36 weeks old!

Morning bath time.

Who me?

Gotta love that baby bod!

Enjoying a Captain's game with Aunt Kimmee!
They really do LOVE each other.

Grandma let me chew on her sweatshirt strap.
(Guess their are perks to being the 1st grandbaby)

I caught you taking my picture, Mom!

This week, I spent some time going through her clothes, and packing up the ones that didn't fit any more

Well, it has been a while since I've actually blogged on her weekly birthday... so, rah rah to me!  We seem to have gotten a lot of our technical difficulties worked out with my computer and phone.  So, hopefully the blog will once again be full of pictures.

I realized that with today's birthday, as of 7:28pm Anna will have been OUT longer than she was IN.  Haha... What a milestone, Anna!  And, I sit here and smile as a type that.  My how our little princess has turned our lives upside down in soooo many ways... but, I couldn't imagine life without her at this point.

Anna has been doing well this week.  We have done A LOT better in the sleep department this week.  Anna will usually wake sometime between 2:30-4am to eat.  Which, sure I'd love to sleep through the night, but if she isn't going to sleep through the night, waking up half way isn't bad.  A lot of days this week, she even slept til 9 as well.  So, I really can't complain.  Now, we have had a hard time getting her to go to sleep... she has just been WIDE awake at times... ya know til 10, 10:30, 11ish... crazy.  She was still happy as a clam, and a sheer delight... but just "not tired."  We survived.  And, since we're not waking up every hour to two hours (or less), I am doing much better all around as well.

As I mentioned in the captions of the pictures above, I spent quite  bit of time this week going through her clothes. (Man, does that girl have clothes!!)  I was sorting them, and putting away the ones that are too small for her, and pulling out others that would now fit. Some were so sad to put away.. they were my favorites!  But, it brings in a new era... and I look forward to seeing our sweet girl grow and grow.  I can't wait to see how her personality develops, and what the Lord has in store for her.  I know we're just at the tip of of the ice burg... it was a bittersweet time putting some of the clothes away, and remembering each one as she wore them.

I did not get her weighed this week... but I would imagine she is either super close to, or is 17 pounds.  She is still comfortably in size 3 diapers (and I'm sure will remain there for a while.).

We have made some headway in the eating solids department.  I got Anna to eat some applesauce, chicken, pulled pork, sweet potato puffs, mum-mums, rice crispies, avocado, banana, and grits.  She still doesn't eat a large quantity of any of it, and it certainly won't replace nursing yet, but I feel like we're at least getting somewhere with her.  I don't believe there were any tears either.  :-) 

We have been doing some baby sign language with her for a while...I do 3 basic signs... "more", "eat", and "all done/finish" with her.  And this week, I am certain she signed "more" and "eat" on 2 separate occasions.  She seemed happy when I gave her "more" of what she wanted and when I let her "eat."  So, maybe we're on to something. 

As far as other skills go, she isn't crawling yet, but she is definitely getting around.  Since our entire house is hardwood... she can pull herself or scoot herself around the living room fairly easily... other times she rolls over to help her get where she wants to... she can go forward, backwards, and do a 360 on her belly... no toy is out of reach, really.  Last night it looked like Anna was getting really really close to crawling.  Anna was able to get up on 3 out of 4 limbs... but then didn't know what to do with it at that point.  So... soon.  Very, very soon, I fear.

Also, Anna does not have any teeth yet... but I think that will also think that will be very soon as well.  (However at 4 and a half months old, I thought it was soon then... so I guess we'll have to see.)  I love her gummy smile... and I will definitely miss the look.  But, again, I guess it's all part of growing up... :-(... Love her!

Anna and I went to a couple Captain's baseball games this week.  The season is winding down, so we had to take advantage of it while we could.  It was fun, and of course she gets spoiled by her Grandma and Grandpa C, and Aunt Kimmee. 

