Giggling over "dada"

Caught Smiling Away

We're Still Here!

Hey all!  I'm really sorry for not being around the last two months!  Time sure does fly when you're busy and having fun!  So our big girl, Annaliese, is over 7 1/2 months old now.  It's hard to fathom that thought really.  It just feels like I was still carrying her and feeling her kicks in my belly.  Justin and I have enjoyed every moment we share with her in our lives.  It's truly an amazing journey!  

So to catch you up a little of what's been going on...  Annaliese is a professional roller, she can sit up on her own now, she has two teeth and another one poking through, she says "dada" and loves to be tickled!  She claps her hands and feet, she will laugh at herself (as well as her silly mommy and daddy), she loves to dance (which consists of waving her arms around and shaking her head).  She can also move her wrists to a wave, although I know she doesn't understand the gesture.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't take a picture of her and her pretty smile (or cozy sleepy positions).  We have moved her bedtime back a little bit and she seems to be doing better with sleeping through the night with that.  She still takes 1-2 naps a day for 2-3 hours at a time.  She is a growing little lady and is developing quite the personality!  Unfortunately Annaliese had her first sinus infection for about a week, but with the help of some antibiotics, she was able to get better :)  

So now time for the pictures...I'm sorry if they're out of chronological order but because I haven't had the time to blog as often as I'd like to - especially with two blogs, I'll just post a few pictures and videos of little Miss Annaliese for you to enjoy.  Oh on another note, Justin and I have decided to try to not call her "Anna" as much anymore because really "Annaliese" is such a pretty name and we named her that for a reason.  So please enjoy some pictures of our little Annaliese Marie. :)  And I will try my hardest to write an update of her at least once a month!  Until next time...toodles!

Playing with Sammie

Always wakes up with a smile on her face!

Cinco De Mayo- Nana and Papou came to visit

Mother's Day banquet- 4 Generations

Annaliese and her grandmothers

Sleeping on my arm

SMILE!

Story Time- Are You My Mother?

Holding up her bottle all by herself

Another "Just Woke Up" shot (with assistance sitting up) 

Memorial Day Parade- Annaliese's first parade!

Checking out the firetrucks during the parade

Mommy and Annaliese

Smiley!

Enjoying a warm spring walk with mommy and daddy.

For Memorial Day

In honor of Memorial Day being last weekend, I've been playing around with a few apps that were recommended to me  through Instagram and came up with this patriotic picture.


iPhone apps used are:  Juxtaposer, MarbleCam and Pixlromatic

Less Blogging. More Living.

"You have to live life before you have anything to blog about." 

- Sam Kanatzar - My Life As Wife

Truthful words spoken from my fellow blogger friend on a day when I was venting on Twitter about missing the time I used to take just to write a little blog post.  But for the past 2 months, I’ve been pretty busy living.  I’m not upset about that in the least.  I’ve been having fun living my life!  Of course I still update the occasional Facebook post or tweet here and there, but haven’t really had a chance to sit down and write freely. 


Here’s why:

"The Girls" - Jessie's Bachelorette Party

We got legs!

   
I’m privileged to be the Matron of Honor in my best friend’s wedding on May 19, 2012.  So of course before she ties the knot, there had to be a “last night out” and a bridal shower!  So the other bridesmaid, Gretchen (who happens to me one of my good friends) and I had been working on the plans for both of those special and important events.  It’s bittersweet that they have come and gone, but the next and final event is the wedding!  Only 11 more days! :)


I also turned another year older on April 4^th, so I am officially in the last year of my 20’s!  Ironically, my husband’s birthday is 2 weeks after mine on April 18^th, so we had to celebrate both dates with a night out each.  For my husband’s birthday, his brother and his brother’s wife decided to get him his dream dog as a birthday gift and gave him/us a 4 month old bulldog pup, we named Otis (after Otis Redding).  That was exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time.  He’s a sweet puppy, such beautiful coloring and markings, but definitely a stubborn, bull-headed (living up to the name of the breed) chewer.  Being a stay at home mom to a 6 month old and trying to train a puppy not to chew, to go outside for all potty breaks, to not eat the cat we’ve had for almost 3 years and that human babies are not able to play yet was more than a challenge.  Unfortunately after only a week of having him here, he had jumped up on my daughter and my husband and I had to make the best decision for our family and have him taken back to his brother’s house.  We’ll still be by to visit, but it will be hard.  It’s already been almost a month since he left and it still hurts because he was quickly loved and became part of our family, but the timing just isn’t right for us to have a puppy.  The show must go on… 


My dad and step mom came to visit from NJ last weekend for Cinco De Mayo!  (No I’m not Mexican, but I’ll take any reason I can to have some yummy Mexican food and a margarita)  We had a great visit with some great food and although the visits are few and far between, luckily we will be able to see them again soon when they return for my brother’s graduation of the police academy on May 31^st!  I also did a 5k for the first time in 7 years with my sister in-law and that was fun!  I walked and jogged the whole thing, but I enjoyed doing it!  It gives my sister in-law, Jenn, and I some time to hang out together, but it was a good fundraiser for breast cancer.  We’ll be doing other 5ks again I’m sure. 

Jenn, Me, and Nicki before the 5K

With all of the birthdays, doctor’s appointments, dress fittings, “holidays”, and other events…it’s been pretty crazy around here.  But I wouldn’t trade it for anything! 


Plus my little girl is growing so fast!  She is 3 days from being 7 months old, she can sit up by herself now, she has cut two teeth, she is clapping and laughing around the clock and with the HARD challenge of mastering the “Ferber Method” (letting her cry it out), after only 6 nights of this method she has been sleeping through the night and sleeping 10 hours!  It was very, VERY hard to do, but knowing that it was best for her to learn that she can’t always fall asleep in mommy or daddy’s arms was a good lesson for her to learn.  The nights she would wake up, I would go in her room (because daddy was sleeping so he could get his rest to do his hard job at work the next day), make sure she heard me and saw me, patted her back or rubbed her belly while she was lying down without picking her up, and stayed for about 30 seconds and then left.  I returned every 5, 10, 15… minutes until she realized that she wasn’t going to be picked up and she eventually put herself back to sleep.  Some nights I would only have to do this 3 times and she would put herself back to sleep.  One time I only had to go in her room once and she was back to sleep in 10 minutes.  The other nights she would cry for an hour to an hour and a half and it seemed like I was torturing her because she just wanted to be held.  But it was worth the sleepless nights and testing of my motherhood skills.  I just hope that the sleeping through the night continues.  

My Little Ladybug

On another good note, I won a photo-shoot for my daughter and me for Mother’s Day! :)  I am so grateful for this opportunity because she has never had her pictures “professionally” taken and these pictures will mean so much to me. 


Hopefully I’ll get back into blogging again after the wedding.  I still have to finish writing my Matron of Honor speech and rehearse because I’m not all that great with speaking in front of a lot of people.  Wish me luck! 


So until next time, I’ll be living life so that I’ll have much to blog about later.  :)