Happy Halloween

Annabelle had a great first Halloween. My good friend Michele and her little boy Ian (20 months) came over and we went trick - or - treating. Ian and Annabelle both dressed up like frogs and they both had a great time. Annabelle fell asleep half way through and Ian hasn't quite grasped the concept yet and wanted to give candy to all the places that we went to. Overall it was a fun night and both kids behaved and now we start the planning for Halloween next year

For Sale (the house not the baby)

Brian and I have been looking on and off for a different house (in Jamestown). It would be nice to have something a little bit bigger with a little more space. We finally found one that we both could agree on so now the task is to sell our house. It officially went on the market today and we possibly have a showing on Sunday - Brian has been working all day trying to get a few loose ends tied up so things look somewhat done in our basement. A lot of different things have to play out for us to actually move but we will see what happens. One of the saddest things about possibly moving is that Annabelle will never remember her nursery. My mom and I (probably more her than me) spent a lot of time trying to get the wall paper on and make her room perfect and she has yet to spend a night sleeping in her crib. If we do sell we might have to leave her in there one night just to say she slept there.

First Snow

Annabelle's first experience with snow. I told Brian the other night when the wind was gusting and the snow was falling and Annabelle was snuggled in his arms sleeping that I was going to put her in her car seat and take her outside to take her picture during her first snowfall; I was saying all of this to get a reaction from him and he was not impressed. This picture was taken Wed morning on our way to daycare. All of our snow is gone but I have seen pictures of Carrington this morning and you guys sure got a lot more than we did!

Little Snuggle Bug

We are surviving the wonderful weather in ND, although I don't think it is much better in MN. I don't have much time to write because I have a staff meeting at 6:30, I wanted to post a few pics though so hopefully I can write more later. In one of the pictures Annabelle has a little blanket that is now her favorite thing to snuggle with (well 2nd favorite if you count mom and dad)

Favorite Past Time

Annabelle's new favorite thing to do is watch TV. She just spent the last 2o minutes fussing. We tried changing her, feeding her, stripping her down (she loves to be naked), rocking her and laying her on the floor and nothing was working. Finally we just put her in her bouncy chair and turned on the tv. The crying stopped and she has been in a great mood since; cooing and talking to the tv. We are not to sure if it is a good thing that our 3 month old seems to be hooked on tv.

First Bleeding Experience

We encountered Annabelle's first wound involving blood today. I went to pick her up from daycare and my plan was to run back to work quick to help a co worker with something. As soon as I walked in the door I could hear her crying. When I got to the room she wasn't just crying she was screaming. I had her out the door probably within a minute of coming in. In that short time period I was informed that they had tried to clip a hangnail on her toe and must have cut her a little bit. The reason I rushed out the door is because it had already been bleeding for 30 minutes and I wasn't sure what to do. I carried her in one arms and her diaper bag and car seat in the other arm and went back to the bank. By the time we got across the parking lot she had stopped crying but her wound kept bleeding. When I got to the bank I took her in the break room and had one of my co workers come in with me, we shut the door and put her on the table. As soon as we put her down she screamed as we tried to get the bleeding to stop - we tried a band aid, a little to big, and then just wrapped her whole foot in gauze so I could make it home. The poor little thing, her little toe bled on and off for two hours. We called a nurse who just told us to put pressure on it and of coarse every time we did that she would scream. Brian went out to get some band aids and came home with about 200 of them. I don't think I have ever felt so bad in my entire life. It really makes me wish I could stay home with her and make sure nothing happens to her. We can't wait for baby number 3 when we won't overreact as much as we do now. She is now sleeping peacefully in Brian's arms. I think tonight was probably tougher on us than it was on her.

Enjoying Fall

We spent some time outside today enjoying the 80 degree October afternoon.

Changes

We can't believe how fast Annabelle is growing and changing. She is starting to roll onto her side and I am sure before we know it she will be rolling from her back to her front. She already can roll from her front to her back - amazing! She is also starting to coo a lot more and she will let you talk to her and then when you pause she will answer, it is fun to have a conversation with her and it would be interesting to know what she is really telling us and what she thinks we are talking about. Annabelle is gaining more control over her hands as well. She is still very persistent on getting her fingers (I think she really wants her thumb) into her mouth. She is also grasping things and has figured out how to make the music play by pulling on the little bird on her floor mat (ok maybe she doesn't exactly what she is doing but we would like to think so).

Annabelle is extremely alert and loves to look around and take in her surroundings. She is truly the love of our lives and we aren't quite sure what we did before she came along.

Pictures

I have also updated the pictures on our photo link if you would like to check them out!

2 Month Check Up

We went to the doctor last Thursday for Annabelle's 2 month check up. She is a healthy happy baby. All the little bumps and spots ect that we have found and think might be abnormal are normal things for a baby - the dr must have thought we were crazy - we asked so many questions...but that is what he is there for. Annabelle weighs 9 pounds 15 ounces - 20th percentile for her weight so she is a little small but we think that is ok. She is22.5 inches long - 53rd percentile. She is growing and thriving so all is well. She also had to get a few shots which didn't go to bad. Brian held her legs and I held her arms. When the first 2 needles went in she opened her mouth, her face turned instantly bright red and not a sound came out, the poor little thing. It took her a few seconds to catch her breath and the whole time Brian was whispering "Breath baby girl" and when she caught her breath the screams started. We felt terrible. It didn't last long as soon as I was able to pick her up she calmed down and was sleeping by the time we left the clinic. Her legs were very sore the rest of the day so we were doing our best to be careful while changing her diaper anytime you would even brush her thigh she would scream. Today her legs seem better and she is back to the happy baby we are use to. We are not looking forward to the day when she knows it is coming and begs us not to let the nurses hurt her - maybe that day I will have to be at work and Brian will take her to the doctor.

Annabelle Tree

I haven't posted any thing for awhile - I can't believe how busy things have been after returning to work. A lot has happened in the past month. We took our first trips to MN to meet all the relatives on my side and it was nice to catch up with everyone. While we were there we bought a tree in honor of Annabelle. It is something we have decided to do for each child that we have, we will get a young tree and watch it grow as they grow. The next step was deciding where to plant it. We decided not to do it at our house because we don't really have the space and we don't plan on living here for the next 20 years. We then thought about our parents house. We ruled out Brian parents because we thought if we started that tradition they may end up with a forest in their yard as they have 21 grand kids. I think I can safely say that my mom and dad will not end up with that many so they have the tree in their yard. We bought it Labor Day weekend and it is now known as the Annabelle tree.

We also had a shower for Annabelle in MN 2 weeks ago and we received many nice things. Brian can not believe all the clothes that she has - we have clothes up to 24 months. She is a very lucky girl.

Annabelle is growing like a weed. She lifts her head really well when she is on the floor and has been rolling from her stomach to her back, she started that when she was like 5 weeks old - way to little. She can now do it effortlessly and Brian and I can't believe how fast things change. She is still sleeping through the night, normally 10:30ish until Brian wakes her up at 7:00am - not bad! She is cooing all the time and can give you the biggest grin when she is happy. She is a wonderful baby and we can't imagine what we did before she came along.