Annie-8 months!

EEK! An 8 month old is hard to believe! We are having lots of fun with our sweet girl these days! It's fun getting to know her personality and see her change everyday. Annie has been doing lots of stuff this month. Check it out!

-Annie is a baby food FAN! When she eats jar after jar of baby food, I am in disbelief because we struggled just to get Henry to eat a few spoonfuls of the stuff. She is eating so much that I have started to make a few things (peas, carrots, bananas, sweet potato, butternut squash-the easy stuff) just to save a few bucks. It is getting expensive! She has been biting me while nursing for a few weeks, and I'm not really sure what to do about it! If it continues, I will be ready to wean the girl! She hasn't had any solids yet, but I plan to do that this month (cheerios, mum mums).

-She has started sleeping un-swaddled as of 1/7! I still wrap her up below her arms, but won't do this anymore once the weather warms up. She's done quite well with it, and I think is becoming a better sleeper overall. She rarely needs me to come in the night to put a paci in, and she's been sleeping in a little later several mornings, or will nurse at 5 then go back to sleep til 7 or so. Very nice! She's sleeping on her belly now, so I think that has helped. When we are home, she takes a good morning nap (1.5 hrs, give or take). If we are out and she cannot get a solid nap, she cat naps on the go. Either way, she takes a good afternoon nap, too (2+ hrs).

-Over the weekend of 1/17, Annie learned to raise her arms up in the air when we say "How big is Annie? SO BIG!" It's so sweet.:) She gives the biggest smiles and all of her attention to me when I do the "eat", "all done" and "more" signs, but she hasn't actually done any of these herself yet. Henry likes to tutor her with these signs, too. I need to video this because it's precious.

-She's getting more hair! Enough to support an actual bow even! AND enough to where she has bed head in the mornings! I don't really know how this happens since she sleeps on her belly, but somehow it's a mess in the back/sides when she wakes up.

-We are getting more and  more comments that she and Henry look alike.

-Annie is a very content baby. She will sit and play on the floor with her toys for a LONG time! Sometimes so long that I have to stop whatever I'm doing to intentionally spend some time with her! My mother-in-law was just in town and couldn't believe how good Annie was just to sit and play. She kept saying, "Do you have any idea how blessed you are? Not every baby will do that!" She's not super mobile-like she doesn't usually end up in a different position or all over the floor or anything. She's not close to crawling anyway, and I like it that way!:) This is my favorite stage of babyhood, so I want to enjoy it as long as I can!

-She's started taking "real" baths this month! She's transitioned from the baby tub in the sink to being able to sit in the tub with Henry. We used some of her Christmas money for a bath safety seat thing, and it's been great! She made a few unsure noises the first time we put her in it, but after just a second she warmed right up to it and seems to really enjoy being in the big tub with big brother (who's been so calm and sweet in there with her btw). Oh the fun she has in store with this!

-Annie sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time this month-1/10 at Panera! She did great and seemed to like being able to look all around. She got lots of attention from everyone, too, of course. What a big girl!

There's lots more, but that will have to do for this month. You are loved, sweet baby girl! 

November 2014

November has come and gone, but I have yet to document it....see below for some (certainly not all) of our happenings. If I wait to post EVERYTHING, I am afraid I might not post ANYTHING! Also see Annie's 7 month post below this one!!

We went to our neighborhood block party on Nov 1. We had made an offer on a house the day before, so this will be our only one to attend. It was lots of fun! We will miss Hunter's Crossing. It's been a wonderful neighborhood for us.

We were trying to get ready and Henry was into everything. I suggested he read a book to his sis and he took me up on it. He was so sweet and talked and talked to Annie all about this book about babies:)

We went to the Veteran's day parade in downtown HSV on the 11th. It was loud, hot, and patriotic! We met several moms with their kids there (Stubbs, McInnis, Novack, and Busch) along with the whole PCS community who got to see Annie for the first time. Here are Annie and Clayton.

Henry and Bennett stood in the back of the pick up truck and waved their flags.

Once the noise started, Henry did this the ENTIRE time. He was taking it all in, but would not take his hands off his ears-stinker!

Henry was so proud that he and Annie both had gray New Balance shoes AND hoods on one day. He wanted me to take a picture of course!

These are all out of order, but oh well! The Sunday of Thanksgiving (Nov 30) we had Annie's baby dedication at church and the whole family was there. This pic is afterward of Annie getting a special "Jesus loves me" bracelet from Grandpa and Peggy.

