Awkward Moments

Bennett Lee Carlson

2011-02-20T15:23:00.000-08:00

Our little Bennett was born on January 3rd at 6:35pm. He weighed 8lbs 11oz and was 21 1/4 in long. He is our BIG boy! We have enjoyed him sooo much! He is a very good baby. Only cries when he is hungry or doesn't want his diaper changed. He is a good sleeper, good eater, and good snuggler. He is very attached to his mommy, and adores his black and white cat we are calling "Felix". Annie loves him, and is such a great big sister. She never has been jealous of him and has never acted out against him. However, we can tell that she would like the same amount of attention he gets. But she is always the first to bring him his pacifier, or hand us a diaper, put Felix next to him, or inform me that he is ready to "Breastfeed". Lol. She is the sweetest little thing to him. It makes me really happy. Bennett loves his swing, thank goodness, cuz Annie hated it! He likes the sound machine that Annie doesn't need anymore and enjoys stroller walks and car rides, especially when mommy has the music on. He has started to smile, but I must admit, he only seems to be smiling at me! Too bad for everyone else! And in case you didn't notice, he looks just like my dad/me (because I look like my dad). But when you put both of them together, they could be siblings! (With a huge age gap..)I always said I wanted all our children to look like Justin, just like Annie does, but I have to say...I do enjoy having one that looks like me. He is now 7 weeks old (as of tomorrow) and weighs 12lbs 60z (as of last Thursday). We are so thankful for him and can't wait to see all the changes in his personality and physical appearance that are yet to come. Who knows, he might end up looking like Justin after all!

Here is Bennett working hard to hold his heavy head up. He is so strong!

Pregnancy and Birth

2011-02-17T12:27:00.000-08:00

This pictures are a little out of order. It kinda goes from pregnancy, to after delivery, to during deliver, to before delivery. LOL

So to start off this wonderful post about my pregnancy and birthing experience, I just wanna say that this is entirely for journal purposes. We found out we were pregnant in May of 2010. We were very excited! Everything was going well until our 5 month check up. We invited many friends and family members to see what we would be having, boy or girl. To EVERY ONES excitement, the ultrasound tech announced that the little baby indeed had "BIG" boy parts. Her words...not mine. We were all happy, I was even tearing up a little, and then we noticed her going over the same area over and over again. Then she said she saw something that worried her and that she wanted the doctor to come in a look at it. I sent everyone out of the room, preparing myself for the worst. The doctor came in and said that there was something different with the heart and that he wanted a specialist to take a look at it. That was all we were told. So I left, and of course...like every worried person I know.....I internet diagnosed from what he had told us. Everything came up Down syndrome. Needless to say, I cried my eyes out for two whole days until our appointment in L.A. two days later. My mother, and mother-in-law came with Justin and I to the appointment. I don't think I have ever prayed as much as I did those few days. We got to the doctor and told him we were really worried. We told him what we had read on the internet and he looked at us like we were crazy. Apparently my doctor hadn't told us why we were really there. Maybe to keep us from worrying if it was really nothing. But obviously that didn't happen. The L.A. doctor was instructed to check the brain, not the heart. They were looking for abnormalities that are associated with Trisomy 24? or was is Trisomy 23? Apparently fetuses that have this disorder are not able to open or close their hands, and that shows up on a ultrasound. They would also be born with severe mental disabilities. He check the brain and the hands and said everything looked great to him. Then I said, "what about Down syndrome?" He then said we would have a higher chance of running into traffic on the way home than our little boy having Downs. I was relieved. But I will admit, I wasn't fully convinced. Needless to say, I worried and prayed about that multiple times a day for the remainder of my pregnancy. I was convinced the doctor wasn't completely correct. Anyways. After that fiasco, I developed spider and varicose veins in my right leg. I assumed it was from being on my feet for most of the day at work. So I was taken off work at about 7 months. But the veins got worse and covered my entire leg. I read that some people get them and that they should go away after delivery. I hoped! January 3rd came around, 10 days till my actual due date. At 6:35a.m. I noticed my bed and undies (I know...TMI) were wet. So I changed them and laid back down. About a half hour later I started feeling pains in my stomach. I wasn't really sure what was going on because with Annie I was induced, so I didn't get to experience going into labor on my own. The pains came fast! Every 5 minutes and they got worse and worse. At around 8 a.m. I lost my mucous plug. Great..... I tried to sleep until around 10. Then I decided to call my doctor. They informed me to head to the hospital. Well, I looked horrible...so I had to take a shower and get ready! I mean there was going to be pictures taken! So noon rolls around and I am finishing up packing and getting things in order. I wasn't prepared at all! The doctor called me twice asking me why I wasn't at the hospital yet. LOL. Oh well! We arrived at 12:45p.m. and the doctor said I was at 5-6 and that my bag of water was leaking fluid. I couldn't believe it! At my appointment the week prior I wasn't dilated at all! I requested a epidural. And then was informed that I need to have an enema. Gross! I told the nurse I felt bad for her. She laughed. I try to keep my nurses laughing....it makes it easier for everyone! So after that nasty experience, my contractions started coming every 2-3 minutes and they were painful! My epidural came at around 3:30p.m. and the Anesthesiologist was a nightmare! He sneezed on my back while he was sticking the needle in, and then blew his nose without washing his hands. I didn't know all this was happening because I was in so much pain. My mother informed me of it later.... um why didn't she say anything while it was happening! Thanks mom! 30 minutes later, the epidural had only numbed my left leg. I was still feeling everything else....and I was in horrible pain! He came back in to top it off thinking that would help...it didn't. 6:30p.m. came and I was telling my mother that I just wanted to die, That was how I felt! My darling husband recorded my pain, thanks a lot Justin! My Doctor came in and said it was time to push. I didn't want to push cuz it hurt so bad! So I pushed once and realized that when I pushed, the pain went away! So I pushed again, and then again. They barely got everything set up and out came the baby! In three pushes! at 6:35p.pm. All my pain was then gone......However...Bennett started having trouble breathing. His little chest was going in and out really bad. They called the NICU nurses and they came running in. I got to hold him for a minute and then he was rushed to the NICU. I knew it wasn't too serious, but I was still worried. After that....the nausea hit. Great! I kept throwing up....it totally sucked. They wheeled me in to see Bennett on my way the to family recovery unit. He was the biggest baby in the place! 8lbs 110z and 21 1/4in long! He was so cute, but it was sad seeing all the things attached to his little body. And it didn't help that I was throwing up while the nurses were trying to tell me about him! After that we went to our room and they gave me a shot to take away the nausea. It worked! Everything was going good, but the next evening I noticed two large bumps on my right leg. I told the nurse and she checked them and said they were swollen lymph nodes and that I didn't need to worry. So I didn't. The next day my Doctor was getting ready to release us (even though Bennet had to stay a few more days) when I asked him to take a look at my leg. Because apparently the nurse never informed him of it! He felt them and seconds later told me I was staying here and that they were blood clots. All of a sudden I had nurses coming in to look at them and feel them because apparently it isnt a very common thing. So none of them had ever seen it. I was then rused to get an ultrasound and then when I got back, I was given a shot in my stomach (Blood thinner) and some asprin. When I realized how serious the situtatuion was, I broke down in tears. I cried for a couple days after that. I was told that I would have to give myself these shots everyday for three months. Wonderful. I was put on bed rest and wasnt able to see Bennett in the NICU as often. We were informed that Justin would need to get "fixed" because it was life threatening for me if I was to get pregnant again. I was really sad about that. I mean, what if I wanted more children? Anyways..... Saturday rolled around and I was finally able to be released, Bennett as well. I still had to be on bed rest at home. So it was very difficult. Now 6 weeks later...Our family has all been sick a number of times, Bennett was admitted to the hospital for 2 days for RSV all while having these wonderful clots. I went to see a specialist who took 15 tubes of blood from me...that sucked.... I got the results back on Monday and he said everything was normal. I wasn't predisposed to having blood clots. That it was just because of how Bennett was laying on my right side that caused the veins to be pinched which in turn caused the clots. He also said I didn't have to take the blood thinnning shots or Tylenol anymore. He then said that if I was to get pregnant again, it would be ok! Not that I am wanting anymore children any time soon. But it was nice to know that I had the option. We are so blessed, and we thank God everyday for watching over our family. We also want to thanks everyone who prayed for us, fed us, and took care of us these past 6 weeks! Thank you! Hopefully things will get back to normal now. My next post will be about Bennett, but right now I have to make lunch for Annie and I before he wakes up! LOL. The life of a mother of two!