Speaking of her Aunt Kimmee... It is so sweet to see the two interact.  It's like they have this special bond/connection.  Kimmee LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to hold Anna on her lap.  And our little wiggle worm loves to be on her lap.  I think she knows that her Aunt Kimmee is one really cool, and special Aunt.  Kimmee just grins from ear to ear when she gets to hold her as well. 

Anyway, I think that's about it.  Thanks for checking in on us!

35 weeks

This picture was taken the day she turned 8 months old!!

Hey Everyone!!
Yep, this post is late... that seems to be the norm these days.  I'm hoping now that I have a new phone, I will have more pictures to put up on the blog.  It's been way too long with sub-par blogging!!

This week was a pretty big one for the princess and I, and my phone was on the fritz.  Oh well...

Here's the ever-important stats...

We had Anna weighed this week.  Guess how much?  She weighed 16 pounds 13.5 ounces.  Not too bad... she's getting bigger and bigger!!  I love it. So much so... I finally put her clothes that don't fit away... yes, yes yes... that includes a few straggler newborn clothes.... a bunch of 0-3 month clothes, and a ridiculous amount of 3-6 months clothes.    While it's true, Anna can still fit in most 3-6 month clothes without a problem, I'm trying to get some use out of the summery 6-9 month clothes that she has... after all she is 8 months old.  She is still in size 3 diapers as well.  :-)

This week I worked really hard on what I call "sleep reform."  Her night time sleep habit was getting out of control.  Sometimes she would wake up after 45 minutes... or after an hour and a half... and I.WAS.EXHAUSTED.  It finally "hit the fan" if you will... I just stopped.  I shut her door, I shut our door, and I said "have at it."  I did it in the middle of the night.  We also started putting a little bit of cereal in her night time vitamin bottle. Hopefully to give her night time vitamin ooomph.  So far it seems to be helping. Anna seems to wake up anywhere from 2:30-5 to eat, and then will go back down to sleep usually until she hears Jeremy in the morning... (on the weekends she seems to sleep longer after the initial in the middle of the night feeding... so I assume it's because she hears some action going on).  So, its probably more for me... sleep training me to not go in when she cries.  I know why I did that a lot of the time, it was so, I wouldn't wake Jeremy up....But now i just say "sorry, hon" and I put an ear plug in if I have to... she has done really well, and our sleep as a family has improved.  :-)  So that is good.

She had her last Wednesday date with Grandma C this week, since Grandma C has to go back to school.  We'll see you again come Thanksgiving & Christmas Break I would imagine... but until then, it's Grandpa C who gets to have all the fun.

We are making some strides in the area of eating solids... as in I've actually been able to get her to eat some.  She still really likes to eat things that she can put in her mouth herself.  Anna enjoys gluten-free rice crispies, sweet potato puffs, chicken, baby mum-mums, and avocado spears.  I also have gotten her to eat and open her mouth even, for some applesauce, but she really likes to feed herself.  :-)

Well... I think that's it for now. 
Thanks for checking in on us.

34 weeks old

On Friday, we had dinner out on our deck.  It was a beautiful night.

We went to a baseball game on Tuesday afternoon with Grandpa & Grandma C.

One morning it was really nice out, so we ate breakfast outside too.

Anna helped me shop for a bridal shower gift.

We had coffee and donuts with Miss Lindsey on Saturday

Despite the concerned look, Anna loves being held by her Aunt Kimmee.
Just before I took this picture, she was smiling and laughing.

This week was pretty busy for Miss Anna Banana and I.  We went to 3 baseball games, and Anna did well at each of them.  Other than the day game, we left a little bit before the end of the game, so she was happy the entire time.  As it got later, we left early.  That kept the world happy!

Anna did very well last week, except for the sleep department.  We seem to have taken a huge step backwards... some night sshe wakes up every 2 hours.  To say the least it is exhausting.  I am trying new strategies to see if we can help right the wrong... and please... keep your strategies to yourself unless i ask.  It is very exhausting, and quite discouraging at times to hear "how I should do things" to help her sleep better.  Some babies just aren't great sleepers.  Anna is a pure delight all the rest of the tie, this is her flaw.  The Lord is definitely using it to grow me, and show my dependence on Him.  It is by His grace, that I am keeping on.  We take one day at a time.

