Girl Loves Her Bath + Major Milestone

And now, drumroll please, guess who slept through the night for the first time last night?!?!!? ANNIE (and Mama, finally)!!!!! 10pm - 6am. WOOHOO!!!!!!! I wonder how long it will be before she does it again? :D

Annie: Three Months

I know I say it over and over, but Annie is growing so fast! This month she has learned to tolerate tummy time and loves to practice sitting and standing. She has started napping in her crib, but is still sleeping in our room at night. She is showing lots of interest in her toys now, and especially likes ones with rattles or bells. She has fun looking at herself in a mirror, and enjoys being out of the house and having new people and places to look at. She is starting to express a definite preference for Mama and Daddy, but will go to others fairly willingly, as long as she is not being held like a baby! She likes to be up on your shoulder or in a front carry, where she can see what's going on in the world. She still loves her bathtime and likes to be outside when it is not too hot. She is wearing size 1 diapers and size 0-3 month clothes, but she's almost outgrown them. She'll be up to 3-6 months in another couple of weeks, I think. She weighs about 11 pounds now.

Annie's typical day looks like this: Wake up around 4am and 7am to nurse, then goes back to sleep till 9am. Nurses, plays, helps Mama around the house, nurses again, goes down for a nap around 11am and sleeps about two hours. Nurses, plays some more, maybe run some errands with Mama, nurses again, goes down for a nap around 2:30pm and sleeps for an hour or two. Wakes up, nurses, plays, helps Mama with dinner. Sits at the table with the grown-ups while they eat. Playtime and bathtime with Daddy, nurses, and goes to bed around 8pm.

Our three month essentials are:
toys that make noise
sleep sack
Rainforest bouncer

Househunting #2

The Gent and Annie and I looked at our two favorite houses on Monday, and we are putting in an offer on the cute and affordable bungalow today! We'll see how it goes. Unfortunately the owners are underwater on their mortgage and they want more for the house than it is worth. We're not sure if they are willing to be realistic about the true value of the house. For now we're waiting to see what happens, so fun!

My Jenn Girl

This weekend one of my best friends came for a long overdue visit. Jenn and I have been friends for a decade now, through sweet sixteen birthday parties, college road trips, the Gent and my first date, weddings, dogs, music, and so much more. I'm so glad she got a chance to come love on my sweet baby girl!

Picture Post

Lots of pictures today, finally got around to uploading them. :)

Annie and her Daddy






Playing in the nursery




Can't resist those baby feet!


Annie and her Mama




Annie and her Honey


People just can't resist those sweet baby cheeks!


Annie watching the live version of "Rock Me Mama" with Poppa. She was fascinated.


The Gent and I dressed up for our anniversary dinner out


Mama Rita and Papa Gene babysat, thank you!

Four Years Ago Today . . .

. . . I married my first love. And I'm still so glad I did. :)







(photos by Tina Rowden)

P.S. We look so young! And tan! And thin! And happy! Still happy, not sure about the rest, ha!

Househunting

Annie and I have been househunting the past two days. This will be the fifth move for the Gent and me, (and our fourth wedding anniversary is Thursday) so we are hoping to stay put for a while after this. Annie and I looked at 17 houses. We narrowed down our target neighborhoods to two and found a house we love in each. Do we go with the cute and affordable bungalow with the fabulous yard and put up with the smaller rooms and the layout quirks (for example, one bedroom is accessed through the master bedroom - nice for a nursery but not so nice when babies grow up), or the beautiful craftsman house with tons of space and a sticker price at the top end of what we can afford? Ahhhhh!!! I think I need to pull a Rory Gilmore and make a pro-con list . . .

P.S. Pictures of Annie coming later this week, I promise. Just want to give you a reason to keep reading. :)

Church Nursery: I'm That Mom

Today was Annie's first Sunday in the church nursery. The Gent took her while I was finishing up worship team practice. Ten minutes later we were finished rehearsing, so off I went to the nursery to nurse. Annie seemed fine when I left, thinking I would make it to the second half of Sunday School.