Here we go again.....

2011-02-10T14:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, it has been a long time..I know. But we are back! As most know, we had a little boy on January 3rd. And now that I am getting more free time during the day, and not having to nurse 24/7 or be flat 24/7, I can post about our little growing family! So this post is just a heads up for what is to come. The next post will be about the pregnancy and birth. And then I will go from there! So keep checking back for that! It will be up as soon as I have the time again!

THREE NEW POSTS BELOW!

2010-01-30T15:02:00.001-08:00

Some more photos from my camera

2010-01-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

Annie's new kitchen set she got for Christmas! She has been cooking up a storm!

We had some friends over last weekend for some Shakey Shakey times!

Annie and Lucy had a play date and watched Tinkerbell

And my window I made! I made one for my mother as well, and I have one more window to do! They are so fun, and really pretty when the light shines through them.

ANOTHER NEW POST BELOW!

Annie's Potty Trained

2010-01-30T14:39:00.001-08:00

So our little one is now potty trained! Minus the fact that we still have a brand new 24 count bag of diapers, that we are trying to use up, so we put them on her at night because she gets a sippy cup of milk before she goes to bed still. We have been slowly giving her less and less each night, and her diapers have been lighter and lighter each morning. This morning her diaper was practically empty! Once she is broken of the night time sippy cups, then the diapers will go. She takes 2 hour naps everyday in her undies and doesn't go pee, so I am sure the night time should be easy for her. But at least she is daytime potty trained! It is so wonderful! We went shopping yesterday from 5 to 10 and she asked to go potty once while we were at a restaurant. I'm so proud!

Everyone has been rooting her on, and showing her how its done as well! lol

But she ended up training herself, took 2 days!

oh, and she gets otter pops when she goes

She is so proud of herself! She got new Tinkerbell undies from her Gammie last night, and a baby doll for being a big girl. Now she has a collection of Gabba, Princess, and Tinkerbell undies.lol

ANOTHER NEW POST BELOW!!

House Update!

2010-01-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

So I took these pictures in November, but our computer had a virus and I lost my Photoshop Software. And because of that, I was unable to upload the pictures to blogger because they were to big! But I got the software again and now the pictures can be posted!

I took the pictures so people could see the progress we made from what the house looked like when we bought it and what it looks like now! I have older posts that show more of the house before, these pictures will mostly be what it looks like now.

Also, keep in mind......these pictures were taken when I had all my Christmas decorations up.....lol

This is our family picture wall in our office

The breakfast nook:

My plate wall

The Kitchen

Our cabinets on the left....and what they are gonna look like after Justin is done with them, on the right

The ugly tile floor, that will be coming up as soon as possible!

The downstairs bathroom

The second patio

Hallway

Again..the ugly weird floor

Annie's room

It still needs decorations on the walls, wainscoting painted white, and crown molding...... and she got a new kitchen set for Christmas that isn't pictured

Annie's Birthday fish named Brobee

Outside patio #1 and backyard

Dinning Room

Hole we cut out of the wall to open the two rooms up

Entryway

Before

After

Before

After

Family Room

My uncle made us a awesome mantle for the fireplace....it isnt pictured

The window I made for the front room

Sorry these are the only pictures I have of our room

This is the nursery/sitting area in the master bedroom

Master bath

New floor, this is before they had to re grout it for putting the wrong color grout in!

Justin painted our garage floor and walls

Doggy door we put in the wall

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!

2010-01-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Picking up this little girl from the vet in an hour......$250 later... and missing a few teeth....poor baby

New Years Eve

2010-01-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

Hello there! It's me again!

I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything, but things have been really busy over here with the house and all........and let's face it.....I haven't felt like blogging!

But we did just celebrate New Years, so I can show you those fun happenings!

We just did a small little get together. Mainly because none of us had anything to do! It was my parents, Katy and Tyler, my mother-in-law, and my G-ma. We ate some yummy dinner and pigged out on snacks the whole night! And later on, my bother and Chris showed up with two of their friends.

Lucy and Annie played with Annie's new kitchen set she got for Christmas. And then the rest of the night they fought over all the toys that Annie doesn't have doubles of. Every once in a while you would hear a loud scream from Lucy and a cry from Annie and you would find them both pulling on a toy and giving you the "You better tell her to let go and back off" look. Priceless.....

We had an aggravation competition. My mom and dad made Justin and I and Jared and Chris boards! So we had four people to a board and then the first two winners went and played the championship round! I was doing good in the beginning, I even made it to the champions table.....but everything quickly went down hill from there! I lost at EVERYTHING the rest of the night! Even "Crinkle!"

Because I sucked at the games, I was given the picture taking task. Now lets be honest.....If you end up being the one who takes the pictures at the party, you never get to be in any............

I took care of that stupid rule! I am in pretty much every one! Ha! Enjoy!

Justin was losing, so i felt the need to annoy him more by having a small photo op!

So Funny!

Don't give a bored person a camera......

Smart Cookie!

2009-10-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

You Are My Sunshine

2009-10-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

Dancing Queen

2009-09-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

What to say......

2009-08-17T23:46:00.000-07:00

I know I know, I haven't posted anything in a long time. But I swear I have had no time to sit down and type something up, let alone upload pictures! But after reading other mom's blogs, I feel a little guilty!

Most of you know everything anyways, cuz I am sure you are keeping up with our life through my mom's blog. But since that is still not enough for some of you pushy blog readers, I will attempt to do an update.

Justin, Annie and I bought a new house and were finally given the keys about 3 weeks ago. We moved out of our rental home on July 1st and have been living with our parents ever since....yikes! Just kidding mom! We are very thankful to have a place to stay with yummy dinners and full time babysitters!

Our house needed a few renovations, and since Justin and I are both picky, we decided to do a little more work on the house than what really was necessary to move in. But we wanted our home to be almost perfect before we started living there.

So three weeks have gone bye, and we have: scraped, sanded, painted, torn down, built up, removed, given away, thrown out and redone almost everything in the house! Yet there are still MANY things we still want to do to it. But it is a work in progress. We should finally be able to live there in a few days! Woohoo!

From the beginning......

Got the keys!

Our first guest

Lots of helpers

Even Annie wanted to help

Justin will be making our old cabinets look like these! He did them for a beach house recently!

Tyler came over and had some friends take up our fruit trees and replant them at The Nichols' house

We picked out new appliances!

Annie wanted a green room!

Before

After

Before

My after picture got lost.. all of our plants and bushes were dug up and the tree was trimmed!

I put a hole in a wall!

And Justin framed it out and fixed it!

I took this railing out

And replaced it with this Pier 1 hutch, thanks Mom!

Before

After, with primer

Before

After, again with primer only....our wall color is French Vanilla, but that isn't shown here

New tile floor, wrong grout color.....

New couches

Blinds, paint, and a new fan

My window I made!

Break time at Akiras!

Our blue room, very peaceful

Before

After

Our new table

Tyler and Katy come to help move us in

Annie sneaking doughnuts.......naughty girl

Kurston and Kevin help build furniture for Annies room. And Auntie La La helped A LOT allllllll day long! Thanks guys! ( Laura, I had a picture of you in here.. and I have no idea where it went! And if I upload it again, my pictures will be all spaced wrong and I will have to spend another hour spacing them! But just know you were apprecitated!)

Our bedroom furniture carefully goes up the stairs....

Woohoo! We got it up there without any problems!

