Oops, one more!

I forgot to add the photo of Mikey. He's half Pomeranian, half Dachshund, and a whole heap of trouble. And that underbite is 100% natural. We complain about him a lot, but he loves us and has adapted to Annie's presence quite well. We love you, Mikey Dog!

More Photos

Annie's "concerned face." She's such a serious baby.

"M-o-o-o-o-m! Quit kissing me!"

I can stick my tongue out.
Which gene pool did those eyes come from?

One proud mama.

Here are some more pictures of Annie from Ginger and Stephanie. Your talent never ceases to amaze me! If it weren't for you two, and Erin, I would only have fuzzy pictures of Annie blinking. Sam said "We have to have them come back now that Annie is smiling." Watch for my name on your caller ID.

Church and State

I taught in a Catholic school last year, so I could integrate religion and Bible stories into my curriculum whenever I wanted to. This year, not so much. So it warmed my heart when a first grader pulled on my sleeve to tell me "Christmas is about giving and Jesus."

It sure is.

Par-tay!

Annie, Oma, and I thoroughly enjoyed the baby shower at church last night. The ladies literally showered Annie with gifts--toys, books, and clothes. She received many beautiful things, including a hand-knit sweater and hand-knit hat (to replace the white one she hates!). Daddy was excited to see we brought home a new baby monitor that works more clearly than the old one we had borrowed from Oma. Mommy is anxious to get home from work today and check out all the new toys. We'll find out if Anne likes her tummy-time mat! I would if I were a baby.

9 weeks and counting

Annie had her 2-month checkup last Friday. She currently weighs 10 lbs, 8 oz. and is 24 inches long. Her doctor said she was looking good and doing all the things a 2-month-old should be doing. We were a little concerned about her weight gain (or lack thereof), but he said she's just "tall and skinny." She was a brave little peanut when she endured 3 shots and drank her rotavirus vaccine. I've always seen babies spit things out when asked to drink, but Annie slurps everything down. She has no problems with gas drops, Tylenol, or her liquid vitamins. Slurp, slurp, all gone, yum yum!

Current "likes": pictures of cows and zebras (high contrast!), smiling at everyone, poems (such rhythm!), and kicking herself into a new position in the crib. She also seemed to enjoy storytime at the local bookstore.

Current "dislikes": the white hat (she cries every time we put it on, but everyone thinks it is so cute!), Mom being back at work (she adapts by requesting a visit around 2 am)

This week's highlights:
Sunday: Mommy's birthday
Tuesday: Baby shower at church
Friday: Erin and William home for Christmas
Saturday: Babysitting with Erin and Todd

A rose by any other name...

A few shots of Annie at the Westphall Thanksgiving:


Almost a smile--we're still working on photographic evidence that she is a happy baby.

This is her more typical "concerned" face.

Sam and I debated and agonized over what to name our daughter, and now that she's here, she has a hundred nicknames. It makes one wonder why we were so stressed about deciding on a name (and by 'we' I mean me). Anne Meredith is also known as:

Annie
Annie-Pie

Annie-Pants

Annie-Poo
Annie-PooPiePants
Annie-Bell
Annie-Cat
Spider Anne
Anne-in-the-pan
Anners
Sunshine
Bright Eyes
My Petite
Lovely

and the most popular choice: baby

I think we will just name the next child "Fill in the Blank" and wait to see what strikes our fancy.

Interesting Article

Here's an article about new findings regarding children with ADHD. Scientists have found that these children's brain development is not really abnormal, it is just delayed when compared to other kids. Check it out.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1683069,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-healthsci

A few more...

Tying Annie's booties. These are the things you do with a daughter, as well as wrestle her into little tights when she wears a dress. At least we're a few years out from having to do her hair.

Mom feeds Annie while Dad "feeds" Mikey.

The Most Beautiful Baby Ever!

Here are some pictures from Saturday. Thanks, Ginger and Stephanie! It is quite handy to have professional baby photographers as your friends.

One month old!

Annie is one month old today--where did that time go? She is currently sleeping in her car seat after a trip to the grocery store, so I can give you a quick update on what she likes/dislikes and how she spends her time.

Annie likes: clean diapers, eating, show tunes (especially from Annie), sleeping in Mom and Dad's bed, kicking her legs, listening to Opa, and books. Her most recent read? The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck by Beatrix Potter. An excellent tome for increasing vocabulary! What other children's book has words like "alighted" in it? She listened more intently to this long, adult-sounding book than she did for Opposites by Sandra Boynton. Just another sign that she is a genius.

Annie dislikes: dirty diapers, her crib, the bassinet, being gassy, loose blankets, and being forced to suck her pacifier. She'll let you know if she's unhappy!

Annie's day consists of eating, reading books, singing songs, new diapers, playing with Dad, being licked by the dog, listening to the dog get yelled at, and sleeping all nuzzled up on Mom or Dad. She may also engage in visiting Oma, going to the store, going to church to be oohed and aahed over, taking a bath, or sitting in the baby swing.

In the last month we have experienced a lot of new things. The nurses who taught our pre-natal classes said "Parenting is all on-the-job training" and they are exactly right. Hopefully soon we can move out of "survival" mode, where we do what we need to do to get through the next hour and into a more scheduled kind of day. And if that never happens, daycare will force us all into a schedule in a couple weeks!

Pictures will be here as soon as we get the proper cord from Aunt Erin. In the meantime, Oma's chronicle of Annie's life continues on Photobucket (link coming soon for those who don't have it).

Exciting Events this Week
Today: first snow flurries!
Saturday: visit from Ginger and Stephanie, and dinner with Daddy's football coaching friends

Cast of Characters

Since this baby will be here soon, I feel the need to create a glossary of sorts. If you visit us often, and we hope you do, it will be important to know who is who in every picture/comment/blog mention. So here we go:

Baby=our baby; name to be released later
Dad=Sam
Mom=Corrie
Oma=Corrie's mom, Penny
Opa=Corrie's dad, Tim (these are Dutch words for grandma and grandpa)
Nana=Sam's mom, Harriet
Grandpa=Sam's dad, Steve
Grandma=Sam's stepmom, Melissa
Mikey=our dog
Travis, Erin, and William=aunt and uncles on Mom's side
Sarah and Ben=aunt and uncle on Dad's side (they're married, not brother and sister)

You can see this baby already has much family, not including any of our friends who are like family. There is also much potential for a lot of cousins in the future. Somebody get on that, will ya? We broke the ice--it is easy now to follow suit.

Still waiting...

Well, we are still waiting for baby to show. Sam asked her the other night "Don't you want to come out and meet us? We want to meet you." The 'official' due date has come and gone, and it looks like I'll have to go back to work on Monday. Dang!

Sam's football team finally got its first win last night, and I chalk it up to the baby's presence. It was the first game I'd been to all season, and it clearly made a difference. It was Homecoming, also, so there was much pageantry and celebration with a win.

Sam claims I'm nesting more--I just called it 'cleaning the house because it is Saturday and I didn't do any of it all week.' Those of you who have lived with me would be amazed at how messy I let my house get on occasion. I'm just too tired after work.

I'm out--the baby is rolling around and causing shooting pain down my leg, so I must get up off my chair! Bad baby--you are not the boss!

Nesting?

Could I be getting ready for baby? I did just spend 45 minutes vacuuming, then disassembling the vacuum and cleaning the parts of the filter. I broke a serious sweat and now my ankles are swollen like crazy, but it had to be done!

The official due date is this Friday, so we could be going any time now. As Sam said last night "We are days away from being 'Mom and Dad' to someone instead of 'Sam and Corrie'" Yikes.