Blogmania!

We've been blogging like crazy today! Here are a few pictures for Daddy, who is away from his family for a couple of days learning how to do his new job. We miss you! See you tomorrow!

Daddy's girl, indeed.


Look at my cute outfit!

One flash of this grin and she can have whatever she wants. Heaven help us when she is 16...

Post Below

The post below is a sweet website a friend at work told me about. It is like creating a scrapbook, except it is all digital. There are tons of background papers, stickers, etc. to choose from, and you upload your pictures from your computer or any storage site (like Photbucket or Facebook). I made those 3 pages in about 10 minutes. They're nothing special, but it was a fun thing to try.

Scrapblog.com

New Tricks and a New Friend

Congrats to Matt and Dana on the arrival of their son, Bennett Matthew. Someone we know has a BOY! I didn't think it was possible! It is weird how the gender of babies played out among our acquaintances: almost all the people at my old school had girls, but everyone at church has had boys. It's like the groups cannot intermingle. So far all of Annie's Sunday school classmates, friends, and neighbors will be boys.

We had a very enjoyable 3-day weekend with the kid. She is doing all kinds of new things, though none of them include moving around. She responds to "Gimme 5!" with a slap of the hand. She also reaches for things that she wants around the room, like a toy on a distant shelf. Mom and Dad get to play "guess what the non-verbal child needs." We're getting pretty good.

We went to Lake City for lunch yesterday and walked Anne along the lake. She was pretty happy in the stroller, though I had to carry her for a while. She left her hat on, which was all I really wanted. She also had her first gelato, which she seemed to enjoy very much. She's so funny in the stroller. When she's facing the world, she just talks to herself the whole time, like she's saying "Oh that's nice" or "Wow, look at that."

Anne has quite the chuckle now, and it is SO funny. Sam had her laughing on the changing table yesterday, and I could hear her from the other room. All of a sudden I hear "Oh, Annie!" then "Corrie, I made her laugh so hard she peed all over!" Sure enough she was so worked up the entire changing pad was soaked. Leave it to Dad to play "to the extreme!"

She's talking a lot, as mentioned above, but sometimes she'll open her mouth as wide as possible and just yell "AAAAAHHHHHH!" right in your face. I interpret it as "Look at what I can do!"

Anne can also chew quite well now, so we have started having all solid food for dinner instead of food and a bottle. She also enjoys tortillas, bits of cheese, and Cheerios, though she can't get them in her mouth herself. Mommy puts them in her mouth--but watch out, she bites! Those two little chompers are getting quite sharp.

The princess seems almost stubborn in her inability to move around. She is happy to sit or lay on her back but won't roll to get anything. She will lunge to pick up a toy, but only if it is directly in front of her. It is so funny when she plays in the playpen or something--we'll leave her alone for a few minutes and when we come back all of her toys are behind her and she has nothing to get! That's when she decides to chew on her shoes. When will you get motivated to be mobile?

Erin is home!

Yay, Auntie Erin is home! That means mucho pictures of Anne. There are already new pics on the Photobucket site. Just click to see!

Some Pictures for the Weekend!

Anne's sweet shades. And I stand corrected: They were from Potential Aunt Amanda, not Uncle Will.
Trying out the baby slide in the back yard.

Eating Dad's Carrie Underwood cd liner. "Here's what I think of this American Idol!"
Teething biscuit. What a mess.

More pictures on Photobucket--click the link at the top of the page!

The Month of Holidays

I forgot to mention in the last post that Friday was Sam's 24th birthday. We celebrated by sending Anne to Oma and Opa's for the evening and making dinner together. I also made Sam's favorite cake, which we noshed on for a few days. It was frosted with Cool Whip, which Anne enjoyed off her parents' fingers.

May also held our first Mother's Day as parents. Anne created a beautiful finger painting for me, which Sam orchestrated amazingly. I had no idea there had been paint of any kind in my house. They attempted to write "Happy Mother's Day" across the bottom, but only had room for "Happy Mom." I put it on the fridge as a reminder of the key to a happy day :)

Today, the 14th, is the day Sam and I celebrate as the anniversary of our first date. We've been together for 8 years now. That's one third of our lives! I love you, hubby. I'm glad we met each other in the biology lab oh so many years ago.

Last, but not least, we will celebrate 1 year in our house at the end of this month. It was/is a big month for our family!

We're hoping for summer!

A few pictures of Anne at daycare. She had her new summery overalls on (they're seersucker!) and her big-baby sandals (with socks; faux pas!) I love when my mom sends pictures during the day. It is always a nice surprise in my inbox.

"MOM! I miss you! But look how cute I am!"

Bethel Girl!

Our girl, decked out in Bethel hat and shirt, posing on the Bethel blanket. I'm sure the kids entering BU in 2026 will pay a pretty penny for their education!!! Start saving now, Anne!

7 Months and what a weekend!

Anne is officially 7 months old today. This is the age of object permanence and figuring out the pincer grasp. Soon there will be soggy Cheerios for Mikey to eat out of the carpet!

Miss Annie had quite a weekend. First, she discovered her ears. She likes to rub them and pull on them occasionally, perhaps just to remind herself they are there. Second, her first tooth popped through her gums. Sam noticed it first on Saturday morning while he was home with her. Sure enough, you can feel the sharp little guy on her bottom gums, getting ready to bite things soon. Hopefully it won't be for biting Mom or Dad or the dog! Third, she made two attempts at movement. She turned herself 90 degrees while sitting so that she could face the fridge, then attempted to scoot on her butt by kicking her legs on the floor so she could get closer to the pictures we put on the door for her. Amazing! There is always something new for her to be doing.

Anne is getting very good at playing with her toys. She can pick them up, set them down, move them from hand to hand, and get them in her mouth. We re-introduced her pacifier this weekend and she can put it in her mouth with amazing accuracy. I was pretty surprised by that. She can also feed herself a teething biscuit, which gives Mommy ten minutes of free hands. Sometimes the mess she makes is worth it.

We had a very nice visit with the great-grandparents last night, and Anne was a peach. Ray and Lil spent all winter in Texas and were amazed at how much Anne had grown since the end of October. I was proud of her for being well-behaved and fairly social, especially since it was evening time when she is normally quite crabby. She also got to visit Bethel when we dropped Uncle Will off at his dorm. She's now seen Freshman Hill twice, but no other part of campus!

We must post pictures after school today. Uncle Will bought his favorite niece a little pair of pink sunglasses, which are freakin' adorable. We'll have to doll her up and take a few shots this afternoon in the sun. Thanks, William!