Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

It has been quite the month in the Mauriello household! The holidays tend to do that. Here's a recap!

After Thanksgiving things got a little busy with holiday parties, doctors appointments and getting ready for Christmas. Abigail celebrated turning 9 months old but visiting the doctor! We got a good bill of health and the A-Okay to keep working on adding more table foods.

Abigail weighed in at 16 lbs 3 oz, which we thought was a bit off because she was weighing about 13 lb 8 oz at home. The lucky Abigail did not have to get any shots this visit! Wohoo!

Over the holidays we had a lots of fun! We took a trip to brookeside gardens to see the holiday lights show with the grandmothers. We went to several holiday parties where of course Abigail was the talk of the town!

Abigail has been enjoying spending time the both of her grandmas lately. She has been blessed to get to spend time with each of them every week while mom and dad are at work.

Whats new in the land of Abigail?!?! Well, we are SOOOOOOOOOOOO very close to walking. We thought for sure that she was going to match mommy's 9 month record but no such luck. She will "cruise" around on all the furniture, walk behind her mail cart and loves to walk while holding your hand.

Abigail has enjoyed some new foods lately. She has had pasta and turkey, cheesecake and baked potato. She loved the baked potato and cheesecake, wasn't so sure about the pasta and turkey. She will of course try to eat it but makes a wonderful mess for mom and dad to clean up! The doctor even told us we can go ahead and give her some peanut butter! Maybe we will try some PB&J soon!

This Christmas we made the decision that we would like to start a new family tradition of staying at home on Christmas. We want Abigail to be able to enjoy the holiday and not get so worn out with all the traveling to have a major meltdown when we get home. So, we had all the family come and join us here at our house and it went great! Abigail got to open all of her presents and take her naps in the comfort of her own house and guess what....NO major meltdowns! Yay!

Abigail got so many fun toys this year she can hardly keep track of all of them! I think we have enough new toys to make a circuit for her to rotate around when she gets tired of one toy she can move on to the next. I also think Abby got most of life's MAJOR purchases on her very first Christmas. Abby got a cell phone, a lap top, a car and a house! She is SET.

This week Abby has been able to spend some quality time with Dad who is off from work. Mom has noticed that Abby and Dad have a routine down that works and they don't even need mom! Dad says he would love to be a stay at home dad, if only mom could make enough money to support the family! Mom's not so sure she likes that idea! So back to work Dad will go next week! Abby has also been talking a lot lately.....Dada dada is her favorite so far. Everything is dada dada. Mom's only slightly jealous! I even tried practicing "mamma, mamma" with Abigail one evening only to have her repeat "dadda, dadda" to me two seconds later. Dad thought that was hilarious!

Abby has learned to give hugs recently. She walks over to dad who is sitting on the floor and wraps her arms around him and leans in and gives him a big hug! Daddy then melts. Abigail has also developed a love for her new teddy bear. She cuddles with her teddy an chance she can get. It's absolutely adorable! We are hoping we can find a backup teddy bear just in case this teddy goes missing on one of our trips somewhere!

Abigail celebrated her first new years! Tho, she didn't quite make it to midnight, she sure did try! I think she passed out around 11:30. Mom barely made it to midnight! Gone are the days of partying all night long!

Mom and Dad are going on a little trip next weekend to NC for Matt's cousin's wedding. Gramma has graciously volunteered to watch Abby for the night! Mom isn't sure who is going to have a harder time, Gramma or Mom!

Abigail is still not sleeping through the night. Sadly, this is probably mom's fault! Abigail heads to bed around 8 and most nights will sleep in her crib in her room until 12 or 1. Then she wakes up and the little stinker refuses to go back to sleep in her bed. Sooooo, Abigail ends up in mom and dad's bed for the rest of the night. So far it has worked out pretty well. Most nights everyone gets the sleep they need, which is very exciting! Abby still wakes up for a bottle around 4 a.m. and once she has that she rolls over and heads right back to dream land until about 7 am. Every once in a while she will give mom and dad a few extra winks on the weekend!

Abby has 4 beautiful pearly whites these days. The are growing in nicely and she shows them off any chance she gets. Abigail loves chomping down on some puffs but just this past week we have moved on to cheerios! Dad is nervous that we might have a biter on our hands but let's cross our fingers that we do NOT have a biter on our hands!

I must say we have seen that Abigail is developing quite the little temper lately. If you take something that she wants, she lets you know it! We are hoping that her temper is nothing permanent.

Well, we've had quite the month and we are looking forward to 2012! Our next big event looks to be someone's birthday! I know I have said it before but it really is amazing how fast the time has gone! It has been so much fun to watch her grow and learn, she still amazes us with something everyday. I think the most exciting new thing is going to be more talking. We are crossing our fingers that our favorite word will not be "NO."

Hoping everyone had wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here's to a great 2012!

Abigail walking around in her pretty Christmas dress!

We tried for a family picture with Jack....this was the best we could get. Missing Daddy :-(

Mommy's favorite person!

