And the word of the day is....

Annabel is at such a fun age right now, that I thought it was time for another installation of videos. So here are some recent clips of our big girl!

This is a video of bathtime last night. Annabel has a bath book that she loves to read in the tub, and she even offered up a little bit of the elusive ABC's (since doing it the first couple of times, she has been clamming up everytime we ask her to do it).

This one is kind of long, but I was trying to get some tricks out of her and she is easily distracted, as you will see. We need to start closing the blinds in the kitchen at dinner, because our neighbors on both sides have dogs and once they come out it's all over.

This one isn't anything special, but watching her walk up the driveway with this lawnmower and saying "weeeee!" just makes me smile.

My little Hoosier

Not sure how I managed to forget to post this picture.... She's the cutest little Hoosier for sure!

Wedding Weekend

So I'm a little behind, but last weekend we went out of town for Nate's cousin's wedding near Chicago. A lot of his immediate and extended family came in town for it, including Annabel's Grandpa, Nana, Aunt Sarah, Great-Grandma, Great Aunts, and several other aunts/uncles and cousins. Annabel was a bit overwhelmed by all the new faces, and had some challenges dealing with the time zone change.... but all in all we had a great weekend, and enjoyed seeing everyone. Unfortunately, my camera's battery konked out on me at the wedding, so I don't have many pictures from that.... I did, however, get some cute shots of Annabel and Nate's Aunt Patty at the park the day before.

Not sure, but I think this might be Annabel's first wagon ride. Once she got over the oddness of it, she was a big fan!

Annabel loved the swings... this one is even a psuedo big girl swing - notice there is no chain between the legs to keep her from falling out. But she did great!

Going up to the big slide (I had to ride down with her, so no pics of that)

Annabel gives Aunt Patty a ride on the wagon :)

Aunt Patty had a tricycle in her garage, so we put Annabel on it. I was surprised when Annabel put her feet on the pedals and tried to push! She wasn't strong enough to go anywhere, but she knew what she was supposed to do.... not sure where she picked that up, but it was fun to see! She never ceases to surprise me....

We did get a couple of shots before we lost battery - it was an outdoor ceremony, and was beautiful outside. The sun was in Annabel's eyes, so Uncle Jerry kindly offered his sunglasses. I think she pulls it off!

Aunt Patty graciously watched Annabel for us during the reception, so Nate and I got to enjoy the party for a little bit. It was so great to have a night out!

Beautiful day at the zoo!

Aren't they the cutest??? Annabel, Brooklyn and Amber and I went to the zoo this weekend to take advantage of the beautiful weather. Although it was crowded, it was definitely worth it! Here are some pictures from our day:

I would say this is the first time that Annabel really showed any excitement at all for the carosel. She loved it!
Annabel's most favorite attraction at the zoo is the bouncy bridge on the way to the rhino exhibit. She could care less about the rhinos!

Best buddies :)

They go together like peas and carrots!

Mommy, I love the zoo!!

Fun at the petting zoo

After the zoo, the daddies came to meet us for dinner downtown. Afterwards we walked around downtown, looking at all the motorcycles that were in town for the race... the girls loved all the action! Here is a family pic at the monument on the circle.

sick and tired

Hey there, sorry we've been gone for a while, life has been busy! Last Thursday Annabel had her first real fever and a nasty cough and cold to go with it. Her fever lasted 3 days, until we finally put her on antibiotics. On top of that Nate caught a 24 hour flu bug on Friday..... now I think he and I are both coming down with the cold that Annabel brought home. Hopefully we don't get the fever part too!

So Annabel is feeling better, though I think the medicine might be making her a little sleepier than usual. Or maybe it's the new day care that is making her tired. I don't know. All I know is that she's been in bed by 7:15 most days this week - which is hard because work has been very busy and I haven't been getting home til 6:30 or so. That doesn't make for much quality time! Anyway, back to the day care.... so we finally got into the daycare that we've been on the list for since she was about 4 months old. It's a lot closer to our house, so it's a ton more convenient! And they seem really nice and have a good balance between play and learning. My friend Julie's son has gone there for about a year, and they love it. Poor Annabel has had a hard time adjusting..... she has cried 2 of 3 mornings that I've dropped her off, which she never does. They say she is doing great aside from that, but still it breaks my heart! I know she will adjust, I just hope it happens soon.

In other Annabel news, she has started being really interested in going potty. She doesn't really care about sitting on the potty herself, but she likes to watch. At the end, I give her a little bit of toilet paper and she bends way over and pretends to wipe. Then once we're done with that, she likes to put it in the potty and when I flush she waves at the toilet and says "bye bye!" to its contents. She gets so excited about the whole process, it cracks me up. Especially the enthusiastic "bye bye!"

So that's the update - here are some pictures:

Some of Nate's friends from work came over with their kids for a play date two weekends ago. Cameron is the cutie behind Annabel.

Cameron and Annabel are only a month apart, so they play pretty well together. Micah is the little guy, at 9 months. He was very curious about what they were doing!

Micah

I've got my eye on you, Cameron.... Annabel is too young to date!

Say "cheese" And notice how Aladdin is making the same face in the background. :)

My poor baby.... this was day one of the fever. She was so sweet and cuddly, I have to say I kind of enjoyed it. Too bad she has to be sick to act like that!

Say CHEESE!!!

Hi! I feel like this weekend was the first real weekend of summer.... it was the first time we got to break out the baby pool, and we also went to the state fair. So fun! We went to the fair with Annabel's friend Brooklyn (and her mom and dad), and I think the girls really enjoyed it. Annabel got to ride 4 rides, ate mostly ketchup for dinner and had some of my hot fudge brownie sundae for dessert. May not be healthy, but it is the fair!!!

The next day Annabel and I went swimming in our baby pool. Annabel really enjoyed herself - it was a perfect day for it! She played pretty nice, until I noticed that she was gathering all of her toys in her lap - as if to say "mine - nobody else can play with these". So of course I asked her if I could play with one, and she through a fit. Ah, toddler days. She did the same thing in the bath tub later that night, so apparently this is her new thing. We have some play dates planned this weekend, and I'm really curious to see how that goes with other kids touching her toys.

Let's see.... what else is she up to? Annabel is learning a lot every day. She can tell you what a sheep, horse, lion, cow and monkey say. Her monkey noises come complete with the monkey arm motions. So cute. She is learning body parts, and has her toes, elbow, belly, bellybutton and most facial features down. She is also obsessed with boobs. I mean really, she seems to be mesmorized by them and bras. The other day when Nate was teaching her about body parts he said she came up to him and pulled on his shirt collar a couple of times. He couldn't figure out what she was so curious about, until she said "boobies?" She still hasn't figured out what happened to Daddy's boobies. :) Annabel has also started saying her own name.... now when she walks by pictures of herself, she says "Abell" I guess she has also started using her teacher's name at day care. She also does the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider, and has figured out how to ask us to play her shows on TV. Basically every time we turn on the TV she thinks it's time for her shows. She basically soaks in every single thing, and it is so fun watching her learn!

So there's your update..... here are the pictures!

Pics from the swimming pool

Playing with play-doh in the sun room

This is at the State Fair. This weekend Annabel has started making the "CHEESE" face. I think she learned this from her friend Maggie.... and I have a feeling you'll be seeing a lot of this for a while!

"Cheese" again

....and again

This is Annabel laying a big kiss on Brooklyn, who seems to think it's pretty funny.

Mom and Annabel taking a ride on the bumble bees. Annabel seemed to enjoy them.... she kept saying "WOAH!!!" over and over again. :)