Our big sweetie

I think Annabel has reached my favorite stage so far.... she is so cuddly, and so curious and fun right now, I just love it! Tonight, she excitedly grabbed my face with both hands and laid a big slobbery kiss on me, complete with tongue. Even though she's got a really nasty cough right now, it didn't gross me out - in fact, I melted. It must be love. :) She is so interested in everything around her... she never misses anything that goes on in a room, and is reaching for everything in sight. Tonight Nate wanted her to take a nap before dinner, and he had to leave the room because as long as he was there she wanted to play instead. So cute! She loves her daddy. Oh - I almost forgot - she is also showing the first signs of crawling! She scoots backwards when she tries to go after something (which actually ticks her off), and she has also gotten up on all fours and rocked a little. It doesn't last long, but it's a start!

We have our 6 month doctors appt this Wednesday, so I can't wait to see where we measure in. Stay tuned! In the meantime, here are some more pics:

Aunt Terri sent her some new clothes, which she was excited to play with.

Thanks Aunt Terri!

It must be her lucky day, because Annabel also got a package from her Grandpa and Nana. She loves the frog they sent, however after hearing the same counting song 20 times, I'm not sure if it will be one of mommy and daddy's favorite toys! :)

Here's a quick video... Annabel's ball popping toy blows a lot of air when you take the balls out of it. She likes the wind in her face.... it totally cracks me up to watch her.

Dinner time

I'm posting a video today.... now I admit that this is not the most riveting video you've ever seen, and it's a little on the long side, but I love it. It's a very disheveled looking Annabel eating sweet potatos, which she really enjoys. What cracks me up about it (besides her hair) is the fact that she stares at the camera pretty much non-stop while we are filming. She is totally mesmorized by it! And then of course at the end she tries to fit her bib, as well as both her fists into her mouth. Maybe Nate and I are the only ones that really finds this amusing, but I doubt it. There are some grandmas out there who I know are going to eat this up! (no pun intended) To everyone else, I won't be offended if you don't watch the entire three minutes - just don't tell me! :)

In other news, I survived the first day... It was your typical first day, filling out paperwork, getting my badge picture taken, etc. I met some nice people, and have started learning about engines - something I never in a million years would have guessed I would care about! Tomorrow will be a heavy information dump, so I think I'll probably need to hit the coffee pretty hard. It's hard to make it all the way down there by 8:00! The commute kind of blows... I made it twice today, actually. I had to go down there this morning for a pee test, and then had 4 hours to kill before the training started, so I went back up to Indy to check out a daycare. I really liked it, so I think we're going to switch Annabel over there. It's a better place, with a separate infant room... that is the biggest thing I don't like about where we are. I think Annabel will learn a lot more if she is with more babies her age and in an environment where she can play on the ground without fear of a 3 year-old running her over. Maybe one of them will teach her how to roll over from her tummy to her back! (She can only roll over one way, and gets PISSED when she gets stuck on her stomach. That really sucks at night when she wakes up angry.)

Oh - I almost forgot one more thing - I remembered that I never filled you all in on Annabel's hearing test after her tubes were put in. We went back 3 weeks after the surgery, and they tested her response to sounds in a sound booth. They said that she responded appropriately for a baby her age, and normally that would be the end of it. However, since she has failed hearing screens in the past, they are going to do an ABR test to identify exactly what octaves and frequencies she can hear. That is basically an EKG for her ears... they sedate her, and hook electrodes onto her head... then they play noises that they know she can hear, observe the brain response, and then reduce the volume/frequency until the brain response goes away, meaning that she can't hear it. This will be a conclusive diagnostic test that will finally provide all the answers we need on her hearing. Hopefully the answer will be that everything is perfectly normal! The test is on Oct 3. I'll keep you all posted!

This "brief" post ended up being pretty long. Sorry!!! More to come later....

Back to the real world

Hi! I'm back to reality tomorrow, starting my new job. It's odd... I'm not all that excited yet. I think it's because it still doesn't feel very real yet. But I'm sure it will tomorrow. Before the busy week begins, I wanted to post some pictures from the last few days. Enjoy!