So thats it so far. We have all of our stuff in the house, we are just waiting on a new cieling fan to be installed in our bedroom. And then it is move in time! Stay tuned!

Mommy and Me

2009-06-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

My friend Erica and I are starting a new Mommy and Me group! If you are interested let me know! We will start off by doing activities a few times a week. Also, we will plan daddy and me days, Parents night out days, and family night out days. Potlucks, parties, Swimming, trips! Fun for everyone and a chance to make life long friends for yourself, family, and children! Anyone can join!

Just for fun

2009-06-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

I straightened Annie's hair just to see how long it actually is........so cute....my mother didn't like it though..

Potty Training in Process!

2009-06-01T18:02:00.000-07:00

Wish us luck!

Family Fun

2009-05-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

Body Builder

2009-05-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

Just Funny.....

2009-04-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

I walked into our office to use the computer and to my surprise......I found one of Annie's babies strategically placed in front of the window looking out. I started laughing....the reason I started laughing........Annie loves to sit and look out that window, and I guess she thought her baby would love it too. It was just funny that she placed her up there so she could look out.....too funny!

Water Fun!

2009-04-18T17:31:00.000-07:00

It was hot enough today to play in the water! So Annie got on her first bathing suit of the summer and ran around. Surprisingly the bathing suit was too small. It is a 2T and I figured it would be too big because she still wheres 12-18month clothes (She is a little wee one) But, it was too small! And as you can see, she still has those thighs she had when she was a baby! Haha

Here she is after she got all cleaned up. She has learned how to say "Cheeeeeeese."

And just for fun.....here are some pictures from her first pool day last summer! They grow up so fast!

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

So let me give you a run down of how our holidays go every year. Get up early, rush through our own family stuff, get everything together, head over to Justin's family, hang out for a few hours, get everything together, head over to my family's house, hang out, play games, get home around 11, get Annie ready for bed, get ourselves ready for bed, go to bed...around 1. The end! Haha, very true, but also very fun! I love holidays!

So for Easter this year we got up early and went to church with Justin's side of the family. Then after church we went over to his grandma's house for hot dogs and egg hunting with little Annie. She loved walking around and collecting the eggs. Every time she would find one she would say "oooooooo egg!" Here she is with her little collection of plastic eggs that were filled with Gerber Puffs thanks to her Ya Ya!

Here she is with one of her four babies. She adores little babies, real ones and dolls. She is so delicate with them and she will rest them on her chest and pat there backs and she "shhhh" when she is trying to put them to sleep. She feeds them food and gives them there bottle. But her favorite thing to do is push them around in her stroller. My friend Katy keeps saying that she must be ready for a little sister or brother, and I keep saying.....no! Haha

Then after The Carlson Easter fun, we went over to my parent's house to have a little more fun! All my cousins....all of us in our twenties......have a Easter hunt every year. We love it! Especially me! I win every year! But besides all that.......there were 67 eggs hidden and 10 of us cousins to find them! Woohoo! After that we ate and played games!

In this picture I am trying to make my arm look skinnier! Haha!!The egg hunt begins!

My brother races over to find some more eggs!

Justin, Stephanie and I were given a hint to were we could find more eggs!

As you can see I am not looking for any in the Ivy like the others are...because I already found them all seconds earlier! Suckers!!Annie's new stroller and high heals!

Here is a video of Annie and her new high heals!

I like to do "now and then" photos whenever I can! The first and third pictures are from Easter 2008, and the second and fourth pictures are from this year! My how things have changed!

Egg Fun

2009-04-10T21:19:00.000-07:00

Katy, Erica and I....along with.......3 year old Lucy, 18 month old Annie, 7 month old Wade, and 3 month old Carter dyed and decorated Easter eggs today! Lucky little Katy had both her kids take a nap so she could enjoy blissful sponge painting egg time. Wade took a short little nap with his momma, Erica. And Annie......stayed up the whole time! She loves social settings, and didn't want to sleep. But it didn't bother me any because she just played with Wade the whole time. Anyways, we ate pizza and decorated 36 eggs in all. It was a lot of fun!

Six of Erica's eggs

All twelve of mine...okay okay..Thirteen.....I accidentally decorated one of Erica's! Haha That one is not in the picture!

Katy's eggs! And Lucy got to decorate the one on the bottom left corner.Katy, Carter and I

It's Been A While......

2009-04-07T19:32:00.000-07:00

I know, I know.....it has been a LONG time. But in my defense, I have been reallly busy around here. But I so happen to have a week off, so I am able to fit a blog post in. Keep in mind, that most of these things have happened weeks ago.

Lets see.....Annie and I went to the beach to visit Justin while he was working. We got to stay in a really nice beach house. It was GREAT! If you know me, you know how much I love the beach! The weather was actually warmer than back home. We got to take Annie down on the beach for the first time. She has been to the beach a few times before, but has never been "on" the beach. She loved it! Well, except for the occasional fall. Annie hates getting her hands dirty. She doesn't like to touch grass, the sidewalk, and now...sand at the beach. She played tag with the waves, and the waves won. We went to the grocery store and she rode in the little car carts for the first time. She enjoyed that. She also got to do a little shopping of her own with her very own shopping cart. It was a great trip!

She made friends with everyone and every dog on the beach!

The view from the beach house we were at!

Annie has a toy turtle with wheels on it, she figured out she could sit on it and scoot around the house! She thought it was hilarious!

When we got home, Annie got into the flour I put into the trash can...opps.....that was a bad idea!

She is now sleeping in her "Big Girl" bed. Since she loved climbing out so much, I just decided to take the side off and put up a side rail so she wouldn't roll out. She loves the freedom. But, she also knows when it is time to go to bed. She never plays, or gets in and out, she just crawls in and stays in until her wake up time of 10am! So great!

We bought her a beauty set. She is always playing with my make-up and hair brushes. So we figured she would enjoy it. And she does!

The Nichols family and our family go to the park at least once a week. And then go to one of our houses to have tacos! We feed the ducks by my house, Annie doesn't like giving any food up!

Lucy and Annie hold hands while being pushed on our walks.

Now in this video, Annie falls into the water. I freak out because she was sick with a cold and I didn't want her to get sicker........so when she fell I told....or yelled........at Justin, who was standing by her, to pick her up but he didn't want to get his shoes wet...what a man huh?! haha Then I didn't realize I was still recording throughout the traumatic experience.........I'm over protective!

Annie Wants Out!!!!

2009-03-07T22:14:00.001-08:00

Our little 18 month old has out grown her crib! She learned how to climb out of her crib on Friday. Anyone who has seen Annie knows she is quite small. Smaller that most her age, she takes after Justin's side of the family. Not mine, I tell you I was a porker when I was little! Not that I am not one now......haha. However, my mother has told me that my brother and I were always shorter than all the other kids...and look at us now! He is 6'2 and I'm 5'11. There was even a time when I was shorter than my friend Katy....and that's hard to believe......she is 5'4!! But all the girls in Justin's family are petite...tall.....but petite. But anyways...... She started climbing out and I got scared because she could hurt herself being so small and all. So I took the front of her crib off. We bought her the crib that grows with her. It starts as a crib, then a toddler bed, then a full size twin bed with head board and foot board.

I took off the front and figured she would have to start learning how to go to bed and stay in bed. We tried it that night and she actually crawled right into her bed and fell asleep. But then after 20 minutes, she fell out of the bed and onto the floor. After that she wanted nothing to do with the bed. So she chose to sleep by the door in her room on the floor! Now I know you are thinking "what kind of mother would let her child sleep on the floor?" "You never knows whats crawling around." But please calm down....once she fell asleep, I picked her up and put her back in her bed. Three hours later, she fell out again and crawled her way to another space on the floor and fell asleep. So I waited, and then put her back into her bed. She managed to not fall out again and sleep until her usual time 10:30am.

So I figured that she was getting the hang of it, and quite surprised cuz she is so young, at least to us. But my Grandmother came up with the idea of turning the crib around so that the front side would now be the wall. The back side of the crib is higher than the front, so now she is unable to climb out because she doesn't have the front to pull up on. And being so small, she cant reach the back side yet! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I outsmarted her!

