Foto Friday

Can you believe it's time for another Foto Friday?? Where has the week gone? I think maybe doing Foto Fridays is making me realize just how fast time flies. Yikes!

This past weekend, we went to a cookout/pool party with our small group from church. What a fun and crazy bunch we are! And, unlike the freezing cold pool in Kansas, this pool was heated. So Annabel didn't complain one lick about getting her feet wet. Here are some pics from the party...

Annabel gets her feet wet in the snazzy pool!

Mommy and Annabel chill out, poolside.

Angela and Chad smile for the camera.

Pat hangs out in the pool with the kiddos (not all his). From left: Pat, Cole, Summer, Olivia and Austin.

Don't Scott and Claire make a cute Daddy/Daughter picture?

At home, the weather was a little milder (as in the 90s as opposed to 100+ degree temperatures!), probably because of Tropical Storm Eduardo. So Nanny Kristi got to take JP and Annabel for a walk for the first time in the double stroller!

Nanny Kristi with JP and Annabel all going for a stroll to get their daily dose of Vitamin D!

JP and Annabel chillin' in their new ride.

JP seems to be adjusting to hangin' at Annabel's casa. This week, he test drove the Amby Baby hammock for his nap. He seems to like it!

JP, snuggled in the hammock. It's a little blurry because I couldn't use my flash since I didn't want to wake him up! What an angel!

Here's the wide angle view of JP asleep in the hammock, so you can check out how it works. It doesn't normally hang this low; Nanny Kristi used the extension chain for the jumpy seat.

Annabel and JP are really having fun together, looking at each other, make each other grin and laugh. Here are a couple of pics of them hanging out together.

What a couple of cuties!

Annabel says, "Whatcha doin' back there, JP?"

This week, as you can see from the above photo, Annabel is getting really good at grabbing for and gripping on things. She's discovered her feet and loves to hold on to them. She laughs and laughs when we bicycle her legs and stick her toes up to her mouth! I wish I had pics of us doing that, but I forget to grab the camera in time because it's usually when one of us is changing her diaper. She still hasn't rolled over yet, but we're thinking it's gonna happen any day now. She rolls from her back to her side; its just that last obstacle of getting over her arm that she's not really interested in overcoming yet. We'll keep you posted on that!

This coming Sunday, we have a family photo session with *removed for the photographer's protection* for Annabel's three month! Technically, it'll be 3.5 month, but who's counting? I love taking pictures of Annabel, but it's difficult to get the three of us together that way (no dogs this time). I'll be sure to post the photos when I get them.

Tonight is the opening ceremony for the Olympics! Yay! We're going to Scott and Rochelle's house (Scott's the one pictured above with his daughter, Claire) to watch it.

Have a fantabulous weekend!
Cheers!

Adventures in Exersaucing

I started a new photo album for the next two months of Annabel's life! The pictures are of Annabel in her new exersaucer (thank you, Grammy!). She looks so adorable, and really enjoys herself in it! You can check out most of the photos in her online Photobucket album on the right. But here are a few for your enjoyment.

As you'll see from the rest of the photos, this little blue thing is Annabel's favorite part of the exersaucer. It plays music, talks and lights up. She can press the big buttons pretty easily to make it happen, and she loves it!

I love the cute faces she makes while she's watching the lights dance!

Uh oh! Music stopped... Annabel says, "How do I make it go again??"

"Whoa! There they go!"

"Hey! Is that another cute baby next to me?"

Cheers!

Foto Friday

It's time for another edition of Foto Friday! This week, I'm going to include some photos from last week as well, since I didn't get a chance to upload her photos before Friday. We have so much to catch up on!

Last week, Annabel, Grammy and I met up with Auntie Amy at Neimans for a Lancome make-up event. Annabel was the belle of the ball! Nobody could pass her by without exclaiming what a beauty she is. I was a proud mommy!

Annabel snoozes while she waits for her turn...

Pretty girl taking a nap at Neimans!

Our next big adventure was heading to the Hawk residence for a pot luck dinner with our childbirthing class. Much fun was to be had, and the girls barely lost in a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit. Here are some photos from that evening.

Tuan checks out the spread. Pasta, anyone?

The moms trade baby stories. From left: Sylvia and Andrew, Ginny and Paige, Dana and Jake, and Corry and Kenley.

The Daddies (plus Annabel's Papi) talk "man stuff."

The babies! From left: Annabel, Kenley, JP, Jake, Paige, Andrew and Tyler.

Two daddies with their mini-me daughters: Jeff and Paige, Brett and Kenley.

Some other pictures from last week and the weekend...

At the Pritchett's house for dinner, Annabel takes a snooze on Auntie Sara.

Annabel shows off her new baby bling paci.

The red-headed stepchildren wonder what all the fuss is about during Grammy and Papi's visit. (Macee is on the left, Baylor on the right.)

Riding in the sling with Daddy at the mall. She's still trying to work out getting all those fingers in her mouth at once!

This is my first week back to work, and I think Annabel is adjusting more quickly than I am! The first day (Tuesday), when Chris and I dropped her off at her in-home care (Lori's, for future reference), I was crying like a baby. Well, I guess not so much like a baby, since Annabel seemed to be just fine. When I picked her up that afternoon, she was still great, although she didn't eat or sleep as much as she normally does. However, her second day with Lori (yesterday), she went right back to eating and sleeping as usual.

Wednesdays and Fridays, I work from home, so Nanny Kristi comes to the house. And on Wednesdays, JP joins us! Our first Wednesday was a little chaotic, as everyone was getting used to the new arrangement, but overall it was a good day. Today with Nanny Kristi, Annabel was again her usual happy, sleepy self. Here are some photos from the week about that...

