We went home to Lafayette this weekend for my godparents' 40th wedding anniversary... It was nice to celebrate wtih them, and to see my cousins who don't live nearby. 40 years... wow! It's rare to hear about marriages like that these days.

While we were home, we of course took some pictures - here are my favorites:

Bath-time snack of rubber duck

Annabel's friend Maggie loaned her this outfit, which is so adorable.

GO COLTS!

Picture with my parents

Here's a picture of me with my siblings - for those of you who haven't seen them in a while, they're all grown up now! Ok, lunch break is over... back to work...

Ploughing Ahead

The title of this blog refers to the video at the bottom... keep reading for more. But first, we had a very busy weekend! On Saturday Nate went on a hike in Southern Indiana for some Daddy time, and I took Annabel to the zoo with Amber, Nathan and Brooklyn. For the most part she enjoyed the people more than the animals, though she did like the dolphin show! I actually have a funny story from the day - we were walking out of the dolphin show, when I was stopped by an tourist... I'm guessing he was from India. He was with his wife and one of their sets of parents, and he was carrying a huge camera. He asked me if he could take a picture of his wife with my baby! I wasn't sure why, but I smiled and stood by her with Annabel while he took the picture. I can only assume that he wanted her picture because either she's the cutest baby he's ever seen, or because they wanted a picture of the fat american baby. I choose to believe it was the former. :)



Saturday night we went to the KPMG hayride, which was a lot of fun. It was really great to see my friends from there again, and catch up with everyone. Annabel's friend Brooklyn was there, since Amber works for KPMG now, so Annabel was excited about that! Here they are both wearing the same puppy dog hat... so cute!

Pictures from the hay ride - Amber, Nathan & Brooklyn

Family picture on the hay ride

On Sunday, our friends Leah and Bob and their little girl Maggie came to visit... Maggie just turned 1 year-old, so she had a lot to teach Annabel. In this picture, she's showing Annabel where her belly button is. :)

Leah & Annabel

Maggie & Annabel

Play time with Leah & Maggie!

As soon as they left, Annabel crashed... she slept in my arms for a pretty long time... I loved it! Anyway, when she woke up she was all sweaty and had some crazy bed head - check it out!

So this morning Annabel decided to wake up at 4:45... We finally figured out that she wasn't going back to sleep, and got up to feed her. I thought after that she'd be ready to go back to bed - but NO.... she was ready to play! But look at this face - how could I be grouchy about it?

I don't know what happened today at daycare, but all of a sudden Annabel came home and had aged at least a month. First, I learn that she drank 2 whole ounces out of her sippy cup... up until now she had not shown any interest at all. Good for her! Then, we were playing on the ground and she made her first forward scooting movements towards a toy! It's really funny, actually - She plants her face into the carpet, and then pushes with her legs. It's not pretty, but it works. :) Then, for good measure, she did a little walking while holding onto my hands. You can see videos of both of those things below... They are kind of long, but then again these major accomplishments don't happen quickly! So be patient, and Enjoy.... :)

"Ploughing Ahead"

"Wobbly Steps"

That's all for tonight, folks. Thanks for stopping by! :)

Apple Works

Today Nate's office had a family event at the Apple Works, an apple orchard on the south side of Indy. I took off from work early to join them, and we had a really great afternoon! You absolutely could not ask for a better day in the middle of October! There were apples, of course, but there was also a petting zoo and pumpkin patch. Annabel had a great time, though she pooped out at the end of it. Here are some pictures from our afternoon.

Annabel enjoyed petting the goats... she actually grabbed a big handful of this one's neck, so that was the end of that. The goat didn't react, but there's no point in tempting it!

Pumpkin patch

This is Annabel's pumpkin, the one we bought and took home.
She picked it out all by herself (ok, maybe Daddy helped a little).

Me and my pumpkin

Too much fun!

Tomorrow KPMG has a similar event, which we are going to attend. There will be lots of kids there, and a hay ride! This is turning out to be a very festive fall weekend.

In other news, this was Annabel's first half day at the new day care. I was a little bit nervous about how she would do, since she's definitely old enough to recognize strangers. She was great, though! As soon as she saw all the other babies playing on the floor, it was like I wasn't even there. She didn't watch me leave, and probably didn't miss me at all! I think she's going to do very well there.

For those who are wondering, I am also doing well with my new change of scenery. It's been 3 weeks now, and I'm finally starting to feel like I belong at Cummins. I'm getting to know my team, and at least some of what I do day to day. It's an overwhelming change, but I'm enjoying the challenge.

Alright, that's all for now. Look for more pictures later this weekend!

Nostalgia

So I'm eating lunch at my desk, and looking through my friends' blogs. Two of them recently posted pictures of their kids now and the year prior, to show how much they've grown. I know Annabel hasn't been here that long, but already the difference is astounding to me. Here are three comparisons -- I like to include things or people that stay the same size, so you can see how she has grown. I can't believe it's been 6 mos already!

Notice how big the pacifier is on her face, compared to the one below.

The bathtub looks a lot smaller now! Also, this picture shows something we haven't seen in months - Annabel's ankles! :)

We think Daddy has stayed the same size... Annabel definitely has not!

That was a fun little trip down memory lane.... Now I better get back to work!

Weekend on the road

This weekend we headed to Logansport and then West Lafayette, to visit friends and family. First stop - Logansport, where we had dinner with Lisa and Andy and Annabel encountered her first cats. Since I'm allergic to them, she probably won't get the chance to play with too many going forward, either! These two are kittens, and they were just as curious about her as she was about them. It was fun to watch... they checked her out while dodging her grabbing little fists. Very cute! Here are some pics from that:




Because of the kitties and my allergies, we decided to stay at a hotel... these are pics from Sunday morning... a lazy morning, as you can see!

breakfast in bed!

Annabel has some kind of nasy viral cold, which has caused a very severe cough. Since we can't treat the cold, we were given a prescription to at least treat the cough. She's given albuterol through a gas mask... yeah, you can imagine how much fun that is. Sometimes she takes it calmly, but most of the time she is none to happy about it! We only have 4 days left - thank goodness! Here is a pic - it's not nearly as pathetic as it looks.
After the meds, we had breakfast at Bob Evans with Lisa and Andy, and daddy made Annabel a hat with her placemat!
Next we went to West Lafayette to visit Gretchen, Rob, Hannah and Abby. They are only an hour away, but it's been much too long since we've seen them! We had a nice relaxing afternoon... here are some pictures:

Hannah and Annabel

Annabel and Aunt Gretchen

Finally we made it home, and for Annabel it was dinner, gas mask, and then bed. Before dinner, though, she had her first biter biscuit. She liked the biscuit well enough, but quickly realized that it wasn't doing anything to satisfy her hunger. Here's a picture of her trying to figure it out:

And that's our weekend! Hope everyone has a happy Monday.

Gene Simmons is my hero

This picture is for everyone who noted the similarities between Annabel in the video and the Kiss front man.... Annabel is thinking of trying out for the band. Seriously, though, when do you think we should start worrying about this tongue thing? :)

In other news, we took Annabel to the doctor for her 6 month check-up. She measured in at 27.25 inches, and 20 lbs, 6.5 ounces - that's the 97th percentile in both! She's a big girl, but she's proportional! And, for those of you who wonder where she got this size from, I want to let you know that at 6 months I was 20 lbs and 27.5 inches - so there's your answer! Like mother like daughter... :)

Here are some more pics from our play time tonight, and Annabel's nap afterwards.