Now she sleeps just fine in her backwards crib! But there is nothing I can do about the computer table, out bar height kitchen table, her rocking chair, and whatever else she thinks would be fun to climb! She is always moving and always finding new stuff to explore. In a way I kinda like it, to me it means she is using all her muscles, getting exercise and using her imagination. She is just growing up so fast!

Annie and Carter Nichols

2009-02-24T20:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we went to The Nichols house for some dinner and pedicures! Annie asked to hold baby Carter for the first time. She held him so gently and gave him lots of hugs. Every time he would cry she would get all concerned. She is gonna be a good big sister one day! Here she is in the middle of one of her many hugs.
And Katy made some delicious soap cookies.....yummy.....

No Vacuum Please....

2009-02-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

I See The Beach And The Beach Sees Me

2009-02-24T19:26:00.000-08:00

We went to the beach this past weekend with Justin's family.

Annie slept in the bed with me for the first time ever!

She ate nothing but snacks all weekend long.

Justin had a lot of ice cream.

Annie saw a lot of birds.

I got another glass ball for my collection.

Annie got some really cool Monarch butterflies that hang from the ceiling.

I found a pubic hair in the hotel shower.

Annie's hair curled up due to the beach weather.

I loved that Annie's hair curled up.

Justin damaged every piece of furniture in the room trying to open my old fashion coke bottle, just to find a bottle opener attached to the bathroom counter......after we had already gotten the top off.

We went to the pet store where Justin and I bought Tater-tot almost 4 years ago.

We drove home and talked about how nice it was to have only had one child on this trip.

V-Day Fun

2009-02-16T18:15:00.000-08:00

On Saturday Annie and I helped Justin paint the back wall of the house.Okay...I didn't really help, I took pictures.......and Annie played in the dirt. But we spent the time with him so he wouldn't be alone.

Later that night Justin sent me to get an hour and a half massage while he planned a romantic V-Day dinner at home for us. How sweet my snuggle bum is.

Just another day with my two favorite people. Playing games.......learning new tricks....saying new words......learning the do's and don'ts of parenting......enjoying each others company.

There is nothing better than spending a sunny Saturday with my curious, excitable, snuggling, happy little girl and my romantic, sneaky, secret keeping husband.......

The best!

Smarty Pants

2009-02-06T11:39:00.000-08:00

Just a cute little video of Annie. We think she is pretty smart.....but then again, we are her parents! Enjoy!

Potty Training Business

2009-01-13T10:37:00.001-08:00

I know most people would say our little Annie was too young to even comprehend potty training. But....you would be surprised! I started showing her the potty when she was 10 months I think, and she was doing rather well for her age, but then I had to go back to work and I wasn't able to spend the time training her. So it all came to a hault. But recently, Annie has been letting us know when she goes potty in her diaper and has even gotten her changing pad, diapers, and wipes out, letting us know she needs to be changed. So on Saturday I started the training up again. I put her on it in the morning for the first time in 7 months, and........potty! Then later that day I put her on again.....and.....poopie! I was shocked! And ever since then she has gone whenever we put her on it. I went over to my friend Katy's house last night to see their new baby boy and Tyler, Katy's husband, told my husband to come over too. So he came with Annie and the potty. I wasn't sure if she would go at someone elses house. But she did! All three times I put her on! I don't know how long it will take to get her completely trained, but she is making progress! Hey, if she knows what she is doing and doesn't mind doing it, then why not! I will put a count of her potty and poopies on the side column for all who want to see her progress!

Larry The Lizard

2009-01-09T20:14:00.000-08:00

We had a little friend who came to visit the other day. As Justin was making Annie's bedtime bottle, he looked up and saw a lizard starring back at him. We have lizards EVERYWHERE in our backyard and they are usually very skittish. But, this little guy was about to go to lizard heaven. We could tell because he wasnt moving much and his legs were all messed up. He just sat there and starred at us. Justin was even able to pick him up. And to our amazement, Annie wasn't scared of him. Justin even asked her to give Larry a kiss, and she did. Keep in mind that was Justin who asked her to do that.....not me! Anyways, enjoy!

Here are a few fun pictures of our little girl. This is where she sits when she is waiting for her bedtime bottle.

Snowboarding 101

2009-01-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

Today we went snowboarding with Kurston, Kevin and Stephanie! It was soooo much fun! I went for the first time 4 years ago when Justin and I just started dating. I guess I thought I would be better because I had done it before...but I wasn't! It took me a few trips down the hill with Justin holding onto me to figure it out again. I was thinking Stephanie would be bad because this was her first time, but I was wrong about that also! She zoomed past me on her first try standing up! Now, I will say she was good and getting up and balancing her self to go down the hill, but she SUCKED at stopping. I had told her before we got there that her fanny would be hurting by noon because she would fall on it a lot. But instead, her knees hurt. Her knees hurt because she didn't know how to fall on her butt, she only fell on her knees! And by noon, she was in pain! So we took a break and had some yummy lunch. Twenty minutes later, we were back at it! Kurston had also told me that she wasn't that good, so I assumed we could fall down the hill as a trio, but she managed to do just fine! After an hour of clinging onto Justin, I was able to go down by myself. And.....I quit falling! It was great! However.......this is when the bad part of the day comes in.....I hated the lift! The lift that takes you to the top of the hill! Why can't they just have an escalator! I can barely get on the lift and getting off is pretty much impossible for me. I fell every time! Even with the workers making it go really slow for me! I suck! So the reason it was bad was because I would sit there and dwell on having to get on and of all day. I loved going down the hill, but once I got to the bottom...I just sat there for a few minutes and contemplated weather or not I wanted to be air lifted to the top or just snowboard off the edge into the woods and disappear so that I wouldn't have to get on the lift....... Haha! That's how scary the lift is to me! And Kurston feels the same way! She hates it too! But besides all that, we had a great time! My tailbone hurts and I am really sore! Can't wait till next year!

Christmas Begins At 7:00 A.M.

2008-12-28T22:02:00.000-08:00

So Our Christmas started at 7 AM.....Well.....mine did at least. Justin's started at 9:03 and Annie's started at 10:13. But who is keeping track? Anyways. We had Justin's parents and sister over for Christmas morning presents and cinnamon rolls. Yummmmmmy! That was the start of one unhealthy eating day for me....but thats beside the point....Justin and I opened presents and enjoyed the silence, while everyone else waited patiently for Annie to awake......including a few "I am just gonna check on her" wake up attempts by Justin's dad. She finally woke up, my child likes to sleep in...thank goodness! She opened up her gifts which included clothes, toys, and books from her auntie Katie and a VERY cute miniature Graco baby doll set from her Grandpa and Grandma Carlson. Once the set was taken out of the box and assembled, by yours truly, Annie tried to get into each thing. She tried to sit in the stroller, and managed to actually get into it, and after that she climbed into the bassinet. I guess she figured they looked just like hers, so why not! It was cute! I only have pictures of her in the bassinet, Auntie Katie will have to send me the others! She also got little bath tablets that change the bath water different colors. It is really cool! These pictures show the water as blue, but it was actually purple!

Annie thought it was cool that the water was different....I didn't think she would even notice...but as you can see, she was pointing at it and saying "Dat". Which means "That?"

Annie got two baby dolls this year, however, she only likes to push Bella around in the stroller. All day long......back and fourth!

I taught her how to say Cheese!
Then at about 12:00, we headed over to my parents house for presents! Annie got this four wheeler and a bouncy/ball house! She loves the house...not too sure about the four wheeler. She also got lots of books and toys!

After that, we went to Justin's Grandmother's house at 3:00. Again, Katie will have to send me those pictures...I always forget my camera! There, she got tons of stuff from her Ya-Ya and a camo bear and bathtub boat from her Great Uncle Steve! Then we went over to my Grandmother's house at around 6:30. There, we were told of a new arrival coming in August! Heather and Eli are expecting! Woohoo! It's about time we get another baby for Annie to play with! We got home around 12!!! That's usually how every holiday goes around here!

