Waiting for the Winter to End . . .

Hey all, I don't have a ton of time to post because I'm dealing with a very sick kid and husband. Life's been really busy and fairly stressful lately, but here are some fun pictures I've been wanting to post!

She NEVER falls asleep on us anymore. Here's proof from last week that she was getting sick . . . cause she totally conked out on Brant!

Awww!! I just wish she would be this cuddly all the time!


Her new thing is standing up in her playpen. Now that she's realized she can do it, that's all she does. And she's not happy just sitting anymore. :)



I made a yummy chicken pot-pie!! (haha , I was proud)

Sunny Day, Sweeping the Clouds Away . . .

Hey everyone! Wow, we've been having some fun times lately. The last few weeks have been busy! Annie is becoming more active and aware of what the world has to offer. And she's loving it! We are too! It's still bitter cold here, and it's snowed and iced quite a bit. But we're keeping rather warm and finding all kinds of indoor projects to work on. :)

One Saturday morning Annie woke up pretty early. While Brant was sleeping we hung out on the floor of her bedroom and played. :)

Pretty girl

Sunday mornings can get kind of tiring. We don't have church til 1, so Brant was reading a parenting book to Annie to bide the time. Not terribly exciting . . .

All dressed up and ready for church!

Annie has discovered the world of books. Yay! She really gets excited whenever she sees something rectangular that opens up. Brant was reading Moby Dick for school, and she wanted to prove to us that there isn't any book she's not willing to try! :)

Family time

On a REALLY cold Saturday, we went to the State Museum of Pennsylvania. It's a really fun place! The first time we went was right after Annie was born. She slept the whole time in her stroller. But this time she was wide awake the whole time, and we had a blast exploring the museum. Their current art exhibit is of the murals Roosevelt commisioned to be painted in post offices across the country to stimulate the economy during the New Deal. They were pretty neat.

In the automobile room

Civil War mural


This is the book Annie likes the most. And "M" is her favorite. She really does get the most excited when I open it up to the "M" page--and there's a big glass of milk to look at!

Today we bought a doorway jumper! I finally found one at a consignment shop north of Harrisburg. Annie LOVES it, and it's so much fun to watch her. She's been wanting to be able to move like this on her own since day one. I bet she's so happy to finally be able to do it.


Brant's way of doing cruches

Here are some videos! Sorry they're all so dark. Most of the cute stuff Annie does happens when Brant's home (i.e. at night, and it's wintertime and dark a lot).

Annie shrieking in her funny way--for the first minute of the video she's blowing raspberries with her hand in her mouth, and then she starts singing :)


Annie giggles all the time now. I love it!


Playing on the sofa:


Annie in her jumper--I found there's something very exhilarating and hilarious about watching your baby move on her own, without you doing anything. That's why I'm laughing so much in the video, I guess!


My brother flew in to DC last weekend, and my mom, Annie, and I drove down to meet him and Caroline for lunch. We spent a great afternoon in beautiful Georgetown, and it was actually sort of warm outside! It was a wonderful day.

This weekend is supposed to be nice too. It may rain, but Brant and I are thinking of doing something really fun tomorrow! I'm not sure what we'll do yet . . .

ALSO! I found out that JP is coming to visit me here in Pennsylvania next month! I'm so excited! I don't know how I'll wait. I'm already planning a bunch of fun things to do with her.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

First Born

I stole this from Brianne's blog--I thought it was such a fun idea! :)

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born!

Let's see how much you remember!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? nope

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? I was really happy. Even though it was a surprise, I wasn't nervous. I felt really calm and assured that it would all work out. And I was super excited!

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Absolutely not.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 23

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? Brant was the one who suspected it, and he kept bugging me to take a pregnancy test. I told him we had to wait until the end of the week. We went out to eat, and then I stopped by Rite Aid on the way home and bought a test. It was absolutely positive. There was no guessing needed!

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Brant . . . well he was there when I found out.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Nope!

9. DUE DATE? September 8, 2008

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Oh, morning, afternoon, and night sickness. And everything in between. I was miserably nauseated for a good four and a half months.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Nothing, really. There wasn't any food that sounded good. Everything just made me want to throw up. But once I was past feeling sick all the time . . . it was funny because I didn't crave even the stuff I would crave normally when I wasn't pregnant.

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? being cold, feeling sick, my hips getting wider!

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? girl

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? no, but I was sooo sure we were having a boy!

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 46, baby!

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Yes

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? 2 were surprises, 1 was planned



18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Yeah, the baby was breech

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Harrisburg Hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? none

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Brant


22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Brant, and a ton of doctors and nurses

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? C-section

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? haha, of course--they gave me a spinal block

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 6lbs 15oz

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? September 2, 2008

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Annie Josephine!