Christmas Eve 2010

Our family stayed in Austin for Christmas this year and we had a blast! Abby got to open one present as is tradition on Christmas Eve. Here she is being a good girl and posing for us.

It took a little while for her to get into the ripping of the wrapping paper. But don't worry, she understood the concept Christmas morning.
Here is a video of Abby opening and finally understanding the gift. She loves it!



Abby kept wanting to flip pages and push buttons so I held the book and we turned pages when it was time. She loved hearing Grandma and Grandpa's voices.

She even had to have John "read" it to her.

Later that night, we went to a family party with our close friends the Brysons. Abby loved it. There were other kids for her to play with, food, and of course Santa came! In this picture she is saying "Santa!" and won't stop eyeing him.

Abby cried when I tried to put her on his lap. She was so excited to be with him, she just didn't want to touch him. Natalie Bryson was Santa's elf. Abby even got a nice present from Santa!

After Santa came, we had the Nativity Scene played out. Abby was the cutest little sheep ever!

I just love her little tail in this picture!

Our 3 Wise Men!

We had such a great time. Thank you to our friends for inviting us and allowing us to feel the Christmas spirit with others!

Walkin' in a Winter Sunny Land

Abby and I went to San Diego on December 4th to visit Grandma and Grandpa Quiggle. We had so much fun! Abby loved Grandma and Grandpa's house with all their toys and books. Unfortunately the day after we got there, Abby got the flu. Here she is asleep on Mom after her second round of throwing up.

Here she is earlier in the day loving the play room.

My plans of visiting all my friends before John came failed since Abby was sick so we stayed at home and played. John came on Wednesday the 8th and Abby was so happy to see him! On Thursday night our friends, Mike and Kirsten, drove down from Newport to play with us! Here they are!


We all went to Old Town to have dinner, listen to a fun band, and enjoy the sights. This is a picture in front of the stage where the band performed.

Don't John and I look so dashing!

We also went to the San Diego Zoo. Mike and Kirsten were so good to let us use their visitor passes to get in free! Abby fell in love with Kirsten and started calling her mommy. The entire time there Abby would yell "Mommy", run past me and grab Kirstens hand.

Abby was a little scared of this "kitty cat" so she was trying to get off it right away.

John and Mike thought they were Sea Lions!

Abby thought she was a monkey! She would hang on the bars and swing back and forth.

Of course she had to be just like daddy too!

After our friends left, we went to the beach with my parents. It was a beautiful 70 degree day but the water was freezing! Abby wouldn't walk on the sand because it got in her toes so we had to hold her the entire time. She is one clean little girl! The next day, we went to the temple to see the Nativity Scenes they have on display. Abby loved all the flowers and kept trying to touch baby Jesus. This is just one of the displays the temple has.

We had such a fun trip and thank everyone who made it so wonderful!

Thanksgiving in Texas

This year we had Thanksgiving in Texas again with some friends. We kicked off the day with some football with the ward. Abby ran around with some friends while John played football and his team won all their games! Go John! When I tried to play, John said no. Everyone kept saying "You're just afraid she'll show you up!" John didn't like that so he decided to announce that I was pregnant and he didn't want me to hurt the baby. Yepp, I was only 6 weeks pregnant at the time. So surprise for anyone who doesn't know! But now that it's a month later most everyone should know.

For the actual eating turkey part of the day, we went over to the Gonzales' house with the Tanners and Halls. We split up the dinner assignments and came out with some AMAZING food. After dinner we all sat around, watched some football and Abby played with some blocks. Here she is with John.

She was really good at building a tower.

Then she got all dressed up in some boots and a cowgirl hat! What a cutie!

Here are some videos of her in her cute little outfit.

She is such a silly little girl! I love her so much. I know I am a little late but here is a quick list of things I am thankful for:

• My family (that includes EVERYONE)
• My friends, both near and far
• The Savior and his sacrifice for us
• The Gospel, Prophets, Missionaries, the Priesthood
• Our house, cars, all material possessions and enough money to pay our bills

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

An Embarrassing Moment

I've been meaning to blog about this so I guess it's time. About a week and a half ago, we went to the Outlets as a family to browse and get Abby some cute pants (which we did by the way). So we are done shopping, John is loading the bags in the trunk and I'm putting Abby in her car seat. I close the door, John closes the trunk and we hear the car lock. I look inside and yepp! I left the keys by Abby's carseat and she is grinning ear to ear with her accomplishment of locking us out and her in. So John and I spend the next 5 minutes tapping on the window and telling her to push ALL the buttons and hoping she hits the unlock button. The lock button is the most fun because it makes a beeping sound so that is all Abby will hit. John calls a friend to go grab the spare key and bring it to us. I'm still trying to get Abby to unlock the doors. Abby gets frustrated and throws the key so that possible opportunity goes out the window. Luckily, Abby has her blanket on her lap so she is happy sucking her thumb and laughing at silly Mommy and Daddy doing dances outside the window. Then comes the BIG WAMMY... her blanket falls the the ground. This makes Abby unhappy so I'm doing jumping jacks and twirls in the parking lot trying to keep Abby from sobbing hysterically (she's still sobbing and reaching for me) while people are looking at me like I'm the craziest person in the world! Finally, our wonderful friend (Jeremy, thank you again) brings us the keys and we save Abby from her prison.