Annie got lots of attention in her christening gown made by Aunt Sara in Iowa. She made Henry's as well, so it was really special! This one has AKH embroidered on the bodice, and his HLH embroidered on the collar.

What a beauty!

Here she is with her "God Bless Annie" cake made by Aunt Mae. We came home after church for lunch and cake with everyone.

After church we went out on the balcony for some pictures. It turned out to be a beautiful November day!

The Sherrod girls all together.

Mom, Me, and Annie-3 generations!

Here is the whole crew who attended-you have so many people who love you and will do everything to help you grow to one day know Jesus for yourself, Annie! You are a blessed little one.

Here are the cousins all decked out in Xmas PJs one evening!

AND...here is actual Thanksgiving day! We stuffed ourselves at Thursday lunch just like every year. Diana cooked at my house this year and both Jimmy's and my folks came as well. Side note...we closed on our new house just 2 days before this (11/25), so the whole family went over that afternoon and got to check out the new place. It was a cold afternoon, so the family football game in the yard didn't really pan out, but it will be a neat memory of it being "ours" for the first time during Thanksgiving.

On her 6 month bday (11/26), Annie tried baby food for the first time! She had carrots, and seemed to not totally hate them!

Although she was much more interested in her bib! Who can blame her...material attached to my neck? Instant toy!

She was so cute figuring out how to slurp it off the spoon. She kept wanting to grab the spoon. Lucky she's not super fast yet!

Annie with BOTH grandmas on Thanksgiving day! She was loving that attention, and everyone was loving having a baby around, too.

Here's Annie in some cute footie PJ's that were Henry's. There's a picture of him in this exact pose. I need to find it and compare the two...someday:)

Here she is sitting so proud with some toys that couldn't get away since the Boppy was around her keeping them near!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we went to TN to celebrate with my family since Steven's family would be with us for all of actual Thanksgiving (Wed night through Sun!). Mary Ellen put her headband on Annie here and baby girl quickly swiped a handful of hair! So proud about it, too!

Baby and Manar-these two have a tight relationship. Annie gives the biggest grins to her Manar.

Emma's birthday falls on or near Thanksgiving every year. She always requests a strawberry cake! Henry had fun helping her decorate it with blueberries and went around to EVERYONE asking "want one?"

We said a final farewell to the Busch family earlier in Nov. We drove out to Athens for one last play date. The boys did crafts and played in the leaves. We even napped there to spend as much time with them as possible! It was a sad, but sweet, goodbye. We love these guys! Here are the boys with their Thanksgiving hats on they made.

Henry had a ball in their leaf pile.

He has no real concept that his best buddy has moved away, but we keep talking about how we will make a trip to Mississippi soon to visit Bennett and go to the Memphis zoo! The Busches are the kind of friends that we will always stay in touch with.

My mom came a BUNCH of times in Nov to help clean and play with kids so I could work. This is one of those times!

Henry started getting very creative with all the boxes we had lying around to pack. He made a train with these!

Daddy snuggles one evening after work.

Handsome big boy!

Beautiful baby girl!

Annie-7 months!

Our sweet girl is 7 months old! Life has been just oh, so crazy around our house (more on that later) that I don't feel like it could even be possible that Annie turned 7 months old the day after Christmas. Since I have waited several weeks to start this, the lines between what should go into this post vs. what should go into her 8 month post are getting blurred, but that's OK I guess. Some new things happening with our Annie are:

-She's sitting up great now! I LOVE putting her on the ground with toys in front of her and seeing her "play". She is constantly moving her hands and feet now, and we love to see those feet going in circles at the ankle-especially when she is in her high chair or bumbo. So cute. When she gets toys in her hands she examines them by staring them down and rotating her wrist around and around, then back and forth to see what it does. She is also quite vocal now, and when she is playing she is generally babbling and squealing, too. When we sing Henry's prayer song before a meal we think she tries to join in with her little voice, too!  She is definitely a second child in that she is used to having someone around all the time. I think she can tell pretty quickly when she is alone and doesn't like it much. She starts to fuss and look around.

-She is actually so vocal that she is saying "bubba" and "mama" now when she babbles...I think I will consider these here first words! Henry was so proud when she started saying "bubba" and even now he will alert me every time she says her 2 new words. She says "bubba" a lot when she is playing or riding in her car seat. She says "mama" for sure when she is sad or crying. It's sweet to her her little voice!

