Creeping Crawler!

Well, we thought Abby would be crawling by Christmas. She had been getting up an all fours for a long time now, doing mountain climbers and very interested in moving. However, her arm strength was not quite there yet. And with Welford home for a week, we were excited that he would not miss this momentous milestone. However, Abby had different plans. Today, she crawls. The first day Welford went back to work!




So this quick video is for Welford. Taken today, December 29 around 10:30 am.

We love you Welford! BAM

Christmas Eve

The table has been set...

... cookies are in the oven...

... the stockings are hung with care, and Molly is snuggled next to the tree...


We wish you a very blessed Christmas this year. So many years ago, Jesus was born... a baby, come to save us all. May you know His love this day, and every day.

Merry Christmas

Exuberant Expressions

just imagine what noise she's making!

{ninja.baby}

smiling for the camera and showing off her pearly whites


Abigail is certainly our best blessing. She is such the entertainer and a delight! Every day she amazes us more and more. It's snowy outside, and we haven't played in it yet because of Abby... but we are having a blast cooped up inside. Wouldn't change it for the world.

Santa Baby

Our Snow Bunny

Molly loved to eat the snow, bounce around in the snow, and basically run around in the snow. However, we had to cut her a path around the backyard so she would leave the house! She'd do a loop on the path, then bounce into the deep snow and play! Too funny!

Abigail was not interested in the snow. Sitting in it or touching it did not phase her one bit. Perhaps the next time it snows we'll have her walk around in it.

Comedy Hour

On December 18 it started to snow. We received around 12-14 inches in Glen Allen, VA. We never measured our snow, so it might have been more when the snow stopped falling. Molly loved the snow. Abby didn't think much of it... until she watched Molly play in it.

Advent Devotional

A friend of mine posted this website on her blog. I thought it was a nice online daily devotional for advent.

Following the Star

I hope you enjoy, and have a wonderful Christmas season.

Carrot Catastrophe

We probably shouldn't let her feed herself... but that's half the fun!

If we don't let her take the spoon, we have about 90% less of a mess.

Molly Cuddles

December 1

December 5

December 5

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Abby's first snowfall!

Well, snow did fall, but nothing accumulated. We woke up to a very rainy morning, that turned to sleet, and finally snow! Nothing to play in yet though.

Stockings

It's that time of year already! We have put up our tree and hung our stockings with care. Now we just have to finish our shopping and take a family photo.
Molly's stocking is not up yet... we have run out of stocking hangers. We're looking forward to Abby's first Christmas, as well as Welford's first Christmas as a pastor!

Turkey Trotters

The Orrock's first 5K!

Aunt Lila convinced us that running a 5K Thanksgiving morning would be fun... So we all signed up. As the day approached, we were excited about the family and food that were to come... but we were having second thoughts about running a bit over 3 miles at 9 am. Welford & I had both not run in over a year, but worst case scenario we could walk the entire way. We packed up the van and headed to Fredericksburg, picking Lila up on the way.

Getting our numbers before the race. We were all pretty excited despite our initial reservations. The streets were packed with runners, and most had already lined up by the time we arrived.

That's right, Abby was most excited to be doing her first 5K too!

Welford was a trooper and pushed Abby the majority of the race. And by majority, I mean 99% of the race. We kept a nice jogging pace the whole time, and didn't walk once! We were so proud. We also were one of the last ones across the starting line since navigating through the crowd was difficult with a stroller. We walked around the block to get at the back of the pack, and after the starting gun went off, we stood around for a few minutes until there was room to move. And being a Turkey Trot, we did see a turkey, Indians, pilgrims, a deer, and other festive runners. It was pretty fun! We had only finished about 1 mile before the more serious runners had looped back to us.

WooHoo! We made it! Post 5K!

From sad to happy in 0.3 seconds!

So now we're thinking about doing the 10K in Richmond in the spring... one of the most popular races in the country we hear. The Turkey Trot had 3,000 runners... the Ukrops 10K will have around 30,000. I can't even imagine.

Feeding Frenzy

-Nov 21-

Abby has started eating solids. When we returned from our PA vacation/wedding trip, we started giving Abby rice cereal. She quickly grabbed the spoon and wanted to feed herself. Sometimes it goes well... other times, not so much. It's fun to watch her facial expressions during each feeding, especially for the first bite when the texture and flavor throws her for a loop.

-Nov 23-

Playing Pals

Abby loves to play with Molly. We think the feelings are reciprocated. :)

Sharing. Never too young to start.

Terrorizing Teeth

Our poor little girl is teething. Her first tooth came it a while ago (front bottom left), with not much more than extra drool and snotty nose. Last week, Welford found her second tooth breaking through (front bottom right). And since then, Abigail's world has been in turmoil. It breaks my heart. At night, she wakes up about every hour and cries out before settling down again. Just now (11pm) she cried out in the monitor. What a change from never hearing a peep from her for 10-12 hours at night. Lately, after her 7:15 bedtime, she's been waking up for a while after an hour of being sound asleep. It's so sad. We give her a teething ring, perhaps a snack, and put her down when she's settled.
Silly me thought we would have it easy when her first tooth came in with no issues. Sadly, the remaining teeth will not come in as unnoticeable... and are demanding painful attention.
A second lesson for me that I can't protect her from everything. :/ *sigh* (shots being the first)

Leaping Lion

During a morning play time, I put Simba on Abby's head. For some reason, I thought it hilariously cute. Found the camera, and staged this photo. Enjoy! :D I promise she was laughing the first time.

Mom, is this necessary?

Vacation - Day 5

Jonathan & Vicki's Wedding, Monroeville, PA - November 14, 2009

(more pics to come... thought I'd get Abby up first)

Trouble!

Vacation - Day 4

Ohiopyle State Park - November 13, 2009

Me Tarzan...

You Jane.

Of course Welford could not pass up the opportunity during a stop for Abby during our hike to swing from one of the numerous vines hanging everywhere. This was only 15 minutes into our hike! A very promising day indeed! The sun was out and it was a beautiful park.

Abby having more fun hiking.

This was my favorite spot on the hike. The mountain laurel surrounded this spot... it was so cool, humid, peaceful, and secluded.

The perfect place for a bit of a break.

At this point in the river, it runs North.

The black layers are coal.

Vacation - Day 3

New Germany State Park - November 12, 2009

This park was mainly created for cross country skiers. So we did a bit of off-trailing. While trying to find our original park of interest, we somehow misguided our car and ended up in a surprise location. So we found a park that we thought was our original destination park, to our dismay, was not. But had a great time walking through the woods. Again, Abby had a blast as seen below.

I think we were looking for Savage River State Forrest... and ended up here, which is a part of Savage River. Just not what we were hoping for.

Vacation - Day 2

Green Ridge State Forrest - November 11, 2009

This was the first of three parks we planned on hiking. We arrived very late in the day due to an unplanned visit to the Antietam Battlefield. It was raining, so we just did a driving tour. We hiked in this park for only an hour, perhaps closer to two hours. We both had a creepy feeling the whole time, Welford reassured me it was because it was the first time we have had Abby with us in the woods. I am still not so sure why I was so creeped out. Perhaps just the overcast day combined with the steepness of the trails? Whatever the cause, it was still a beautiful hike.

Abby really loves hiking! Her first time out! She only slept about 75% of the trip.

Our new Kelty Kid Carrier! Welford liked the one we (and others) got Josey so much that we had to get one too!
Apparently, it's amazing.
Daddy had Abby, Mommy had water and other Abby necessities.