Chunky Monkey

Annabel was nicknamed Chunky Monkey at the doctors office today, and with good reason! She officially weighs 13 lbs, 13 oz, and is 23 3/4 inches long. For those of you keeping track, that means that she gained 3 lbs, 7 oz and grew 1 3/4 inches in the last month. That puts her at 97% for weight and 95% for height on the growth chart. I have to say, I knew she had grown a lot, but this surprised even me!

I'm leaving town bright and early tomorrow morning... going to my good friend Lisa's wedding in Key West. This will be my first time away from Annabel, and Daddy's first time flying solo. I don't know who's more scared... :) It's an odd feeling for me, being so excited about going to Key West, and yet dreading leaving. I'm sure Annabel will be just fine, and I just hope I can say the same for me! I hope that Nate and Annabel have a fun weekend and miss me lots.

Thanks for waiting!

Hi everyone! Sorry to keep you waiting so long for a post... we have had a very busy couple of weeks! We have had Nate's dad visit from Texas, a trip to Illinois for our brother-in-law's graduation, our first mother's day, a visit from Nate's mom from North Carolina, and a visit from my friends Ski and Marc from San Francisco. It turns out Annabel is a very popular girl, and draws people from great distances to see her! We really enjoyed all of our visitors, however I have to confess that we are looking forward to having a quiet week... mommy needs to recharge!

Annabel is growing so much... we go to the doctor for her two month appointment tomorrow, and I expect to hear that she grew at least another inch and probably another pound or two. She's still eating a ton, and has really cute new rolls in odd places. My favorite is the roll right in the middle of her forearms, where there is no joint to cause it... just too much chub! :)

She's smiling a lot more now, though it is still a challenge to catch the goods ones on film. She is responding a lot better to sounds, particularly Nate's and my voices. She is also getting STRONG! She is continuously more challenging to hold onto, as her legs and arms are getting a lot stronger and she can throw herself around. Her neck is also a lot stronger... I can pull her up from her back by her hands and she can hold her head up into the sitting position. She's our big girl!

Ok, so from what I've gathered, I know that most of you don't check this blog to read whatever I have to say... all you care about is the pictures! Well, because you've been so patient and waited so long, I will reward you by not writing anymore, and by including a lot of pictures. Enjoy!!!

Naptime with Grandpa

Going to a party with Great-Grandma!

Happy Mother's Day!
Princess Annabel

BLAH...
I come in peace...

Naptime!

Annabel & Cousin Gretta

Playtime with Mom

Kisses from Grandma

Like father like daughter...

Big girl!

Annabel loves taking walks...really...

What are you looking at?

Hey - I've got my new shoes on, and suddenly everything is right...

Happy naked time...

More naked time...

Who is that cute girl in the mirror?

Mom - no more naked pictures!

Hanging with her favorite toy - Mr. Duck, Mr. Howard T. Duck

My new identity

Hi everyone! So I'm posting as myself now... and when I set up my own profile, I've decided to call myself "Annabel's Mom." This is because, as any new mom can tell you, as soon as your little bundle of joy pops out of you, you are no longer referred to by your first name. Now wherever I go Annabel is the star, and I'm just her mom. I figure there's no point in fighting it, so I might as well embrace it. Good thing she is so cute, or I might have some resentment issues...)

While I'm busy embracing my new identity, I think I will also embrace my new heart, which all my friends have been so kind to celebrate. If having a heart means crying at every one of Annabel's milestones, every episode of Oprah or the Baby Story, and 50% of all tv commercials, then I guess I really do have one. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I kind of like it. :)

So it's been a little bit more than a week since our last post, which I've been reminded about on multiple occassions by multiple people. Why is it that a new mom can be excused from virtually any of her normal day to day responsibilities because she's a new mom and has a lot going on, but if the blog gets to be overdue - then holy hell! What's her problem? I have definitely let my people down, and for that I apologize. (Hopefully the sarcasm is obvious here - I'm really not bothered at all by it.)

Last weekend we took our first road trip, first to Lafayette to visit the grandparents, and then to the Chicago area for the MS Walk with Nate's family. We left on Thursday and Annabel traveled pretty well, up until Saturday night when she had gas REALLY bad, and kept us up nearly all night. That was not fun! We were crammed into a hotel room, so there really was no escape for anyone. As a result, there was lots of family bonding and almost no sleep. It made the walk the next day a little difficult, but we made it through. Despite being tired, the walk itself was great. The weather could not have been more perfect, and we got to spend the morning with family we don't see that often - most importantly Annabel's great-grandma Saxe, who was there from California. Annabel was so happy to meet her!

This coming week will be full of more important visitors. Tomorrow Grandpa and Nana Saxe arrive for the weekend, and then on Tuesday Grandma Saxe comes to see us. Annabel can't wait to meet all of them, and promises to be as cute as can be while they are here!