Then, the next evening, we had my Dad's side of the family over for X-mas goodies and for the little ones to get a chance to play together! This side of the family actually has other kids for Annie to play with! My cousin Brianna has a son Isaiah, and Beth and her Hubby have two boys, Athan and Cash!

This is my cousin Beth's baby, Cash. He is 6 weeks older than Annie.

Here Annie is showing everyone how to do a somersault!

Marcus and Athan

Isaiah

Every time we get together we take a picture of Beth and I, and our two kiddies. This one was taken two weeks after Annie was born.

This was taken in June, and I believe Annie was 9 months and Cash 10.

And this was taken on Friday. They grow up so fast! And apparently Cash likes the way stripes make him look! Haha

This first video is of Annie and her dolls. She likes to put them to bed and sing "Rock-a-bye Baby" to them. Although, all she says is "Baby" and rocks back and fourth!

And this video is of Annie pushing Bella around in her stroller.

Tooth Count....1,2,3,4......5!!!!

2008-12-23T14:49:00.000-08:00

We finally got Number 5!!! He has been peeking out for a while....and has finally come out into the world, or mouth, of Annie! Woohoo! The sad thing is.....now she is lopsided. She has two on top and two on bottom, both in the middle. And the newest addition is on the left side, on the top......Not balanced at all....drives me crazy! But hey, at least she got another one! Apparently my brother and I both took forever to get teeth. And by forever I mean, I just got a baby tooth removed a year or so ago, and there was no permanent tooth under it. And my wisdom teeth never came up because my back molars never came out, so when it came time to get my wisdom teeth pulled....they took my molars instead....leaving the wisdom teeth to now act as my molars. That was in 2005.....and they are just now starting to come through! Crazy..I know! But the good side, I have NEVER had a cavity...knock on wood!

It Snowed!

2008-12-21T22:23:00.000-08:00

Okay okay.....it didn't really snow. Justin and I went on our annual mountain road trip to the snow on Saturday! My parents watched Annie so that she wouldn't have to sit in the car for that long, even though she does really good in cars and usually always falls asleep. But this is a trip that Justin and I usually do by ourselves. Anyways, we had a lot of fun and I spotted a few "Monster Bucks" as Justin would call them. While I was spotting....Justin filled the truck bed with snow! That is also a tradition! We brought it all the way home and Justin made a snowman in the front yard with some old potatoes and olives! Haha.Lots of people stopped and took pictures....I guess it would be pretty weird to see a snowman in a front yard when the weather is nice a sunny and no one else has any snow in there yards....and the fact that it NEVER snows here....But anyways....we went outside and played in it and had snowball fights. I must say....snowballs hurt! I'm not a fan of that game! Annie didn't like touching the snow with her shoes and every time we tried to get her to stand in it she would lift her legs up so that we wouldn't put her down! It was pretty funny! Anyways...enjoy!

Annie's First Hair Cut!

2008-12-19T20:15:00.000-08:00

Annie had her first hair cut Yesterday. My friend Kurston cut it at her salon. Now I know her hair isn't that long, but it was growing really weird and I couldn't take it any longer. It looked like she had a mullet. She has about 3 cow licks and she has less hair right above the back of her head then everywhere else. Its pretty funny looking. And everyday it is going in a new direction. She can thank her Daddy for that. Not me, I have the straightest, finest hair EVER! Not one cow lick on my head! Justin has a bunch! Anyways... I wasn't quite sure how she was going to do, you know, having to sit still and all. But she did very good. Kurston gave her a squirt bottle and she played with it the entire 5 minutes we were there. We just had a little taken off the back and her bangs trimmed. Or should I say her "One" long bang trimmed.

Justin's family went to Hawaii last week and brought back a little hula outfit for Annie. We even got her to dance in it!

Here is our family X-Mas present this year! With help from Justin's parents, we were able to get a new T.V. Thank goodness! Our old one was a huge box that was starting to go out! And yes we have little stockings this year, but only because Annie can reach the normal size ones and I didn't want her pulling on them and having a stocking holder falling on her little head!

And this beauty if from my parents for X-Mas! It is a high "Counter Top" table. It matches our coffee table too. We love it! As you all know.....we had converted the dinning room into Annie's play room months and months ago. Before she was even crawling! But now she pretty much has the run of the house so I took the gates down, picked up the carpets and foam letters, and moved her toys into her room! Now we finally have a table to eat dinner at! Oh, I sold our old table at a garage sell about a month before I made the dinning room into Annie's room! Hahaha! So it has been a LONG time!

A Friend Dance For You!

2008-12-06T17:34:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Holiday Lights!

2008-12-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to a local "Zoo" that does a Holiday Lights show every year. This was our first year going and we had a lot of fun! Annie didn't pay much attention to the lights. She was more interested in walking, grandma's hot chocolate, and the snake friend she made! But hey, she had fun! All the lights were really pretty. We ate hot dogs and kettle corn, and washed them down with hot cocoa. It was also REALLY cold, however Annie and I were both wearing many layers, so we were nice and toasty. The scary part of the night was when my dad was holding Annie and he accidentally tripped over a log and almost landed right on her! Luckily he caught himself before he fell! It was totally scary! But all in all, it was a fun filled night!

They even had signs that were spelled wrong! Computers have a thing called "Spell Check" you know.....

Annie sat on Santa's lap for the first time, and she didn't like it! I was surprised because she is very friendly and will go to anyone!

Justin got his booty stuck while trying to get off of the train! It was hilarious!

Grandma saw Airplanes!......Or maybe they were cars on top of a hill driving.....but she thinks they were airplanes!

We rode the carousel. It was Annie's first time....she wasn't amused.

Our Family X-Mas Dance!

2008-12-05T22:43:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

It's All New!

2008-12-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

That's right! For all those devoted blog readers out there, who shall remain nameless....but you know who u are, that have been complaining about my lack of posts.......I finally have a new one! And it will be a looooooooonnnnnnnngggggg one! After all....I do have a whole month to cover! Okay, first things first. An update on our little snuggle bear! She is 24lbs, she still has only 4 teeth, she is talking constantly, and running around. I must say....she is pretty smart too! She takes about 2-3 naps a day. Goes to sleep around 9pm. Sleeps in till around 10am. She has quite the little personality! She gives A LOT of kisses and huggies all throughout the day! And she poops A LOT!!! Well enough about that.....here is the month in pictures!

This is the day after we came back from our cruise. Ever since we left she now likes to get inside the suitcases and try and close them up. We think she just doesn't' want us to leave without her again!

While we were gone on the cruise, my mother and cousin Stephanie went and got pictures taken of Annie! Here she is kissing herself!

A week after those pictures.....my mother went and got a few more done just for fun!

I had Lucy for a few hours while her mama went to the Doctor. We went shopping, and visited the ladies at my mother's work. Then after that we went to lunch with some of her friends and Katy met us there.

Thanksgiving!

Black Friday Shopping!

Last Saturday we went to the Home Goods store in Valencia! We got a lot of "Craptacular" things!

My mother got Annie a matching chair to sit in at her house! Isn't it cute!

While the girls were out shopping, Annie and Justin hung out at his parents house for some Auntie Katie time!

This is Annie trying to get an ice cube with her face!

Here is our tree! It looks better in person!

We Are Back!

2008-10-31T21:19:00.001-07:00

Justin took this picture!

Justin and I went on a four day cruise! We left Monday and came back today. It was soooo much fun! However, I was VERY emotional when I had to leave Annie on Monday. Luckily I had my mother (who watched her all week), grandmother (watched her on Monday), and Stephanie (watched her two mornings and helped my mom out) to watch her. So I felt some relief. But I was still very upset after we left. The cruise was great....well...except for the whole confrontation with Mexico security thing...but besides that, it was absolutely wonderful!(If you wanna know the story, just let me know!) We wanna go on a cruise every year! There was sooo much to do on the ship and tons and tons of food! I also got a purple Guess purse for my b-day! They had a shop with all this designer stuff in it! I love it!We got lots of pictures and a few videos! If you wanna see our reunion with our dearest little Annie this morning at the mall, just check out my cousin Steph's blog (Stephanie Young). It was perfect...I thought for sure she was gonna forget about me....but no..she didn't! If you wanna see how her week went without us, just look at my parents blog (Annie's Exuberant Grandparents) and also my cousin Stephs blog. Enjoy!