Anyway, here's the run-down of our little lady.

As discussed sleep is a definite issue... we had one day that she slept for 4 hour stretches... other days it was regularly up every 2 hours (or less some nights).  We are using some other strategies to see if we can get her to sleep longer.

Anna is in 6 month clothes, or 6-9 month clothes, but I put her in some 3-6 month clothes as well.  However, I will be phasing them out soon...  I just haven't yet.  We did discover that size 1 shoes are too small, and so we've started putting her size 2's on her.  Those are still quite large, but they stay on her feet.  She is also still in size 3 diapers, and I think we'll be in them for a while.

Anna is still eating during the day every 2-3 hours.  But, if she is napping, she sometimes goes longer... now if we could only get that to happen at night!  Ha!  I do not know how much she weighs, but hopefully we will have her weighed this week.  I did have a breakthrough with solids... she seems to like to eat food she can grasp, and feed herself.  She ate some banana chunks,  grilled zucchini spears, and some chicken as well.  She still likes her Baby Mum-mums... although she doesn't seem to keen on the banana flavored ones. 

Anyway, I think that's about it.  Our little girl is getting sooo big!  We love her so much!  She is the perfect addition to our family, and we thank the Lord for her!

Thanks for checking in on us!!

33 weeks

Girls are so much fun!!  Finally her hair is getting long enough!!
Auntie Katie gave her a "spout"

We were rockin our pretty dress with cherries on it.

Later that day, Anna and I got locked out of our car... we took pictures while we waited. 

Smiley girl.

On our way to see Auntie Katie in Lynchburg.

Playing on Auntie Katie & Uncle Todder's bed... happy as a clam.

Then we got all tuckered out!  A little nap time.

Dinner with Auntie Katie.  (Look at that baby belly!!)

Well, this past week was super busy!

Anna and I went around Monday looking at joining the YMCA (think Mommy/Daddy & me swim classes!  The gym and childcare is a perk!).  However, as the picture above shows, after we got our tour... we went out to our car to discover we had been locked out.  Boo!  So I did what any sensible wife would do... I called Jeremy, who called AAA.  In a complete surprise... we were only locked out about 20 minutes!  So, yay AA, and thank you!!  As my sister pointed out, too, we were fortunate that Anna was with me, and not locked IN the car.  So, thank you Lord, for your protection.

Monday night, Anna slept horribly... Tuesday morning we discovered that she had a fever.  So, I went into hypermode... since we were supposed to leave Wednesday to see my sister in Virginia.  Well, I've known for some time that Anna has been teething.  But, Tuesday it was occurring hardcore.  She had a fever (not too, too high), she was drooling like a faucet.... but other than that, she was her normal happy self.  So, we made several calls, postponed our trip til thursday, and just "watched her"... in the evening her fever started going down.  So, when she woke on Wednesday I took her temp, and she was completely in the normal range.  So that sent us into a whirlwind.  We decided to leave that afternoon.  (Yikes!!  I thought I had a whole extra day to pack and get last minute stuff together.)

We arrived in Charleston, West Virginia on Wednesday evening... we had a good drive, and just happened to miss the President's motorcade.  (Yay, because the other side of the freeway was completely stopped waiting for his arrival.)  We spent the night, and then drive the rest of the way to Lynchburg, to see Auntie Katie.

We were there Thursday through Sunday (we left in the weeeeeee hours of Sunday morning), and got home Sunday afternoon.   Anna and I had a whole bunch of fun staying at Auntie Katie and Uncle Todder's home.  Thanks for sharing with us, guys!  It was a blast!!  We miss you tons already!!

That was last week... this week will be just as busy if not busier than last week.

Here's our basic stats...

