From Christmas to St. Patrick's day or from evergreen to shamrocks

I guess a few months and a few holidays have past, and yet we failed to keep up with the blog posts.  So, we are once again cramming in a smattering of events into one massive post.  In January we decided to buy Abigail a potty because she was showing a little interest.  For the first couple of weeks, so loved going potty in the big girl potty.  She had several successes and we were thinking that this potty training thing was going to go quick.  But after the novelty wore off, she has not been excited to sit on her potty.  She still will a couple times a day, but that doesn't necessarily correlate with dry diapers and full toilets. (Warning: graphic images ahead).

Also in January, Abigail and mommy went to the Natural History Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  Abigail got a dinosaur book at Christmas, so she was excited to see the dinosaurs.  She was not a big fan of digging in the wet sand (she tends to dislike messy things on her hands).

In February we celebrated Valentine's Day together as a family. We got each other simple gifts, played, and danced.

We gave Abigail a coloring book and a lift the flap book

Steve got Peanut Butter Snicker (one of his favorites!) and a Jim Gaffegan DVD

Alison received a beautiful heart pendant necklace

At the end of February we took advantage of Free Zoo Day at Hogle Zoo.  Steve took the day off of work and we went together as a family.  It was such a fun day together and the weather was amazing!  Abigail liked the seals, the otters, the Polar bear, the monkeys, and pretty much all the other animals.  Some of the animals were really active, such as the tiger, who was prowling and growling around his exhibit.

In March Alison's cousin got married in Manti, so we made a day trip down there.  Alison was able to go to the sealing in the temple, while Steve and Abigail waited outside.  We played at a park between the temple and luncheon and Abigail got to see her "second" cousins (or 2nd cousins once removed? The kids of Alison's cousins).  We also had a dinner with some family on Alison's other side and Abigail got to see more "second" cousins.

At the end of February, Alison's brother Travis (and Malory) had a baby girl--Violet.  She was born 4 weeks early, and Abigail was sick, so we had to wait a couple weeks to visit.  We were able to see them again yesterday, and Abigail couldn't get enough of that sweet baby.

A few other fun things about Abigail that have been happening recently that we don't have pictures of: She has started singing along and doing actions to Primary and other songs.  She mostly says the word at the end of a phrase, but it is so cute.  For example, singing "Popcorn Popping," she says "tree," "surprise," "eyes," "sweet," "treat," and does the popping, treat, and smelling actions.  I think the most tender experience was when I sang her "I am a Child of God," and she sang some of the words with me.  I hadn't even realized that she knew that song.  Another event is that she transitioned from her crib.  She started trying to climb out and was getting really close to falling, so we took the front off her crib and added a safety rail.  We were not looking forward to her new freedom, but after a few nights she has gotten used to it and now sleeps and naps just as well (Thank Goodness!).  Well, until next time (which we promise will be soon).