The Gallery

The little boats taking everyone from the ship to Catalina!

Golf day!

The elevators, there were 12 on each deck!

Our fake window

The old nasty man in Calvin Underwear!!

My, I can't take my self seriously enough to do these serious poses, pictures! We had a laugh with these!

Nasty Mexico (This picture actually makes it look decent)

Everyday we had a different towel animal

A dog

An Elephant

A Monkey

A Frog

Cabin Tour

Hanging out on the Deck

This is what you look like when you think you are taking a picture but really you are recording....very awkward!

Go check out my mom's and Steph's blogs....there great!

Wow That's A Lot Of Birds!

2008-10-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

After Annie's doctor appointment this morning (She has an ear infection and a cough and cold) we decided to go feed the ducks and geese at the neighborhood pond! It was Annie's first time going, and I figured it would brighten her day. So we got some old bread at home and headed over to the pond. The birds were all over on the other side of the pond, but all we had to do was take one piece of bread out and they started a mad dash to get the first piece! I only saw maybe 7 ducks, so I figured they would all get enough bread. But as I started to feed them......I hear a loud honking sound...and like a little army marching over....about 10 white geese come waddling from out behind some trees across the pond and down into the water. They were loud! I got my camera out and starting filming them swimming and some others coming closer to feed and then all the geese that were swimming over started flying over! I have never seen tame birds in a pond fly! It was very scary! I thought they were gonna fly over the fence and land on poor little Annie! And all I could hear in the back of my head was "The Imperial March" song that plays when Darth Vader from Star Wars comes in the scene. I got video of it, but I didn't realize it was zoomed in all the way, so you don't get to see ALL of them! And I was so scared by the amount of birds flying towards us that I didn't even get all of the ones that were really close! But all in all, we had fun. Annie enjoyed pointing at them and doing her really fast laugh! Enjoy!

Pickin Pumpkins

2008-10-20T22:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday with a few other family members. It was our first time being at this particular pumpkin patch, and I must say, it was very nice. Although it didn't have the bounce houses and obstacle courses the other one from last year had, it was still fun! Annie was the first one to find her pumpkin and to my amazement she actually carried it around for a while. But then she was over it and on to bigger and better things....like chasing down the other kids and trying to get them to play with her. I don't know why she is so attached to other children, but she loves them. Every time we are out somewhere and she spots another kid, she goes crazy and wants to go play with them. It really is weird cuz she isn't around other kids....my friend Katy is the only other baby friend we know! But I guess she is just a social butterfly! Anyways, we had a lot of fun!

Oh and for those of you who have asked...here is a little update on what Annie is doing and saying!

1. She waves hi and bye and says both of them

2. She blows kisses, gives kisses to toys and herself, and now she has started giving them to me!

3. She gives hugs to everyone, and she knows what the phrase "Give Huggies" means

4. She points to the candles when I say "Fire"

5. She knows where her nose is...but as for her mouth, eyes, and ears...she has no clue!

6. Stephanie taught her how to take her finger to her mouth and do that "bubble" sound with her lips

7. She knows what bottle means

8. You can ask her "are you hungry, are you tired, do you want more, is it good, wanna go to grandmas" and she with bounce her body up and down, kind of like a chicken eating......and that means "yes" I guess she doesn't realize that all I am doing is nodding my head when I say yes....

9. She says Kitty, Gi Gi (Great Grandma), Dog, "susi" means Lucy,"da do" means Thank You, "eese" means Please

10. when you say shoe, she will point to her feet

11. She says juice and will point to any drink when she is thirsty

12. When we say "Annie wanna use the potty?" she will go find her potty and bring it into the front room and sit on it!

13. If you make a noise from any toy, she will copy you and then bring that toy to you! -that is still crazy to us!

14. If she has poopie in her diaper and you ask her, she will open her mouth really wide as if having a shocked expression-this comes in use if you haven't smelled it already!

15. she says "Up" when she wants to be picked up

16. Still only 4 teeth but we think she is getting a back molar, she spits out most of her food and wont eat!

17. of course she says mama and dada

18. She can climb onto the couch and get off without falling

19. She chases our cat around and tries to hug him

20. when she wants you to stop talking she puts her hand over your mouth...

21. she does the scary "raaaarrrr" sound when you try to scare her! It is really funny!

22. And as you saw in the last post, she likes to clean! She will take a wet wipe and clean windows,the couch, the animals, the floor, toys, pretty much any thing!

Well there is more, but I have to get to bed! Work awaits tomorrow! Enjoy the pictures!

Doing Chores Already.....

2008-10-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Just For Laughs

2008-10-10T22:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures and a couple videos of our little one. She is getting so big and so smart! Enjoy!

A Bella Birthday

2008-09-29T18:02:00.000-07:00

Annie had her first EVER birthday party on Saturday. Everyone who has ever loved and cared for our little girl was there. We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends and families who enjoyed taking a few hours out of their day to help us celebrate Annie's first year of life! Thank you to all who came. We had a bounce house, played games, ate yummy food, and enjoyed some delicious pink and brown cupcakes that were made with love by my cousin Heather. She also made a truly ADORABLE Bella cake for Annie to enjoy! My cousin is so creative! If you would like to hire her for your next party, let me know! Annie got lots and lots of toys. And after the second one came out, which was a fire truck sit and go from Kevin and Kurston, she forgot about the other presents! So I was left to open all the others....not like I minded! Haha! Anywho....here are a few...okay okay...I mean A LOT of pictures of the day! Enjoy!

It was sooo cute when little Annie first came in. She was a little overwhelmed by the amount of people, but as soon as she locked eyes onto Lucy, all her fears went away! The two of them held hands and gave each other kisses and hugs!

Happy Birthday Annie!

2008-09-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

Today is our little ones Birthday! Lets see......a year ago, this time, I was holding a little 7lb 3oz baby girl in my arms and trying to stay awake. Now, a year later, I can barely get her to stop running around, let alone try to hold her! But every night, when she is tired from the day of exploring, I am able to hold my little baby girl and rock her back and fourth. I still sing the same song to her. My heart beats for her. I can not believe it has already been a year. And in this short year, she has grown up so fast. From holding her head up, to rolling over, to sitting up, all the way to running! We couldn't imagine our lives without Annie. It just wouldn't make sense. We thank God every day for her. I could sit and watch her sleep for hours. Wondering what she is thinking, or who she is dreaming of. She brings all the happiness in the world to us. And I can not wait to see what she learns next!

Tomorrow we are having her first Birthday Party at my mother's house. We already have a Tinkerbell bounce house waiting for everyone. Annie loves bouncing in it! There are games and prizes and lots and lots of fun to be had! Hope all is able to make it!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Annie over the past year......all in order.

Almost A Year Old.....

2008-09-25T21:54:00.000-07:00

Our little Annie is almost 1 year old. Tomorrow is her 1st Birthday. She was born at 10:54 with my Husband, Mother, and friend Katy by my side.......or legs.... haha! By this time last year I was getting ready to be induced with everyone I have ever met in my life watching in the room. I can't believe it has already been a year. It has gone by so fast! I love that little girl more and more every day. I want to keep talking about her first year of life, but I am going to do that tomorrow on her official Birthday! Now, I leave you with two videos of Annie dancing in her Daddy's arms and doing her "Chicken Dance". This is who we get to hold, kiss, hug, play with, laugh with, learn with, dance with, read with, smile with, walk with, run with, cry with, sleep with, and love.....

Curly Hair...I Think So!

2008-09-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

For all of you out there who were wondering if Annie's hair is going to be curly or not..........Here is your proof! This is what happens to her hair when I put a pea size amount of texture spray in it! I am so excited!

