Early 2012

Crawling Progress

Pictures

She really built this all by herself.

Abby trying to get in the way...

Painted a pumpkin

Abby took this picture of Sophie.

We tried to grind wheat...

V v videos!

With Abby "loving" her at the end.

Videos!

Sophie

Charlotte

More to come....

Baby Pics

Had an ultrasound today, and here are the results:

It was so cool to see them moving around. It seems more real now. Abby's not really interested. I think they just look like blobs to her. Ultrasounds in Canada are a little different. Your husband can't come in with you except for a minute or two at the end, and the screen is away for the whole time until at the very end. I guess in case you notice something is wrong? And the gel is not warm. When I realized that, I also realized how very spoiled I've been. Very cool though, and I'm feeling much better. Hopefully when I'm back to full speed I'll do a little more posting.

Oh Canada...

So I think I'm going to have a lot more to write about since we now live in Canada. Let me review what has taken place the last little while leading up to this:

July - went backpacking with Brian (yep, just the two of us!) in Washington state. It was beautiful, but there was snow, and we couldn't find the trail we wanted once we got to the lake we stayed at, so we hiked along a different route that we found and had fun with that. It was a lot colder at night than we had anticipated, but it was a blast!

We also went to Brian's brother's wedding. Dan and Kendra got married at the end of the month and it was a really great wedding and we are so excited for them. Married life is the good life. We also took some family pictures. Here's a short taste of them.



August - I came back from Washington by myself and left Abby with her grandparents and aunt. I think she is totally going through withdrawals from all the family close by to none. I got packing and then Brian and Abby came home a few days later. Packing was definitely easier when they were both not around.

The following Monday my parents came and helped us pack. They were champs. And that following Thursday my sister and her family came, and also all of Brian's immediate family for Brian's graduation on Aug 13th. It was awesome to see him get his PhD. I was so pleased! And so was he.

The day after graduation we had a moving party and got all our things into the truck that would go to Canada. Thanks to all those guys who helped out. Sunday we finished packing and cleaning and drove up to my sister's house, because Monday, she and I were going to roadtrip it to Detroit.

Roadtrip with Barb - It was a ton of fun, though I was sick, so it probably wasn't as fun as it could have been. We drove through some really cool places, included Antwerp, Ohio (google street view, seriously). We discovered the simpler side of the USA, and it was refreshing. We also got to see my aunt and female cousins while in Detroit. Last time either of us saw them was 20 years ago, plus. It was very fun and very nice. She was a champ and drove all the way except for the four measly hours I contributed. Yep, Texas to Detroit and I drive four.

Sick - Right here I should probably mention why I was sick. Turns out that the day we moved I ended up going to the doctor and then hospital because I am pregnant with twins. They'll be due in April. I suspected that I could be pregnant with twins. I told Brian in Washington that either my abdominal muscles never made a comeback after Abby or I was carrying more than one. At the hospital I had an ultrasound down and I saw two little black holes on that machine and thought, "Hm." It was still crazy to hear it confirmed by the doctor, but I expected it. My family is pretty stunned, and in fact, my brother thought I was totally joking when I told him. How do Brian and I feel about it? I think he's probably more excited than me, because I'm thinking about how the heck I'm going to work this, especially in a new place where we don't yet know anyone, but it will work out. And if I'm ever going to learn patience, this would probably be a good time.

Canada - Finally we arrive in Canada after driving a totally scenic route to the bridge across. Immigration was surprisingly fast. We didn't wait long to be cleared, and we had good reason to be in Canada (job) so I guess that all helped. While we were answered our officer's questions this guy next to us was totally trying to pull one. He was so vague and short in his answers. Question: "Why are you coming to Canada." Answer: "Kind of a social meeting with potential clients." Period. That was it. Follow-up question: "This is a business meeting?" Answer:"No, we won't be selling anything, just meeting with them." OK.... I don't think there's a chance he made it across, because the last thing I heard from the officer was: "Listen, if I find out you're lying to me..." Others had hard problems too. One girl who was waiting next to us in the lobby was calling someone saying that she was having a hard time proving that she was financially independent. It was eye-opening.

The drive was really weird. I never expected three hours of farm land as soon as we left Windsor (right on the US-Canada border), but that's what we got. We also ran into what seemed like a half hour detour. But we all made it in one piece. The following day we got our apartment, and everything was hooked up. It's a nice place we live in. Eight floors, feels like we live in a hotel, but it's nice. This post is seriously long, so I'll save some Canadaisms for the next one. There are definitely some things we'll need to get used to while we're here. So know that we're safe, we're happy, we have a bed (well, we get it Tuesday) and a kitchen table, and it will make all the difference until our stuff gets here on Saturday.