Annabel's hair gets pretty crazy... this is her at the end of a hard day, dining on peas. Yum!

Annabel & her buddy, Brooklyn

Right now, everything goes in Annabel's mouth. This poor monkey is no exception!

Here's the tongue again... why does that make any picture so much cuter?

Gimme that camera!

Nevermind, I'll just eat my hand...

Brooklyn came over for a play date on Friday night

Battle of the babies... not sure who I'd bet on to win.

Annabel has the brut strength, but Brooklyn is scrappy! On Saturday night we got together with a group of my high school friends and their families. It was a great time to catch up, and enjoy the nice day! Annabel tried out the baby swing for the first time... I think she liked it, but she was pretty tired so you can't really tell.

Daddy's little girl

My Sonia is pregnant! Isn't she cute?

Mike (our host) and his daughter, Libby

Here's just part of the group... unfortunately I didn't get a full group shot on my camera.

Here's the cute pregnant lady again. :)

Supermom Charrel with her two kids

Today Brooklyn and her daddy came over to watch the Colts game (too bad they lost). The girls had fun playing while we tried hard to watch the game!

We're back!

Hi! Nate finally had time to take a look at our wireless internet last night, and thankfully we are up and running again. Who knew that a few days offline would cause me so much trouble! I am supposed to be painting our deck this morning... I woke up early, took Annabel to day care, and was ready to by 8:30. One problem - the deck is soaked with dew. So now I'm sitting here waiting for the dew to dry (that's a first for me). Hopefully I will get out there soon.

Anyway, so it's time for a quick Annabel update, for those of you who have been suffering from withdrawal: Annabel is sitting like a champ now. I love being able to plop her down while I fold laundry or do other things. She definitely can keep herself entertained much longer, and she's much happier than laying on her back. She constantly rolls from her back to her belly when she is laying down, which is problematic because she can't seem to figure out how to roll back over. To this day she's only done it that one time at the doctor's office. The good news is that she is starting to show signs of crawling. I've actually seen her get her entire belly off the floor a few times, though it doesn't last long. She hasn't figured out how to keep her knees under her yet. But she's getting there! She is talking up a storm, and going though another stage where she sticks her tongue out constantly (you can see in the pictures below). We continue to introduce new baby foods - so far she's had sweet potatos, squash, and peas. We're starting with the veggies before we give her fruits, hoping that it will keep her from turning her nose up at them. So far so good! I can't say that peas were her favorite, but she did eat them.

Ok, here are the pictures... you can tell I've been on a bathtime kick. Enjoy!

Could her eyes get any bigger?

Tongue out in the bath

Shivering baby after bath

Our big girl. She is still such a happy baby!

I just love this face...

Mmm... Dr. Pepper!

Here's some crazy hair before bathtime

Check out my cool hair!

Here's a video for the week... I posted a video when we first started using the bouncer, and said that "she loved it" I think at the time that was a bit of an overstatement. Now here is a video of a little girl who LOVES her bouncer. She is a bouncing machine!

The unemployed life...

So I discovered this week that there are some things I miss about being gainfully employed - like my laptop, treo, and sprint air card. :) Sorry no blog in such a long time... we are having internet troubles at home, and so I'm making this post from a friend's computer (so that means no pics - sorry!). I just didn't want anyone worrying about us....

I am off this week between jobs, and loving life for the week. I've spent some great time with Annabel, got a little house work done, and have plans to go to the spa this week with my KPMG girls, and then visit with my mom on Friday. Not a bad week!

The house officially went on the market last Friday. We have been busy bees getting it all ready, and I have to say it looks so good now that I hate to leave it! We haven't had any calls to see it yet, but we are hoping that if we can just get someone in the door, it will show really well. Our realtor seems to think so. So if you know anyone who wants a great bargain home on the southwest side, let us know!

Alright, gotta run. Don't want to overstay my welcome on the computer. Hopefully we'll be back up and running soon. If not, I think I get my new laptop next Monday and this will be one of the first things on my to-do list!