Abigail out and about at the Garden of Lights

Mommy's 2 favorite people!

Mom, why are you taking my picture again!

At the Mauriello Family Christmas in Hagerstown, Abigail's favorite part was collecting all the bows she possibly could from any of the presents she could get her hands on.

Mom, mom, I got another bow!

After collecting all the bows she could they went directly into her mouth! Go figure!

Christmas morning brought lots of gifts the the Mauriello house.

Abigail was excited to play with all the presents.

She sort of blended in with all the gifts!

More christmas presents!!

Abigail getting her first Mickey mouse from Uncle Robby

Abigail wasn't quite into opening gifts yet this year but she still had fun playing with them!

Uncle Ricky thought he was going to be funny and pass along the family christmas gag gift to Abigail......little did he know that Krystal was on to him sooooo....Santa must have repackaged it and given it BACK to Uncle Bubba!

Uncle Ricky demanding to know "WHAT THE HECK!"

Abigail enjoyed the wrapping paper!

Abby also enjoyed beating on a few boxes

Grandma Marsha is working on a very special stocking for Abigail for Christmas. It isn't quite finished but very close.

Vroomm Vroomm Vroomm!

Abby would have been perfectly pleased with just climbing all over the wrapped boxes all day.

The men fried a turkey for Christmas Dinner.

Abby playing with some of her new toys

Abigail's new house! She loves it!

Abby got a computer too!

Abby got a new slide and swing set from Grandma and Grandpa Mauriello.

She loves trying to climb up the slide!

Merry Christmas! Come on in and play!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our first Thanksgiving! We made it! We survived (sort of)!

We love seeing family and friends on the holidays but boy is it a chore to travel from here to there and everywhere in between. What adds to the fun is that Abby is a party girl. She does not like to sleep if there is a party she is missing, especially when she is not in her own environment and can't catch some zzz's in her bed. So needless to say when we got home last night it was a total meltdown. She was over tired because she hadn't slept enough and it was no fun for mommy and daddy.

Mom is proposing that all Holiday's occur at our house from now on, at least until we are past the napping stage. Maybe our next child will be a deep sleeper! Abby is no such thing.

She did have a great time seeing everyone yesterday and hanging out with the family. She got to sport her "Mommy's little Turkey" outfit on Thanksgiving and her other Thanksgiving outfit the day before.

Daddy was even bold enough to let Abigail try a little piece of turkey. She seemed to like it and nothing went terribly wrong as mom had feared.

The day after Thanksgiving, mom and dad finished the fence!!! It's done! It's complete. It's solid and it looks FANTASTIC! As Matt and I were nailing up some of the boards I said to him, just think how far along we would be if it had just been the two of us the entire time. We are so Thankful for our family and friends who came out and helped with that project! I think our friends have figured out that we owe them several thousand dollars worth of beer! We'll have to pay it back in increments!

It has certainly been a busy few weeks and of course now is the countdown to Christmas! I think Christmas decorating will commence on Sunday and hopefully we will be able to get it all done!

Pretty little baby!

Abby's thanksgiving dinner! Yummy!

Sadly, I realized that I did not get many good Thanksgiving day shots! Mom has got to get better at this!!

8 Months old!

Abigail has reached the 8 month mark! My how time has flown. We aren't sure what our exact stats are but we are nearing 16 lbs and we are getting taller by the day!

Abby continues to work on her crawling and walking. She is so close to taking off but isn't quite there yet. Mom's prediction is she will be walking by Christmas. So she will be right in line with mom's 9 month record.

Abigail continues to enjoy her time with both of her gramma's each week. Matt's mom comes and watches her 2 days a week and then Gramma watches her 2 days and mom is off for one (most weeks). Dad even took a day off recently to stay home and spend the day with Abigail. They got an amazing amount of errands done and even did some baby proofing.

Abigail has struggled with eating recently due to 2 MORE TEETH! We now have 4 pearly whites showing thru. She was having a rough few days but I think we have come out on the other side and we are back up to speed now. Thankfully, she is also starting to take a bigger amount in her bottle during feedings which is nice because then we can space them out a little bit more. Abby is also enjoying food! We have tried several new things lately. I think our favorite right now is Apples & Cherries. We are getting in our 3 meals a day and for the most part loving it. Those who change her diapers may disagree!

Abigail is also LOVING her puffs! I swear she is going to turn into a puff. I think after our next doctors appointment we will probably have the go ahead to start feeding her bits of what we are eating, which totally scares mom!

Mom is so very excited about Christmas! It will be Abigail's first Christmas! I of course want to buy her everything but am trying very very hard to refrain. I am sure she will be over run with new toys and then just 2.5 short months later our little girl will be 1 year old!

Abigail has recently learned how to climb the steps. The other night dad went upstairs and forgot to shut the gate. Mom was busy doing something on the computer and the next thing I heard was Abby standing on the first step beating on the next one! I quickly ran over there and rescued her before she took a not so fun tumble. I shut the gate behind us and I went back to what I was doing. Less than a minute later I hear Abby beating on the fireplace doors! She had climbed up on the fire place and was banging on the reflection in the doors. OH MY! Let's just say this child NEVER stops.

