing wedding videos.  This one is my favorite...

Gene + Jill // Two Pease in a Pod from capture studios on Vimeo.

Transportation

Max has 2 favorite forms of transportation these days.

Bear crawling...
or as we like to call it - crawking {a nice blend of crawling and walking}
I guess he's never loved the idea of getting his knees dirty...

And this.

Children of God

I love this video...that's all.

Piano Encore

Max's encore piano performance...I know you've been waiting.

Most of his inspiration came from his Uncle G hat. :)

Uncle Matt, Max is working on his Jump piano solo, but he doesn't have it down quite like you do.  

For everyone's viewing pleasure, here's the music video.  Enjoy.  My favorite parts - first 20 seconds, 0:35, 1:12, 2:00, 2:30, 3:05, and 3:25

Max's 1st Swim

Went to Grand Rapids to see my sister and boys while my bro-in-law was out of town.  Loved seeing them.  Loved making a memory of Max's first pool experience.  

Kobe, Maxwell and Keaton waiting for thier swim trunks.

Fistu What?

Just wanted to share a video that our church put together for our end of the year giving.  I love hearing about ways I can help others...even if they are halfway across the world.  There are so many people who have problems and struggles that have never crossed my mind.  This is one of them.  This was a huge reality check to the puniness of my problems and the magnitude of my complaints.

If you are interested in donating or would like more information, go to www.fistulafoundation.org. 

Piano Recital

For some reason, my parents always got the giggles during our piano recitals growing up.  If I remember correctly, it was the silent, can't stop, tears falling down your face kind.  Thanks Mom and Dad.  Good thing we knew we were loved.  I'm sure it was a nervous laughter that had something to do with the fact that their children didn't practice as much as they should have for the recitals.  

I love playing the piano.  I'm not the greatest.  I can read music, you could probably guess the tune, but you would never be able to sing along with me due to the fact that I have to hold certain chords until I figure out where my fingers need to go next on the keys.  

Max has endured many butchered songs and amazingly, I think he likes it.  So, I thought I would start him early with his first ever piano recital...

No Love at First Bite

Max has been pretty upset with us lately when he finishes his bottle, so we thought it might be time to start some food.

No love at first bite for Max with the cereal. 

Please excuse our annoying baby talk voices. As much as you say you won't talk like that, it just happens. However, we hope you enjoy Maxwell's signature snorts.

If you have trouble with the video uploading on my blog, just click on the YouTube button below the video.

Mr. Jimmy Legs

Jimmy legs [jim-ee legz] - 1. The inability to sit still.  2. The feeling of wanting to crawl out of your skin when being confined to a certain area for an extended period of time.  

Max has come down with a bad case of Jimmy legs.  

Caution for video viewers:  I'm sure the only people who would love watching this entire video are Max's parents, grandparents, uncles and aunt.  To avoid extreme boredom, you can get the gist of this video by going to 1:20 and 2:30.