So those are all of the happenings around here. A quick note on what Annabel has been up to since the last post: First of all, she has started working out her voice just recently. They are odd sounds, and not your typical baby coos, but she is definitely feeling things out! Second, her neck has gotten a lot stronger recently. She looks all around when we hold her up to our shoulders, and can hold her head up for a few seconds at a time when she's in the sitting position. She's also awake a whole lot more, which is fun, but tiring! Oh, and she's stretching her legs a ton these days. I think she'll be walking soon.

Now to the pictures.... here are some from the last week. For those who questioned if she ever slept, here is some proof that she definitely does. We also have pictures with some more of the people that Annabel met for the first time or visited over the week. It was a fun week!

Tuckered out

Play-time: The first time she really showed

interest in her activity mat

More play-time!

Who says I don't sleep?

Annabel & Sonia


This is my O face...

Annabel & her proud Uncle John


Check out my afro! Yes, it's natural. :)

Annabel's friend Maggie came to visit from Chicago

Sleeping some more....

...and more...


Wide-eyed

BRRR!!!

Annabel & Great-Grandma Saxe

Annabel & Great-Grandma Wood

Annabel's Birthday!

Today is Annabel's one-month birthday! We celebrated by taking her to the pediatrician and letting her get poked and prodded (she loved it). Later, Nate and I had brownie sundaes in her honor. She watched, and again, I think she really enjoyed it. :)

At the doctor's office we found out that Annabel has gained 1 inch and about 2.5 lbs in her first month. That puts her in the 75th percentile for both height and weight - she's above average already! The doctor said she is doing great, and she assured us that she's not eating too much, although I was sure she was. I mean really, how many one-month olds do you know who can put away 35 oz of formula in a 24 hour period? But the doctor said it's fine, so we're done counting and our new mantra is "the more chins the better."

Annabel and my first week at home alone was pretty smooth for the most part. Her sleeping has improved a lot (with the exception of last night, which was AWFUL), and we have had fun taking walks and watching daytime television. The Ellen Show is Annabel's favorite. There were two big accomplishments for the week - 1) we made it to our first scheduled lunch date ON TIME... I was very proud of us; and 2) Annabel grew out of her newborn diapers (is it weird that I almost cried?). We also toured both KPMG and the INDOT offices, showing off Annabel to all of mommy and daddy's friends. She slept through the whole thing, of course, but we had fun! The week was capped off with a visit from Grandma and Grandpa on Saturday, and that pretty much brings us up to date! Oh, I almost forgot one last thing - Annabel watched her first NFL draft this weekend as well. She was really surprised at how late Chad Henne and Brian Brohm were drafted...

Here are some pics from the week. Enjoy!

This is my stubborn face.

Stubborn profile


Annabel & Grandpa

Family Pic

I Love my Daddy

Curly Sue

Chilling after bath time...

Gazing at Daddy

I'm working on something big here...

A Post From Mom

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog debut, and a recap of week three of life with Annabel. It's hard to believe that she's three weeks old already! She continues to change so much every day... as you can see from the picture, she is much more alert these days, which is adorable in the daytime, and trying at night. But, even in the wee hours of the morning, she continues to be such a joy for us!



Here is a list of some of Annabel's 'firsts' for the week:

• First trip to the mall
• First earthquake (yes - that's for real - a 5.2!)
• First volunary smile (nobody believes me, but I swear that it was intentional - so far it's only been once)
• She follows people and objects with her eyes now

Nate went back to work this week, which was very tough on him. He misses her a lot when he's away, but he makes up for it when he gets home. They nap together and Annabel gets a lot of Daddy time every night. We miss him, but someone has to bring home the bacon! :)



My mom came to visit this week... we had a very great week, and it was SO helpful to have her here. She was a life saver in getting us through the long nights, and also served as an extra set of hands when we went shopping and stopped by my office for a visit. Annabel and Grandma got to know eachother really well this week, and I know it will be hard on Grandma now that she's gone! We'll come visit soon, we promise. Now this week I'm on my own, so we'll see how I do!

We've had several visitors since the last post, many of which are shown below. I've also included some of my favorite pics out of the 100 we've taken in the last week. Thank god for digital cameras! Does anybody remember how we got by without them?

Tummy time is hard work...

Annabel & Uncle Jerry

A rare photo with Mom (she took a shower today!)

Look at me - I'm advanced for my age!

STRETCH!

Annabel & Cousin Abby

Annabel & Cousin Hannah

Annabel & Aunt Gretchen

Annabel & Grandma

Annabel & Aunt Sarah

An additional note - Many of you know my friends Jamie and Mark... She was due 11 days after me, and gave birth on Thursday. His name is Austin Bryan, and he weighs 9 lbs 14 oz... yes, that's right... he is a big boy! Jamie was a champ and had him naturally - way to go girl! Mom and Austin are both doing well... I visited them today, and he is super cute. Here's a pic:

That's all for now! More to come next week....