Annie-11 months!

This month has been so much fun! Annie is changing each day, and we are loving watching her learn to communicate. Her sweet personality is coming out! A few things about her this month:

-Tooth #6 came in! Now she has 4 on top and 2 on bottom.
-The day before she turned 11 months, she started blowing kisses! She watched me for a few days, then just did it one night before bed. So sweet! It is her version-she can't quite get the details exactly right-but she has the basic idea, and it's pretty cute. 
 -She started saying, "Uh-oh!" when she drops something. When she says it once, she usually repeats it a couple of times. Especially the "uh" part!
-She started signing "more" just a few days after my last post about her. She did it once and hasn't stopped since. I think when she realized it got her more food she was all about it! She gives a double clap for her "more" sign, and she can get pretty demanding with it. To me it seems like she's saying, "Chop, chop, mom. Hurry it up!" If she really likes what she is getting, she will do it immediately after I've just given her something as if to say, "Keep it coming, Mom!"
-She also signs "all done", although not as regularly as  more, because she never wants to be done eating!
-She hates getting her face wiped!! Talk about drama!! She tolerates it if I am gentle, but if I try to do a quick swipe, oh she lets me know about it!
-She's waving hi all the time. When I'm working in the kitchen and peek in the living rm to check on her, she waves at me when she sees me. Same thing with getting her out of her car seat. It's a nice way to be greeted! She's just started waving at strangers out and about, too. When she's in the high chair at a restaurant, she will zero in on someone to stare/smile at and start to wave:)
-She tries to say dog-it comes out "dah!"-but she does it when Maggie comes to her. She looks up at me when she says it in recognition.
-Annie LOVES water and taking a bath makes her so happy. When we say, "Do you want to splash?" she gets all giggly and wiggly and starts "splashing" her hand in the air like she's playing in the water. She's gonna be a water rat like her bubba!!
-She's clapping to music when I turn it on in the car or one of her toys plays music at the house. She squeals and waves her arms all around. She also "dances" when music comes on by bobbing up and down and getting animated. So cute!
-She is eating EVERYTHING. It's crazy. I offer her everything we eat, and she accepts. She loves cheerios and giggles and wiggles all around when she sees me getting them out. She also loves any kind of pouch and fusses for them when she sees them (at the house or at the store). I still nurse her like normal-every 3 hrs or so.
-Annie has been battling an ear infection for over a month now and has been on 3 antibiotics for it. She finished the last one and the next day just didn't seem 100%, so I took her in just for them to check (4/20). The doc said the were absolutely terrible! She had to have a shot and an ENT referral. It is so hard for me to tell with her because she is generally still so happy and doesn't run a fever or anything. Luckily they were able to get her in the very next day, and when the doc looked at them, he said, "Yeah, jacked up is what we call that." Ha! I appreciated his honesty! Evidently both our kids have drainage problems, so Annie is scheduled for tubes in a week. I hate to do it, but at the same time I'm almost relieved that she will get some relief. Henry had such a successful surgery and has been so healthy following, there's no reason to think she would be any different. In that case, it will be SO worth it.
-Her sleep has been a little off and I think it is because of her ears. She wants to sleep, but can't a lot of times. She's awake after a 20 min morning nap a lot of days, and will only sleep 1.5 in the afternoon. She wakes maybe once in the night and I put her paci in (I had stopped doing this, but went back to it with all her sickness). She wakes around 5:30 or 6:00 to nurse, then lays back down til about 7:30. She's so happy in the morning!
-She's starting to look through books on her own. They're in with her stash of toys, and I'll see her get one out and swipe her way through the pages, look at the images, and touch the different pictures with her little fingers. So sweet. She also enjoys actually being read to, and we are attempting to do that more and more now that she's getting older!
-Just like her bro, I can put her in front of a big pile of toys and she will go through them one by one, play with them, then throw them out of the way. By the end, there's a big pile behind her just out of reach:)
-She has a few favorite toys. The first is my phone. It doesn't have to be on, she just likes holding it and waving it in the air. She DOES put it up to her ear intentionally and look at me, too, though. She has a play phone that is shaped a lot like my real one, and she's done the same thing. Where has she seen THAT before!? She also love a plastic water bottle-partially full so she can shake it all around and then she crunches up the plastic. She still loves crunching a clean diaper, any plastic bag, any paper!
-She and Henry are funny in the back seat together in their car seats. She is constantly raised up with her head cocked looking at him and he is always talking to her. They can reach each other now and laugh about touching hands, etc. Henry gives her snacks (with permission!) and it is so cute watching them interact this way. He still thinks she is such a cute baby and will say stuff like, "I see her little feet, Mommy!" and "Look at her little head!" They also have screaming matches-and will squeal back and forth at one another and laugh and laugh about it.
-Still no crawling! She is happy on her belly for a long time and pushes herself backward all over the place. She just can't figure out how to keep those knees bent/booty up. She just splats after being in this position for a few seconds. She IS mobile, though, because she can push herself backward with her arms. If she's on hard wood she can end up down the hall! She also rolls all over the floor, too. Just recently she's been in the sitting position and will lean forward really far to reach something. A few times she will go from this position to somehow folding her legs under her and getting on her belly. I figure this is another step toward crawling? At this point I'm wondering if she's gonna crawl by her first birthday?!
-I have been meaning to say this for forever now!! She plays with her hair as she goes to sleep or is sleepy when nursing. She just gently pulls at the ends of her hair right above her ears. When she is almost out as I lay her down in her crib, that's the first thing she reaches for. Sweet Annie trait!