Her sleep is definitely hit or miss.  However, we are working on a "routine reform" as I call it.  I'm trying to get her in a good groove, and be consistent... my hope is that she will sleep better at night if her day is more consistent.  So... we'll see.  Last night she didn't sleep that badly.  So maybe it just was the stinky teeth (which aren't in yet), and not just bad habits. 

Anna is in mostly 6-9 month clothes, but can fit in 3-6 month clothes too.  She is still in size 3 diapers, and I imagine it will be this size for quite a while.  I didn't get her weighed this week, so I don't know how much she weighs but I would venture to say it's 17-17 1/2 pounds. 

This week, Anna started babbling "mamamama"  So, we're going with it!!  Occasionally we get a "dadada." So we're headed into the babbling talking stage!  hehehe  Yay!  I love to hear her little voice.  We are still attempting to do baby sign language... so hopefully we'll see some of that in the future as well.

Anna still isn't crawling, but she definitely gets around.  She rolls all over, or she spins her self around (sitting or lying down) to get to us, or a toy, or just to switch her position.  She is getting closer to crawling, and can do an army type crawl if she wants... but that isn't often.  She regularly gets up on her hands, or her knees, but never both.

This week's first (depicted in her picture above) Auntie Katie gave her a decent "water spout" ponytail!  hehehe... SOOOOO cute!!

Anyway, that's about it... thanks for reading!

32 weeks

Get a load of this!!

Enjoying her veggie cracker covered in green beans!  (She did it, not me)

Just as cute as can be

So, perhaps we have figured out the answers to our technical problems... I do not know.  So hopefully we'll be more punctual with our posts (of course, i will be out of town this weekend, so, not til next week, I guess).

Anyway, our precious girl is 32 weeks old.  She is such a joy.

The sleep department isn't going so well.  In fact, it is down right frustrating.  It seems like we are taking a few steps in the wrong direction.  I do believe that she is working on some teeth... but, regardless, she is waking up more than once or twice a night.  ugh... it's exhausting.  So if you're reading this, and you want to pray for us... we would welcome your prayers for a little reprieve.  I know that the Lord can and will bring us the rest in His time.  In the meantime, I'm just trying to take each day at a time.

This past week, I did have Anna weighed.  She weighed in at a wopping 16 pounds, 8.5 ounces.  She is still in size 3 diapers (which she will be for some time), she's in 3-6 month clothes, but I am transitioning out of them into the 6-9 month clothes.  I realized this week, that I needed to replace the extra clothes in her diaper bag....

Anna still LOVES her jumper.  She is so fun to watch. She loves to giggle, and bounce.  This week, it was particularly interesting to see Anna interact with the dogs.  (We were watching them while my parents were on vacation.)  She LOVED Franklin, it was funny because she would get mad if he didn't pay attention to her.  And I was proud of Franklin for his patience with her even when she would grab big hunks of fur... and he would just relax and wait for her to release her grip.... of course, i was always there close by helping her release quickly.  But one time she was having a grand time with his fuffy tail, and he did great...

Well, I think that's about it... thanks for continuing to check in on us, even if I'm a little late.  We love having people LOVE on our little girl.

A special thanks to some SUPER special friends who watched Anna this week so Jer and I could have a FUN FUN FUN date to the Indians game.  (And they won!)  it is so nice to have friends

31 weeks

Such a pretty girl!

Well, as you can see, our sweet Anna girl is 31 weeks old.  Not only is she 31 weeks old, but this week we celebrated her 7 month birthday.  7 months!  I can hardly believe it!! It's my blog, so I can oooh and aaahhh.  I LOVE, love, love Anna's beautiful blue eyes.  I [not-so-secretly] hope they stay blue.  They're absolutely gorgeous!  I love to capture them in pictures as often as I can!

Anyway, I am still experiencing some technical difficulty that has my IT department stumped.  Hmph!  Who knew that was possible?!  So, the pictures may be minimal until the issues get resolved!  (However most of my readership is on my daily picture list, so you see these pictures already.)