Busy weekend

I think Nate and I will both be glad to get to work tomorrow, to take a breather from the weekend. This weekend we made a huge dent in our "things to do before we put our house on the market" list. We had the help of several people.... on Saturday our friends Amber and Nathan watched Annabel for us so that we could work on the house. That afternoon I developed a deep love and appreciation for the pressure washer. If you haven't used one of these things, you should try it! We cleaned our deck, siding, sidewalk and front porch with it, and it is truly amazing the difference that it makes. Then last night my parents came to Indy for dinner (we took them to Fogo de Chao for my dad's birthday - see pics below), and stayed today to help. My mom watched Annabel while the rest of us got tons of things done around the house. The only things we have left to do are to paint our deck, clean the garage, and pack up some clutter to send to storage. Our goal is to put it up for sale after next weekend. Then, we hope for the best!

So here are some pictures.... the first is a picture of Annabel, all dressed up and ready to take Grandpa out for dinner:

Annabel, who is usually a breeze at restaurants, got really tired and really cranky towards the end of dinner.... Nate finally got her to go to sleep as we were leaving. The poor thing had played hard during the day with her friend Brooklyn, and was totally pooped!

Here's Annabel doing something that she first achieved at Brooklyn's house... she can hold herself up on a table. I wouldn't say her balance is great - she kind of leans on it - but she can do it by herself, which she gets excited about. The thing I like best about this picture is her lack of a booty. How does a girl who has so much cushion everywhere else, have such a tiny little bottom? She sure doesn't get it from me!

She's feeling brave, with just one hand!

She is sitting like a champ these days.... she is still wobbly, and hates it when she falls backwards and we don't catch her (though I would hate it to, since we're on a concrete slab - OUCH!).
Tonight we were trying to feed Annabel her last bottle, and she fell asleep on me... but she didn't fall asleep relaxed, she was almost sitting, and as her head would fall backwards, she would jerk it back up again. Once again we were a little slow to grab the camera, but she did it for us a couple more times once we got it. Finally she conked out and took a cat nap before waking up and realizing she was starving.

I forgot!

I can't believe I forgot to mention it... I am getting a new job! I've been waiting til everyone at work knew to talk about it, and the time is finally here. I am wrapping up at KPMG on September 12, and starting my new position on September 22. I am going to be a Director of Accounting Policy at Cummins, in Columbus IN. It's kind of ironic that I will be working for them, since 90% of Nate's family works for Catepillar - one of their major competitors. Now we'll be adversaries... hopefully that won't make holidays too awkward.

Nate and I are looking to sell our house (or at least try) and move down to Greenwood, which will be close to in the middle for both of us. I am very excited to try something new, though I will miss the friends I have here. Hopefully they'll still be my friends when I'm gone. :)

Chow Time!

Today was a big first for Annabel - her first meal (that isn't in the form of a bottle)! She had some rice cereal, took to it very quickly, and really seemed to enjoy it. Somehow, I'm not surprised! :) Here are a couple of pictures of her messy face after the meal was over. At the bottom, there's a video of her first few bites.

She looks happy, doesn't she? It's about time, she says!

As I mentioned in my last post, we spent last weekend in St. Louis for a family reunion/birthday celebration. As promised, here are some pictures:

Annabel plays with Grandpa's new cane

Annabel and Aunt Heather

Annabel was up late every night... this is her on the last night when she couldn't stay awake any longer...

Nate's dad is a big fan of fish... this was a special gift from me to him for his 60th birthday!

Family picture at the park

This is one classy guy....

Annabel loves her Great Grandma Bonky!

Annabel with her cousin Gretta

The teeth must be genetic!

Annabel and her cousin Greyson

Me & Gretta at the park

3 generations

Melia, Julie, Gary, Sarah & Annabel after the birthday fiesta

Birthday kids - 30 and 60!!! Happy Birthday guys!

My sleeping angel...

Annabel at the park

Look at my pretty white dress!

Check out my new toy!

mmm.... tastes good!
Ok, video time! The first is of Annabel enjoying her first meal, the second is a very special magic trick from Gretta, and the last is a video of Annabel "playing" (aka eating) her new toy.