Of course I love every little bit of my daughter but I was a big fan of the sedentary stage! I don't mind the crawling but boy did it come quickly and we just were not ready for how fast it came! I was hoping for another 2 months or so before things really kicked into gear! Nope this little girl is gonna give us a run for our money!

Abigails new favorite past-time, laundry.

Oh the beautiful smile!

I'm done with laundry, gonna play with my toys now.

Ugh oh!

Abby loves chewing on anything these days. Especially since we have 3.5 (the 4th one is just barely peeking through!) teeth now!

Practicing my walking. I'm SOOOOO close

Bath time got bumped up to the big girl tub! She LOVES it.

She is quite the fan of splashing around.

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Hanging out with daddy.

I'm a crawling fool.

Learning to play skeeball!

Abby loves uncle bubba's glasses!

Abby & Mommy

Mommy's pretty little baby!

A Fence, A Fence

It was just a small undertaking.....for those who have seen our fence they know that is a complete lie! It was a HUGE undertaking.

We had over 500 feet of fence. More fence than the length of a football field! Oh MY! We had someone come and take down our old fence and it was bye bye ugly fence, hello somewhat ghetto neighbors. So, yes, yes the fence will be going back up so we don't have to see them anymore!

We started the fence last week on Saturday and by Sunday we were about 1/3 of the way done. We had both of our gates back up and had put up enough fence that we could again let Jack out without his leash. He was pleased with our progress.

Yesterday, we got to about 97% complete! Not too much more to go. We should finish next friday on our day off.

We are super excited about our new fence and forever greatful to everyone who came out and helped! We never would have gotten this far on our own! I think we would still be on gate #1. So we will be sure to have tons of backyard fun in the upcoming spring and summer months! We cannot wait!

Our next project is project Christmas decorations! Wohoo!! Mom even started doing some shopping today. Of course the only one that got any presents was Abigail.

Day 3 Lots of progress!

Checking for level...they did a good job!

That's a LOT of fence!

Think this was day #2

Building the gates so Jack can roam free!

Looking good!

This was day 1 we didn't think we would even get this much accomplished!

Day 1

On day 1 & 2 we had to dig our own holes because the machine hadn't come by to do it for us just yet.

Bubba taking his Union break

Abigail was the supervisor on duty for most of the fence building. She's a tough boss, which is why I think we got it done so fast! ;-)

Jack was not a fan of having to be on a leash but he said it was worth it now!

Its so pretty!

Early on in the process but lots of progress was made!

Our Baby Genius!

Well every parent thinks their child is the smartest kid on the block but I must say our Abigail really IS the smartest! So here is mom's bragging session!

At 7 months old...... (Abigail is about 7.5 months old)

Most kids have mastered sitting on their own......check!

Some kids have emerging skills lunging or crawling......double check!! Abigail is on the GO!

Few kids have learned the advanced skills of waving goodbye and starting to stand while holding onto something....Abby is working on waving goodbye but has the standing while holding onto something down!

At 8 months old.....

Mastered Skills - Saying "mama & dada" and passing objects from hand to hand. Just this past week Abby has started jabbering....all day long! It is never ending. She loves to talk. Mom and Dad try our hardest to pick out the mama's and dada's. Much to our dismay there have been a few "baba's" or as Uncle Ricky likes to call them "bubba's. " Abby has been passing things from hand to hand for months.

Emerging 8 month old skills - Crawling, standing while holding onto something, points at objects, searches for hidden objects. Let's see....we have mastered the crawling and standing while holding onto something. No pointing just yet but she will look for something especially if its something she wants, like mom and dad's iPhones!

Advanced skills for 8 month olds - pulls self up to standing, cruises, uses pincer grasp. Abby has been pulling herself up on things for well over a month, her cruising has taken off in the past 2 weeks and she is working on her pincer grab, she hasn't mastered it quite yet.

Abby is also learning to understand the word no. Not that she always listens but she is beginning to understand. She has also started to work on standing without holding onto anything. If she gets distracted enough with something she is holding she will forget she is supposed to hold onto something to hold her up at the same time!

I could go on but we'll stop for now! Needless to say we think the WORLD of this little girl. She amazes us every day. There really are new things she does DAILY that we are in awe of.

We have held off on a lot of house projects since our latest project has been the wonderful world of Abigail but no home projects is quickly coming to an end this week as we will begin to tackle the huge fence project. Wish us luck! Come by and help! ;-) This will be our biggest home improvement / DIY project to date! We are excited and nervous at the same time.

After a long day of Football, mom, Abby and Jack took a little nap!

Here I go!

So cute!

Abby petting Jack.

Jack cuddling up to Abby. They are really starting to become best buds!

Too cute!

I was scared out of my mind that she was going to fall but we survived!

I'm Abigail and I'm adorable! :-)