Christmas with the Hendzel's

Our trip up north has brought us to Wisconsin to visit my family. After a long drive we made it here. It has been fun to see everyone again. The last time we were here we told everyone we were pregnant. Abigail likes to look at the Christmas lights and bright ornaments.


The less clothes she has on the more hyper she gets. Plus I love her cute legs.

It has been great to see my sisters. They love Abigail and help out playing, bathing, holding and changing "the good diapers". (Aunt Kelly)

Between all the family members Abigail was given many great toys, dolls, clothes and books. Opening gifts with her was fun but it has been even better just being together. (Aunt Kate)

My parents love being first time Grandparents and are great with little Abigail.

My Girls...

OK, so this is Erin's blog, but I had to post this picture of Erin, Abigail and Abigail's new dolly.

I love my girls!!

5 Years

Today is our 5 year anniversary. It's hard to believe that is has been that long. It really has gone fast yet at the same time it's hard to remember life before Jake. We are at my parents today in Wisconsin and it is a mild day outside which is how it was when we got married. We had a great time that day and the last 5 years have been even better. I love you Jake. You are my best friend and a gift from the Lord. Thanks for being there for me.


Don't we look young?

Frog Legs

I think Abigail is showing signs of what she wants her first solid foods to be. Frog Legs.

Here she is going after it.

Taste Test

Yes, She likes it.

Cold but Refreshing

Our time in ND is going great. It is nice to see Jake's family. We have done some baking, finished off a puzzle and spent a lot of time talking and laughing. Abigail is having a great time with her Auntie and Grandparents and they are just eating her up. Other than a semi-sleepless night yesterday she is doing great. For some reason Abigail was just having a tough time sleeping...all night long. But today she is very happy and I think she will do better tonight. Maybe it was the time change or different environment. She slept in our room last night and that made it much easier for me to take care of her!

I am sitting at the table next to a fireplace typing this. It is heavenly especially since it is still extremely cold outside. Jake is loving it. He tells me, "it's not that bad." However when it came time to go to church we decided that I would stay home with the girly and not take her out in the 20 below weather. I have not ventured out too much either and let me tell you, it's that bad!! It is also snowing right now. It's a light and slow falling and very beautiful. I would love to take Abigail out and put her in the snow but I don't think that is going to happen.

Lastly we ate steaks for dinner tonight. North Dakota steaks. Jake is really happy now. We plan on eating steaks at least two or three more times.

Jake and his Dad

I think it's great that her feet touch the bottom of this.

And Abigail is not sucking on it, yet.

Auntie Tanya Christine "full of bologna" Heringer (it's a family thing...)

I love this jump suit.

Grandpa Wayne

-14 degrees

Well we made it. Abigail experienced her first airplane ride and below 0 degree temps. Today was a long day for me. I am glad that we are here. Abigail had her ups and downs during the travel day but all in all she did well. The day started at the small airport in Mesa. I was happy for the small airport which made getting through security really fast. Abigail got fussy as she needed a nap and wouldn't fall asleep. Once we boarded though she fell asleep and slept for a while. Abigail had a hard time with the descent and cried for about 10 minutes, but once her ears felt better she settled down and just sat contently on my lap. Both Jake and I were very thankful that we had a direct flight today. I can't believe how cold it is here. -14 temps with it dropping even lower with the wind. My face froze as soon as I walked outside. We are also thankful for the snowsuit Grandma Jude brought for us. Abigail was cozy warm and fell asleep in the car. Although there were at least 3-4 times durning the day when I thought "what are we doing" it is great to see family and be together for Christmas. Here are some photos.

Long lines to check in but it went fast. Hanging out before our flight left.

On the plane feeling happy!

Getting ready to leave the airport in Bis. -35 degrees with the wind.





Going to bed now. I set the temperature in our room at 80 degrees but Jake made me turn in down.

Girl friends

Yesterday my friend Addysen came over to play with me. I am only 5 days older than her. Miss. Noelle and my Momma had fun being pregnant at the same time together. They went to birthing classes, they dragged our Daddy's to breastfeeding classes and even delivered us at the same hospital by doctors from the same office. And our names both start with A. Cool! We had a good time together and we will get together again soon.

Our First Christmas

No More Tears....For Momma

Today was the second time we put Abigail in the church nursery. This was a big deal for us, especially for me. I didn't prepare myself for how hard it would be to give my daughter to total strangers. So when we did two weeks ago, I cried. More like wept for the first 45 minutes of our service. Then I got her 5 minutes early. I couldn't stop thinking about how she was doing, would she cry, would she take her nap and how that would work out and the fact that I didn't give her a hug/kiss goodbye was just as hard. We go to a large church and it's difficult to know all of the caregivers. But Abigail did great. No tears for her. Today went just as great, even better! And when Jake and I went to pick her up she had a great big smile and laughed for us. I did better this week also. No tears and I listened fairly well too. It was hard not to think about how Abigail was doing but it is time for her to stay in the nursery. We will be traveling over Christmas and miss our church. However we got to enjoy the full band and choir today, the carols and hymns we sang and the great message. I was pretty excited about that. We are thankful for all of those who volunteer to watch our kids. I know that they are in good hands!

Paisley

Today I went to visit our friends Aaron and Ashley and their new baby girl, Paisley Grace. It was so exciting for me to meet their daughter. Paisley looks just like her Momma and is so beautiful. I was amazed to feel how light she was. I guess when compared to 13 pound 14 ounce Abigail, she is light. And then I remembered that Abigail was born 2 pounds heavier then Paisley at this age! Abigail is looking forward to playing dress-up with her new friend!

Priceless

The Jump and Go: 30 Dollars

The Bumbo: 40 Dollars

The Baby Bjorn: 150 Dollars

Keeping our baby pacified...PRICELESS

the name part 2

In my last post I wrote about Abigail's name. Now I am going to share with you my favorite nick-name that I call Abigail.
"Cho0-Choo."
I love calling her that. I don't know why really. I think I got the name from my sister Kelly while she was here visiting and it has just stuck with me. Jake and I thought about nick-names before Abigail was born and this was the last thing I thought about calling her but now I love it!

1. 

The Name

"Can Arizona handle two Christine's?"
You bet!

This past week Jake's sister, Tanya Christine, had been visiting us. We had a great time together and Abigail had fun hanging out with Auntie Tanya.
When picking out names for our little girl I had always loved the name Abigail. After running it by Jake he too loved the name. Abigail is a biblical name. 1 Samuel 25 tells the story of Abigail. She was a discerning and beautiful women. When picking out middle names we decided on Christine after Jake's sister. Tanya is a wonderful women who has great spirit and a caring heart that always is giving.

Abigail Christine meeting Tanya Christine for the first time:

We love our 2 Christine's!!!