Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Happy Birthday Cousin Caris

April 20th!!!  What a day!  Today we celebrate the birth of our favorite and only cousin!  Caris Elizabeth is 2 today and Annabelle and I could not be more excited!

We love our cousin & niece and love how much she has taken to "her baby Elbow" (Caris first attempt trying to say Annabelle).  Growing up with 2 sisters, I know how much fun it is to experience life with another girl in the family, we are so happy Caris is filling that big sister void for Annabelle, like her mommy did for me :)  There is nothing like having a older, cooler girl to play with, test the waters on, and try and copy as much as possible!  Caris, with the little girl you are shaping up to be, I am waiting in wonder at what Annabelle will learn from you!

Will she love your love for the purple hue? Copy your barnyard animal faces?  Love you zest for chores? Inherit your love for anything that resembles a book?  Want to at every waking moment watch Toy Story or Mary Poppins?  Or simply just admire your movie star locks of hair?



Caris & Annabelle's first meeting, AB was in my belly :)

Caris kissing baby Annabelle's toes 

The Cousins meet

The snowman Caris built for Annabelle the day we came home from the hospital

Our girls

Even more of our girls


Whatever your little union has in store for us, no doubt we are all in for a treat!  So cheers to you BIG GIRL CARIS!!!  We are so excited to celebrate your birthday with you and so excited that yours is the first Birthday Party our Annabelle will get to experience!  I couldn't imagine anything better :)

Love,

Auntie TJ & baby Annabelle

Friday, April 15, 2011

Now Annabelles Personal Success....

Also known as NAPS.....

Really I am speaking (or typing) out of turn a little here, but in a slightly failed attempt at an abbreviation for Naps....I am going to chalk our last 2 days as a success and speak into existence their permanence in our life.

Truly Annabelle deserves all the credit for this one, if it were up to me, I would hold her and rock her every moment of every day, but apparently that is not good for either of us, or so everyone tells me :)

At week 10, I am finally trying our hand at the self soothed naps.  No, I am still not letting her sit there and cry, in fact I crouch down below her bassinet and put my hand on her until she falls asleep, but either way she is soothing and technically laying by herself...so there you have it, my definition of self soothing.  BUT, so DOES it!  She for the past two days, at 2 different nap times, has put herself to sleep!  Unbelievable!  Truly Annabelle's Personal Success, because her mommy does not get the credit for this one.  If she wasn't capable or gave me the slightest sense she was uncomfortable, I would no doubt swoop in and start my favorite pastime of rocking.  But no, my girl is already showing me she is growing up and telling me, "hey mom, let me see if I can do this" and by golly...she does!  Way to go AB!  So there she sleeps, ever so peacefully in her little Target bassinet, that she prefers to any other fancy item I have gotten for her to sleep in, dreaming and listening to her personal favorite remix of Nora Jones, Coldplay Rockabye, and Amos Lee.

This is her happy place...


Sleep tight little girl!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Two Whole Months

Annabelle today you are 10 weeks old!!!  Unbelievable.  You are growing in body and spirit every day.  Each day you greet us with a HUGE toothless smile and instantly all tiredness leaves my body and I am up....ready to start the day with my girl.

I would say to sum up your second month, it would be friends and family.  You have been the social butterfly this month, with all your visits to see your family and all your friends.  You already love so much, I love getting to share your love with everyone.

One week before you two month birthday we took you on your second road trip!  What an adventurer you have become.  We headed West to see all your family, you got to see the ranchita, Albany and Abilene for the very first time.  We went you your very first track meet, you, daddy and grandpa JJ got to play in the "man cave" and you got to breathe the nice fresh country air!  You loved the country!  The very first night you were there you slept 7 hours!!!  A record!  We let you experience all that Albany had to  offer, we took you on a driving tour where you saw all of mommy's houses she had growing up, you walked downtown, went shopping a little, got a cherry lime aid at the drug store, took a nap outside and went star gazing. What a weekend!

On our way back home your daddy took you to see his home for the first time!  You got to see your Nana and Poppy and meet your uncle Sonny and Aunt Erlene!  You had so much fun being the center of attention :)

The very next weekend was our very first night away from Daddy, he went to San Antonio and we went to Albany.  Your grandma Susie came down to help us with the drive.  You slept the whole way there....
We got all ready for a BIG party when we finally made it to Albany.  We were celebrating mommy's friend Cori and here upcoming wedding!   It was your very first party, and you were quite the hit!  You got to wear a fancy pink dress and stay up way past your bedtime to meet all your Albany friends.  Your cousin Caris and Auntie Millie came too!  You had so much fun laughing at Caris, you think she is hilarious.  You got to play with your aunties all weekend, you love your family so much!

The next weekend you had LOTS of new friends over at your house for a little BBQ.  Daddy cooked burgers and our house was full of lots of little friends & lots of big friends.  No doubt you will have plenty of playmates....so many babies.  You got to meet everyone for the first time, we had a blast getting to show you off.  Charlie, Heather and Carter even flew in all the way from Tennessee to meet you!  You loved getting to watch Carter crawl around everywhere...I have no doubt you will be crawling before we know it!

Some of your favorite activities month 2 have been, shopping, driving in the car, smiling, laughing, you still love kicking your legs, you love your walks, love the moby, love your book time at night, and love when you daddy is home on the weekends.

You had to get 2 very big shots this month, and you did EXCELLENT!!!  You only cried for a second then were asleep in mommys arms before we knew it!  You weighed 10 lbs 1 ounce and were 22 amd 1/2 inches long! The dr. called you a smiley girl, and I have to agree.  You are my smiley girl.  You also grabbed your toes for the first time right before we headed to the Dr. for your 2 month check-up!  I think it was on accident, but it was very cute!

We have lots of fun friends to play with now, and lots of friends baking away ready to play with you soon!  It is such an exciting time to see all of our friends get to experience the joy of their babies like we get to experience every day with you!

Cant wait to see what month 3 of your little life holds for you....

Here are a few pics from our monthly photo shoot!!  You have grown so much!