Annie girl, you are a delight. We love you so much! 

Feb 2015

Annie wearing some PJs that Henry also wore...surreal!

My mom cane to visit and we enjoyed some Feb sunshine by eating outside!

Then we took the kids to the indoor pool. Annie LOVED splashing, and we realized we needed to bring her suit the next time.

This boy loves the water and jumping off the edge is his specialty.

My sweeties in their PJs one morning. Henry always asks to hold Annie, and generally does a pretty good job of it!

Our friends Laura and Levi from Tennessee came to visit one day and the boys had such fun playing together. Poor Annie had gone to the doc this same morn for an ear infection.

Since she got on meds, though, when Steven mentioned a very spur of the moment trip to Gatlingburg for the weekend, I said sure! Here is Annie about to enjoy the pool at our hotel.

We went to Ober Gatlingburg and Henry got to ride the carousel.

Henry never sleeps with us. There are times when we would even like to cuddle up with him and take a nap, but his sleep habits will just not allow it. He needs his routine! Having 2 kids in a hotel rm was interesting, though, and we just did what worked. He slept in his pack n play at night, but during a nap he crawled out of it and into bed with Steven. Steven said he felt him go to his pack N play for a minute, the come back to bed. Later he looked and found this-Henry had made a snuggly spot for Bear. So cute:)

We enjoyed using the indoor pool-even though it was freezing outside-it was comfortable in there!

Our room was on the creek-nice little view! Henry loved looking at it (excuse the runny nose)!

Here we are walking to board the tram for Ober. Freezing out, but fun!

Henry thought this snow was great-little did we know what Huntsville winter weather awaited us in Feb!

Riding the tram-great views!

We walked the strip during our trip, of course, and Henry was so pumped to find this "cracker nut" as he calls it. He wanted us to take his pic with it!

More swim time-it's just hard for me to resist taking pics of kids in their suits!

This girl loved the water and splashed and kicked like a big kid the whole time.

On our way home, we stopped to get some fudge and feed the bears. (above 2 pics)

On Monday our friends the Busches came into town so we went to dinner at Rosie's with them. The boys squealed when they saw each other and had so much fun catching up (ie-acting crazy at the table). The next day we met up with them and the McInnis family to play at the mall play place, eat lunch there, and continue playing at the toy store. (below 2 pics)

Annie started eating mum mums this month-she's a fan!

