Snow Day!

We got about a foot of snow here - the worst storm in 13 years! So we all stayed home today... It wasn't all fun and games, since Nate and I had to work throughout the day, but we did manage to enjoy the 'stolen' day with Annabel. We were going to go out and play in the snow, but we didn't have any of the right gear, so she wouldn't have been able to play in it much. Maybe next time.... Here are some pictures of our day indoors:

Annabel spent WAY too much of the day in her pajamas.

Something about the way she's laying here makes her look so big to me!

This is one of Annabel's favorite things

Annabel is much faster crawling than she used to be!

She still loves her ball bopper, but has changed how she plays with it... now she has to stand up, and most of the time doesn't let the balls come out. We were excited because she finally seems to remember how to make it go from one time to the next. It makes her seem so mature!

Here she is, on her feet with her walker. She's gotten pretty good at it! You can also hear her new growling noise, which she makes all the time. Also, one of her favorite things is to shake her head back and forth.... she does this a little bit at the end of the video. Fortunately she hasn't connected it with the word 'NO' yet. Until that happens, I think it's the cutest!

Misc. Pics

Greetings faithful readers! We had a nice weekend... didn't travel anywhere but spent some time visiting friends here in Indy. On Friday we had dinner with Amber, Nathan and Brooklyn at a hibachi restaurant in Greenwood. Annabel wasn't as into the hibachi thing as I thought she would be, though the huge flame that shot up when he started cooking got her attention briefly. But other than that she was kind of zoned out and focused on her own meal. Saturday we ran some errands, got Annabel's hair cut (see picture below) and then had dinner with a group of our friends at a sushi bar. The sushi bar experience was a first for all of us, and I have to say I was a skeptic going in.... but I had some good recommendations and was pleasantly surprised! Annabel wasn't too impressed... we had to sit at the bar, and they only had the normal sized high chairs - so Annabel basically sat under the bar. Not a great view, but she did alright. After that we went to our friends' house where Annabel met a new friend (see below), and then the next day Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit. It was a full weekend!

Here are our latest pics:

Annabel continues to love her bath time!

This is my new favorite face that she makes. She purses her lips, but her cheeks and eyes are smiling. My mom thinks she looks like she's playing shy, but I think she looks like she has a secret that she thinks is funny and nobody knows but her. Either way - I love it. :)

Poor Annabel has to endure Daddy's games and other ways of amusing himself. I think here she is saying "Why me?"

At just 10 months, it was time for hair cut #2! We took off some of the length in the back so that the rest can catch up, and cleaned it up a little everywhere else. Her hair looks lighter now, because some of the dark tips were cut off. She did great in the chair, and was done in about 10 minutes!

Saturday night we went to Tracy and Drew's house, and they have two dogs - Tyson and Jackson. Jackson was very interested in Annabel, and Annabel loved him! A couple of times he snuck some kisses, and other times he would just lick on her hands. That made her laugh and squeal.... and it made me want to take him home with us! He was so good with her... Once she even grabbed on to his ear and cheek, and he just sat there, patient as can be... what a good boy!

Daddy and Annabel - all dressed up for dinner out

(I promise the skirt is not really that short... it's just how he's holding her!)

Big toothy grin

We don't get to spend a bunch of time with Annabel at night, because she usually needs a cat nap after she gets home, then has dinner (which is a SLOW process), takes a bath, and goes to bed. If we're lucky, we get about 30 minutes of actual play time between dinner and bath - that's not a lot! So we make the most of dinner time, and really enjoy every minute of it. Here are some pics from last night's dinner... I tried my best to get a good shot of her funny toothy grin- she still just has the bottom 2 teeth, and then one tooth on top, all the way to the right. Makes for a funny snaggle tooth grin!

Looks like these melt my heart - she says so much with her eyes!

This is a good shot of her top tooth - the bottom ones are kind of shadowed, though.


Big smile for Daddy

(if you click on this picture, it will enlarge it and it's actually a good shot of all 3 teeth)

This was later that night... Annabel snuggles up with her sea horse every night -

Thanks Aunt Sarah!

Baby Escape!

Annabel made a break for it after her bath today, when Daddy was trying to get her dressed. That wasn't what Annabel had in mind!

For some reason she was doing a bear crawl, rather than a normal crawl.

It's been a little while since I last posted, so I thought I'd put these pictures up because they made me smile. It was a pretty quiet weekend here, spent hanging out at home except for attending our friend Brooklyn's first birthday party. It was nice, since I was working in Mexico at the end of last week, and was pooped from the travels. I was also missing Annabel terribly, so I really enjoyed playing with her all weekend (and kissing on her more than she probably would have liked!).