Daddy's Bookcase

2008-09-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

Justin built a bookcase for Annie a couple months ago. I told him that I wanted something about as tall as Annie. So he went out and got creative at Home Depot. I then let him have hours of fun in the garage building it. And it came out a "little" taller then was expected, but it was still made with love! He was finally able to paint it this past weekend. I had him paint it black and pink. Once Annie is a little older, and we are in our own house, I am gonna do her room like Miley Cyrus's dressing room. I loved it! I thought it was so cute, and very Victorian. I also loved her bedroom which was blue and black, but I figured pink was more girly and fun. Anyways, we needed something to go on the back of the shelves to make it look more Victorian. So I found a stencil online and printed it out, then copied it onto a paper, and then Justin cut each piece out with a box cutter. After a few hours of stencil messes, we finally just gave up and accepted it the way it was. I happen to love it. I know it will look great in her room one day! Right now it is in her play room!

Always Stop To Smell The Roses...or Fake Flowers...

2008-09-05T14:08:00.000-07:00

Huggies Anyone?

2008-09-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

Big Girl Car Seat

2008-08-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

So the Doctor said that Annie was 21lbs and old enough to move up into a forward facing car seat. And that was clearly obvious by the little amount of room she had left in her infant seat. So yesterday Annie, Justin, My Mother, My Mother-in-law, and myself went to go pick out Annie's "Big Girl" car seat! After doing a couple months worth of research on the best convertible car seat ( I know I know......I am very anal and protective!), we finally settled on the best kind for Annie. We picked the Britax Boulevard in Onyx. It goes up to 65lbs and can go front or rear facing! We got a really great picture of her in the car seat at the store, but of course it was with my phone, and I have no idea how to get that picture on to the computer. But I did get some other ones of her in the car for the first time. She was so mesmerized by everything she could see that she just looked shocked the entire ride to the ice cream restaurant. Overall, we love the new car seat! It was a snap to put in, trust me, it took Justin 5 minutes, while our other Graco infant seat took him at least an hour! Haha! Annie loves it too! However, the ultimate test was to see if she would be able to fall asleep in it.............and she did! That's good for us because she always falls asleep in the car, which helps during long shopping days! Here are a few pictures to show how amazed she was to be seeing what we get to see!

This is what she did the whole time....point at things and say "That?"

We would like to give a big "THANK YOU" to my parents and Justin's parents for purchasing Annie's new car seat for her Birthday! She loves it!

Oh, and a quick Potty update......She has gone 6 times! Only potty, but she is getting the hang of it!

Just A Little Humor

2008-08-26T22:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the nice underwear shot of Justin! I didn't realize until I watched it! Poor Justin, he always seems to be in the background in his underwear, I swear he does wear pants!

Big Girl Potty

2008-08-25T22:09:00.000-07:00

Today we got Annie a "Big Girl Potty" from Babies R Us. I have done a lot of reading lately and found out that babies can begin potty training as early as 10 months. After realizing that our toilet was a little too big for her we went out and got a potty for $9.99. I went to change her diaper and decided to try putting her on the potty. She walked over to it and kinda looked at me like "How do I get on this thing?" I placed her on it and said "Annie, go potty on the potty!" And to my surprise, a few seconds later she went! I'm sure it was just a fluke, but hey, she went! That is one less diaper! The things that I have read say that if you start them young they can have it down by 15-18 months. Of course you shouldn't force them, they have to want to try. I put Annie on her potty twice a day for 10-15 mins, or until she has made it clear that she wants off! I figure taking it slow is fine, I want it to be a good experience. Plus, I definitely don't wanna be changing diapers till she is 3! My grandmother said my mother was potty trained by a year old! So there is hope! And I have read many stories from mothers who have started their kids young and have successfully had them potty trained by 18months! Anyways....here, of course, is a picture of Annie on the potty after she had actually gone, so she was ready to get off, and Annie's potty in the potty! Sorry if some are offended!

Oh, and here are these really cool baby keys we just got Annie! She loves our cell phone and keys so we went to target to get her something that might look like them. And there was this brand that actually makes keys, cameras, and phones that look just like real ones! She loves her new keys! She played with them the whole night!

1 Year Dr. Appointment

2008-08-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today Annie went to her 1 year Doctor's appointment. They measured her and she was 29inch's long and 21lbs exactly. Now she is only almost 11 months old, but she has a new Doctor so we made the appointment earlier. She said everything looked great, and that she was moving and growing along nicely! She also started to ask me about what Annie can do, and it went something like this:

Dr- "So, I see that she can crawl, is she able to pull herself up yet?"

Me- "Yea, she can pull herself up"

Dr.- "Okay, she will probably be trying to cruise soon, and then a month or so later might be starting to walk on her own."

Me- "Um, she walks already...."

Dr.- "She does?"

Me- "Uh, yea, she has walked since she was 10 months"

Dr.- "Really? Wow, she is so little, well I guess I don't need to give you the whole "Baby Proofing" speech."

Me- "No, I'm good! Haha"

Anyways, after that she asked me about our family medical history. I told her both Justin and I have heart murmurs, so she checked Annie and said that she might have a slight one, but nothing major. She also checked her for a Cleft Pallet, which I have, and thankfully she does not. No shots were given, she starts them again at 2.

Overall, it was a great visit! Annie played with the staff and showed them her walking skills. They were all very impressed! I mean, if you look at her, she does look to tiny to be able to walk. But she is! Anyways, that's about it! Time to research front facing car seats!

Oh, and the picture at the top is her "I'm not sure about this place" look! Haha

I also got a cute video, of course, of little Annie waiting for the doctor. Enjoy!

Annie and Lucy

2008-08-14T18:48:00.001-07:00

So yesterday I babysat Lucy while her mama, Katy, went to the Doctor. We hung out, played with the toys, and watched the Olympics. We also had a mini photo shoot! Lucy kept holding my camera up and saying "Cheese" so I figured she wanted some pictures taken! I also got a cute video of her saying some words!

Here is a video I took of Annie today. She is EXTREMELY ticklish on her inner thighs, so while she was eating I decided to record her cute little laugh! Enjoy!

Those Darn Olympics!

2008-08-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

So after watching the Olympics for the past couple of days, I have come to the conclusion that it is far to stressful for me to watch! I get so excited, especially when it comes to swimming. I guess because they are racing each other. But it is almost to stressful to watch. I get all sick and even have to close my eyes at times when the swimmers are neck and neck. I know, very lame, yet very true! So sad! On a happier less stressful note, I think Annie really enjoys the gymnastics! Every time they have a floor routine and the music starts, she walks on over to the T.V. and starts dancing and pointing to the gymnasts. Anyways, the Olympics are over for the night, thank goodness. I don't think I could have handled another race like the men's swimming relay they just had! Go U.S.A!

Also, while I was cleaning out Annie's closet in an attempt to make some more room for the growing number of clothes she has accumulated, I found this really cute jacket that she never got a chance to wear! So, I put it on her and made her model it for me for awhile! I thought it would be too small for her, seeing how it is size 3-6 months, but it wasn't. It actually fit her perfectly. She is smaller than most babies her age, which is weird because she used to be bigger than most. But my mother said that my brother and I were the same way. Heck, my friend Katy used to be taller than me! And now I am like a whole foot taller than her! Anyways, here is a picture of her little jacket!

Annie loves.......Annie!

2008-08-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

So today I realized how fond Annie is of herself! I found some pictures of her and when I showed them to her she got all excited. She had the same look on her face that she gets when she sees Lucy, my friend Katy's daughter. She kept saying "Hi" to the pictures and even gave a few kisses! It was really cute! Enjoy!

Oh, and these are my new "Rock Star" toes.......yes I know I have long toes......