She also started eating Cheerios and uses her pincher fingers to pick them up. She works hard at getting them to her mouth and sometimes has success!:)

This picture is a good reminder that our old house was on the market still, and we were therefore still sleeping on a mattress on the floor at our new place...we didn't mind! Here's Annie in her diaper looking cute one morning. 

I sneaked in to get some pics of my sweet girl napping.

There's just something so peaceful about a sleeping baby!

Below: we went to TN one day just to visit family. Papa smooching on Annie. She kept just staring and staring at him!:) 

My mom and Annie have a special relationship-they have a sweet little bond for Annie to be so young.


 We stopped by Grandpa and Peggy's on this trip, too. This was so sweet! Annie was actually the one who kept giving sugar, then I asked Henry to join in and actually caught it on camera! Below-Grandpa spoiled his grandson with a happy meal and his OWN big sundae on our way out.

 I signed Henry up for level 2 swim lessons in Feb. He did fine, but some of it was beyond him. I realized afterward I should have done level 1, but when I read about it it just seemed so introductory. Oh well! It was good exposure nonetheless. We still had fun-he was just SO much younger than the other kids-like literally half their size as you can see in the pic above (that's him right behind the dive stand). He is waiting to do his favorite part-jump off the "diving board"!
 
Practicing floating! He also loved doing the game red light, green light and following his little friend Savannah who was in the class with him.

Henry said his favorite toy was ball during his 3 yr "interview", but if you were to ask me I would say his stuffed animals. He plays and plays with them and went through a phase of lining them up...here he wanted Maggie and Annie in on it, too!

We had a Valentine's play date at our house.We had special treats and played with play dough and did some art. The Rose family was in town from TX, so that was a special treat, too! Top: Alex, Georgia, Jasper, Marley, Autumn, Bella, Juliet, Kailyn. Bottom: Rocky, Annie, Henry, and Winnie (this girl is just NOT a fan of getting her pic taken!!).

Steven shopped for the kids' Valentine's gifts-both of our dad's did this for us, so it's a sweet little tradition. Annie got a stuffed animal, and Henry got a light up cup and a little box of chocolates. I had also gotten him some kinetic sand and saved it for love day!

I always mean to do more crafty projects with Annie than I get around to, but I did manage to make this with her!

We had a special breakfast on Valentine's day, too! I can't even remember now-Steven might have had another snow day this day? I feel like he was around all day...oh, and while there is no pic to show for it, I should say that he planned a great Valentine's day for us, too, with a babysitter, reservations for an excellent meal at Ruth's Chris, and a movie afterward. It was like we were kids again or something!:)

We broke out the bike trailer on a decent weather day and the kids had so much fun in it. It was Annie's first time to ride!

We also got to take the kids to a Havoc game since the offered one at 5 (normally they are only at either 2 or 7, neither of which work well for young families), and we had so much fun! The kids both loved the music and looking around at all the action, and Henry really took in the actual game, too. It was interesting explaining the fights to Hank!

At the game! It was Marti Gras, too, so we were the recipients of lots of beads!

This was the precursor to some more serious AL snow, but I bundled Annie up and took her out in it because it was her first real snow, and I wasn't sure we'd get another!

And this was Henry's first ever hot cocoa-he's a fan if you can't tell! And we enjoyed our fireplace this winter, too!

Chilling (ha!) in the backyard!

Thrilled to be making snow angels!!

This was the first time for the kids to ride in one of these and they were thrilled...oh the things you do for your kids! I never thought I'd be one of those moms walking around with 2 kids in a cart like this! Ha!

I had to capture this-after Henry going potty one morning, I thought he was coming out of the bathroom, but he was taking a minute, so I went back in to check on him, and he was doing this-letting his big elephant go potty, too!

Henry prepping for his party to come with his construction gear!