Abby & the Slide

It really wasn't as windy as the video makes it sound. It was actually a nice gentle breeze.

Late April

So it's been a while, but a couple weeks ago we left Abby with my sister and her family while Brian and I went to Washington to see his brother graduate from culinary school. You'd think they would've had food there. It was really a shame, but it was a fun graduation. Not at all the dull and boring variety. Made me want to go to culinary school, and maybe one day I will. Brian was certainly not opposed. It was weird being without Abby, but also really nice. They took great care of Abby. She didn't really mind when we left and she was just happy to see us, but not overly. She waved when we walked in. :-)

Abby was a little under the weather before we left and has been that way since. Yesterday was its peak, but today after taking her to the doctor she's doing much better. Yesterday we also got the offer from the university, so now we just need to make sure all the t's are crossed and i's are dotted and sign our life away. We're excited. Really excited. Brian defends his dissertation in about 2 weeks! Go Brian!

Grandparent/Aunt Visit in January

So apparently it's been a wicked long time since we've written anything. But here are some photos from when Hartman Grandparents and Auntie came to visit.

Grandma's Visit and Some Extra

I think Abby is probably the most intelligent and thoughtful baby in the world. Today I was doing laundry and Abby always helps by pushing the basket into the laundry room, taking out clothes and handing them to me so I can put them in the washer, closing the dryer door and laundry door when we're done, and of course taking the clothes out of the basket after they're done and putting them on the floor. This all is pretty awesome for a one year old, however, today she pushed her helpfulness over the edge. I had put some clothes on the edge of the bed while I went and opened the appropriate drawers, and Abby walked in, saw me opening the drawers, went over to the bed picked up one thing and brought it over to me! It was awesome. I think I have a good helper on my hands here.

Tomorrow should be a fun day going to Cub Scout's baptism, and to the Stat Family picnic. We're looking forward to some free BBQ.

Finally, we're posting pictures from when grandmom came to visit. We had a great time, and Abby adjusted just fine to another person in the house, especially after grandmom gave her a couple pieces of snickerdoodle. Enjoy the pics.

From Grandma Visit Halloween 2009

2 New Videos

StairMaster

Baby Walking

Also, for those of you who are making media choices for kids or yourself, I've found a good website called commonsensemedia.org. It covers movies, games, websites, music, TV, and books. Give it a look, and hope it helps.

New Skill

Abby's doing well pushing the chairs around the apartment. She has rearranged our chairs many times. Today was awesome. She took quite a few steps today. She's pretty wobbly, but she's on her way to walking. We're stunned, but it's really cool. Hope you enjoy!

Update

Videos at the Simms

Trips

Well both of us are no longer in state. I'm in Arizona now visiting my parents with Abby and Brian's at a conference in Wisconsin. Both are going really well. Abby has done well getting used to my mom and dad. She's been really happy the past two days and has been a lot of fun. She's been in a walker for the first time and is cruising around their house. It's really funny to run away from her and have her chase you. She really flies. Abby's also getting tons better at drinking from a cup. She now holds it herself and tips it. She's figured out that the best way to drink is not to bite the cup but sip from it. This is a HUGE improvement. It's really cool to see. Not that there aren't times where she's so excited to drink she throws water all over her face, but she laughs it off (I do too). She's also crawling on hands and knees! Well, one leg seems to want to use the foot rather than the knee, but it's still the same idea. We took Abby to the library to get some books and loved Dora the Explorer. Mom and Dad got her a few toys and she's really liked the different colored rings that you pull off the yellow stick (you know, the pyramid type of thing). We're also going to have a little pickleball action tonight. That should be fun.

Brian's loving the conference. He presented yesterday and said that it went really well. He's made a lot of contacts and caught up with some others he hasn't seen probably since last year's conference. He's learned of a few opportunities at universities this year in the U.S. and abroad. It sounds like there are some pretty good options going, so I'm pretty excited to have some possible places where we might be next year. It's definitely an exciting time. Tomorrow he'll be off to Washington, D.C. for his next conference. He sure is becoming quite the traveler. He tells me Wisconsin is beautiful though, so I'm looking forward to some pictures. That's about it from this Hartman clan for now. We do have some videos of Abby in her walker, and some pics from this trip, but that will have to wait for a little while until I can figure out the best way to get them up. Hope all is going well!

Behold the Stand-up Comedian

Sorry we've been such slackers, or more correctly, I. Life is good though. Abby is still slithering on her stomach but can go from slithering to sitting up like nobody's business. She's also received her first tooth, which I think Brian noticed on Saturday. I guess she handled it fine, because I didn't really notice. She can also stand for brief seconds at a time without holding on to anything! This girl is growing up WAY too fast. Hope you enjoyed the video! We do.

Scootching