Annabel is definitely on the move, all the time. She is always happiest if she is on her feet, and Nate and I are definitely her favorite jungle gyms. Today she pulled herself up on the coffee table for the first time, which was exciting! Probably not a good thing in the sense that now we'll really have to keep an eye on her, but I know it's an important skill to learn on the way to walking so we're excited. I don't know if I mentioned it last time or not, but Annabel is also waving now, which is so cute. She doesn't do it all the time, but she definitely knows how. She's learning new tricks every day!

Riley Madison is here!

There are babies everywhere I look.... it's enough to give a girl baby fever! :)

Early this morning, my good friends Ski and Mark had their baby girl. She was born about three weeks early, so she's tiny, but healthy! I am so happy for them, and can't wait to meet her!

Riley Madison
4 Pounds 14 Ounces
17 Inches
Date: 01/12/09
Time: 03:26AM

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last Friday I turned 30.... I don't really feel any different than I did the day before... however the weekend did serve as a very clear reminder that life's not the same as it used to be. I had ideas of the big party that would come along with this weekend, celebrating the 30 great years that have come before it... what I did not envision was staying at home on Friday night because Annabel had pink eye and we couldn't take her to Amber's house for fear of giving it to Brooklyn. I didn't envision treating an ear infection on Saturday, or getting Annabel up from a nap on Sunday and finding her in a puddle of puke. Poor Annabel had a rough weekend, and life kind of revolved around her... but that's our life now, right? And I wouldn't have it any other way... I'm a mom at 30. It's different than I imagined, but at the end of the day I spent the weekend with my family and it was great. We can party later. :)

The picture above, and a few of the ones that follow are from our dinner on Saturday night with my immediate family and Nate's sister Gretchen and her girls. We had a lot of fun and got some great pics.

Me and my parents

My brother (John) and sister (Nikki)

Gretchen and her youngest, Abby

Nate and our oldest niece, Hannah

Annabel always enjoys a good meal out, despite all of her ailments!

This was at the end of the night, just before bedtime

I love this picture... believe it or not, her thighs have thinned out! We had Annabel's 9 month appt on Friday, and she measured in at 29 inches and 23.5 lbs.... that's the 97th and 95th percentile, respectively, so she continues to be on the big side, but proportional. When they got done measuring her on the doctor's table, I picked her up, and couldn't believe that she filled the distance between the two markers showing her height. Where did my baby go?

I took these pictures last weekend... we got her this walker for Christmas, and I really thought she would be about a month away from being ready to play with it. Boy was I wrong! She does really well... mostly standing and practicing her balance, and a few steps here and there. She has let go of it a couple of times and stood on her own - that was exciting!

Look Ma, one hand!

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to 2009! It's so hard for me to believe that the year Annabel was born in has passed us by.... I can't wait to see what 2009 will bring us.... no doubt it will be even more fun that the last! Annabel and I had a good new year's eve, however the same can not be said for Nate. He came down with a flu of sorts, so Daddy stayed home and Annabel and I went to a party with some of my new co-workers who also have young kids. We had a great time, though I did feel bad about leaving Nate at home.... but, there's no point in skipping the party when Daddy was just sleeping at home anyway, right? Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures :( but we did snap the one above the next day. We thought about taking it in her diaper, but decided that might be mean. :)

New Year's Day we put away the Christmas tree, and got out her new chair.

It's a little big for now, but she seems to like it!

On Friday Nate's mom, sister Sarah, and Sarah's husband, Jerry, came to visit. We spent the day at the house, since Nate was still feeling pretty crummy...but it was still a pretty good day, and Annabel enjoyed spending time with them.

Jerry tickling her toes

She's got eyes for her Uncle Jerry!

This was taken at snack time.... she like's her baby cheetos!

Give me the cheeto - NOW!

Reading with Grandma.... thanks for the great bear, Aunt Terri!

I mentioned above that Annabel loves her cheetos (don't worry, they are special baby cheetos - I'm not feeding her the real thing). Anyway, in the past week she's discovered that she can show a little temper and let us know what she wants.... here is a video of her when she doesn't get her cheetos as fast as she wants. I promise that after filming this, I am done encouraging this type of behavior... it's pretty bad..... but so funny!

Here is a video of Annabel doing a new trick of hers. She can do it herself, too, and likes to do it in the middle of the night when she should be sleeping. It's one of our favorite things.