We make one last visit to the ladies at Daddy's office during Mommy's last day of maternity leave.

Annabel smiles for Nanny Kristi during playtime in her bouncy seat.

Monkey is Annabel's favorite friend on her bouncy seat! They gossip, trade advice on swinging, the usual stuff babies and monkeys chat about.

JP comes to hang out on Wednesdays. He's makes himself right at home in the new exersaucer from Grammy.

While JP's daddy looks on (those are his toes in the background), Baylor says goodbye to JP for the day.

Next we have some Annabel milestones. This week, we've started the process of breaking our precious sleeping baby of the swaddle. In her swaddle, she sleeps from when we put her to bed (usually around 8 or 8:30pm) until we wake her up in the morning (during maternity leave, around 7 or 7:30am). We had tried no swaddle before, but when she jerks in her sleep, her limbs go flying. This totally freaks her out, and she wakes up screaming bloody murder. So it was back in the swaddle she went!

At the advice of a friend (thanks, Monica!), we're leaving one arm out of the swaddle, switching arms each night. As shown below...


So the first night, she woke up around 3am, and we could not get her to go back to sleep for about 45 minutes. This was the night before I had to go back to work... I don't know why we were so crazy as to start trying this on such a stressful night already! But, that was the only time she woke up, and slept until I woke her up the next morning at 6am to eat before we headed to her in-home day care. The second and third nights, she woke up at around 4am. The second night, Daddy was able to get her to go back to sleep pretty quickly. The third night, we let her cry it out, and she put herself to sleep in less than 10 minutes. The fourth night (last night), she slept all the way through again! Woo hoo! So we'll let her sleep with one arm out for a couple of weeks to get her used to it.

And one other thing that Annabel has added to her repertoire is razzing. She does it when she starts getting really mad, although she does it sometimes when she's laughing too. It's pretty darn cute (and messy! spit bubbles everywhere!), and we were able to capture some video of her doing it. It's also cute to see her in the jumpy seat.



And finally, a some pictures of bedtime with Daddy...

Yummy bottle!

I love you like frogs love flies too, Daddy, but what's Mommy doing over there?

Annabel thinks this is an excellent book.

Of course, you can find these photos and more in Annabel's June/July photobucket album. Oh! I get to start a new album today!

Cheers!

Grammy and Papi's visit

Last week, Annabel got to spend some quality time with her Grammy and Papi. The last few times they've been here, we've always had something going on, other visitors, etc. So this time, it was pretty much just bonding time with no interruptions! Here are some photos from their visit.

After picking up Grammy from the airport, we went to go have lunch with Daddy! Here's Grammy and Annabel at Daddy's office.

Papi had things to take care of in Houston, so he couldn't come up until Thursday. But he arrives just in time to help Annabel top off her bedtime bottle.

Annabel loves getting kisses and cuddles from Grammy!

Chillin' with Papi, having a good ole time.

Picture time with Papi and Grammy.

Papi and Grammy can't resist giving lots of kisses to Annabel. Really, can anybody resist?

Annabel takes a morning snooze on Grammy's lap.

I haven't posted these to her online album yet, but I will! Stay tuned for more updates...

Cheers!

Foto Friday -- on Saturday

Hi friends! I apologize for missing Foto Friday yesterday. My in-laws are in town, and we've been going, going, going! I haven't been able to upload any photos that I've taken of them with Annabel. But, I did upload some of the pictures that I took of her right before and on her three month birthday. So I'll post some of those, and save the in-laws' visit photos for next Friday!

One thing that Annabel's been doing quite a bit lately is bringing her hands together like this. I've been trying to get a picture of her looking at her hands, but she's too quick for me!

Her sweet little hands...

You knew this was coming, right? Of course I had to get pictures of her three month old feet!

Annabel sleeps in her crib for the first time! She's been sleeping in her Pack 'n Play in our room, but I've started putting her down for naps in her crib to start the transition to sleeping in her room. And yes, we're still swaddling her. Her hands and arms are so busy, she wakes herself up if we don't swaddle her.

Daddy and Annabel have playtime together. It's so much fun to make her laugh!

More to come soon, I hope! Have a great weekend :-)

Cheers!

Happy 3 Month Birthday!

Happy 3 Month Birthday, Annabel!

I'm a little late with this post because we've had a busy day. Also, I was planning on doing a little photo slideshow of the pictures that I took of her today, but haven't been able to get around to it (imagine that!)

In any case, I wanted to wish my daughter a super duper 3 months, and I can't believe how much she's grown already in such a short amount of time. Why does time always seem to speed up when you're having fun? Here's one cute pic I took of her today as a teaser until I can get that slideshow posted...

Annabel says a little prayer to thank God for a happy and healthy first three months of her life! (She started really bringing her hands together in the last week or so, which apparently is a motor-skills milestone. Woo hoo, Bellie!)

Cheers!

Vote for Annabel!

OK, so I entered Annabel's photo in the American Baby Magazine cover model contest. I can't help it! I just think she's so beautiful, I want the whole world to know :-)

So here's what you can do... click on this link to view the photos in her photo gallery. Rate each of the photos (anywhere from 1 to 5 stars) and also "recommend" her photos (it's the link next to the "rate this photo" link above the picture). The theme of the contest is "Moments of Discovery," where they want you to submit photos of your baby discovering something new. I'm not sure how much the ratings or recommendations count towards the judges scores (if at all), but every little bit helps!

Thanks for your vote!