This week was pretty busy!  Monday we had dinner at my parents' house, because they had out of town friends come in and spend the night with them.  Tuesday I spent a really, REALLY hot day at Cedar Point and Anna spent the day with my parents.  Wednesday, I worked and we went out to see Jer's parents (and eat some yummmmmmmy chicken and dumplings!).  Thursday, I worked.  And Friday we hung out with friends.  So... it was pretty busy.

I am glad that it was busy, however, because Anna got to spend some extra time with her Grandma and Grandpa C because they are on vacation (suffering in Bermuda) all this week.  (We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sad we couldn't go.  :-(  Really, I regret not being able to go... anywho...)

So, Anna has been back in a groove this week as far as sleep goes.  Her naps were a little bit more predictable, and night time was pretty much the same.  She slept decently, although not through the night.  But waking once isn't bad... and she mostly slept til 9 every day this week... and twice she slept til 10 or later.  So, really, it wasn't a bad trade off.

Anna has done a lot better this week with eating food.  There were far less tears shed, and much more got in her mouth.  We're making progress, and progress is good.  She still likes the rice rusks, and will still eat every 2-3 hours on average.

Anna is still in a wide range of clothes... still some 3-6, and now some 6-9 month clothes.  Just depends on the outfit.  It seems crazy that she's already in some of the 6-9 month clothes.  But, I like it all the same... it reminds me that she is healthy and growing!  She is also in size 3 diapers.  I look at the size 2 and there is no way that is going on her butt any more!  haha

Anna's new thing this week is clapping... a lot!  And she definitely has the hang of sitting up now.  She sit up for 15-20 minutes at a time before toppling over.  When Anna does topple over, it's usually because she wanted to, and now she topples over to her tummy... ooooooh boy she's getting so close to crawling.  She still gets on her hands, or her knees but never both.  One usually sprawls out!  But, I think it will be soon.

She giggles a lot as well.  This week my mom and dad gave her some news paper.  She had such a fun time crumpling it up and giggling at it!  Grandparents are fun!

30 weeks old!!

Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A.  If you dress up like a cow, you get free food!!  She was an incredibly cute calf!!  

Unfortunately this week I am experiencing technical difficulties.  If I quit annoying our IT department about how annoyed I am that my computer isn't working properly, it may get fixed.  With that said, I have other pictures, but only this one will be on this post (at least for right now).  And yes, yes, yes, I know I'm late at posting this.  We were out of town, and extremely busy.

Anyway, Anna is now 30 weeks old.  In fact the day that I'm writing this is her 7 month birthday. Wow! 7 months!!  It's been 7 months since I've had an amazing night's sleep.  Ha!!

Here's her stats....

I did not have her weighed this week, but I'm sure she's at least 16 pounds, maybe even closer to 17.  She's still in 3-6 month clothes, but also wears 6-9 month clothes.  She is in size 3 diapers.  Even though it's been only a few weeks that she's been in size 3, when I find a size 2 and put it on her, it seems really really silly.  (Not to mention, I'm always scared that there is going to be a diaper malfunction.)

I had some breakthrough this week with eating food.  She doesn't hate sweet potatoes (and as far as yesterday and today she even opened her mouth and ate some!!).  We are making progress.  Slowly but surely.  She still definitely likes to eat every 2-3 hours... and prefers it not be solids. 

Sleep these days is hit-or-miss.  Occasionally she will sleep through the night, but those are few and far between.  Anna definitely seems to wake up each night between 3-5.  Today, however, she slept in til 10:30.  That was after she got up to eat about 4ish.  Either way, it was nice to not move out of bed until 10:30.  I think this weekend we pooped her out!!

Her new trick for the week is sitting up WELL on her own, AND she claps.  Sometimes she even claps when we say "clap, clap, clap" or "yay!"  It's really cute.  I spend many hours a day clapping, because it makes her smile!

Anyway, that's about it.  If my computer gets working better, I will post other pictures!

Thanks for checking in on us.