So I instead of dwelling on the negative, I will think of the positive.

• It was 55 degrees outside so Abby wasn't hot in the car.
• This is the first time this has happened and hopefully the last.
• Abby was happy for about 3/4 of the time.
• I'm sure lots of people have stories similar to this they would love to share.

Here are some recent pictures of Abby. She loves beans and tortillas! Yesterday Abby ate an entire bean burrito from Taco Bell. I think she will take after me in the eating department.

Abby upset because I won't let her be the photographer.

Whenever I wear my sunglass, Abby has to match. She likes to play it cool.

I love the pigtails. I can't get enough of them. I even curled the ends!

Abby loves to have John read her books. Before bedtime, Abby brings John at least 5 books to read.

Abby helps me with the chores. She already knows where all the dishes and utensils go and today she helped me dust.

She absolutely loved it. I had to keep coming up with places for her to dust.

I am just so thankful for a sweet wonderful daughter!

I can't describe the fun that goes on in the VanDerwerken house. Abigail is growing so fast and a little girl to the max. She loves to dress up already and wants to wear makeup too! Here she is wearing what she wants with her purse, pigtails and my shoes.

Of course her hat and stroller are accessories too!

I love her little grin! See the bathing suit tan lines?

Abigail is obsessed with our triathlons. She wears my helmet almost daily and looks around for a bike to ride. Today we had another triathlon and Abby had to be part of it. She helped count laps at the pool, cheered people on, and cried when I made her get in the car.


Whenever I have my sunglasses on, Abby has to have hers! These are essential for walks.

We thought about potty training but Abby wants to go potty when she wants to go potty and not when I tell her to. Here is a picture of her sitting so happy as she "tinkles".

Too bad she gets mad when it's all done and time to get off. Here she is climbing back on saying "Tinkle, tinkle!" About a week later, Abigail decided potty training is overrated and diapers are still fine with her.

Abby loves any shoes. Here she is in Daddy's! I love those dimples!

Abby is a talkaholic. She is constantly jabbering and such a social bug. She gives kisses and hugs in nursery, already sits with her friends at church, and still owns Mommy and Daddy. Abigail says "Please" and "Thank you" and shares with her friends. She's constantly asking for treats or gum and has to pick out her outfit every morning. There are many tears if I force her to wear something she didn't pick out. Abby loves to read books, especially with John but wants to be with me if I leave the room. Abigail loves to brush her teeth and splash in the sink while she does so. I can't find the toothpaste because she always grabs it and runs away eating it. She is busy, busy, busy and still the fastest little girl anyone has ever known (true words from many friends). We love her to pieces and don't want her to grow up too fast!

Coca-Cola Ad

Abigail HATES to get her fingernails clipped. You can see we tried to occupy her with books, a sippy of milk and a movie but she kept grabbing her hands away. Well, she saw John drinking his Coca-Cola (the good Mexican kind) and wanted some of that. TaDa!! We clipped her nails while she drank! Wouldn't this make a great ad?

Halloween!

Happy Halloween!! We had such a fun time over the last week that I had to include all the pictures I took. Here we have Abby trying on her ladybug costume. Abby was so excited that she danced around the house, played in front of the mirror and posed for me. This is probably one of the best pictures of her (even though the tag is still on) because she wouldn't stop moving on Halloween night!

Abby and I made sugar cookies. Abby loved to help mix!

Then we frosted the cookies orange...


Made sure each cookie had the perfect amount of sprinkles...




and tasted each one!!

YUMMMMMM!!!

The next night Abby painted her pumpkin.

She thought it was the best thing! Even better than coloring.

She concentrated so hard and thoughtfully picked each color.

John was amazing and cleaned out my pumpkin for me. He is a professional.

Then I carved my signature pumpkin face!

The next night I made pumpkin/scary faces (thanks to Kenzie's recipe box). Abby helped me with these too. Here they are before the oven.

Here is the after shot on Abby's plate. Notice the two veggies I tried to slip in. They got thrown on the floor immediately.

Then we went to our Ward's Halloween Party/Trunk-or-Treat. This picture is after she filled her bucket and didn't want to stop!

John and I went to a Halloween Party on Saturday night. John went as Eminem and I went as Belle (check out the old prom dress). It was so much fun!!! Thanks Van Sickles!

Here is Abby walking down the street on Halloween night.

I tried to get Abby to say "Trick-Or-Treat" but she always said it before they opened the door. At least she said "Please" while she was digging around in the candy. I also got her to say "Thank you" and "Bye". Everyone thought she was sooooo cute!

Here we have John and Abby posing in front of our pumpkins!

The first treat Abby got was a sucker. She immediately unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth. She then continued to suck on it the rest of the night.

I told Abby to stand still in front of the wall so she plopped right down and smiled for me.

Here she is sitting on the front porch waiting for more kids to come. When they came she would get a treat out of the candy bowl too the little sneak!

I don't know if you can see it but Abby has chocolate all over her face. She kept going to her bucket and saying "Treat, Treat". Abby loved to look inside the pumpkin and see the candle glowing.

Here is a video of Abby on Halloween. She is always moving!

Here is another video of Abby playing outside.