-She's eating baby food more solidly now. She began at 6 months, then regressed and did the whole clench mouth thing, but now she's back at it thanks to Uncle Jimmy's work over our Christmas visit with them. He's just so patient with babies! She generally eats 2-3 jars a day (a fruit with oatmeal or rice for breakfast, a veggie and fruit for lunch and the rest of it for dinner). I still nurse her like normal and just add in the baby food after the breakfast, lunch, dinner nursings. She will lean in for the spoon and kind of suck it off-things her brother NEVER did. She has yet to make any crazy faces or shudder in disgust like he did, either. If there's one she doesn't love, she will just kind of quit accepting it, and I get the picture.:) She hasn't had any "dinner" types yet, but I will be trying those soon. She's had oatmeal and rice cereals, as well as all the fruit, veggie, or fruit and veggie combos that the stores offer. I don't intend to make baby food myself this time, sorry Annie. I think you might actually thank me for it!:)

-Some of her greatest joys right now are hoodie strings, necklaces, the straps on her high chair, shoes that come off and end up in her hands/mouth, and anything crunchy like a plastic bag or paper! She acts like she's hit the jackpot when she gets any of these above items!

-She is quite tolerant of Henry. She lights up around him and loves to watch him play and run around. Her eyes follow him everywhere. He is quite hands on with her and she usually tolerates it pretty well. We are constantly reminding him to back off and give her space. He loves to hug her head when she is sitting on the ground...I feel so bad for her when he does this, but he means well!

-She's into a nice sleep routine now, although we still have some nights that do not go routinely. I have finally decided that she is a very average sleeper, and I shouldn't be disappointed by this just because Henry was and still is an exceptional sleeper! (for example...he just took a 2.5 hr afternoon nap, but she was awake at about 1 hr and 45mins). In general, she sleeps through the night  now (7:30-5:00). She falls back to sleep, but only til about 6:30 or so. She's ready for a  morning nap around 9-9:30 (right around 1.5 to 2 hrs) then is ready in the afternoon around 1:30 for 1.5 to 2 hrs again. She can fight against sleep like her brother never did, too. She has certain tactics like turning her neck all the way around so that she is basically looking over my arm at whatever is behind us. She also can push her paci to the side and start gnawing on it rather than sucking it (because that makes her sleepy). She can arch her back and fuss and fight with the best of them. I am learning, though, that sometimes just laying her down in her crib after rocking her for just a minute is the best. She can't fight me that way and generally goes to sleep on her own. There are other times, though, where it just takes a minute of rocking and snuggling cheek to cheek for her to fall asleep. She certainly has cuddly times and is very loving, too.

-She has had TWO ear infections this month:( I am hoping she does not follow Henry in this area, but so far we are not off to a great start. She basically got them back to back-her left ear followed by her right. She had all the symptoms I'm used to, except one biggie-no high fever! With the first one she had a very slight fever, but none at all with the second one. This makes things quite confusing for me, and if she continues to have them in the future I think I can expect even MORE of a guessing game than when fever is involved. Oh, the other thing was that with the second one she was up ALL night long with it...Henry slept through them for the most part. I didn't know she was sick and just tried to let her cry/did all the things I normally do when she doesn't sleep well, but as soon as she got up in the morning and I looked at her I could tell she was sick.I felt terrible-poor baby! We had to go to the cousins' pediatrician in Lexington who was luckily seeing patients on the Saturday before Christmas. What a great doctor!

-A few random things: She cracks up when we blow her hair right above her forehead, she is constantly doing something with her tongue or sucking on her bottom lip, she opens up her mouth wide when she's happy, when she's on her back she will rotate all around the floor, but she never flips over, she is super ticklish and we love taking advantage of it. She got an elephant ball popper toy for Christmas and loves it. She can sit right in front of it and push the button herself to make it start. She does it over and over and loves to hold the ball and put it in her mouth, too.We are getting lots of "she's starting to look a lot like Henry now" comments. I think her filling out attributes to a lot of this. We are both seeing similarities, too, but she certainly still has her own look. They aren't carbon copies.

Great view of those 2 teeth getting bigger!

You are such a sweet baby, little Annie, and we love watching you play and grow. We can't wait to see what fun next