Walking

2008-08-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Annie is walking!!! Well, with an occasional fall here and there. For the past couple days she has just been letting go of the furniture and going full speed ahead! I feel so bad, because Justin has been at work for the past two days so he has missed all the fun! And I finally got my camera back and with batteries, so that is why there has been no videos or pictures of much lately! But I got a video tonight! She has been walking, or trying to walk, everywhere! So I got my camera out, knowing full well she was waaaaaaay past needing to go to bed and that I might not get anything,but I took a chance and started recording. She was a little fussy when I took my cell phone away from her in order to use it to lure her my way......but it got her attention enough to walk a little for me! Enjoy!

Annie Gets Her Ears Pierced!

2008-08-04T17:38:00.000-07:00

Today we took Annie to get her little ears pierced! We talked a lot about it and both of us decided it was better to get them when she is too young to remember it! Haha. I got my ears pierced when I was 18months old and I don't remember the pain at all! Thanks Mom! Anyways, we went to the mall and picked out some small little diamond earrings. I sat down with Annie in my lap and then quickly felt queasy and made my mother sit with her. So I stood back and took the pictures! The piercing man made the little dots on her tiny little earlobes and I checked to make sure they were even! Then, after Annie smiled away at him, unsuspecting of what was about to happen, he pointed the gun....and......pierced! It took her a couple seconds to realize what had just happened.....and then she let out a little cry. I gave her a Gerber Crunchy and she focused her attention on eating it. Then.....pierce! He did the second ear and she cried immediately after it. But then came my trusty Crunchy and she was fine! They are so cute! She is also sleeping just fine, so I guess they aren't that painful after all! Enjoy the pics!

Oh, and yes I am aware that I look like crap! I was having a bad "EVERYTHING" day! haha!

Trust me, that sad face only lasted a few seconds!!!

Nice sweaty pits!

Poopie diapers.......

No Batteries...

2008-07-29T00:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry guys. Our batteries for the camera have tuckered out and we haven't had any to replace them! So I have not been able to post. Well, I guess I could still post..but it is not the same without pictures! You know me! Anyways, since we still do not have new batteries and people keep asking me where the heck I have been in the blog world...I guess I will just suck it up and post without pictures!
Okay....lets see....what's been going on.....oh! Annie has been standing on her own without holding on to anything lately! And she also took her first two steps two days ago! She has actually been letting go of the couch and coffee table and taking a step forward like she is gonna start walking away! But then she falls shortly after the initial step.
She has also said her first word! She said it while Katy, Lucy, Lindsey, and I were at Babies R Us last weekend. I was reading a story to Lucy and Annie and there were mirrors in the book. So I would tell Lucy to say "Hi" to herself and she would....and then I would tell Annie to say "Hi" and by my complete amazement..she said it! Five times in a row! Katy even got to witness the special moment! No if you come in the room and say "Hi" to her she will say it back. It sort of comes out like a "Heeey" in a high pitch little voice.
She hasn't said any other "real" words yet, but she does recognize certain words when we say them. She will point them out or look over at them when she hears them. Here are a few words she understands enough to acknowledge:
1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Puppies
4. Say "Hi"
5. Say "Bye Bye"
6. Bella...... (of course)
7. Grandma
8. Go Bye Bye
9. Hungry
10. Night Night
11. Tater-Tot
12. Come here
13. Go get it
14. No....(she understands it...but doesn't always listen to it)
15. Give Kisses (she will give kisses when you say this)
16. Dance
17. Clap

Those are just a few main ones that we have noticed her understanding. She also shakes her head side to side when she doesn't want something and even when she is dancing! Haha! Anyways...I am tired and ready to go to sleep! I will be getting those darn batteries tomorrow!

Disgusting!!!!

2008-07-15T11:53:00.000-07:00

I saw this on "The Soup" today. It is so gross! You be the judge!

911, What's Your Emergency??

2008-07-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

I usually NEVER give Annie my phone because I don't want her to ruin it by chewing on it, and I also don't like it when kids are allowed to play with cell phone because whenever you are trying to make a call they are trying to take the phone away....but anyways.....Annie loves loves loves my phone. Probably because it plays her favorite song, Damaged, on it. So the other day I let her play with it while the song was playing. I put the keys on lock and figured she wouldn't be able to make any calls. Well, apparently when your keys are locked and you are having an emergency, you only have to push one button and your keys automatically unlock and call 911. And that's just what Annie did. She called 911.....they called back, but I didn't hear them ring because Annie was playing with the phone so I guess she just sent them straight to voice mail. They left a message and when I finally took the phone away from her I looked at it to unlock the keys and there was a voice message. I checked it and it went something like this "Hi, this is the Police Department, someone called 911 from this phone, we are gonna need you to call us back immediately and let us know everything is okay before we send out the police." Crap! I called back real quick and the lady had to check if they were sending someone out and then told me that on cell phones, 911 can be dialed by pushing one button even while the keys are locked. Oops. I said sorry and she said it happens all the time! And I guess it does, because when I was little my brother and I were playing with the phone and we called 911 and they actually came to the house. And then Justin's mother told me that he called them when he was younger too! Haha!

I just thought this picture was funny. This is what the dogs do whenever Annie is eating.....probably because she gets more on the floor than in her mouth!

Next.....Justin built a book shelf for Annie's play room. I was needing one for all of her books and was just gonna go buy one, but I thought it would mean more if he built it. So he went to Home Depot and bought the supplies. On Saturday he was out in the garage for a couple of hours "designing" his masterpiece. I told him to make it her height so she wouldn't pull it down on top of her.....but he made it three times her height. Haha! He also got some decorative pieces to put on the book shelf. It was quite funny to see him being creative. So I took pictures! I didn't get a shot of the final outcome, but it looks good. Now he is gonna paint it black and I am gonna decorate it with paint pens! Woohoo!

Justin needed to work out on Sunday so we went to the park. Annie and I played on the swings while he ran.....in the 100 degree heat! No thank you! We put a little hat on her and her sunglasses and sat her little fanny in the swing! She loved it! And to our amazement....she even started swinging herself! She would lean back and then push forward! I got some of it on camera too!

You can see her swinging herself in the beginning and the middle of the video! Watch closely! Oh and sorry for my screaming....I tend to do that a lot...and I always forget how annoying it sounds on camera.....but I just get so excited for her! Haha!

I painted Annie's toes! I gave her a biter biscuit and she sat there while I painted each toe nail red. Just like mine! They look really cute!

On a crappy note....I woke up with a little cold and then shortly after could tell Annie had one too! Sucks! She hasn't been sick since she was a couple months old! Now she is sleeping. I should have known...I mean she woke up twice last night and slept in till 9:30 today. She usually wakes up for a bottle at 6:30! Here she is using Bella as a pillow!

Toofie Update!

2008-07-10T11:09:00.000-07:00

Annie now has four teeth! The two on the bottom are getting pretty big! They are almost the same size! And now the fourth one on the top has popped out! The ones on the top are growing a wee bit slower than the two on the bottom...but they are there! So exciting!

Walking Walker

2008-07-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today Annie walked with her walker, by herself, for the first time! I usually go along beside her so that the walker doesn't wheel away leaving her face first on the ground. But today I let her do it on her own....falling and all. But instead of saying "awww...baby did you fall???" I said, "Hahahaha." That way she would think it was a funny thing instead of a sad thing and then wouldn't cry. And it worked! Every time she would fall.....I would laugh....and then she would laugh! It was really funny! But she had a great time and walked back and fourth for 15 minutes! I got video of her doing it tonight, but you won't hear any laughing because she never fell, so I couldn't laugh! Oh, and I am going to apologize now for Justin being in his underwear. He freakin wouldn't get out of the shot! So gross....just look away!

I would talk about her first pair of "Real" shoes from Stride Rite. But my mother already talked about it! So I will just put a picture up! But they are really cute and they help her walk because they support her little ankles! And they were not cheap, but my mother bought them...and since I knew the guy in the store....we got a discount! But I still can't believe that a size 3 shoe is that expensive!!!?? What the heck!

Oh, and she also learned to "High Five!" However, she usually likes to be the one who gets "High Fived." So she will put her hand out after you put yours out and then wait for you to touch hers! Whatever! Enjoy!