Our big boy turned 3 on the 26th. Here he is on the morning of his big day.

We opened gifts first thing and broke them in all day. He got an art easel from Grandpa and Grandma DeWitt.

We had a special birthday breakfast of cinnamon rolls, sausage balls, and strawberries.

Henry's birthday was EXTRA special, because the night before it started to snow....and it snowed, and snowed, and snowed! On his birthday morning, we woke up to 7 inches of snow!! This meant Steven was at home all day, too, so it was a neat way to celebrate. We got to all be together and play!


Our back yard was just gorgeous!!

Henry loved playing in the snow!

Big three year old!!


The boys took a walk to the creek that is just past our property, too, and Steven said it was so pretty! The pictures sure were.

I love these pics of Maggie. She is a true winter dog and loves the cold weather. She's looking good here all perky to check things out!:)

She loves to roll and run in the snow. Steven makes snowballs to throw in the air for her to catch and then she eats them. Here she is in mid-throw.

Henry got some chocolate tools from Annie for his gift, and he loved them!! Showing off his chocolate hammer here.

I told Henry I'd make him whatever dessert he wanted for his bday (actual). He chose brownie, much to my pleasure!:) He was certainly sugared up on his bday.

Naked baby-I promise she isn't always like this at our house!

We went for some Mexican on the 26th, too. We were quite ready to get out of the house-Henry was thrilled with his hat and song! You'd think his bday was on cinco de mayo or something!:)

Then just a few days later and it was his party weekend, and the whole family came in to help celebrate. Here are the 5 cousins-the Bush crew came for the weekend from Lex.

Grandpa and Peggy got Henry a bike, helmet, and horn for his gift, and he was thrilled! He was a pro at it very quickly!

Henry got this cute tiny table and chairs from Grandma. He uses it all the time and puts a table cloth on it, sets it, and will eat his snack or lunch there some days. It's pretty cute.

After family gifts, it was time for his party! We decorated the door to go with the construction theme! Henry was so excited for his party and welcomed everyone at the door with, "Welcome to my party!!" As you can see from the reflection, there was still some snow on the ground!

I set up the dinette area as a work zone. This little station was for kids to use the toy hammer to pound golf tees into foam blocks then pull them out with toy pliers.

I set up several bins with rice, beans, and pea gravel and set out all of Henry's tractors for the kids to use in them. As you can see, the bday boy LOVED it!

The other guests seemed to enjoy it, too! The moms kept wanting to grab the broom and sweep it all up!!:)

Rocky warmed up and enjoyed it, too!

I was so happy with how much fun Henry had at his party. He was all smiles and was into every bit of it.

The kiddos chowed down on a big lunch and some colored the construction runner on the table, too!

Little miss got plenty attention from the grandparents! She actually slept through the first part of the party and they were chomping at the bit to go wake her up!!

The cake turned out great! Thank you, Aunt Mae! You've outdone yourself once again!

Photo with my sweet boy. Hard to believe he's been around for 3 years now.

Henry loved being sung to and was all smiles again.

You can see the living room was packed, but it seemed to work out. Opening gifts was a fiasco! This was our first year to really experience it. Henry loved everything he got, and he's been playing with it all to this day. I'm not the type to buy bunches of toys myself, so getting them for his bday was actually nice. He's at such a fun age for them!

The crew of kiddos! Let's see...top row: Kaia, Henry, Ryan (Emily's brother), Georgia, Savannah, Ethan, Rocky, Connor. Bottom row: Mary Ellen, Annie, Lila, Emily, Camden, Marley, and Chloe. Ezra was there, too, but he was in the middle of eating!

I think one of Annie's "colors" will be this lavender...the looked so good in it and kept getting compliments. Purple has never been my choice, but I might have changed!!

Little sweetie with Grandpa and Peggy. Thanks everyone for such a wonderful party!! We loved celebrating our 3 yr old with you!!

And, using the big tub for some entertainment on a snowy day! Happy February!