Well, turns out class was cancelled because our teacher was out of town. So I went back down to the library to browse until service. The library is right next to the nursery, though, and I could hear a baby--my baby--crying. I waited about three minutes and then went back to check on her. Annie was not a happy camper and the woman holding her didn't look too happy, either. So I stayed for a few minutes and calmed her down, then went to service.

At first I kept glancing at the "mommy we need you" board for Annie's number to flash up, but it didn't and I got engrossed in the sermon. I actually had the nerve to think I might listen to my first complete sermon since Annie's birth (my journal is filled with half-completed sermon notes). With about 10 minutes left in the service I felt a tap on my shoulder. Oops, I hadn't been paying attention to the number board, and sure enough Annie's number was up.

It took me all of two minutes to calm down a frazzled Annie (I'm not going to lie, it makes me happy and warms my mama heart to know that she recognizes me and prefers me to just about everybody else. She is happy with Daddy almost always, but I'm the one with the goods ;) so I always win if it really comes down to it. God gave mommies the ultimate trump card, ha!). Then we chatted with the nursery volunteers till the end of service, packed up and came home, where Annie nursed and then fell asleep for THREE hours. My baby does not like being off her routine one little bit! Reminds me of someone else I know . . . ME!

Sigh. I guess we will have to try this again next week. Or spend the next three years of Sundays in the cry room, watching the service through glass.

Yep, after all my years of volunteering to do nursery duty, I recognize myself as that Mom who just can't stay away from her baby!

P.S. But I have left Annie with a very trusted babysitter three times already! Honey kept her once for the Gent and I to go to dinner, and a sweet and generous friend from church has watched her twice - once for me to go to the doctor and once for the Gent and I to go to the symphony.

Jillian Update

I did three weeks of Jillian. Hated it but it was definitely slimming me down. Unfortunately, I started back to heavy exercise a bit too soon. I thought my tear was completely healed but I guess it wasn’t quite, and after a phone call to the nurse was told to hold off on exercise for a bit longer. So for now I am having to rely on diet alone to lose weight and it is a SLOW PROCESS because you really can’t cut too many calories while breastfeeding. And after all that Annie and I went through to get to this wonderful place of breastfeeding success, I’m not about to sabotage it. I am losing a half pound a week – 12.5 pounds to go, OY. But I am able to fit back into some of my clothes, so at least I am seeing progress. A few people have told me they can’t believe I’ve lost all the baby weight yet. I just smile and say thanks. And several people have told me I look great. They may all be lying, but I’ll take the compliments! And hope that in a couple more weeks I can get back to Jillian’s crazy work outs and lose the remaining 12.5 pounds!

Tummy Time/Meal Time/Name Game Winner

We have to keep finding new places to do tummy time. Lately Annie's been tolerating it on top of the changing table.



Last week I cooked my first full meal since Annie's birth. I had fully stocked the freezer before she was born, and we had friends bring us meals, too. But last week I pulled the last casserole out and then it was time to get back to cooking. I kept it simple: chicken breast, zucchini, and my favorite garlic smashed new-potatoes.



Here is Annie hanging out with us at the table. It is a little blurry cause she wouldn't stop wiggling!



And I realized I never published the results of the Baby Name Game!

Here were the closest entries on the blog:
Honey: Anna, 2/25, 7lbs 2 oz
Samantha: Anna, 2/17, 8 lbs 4 oz
Papaw: Ann, 2/25, 7lbs 2oz
Uncle Mike: Anna, 2/25, 6 lbs 8 oz

We also played guessing games at two of our showers:
Aunt Yaya guessed Annie!
Papaw guessed Annie!
Papa Gene guessed Jane Anne
Bostics guessed Laura Kathryn
Willifords guessed Kathryn Robin

And the Gent's co-workers took a try at it, too:
Ruth guessed Katie, 2/25, 8 lbs 3 oz

I believe overall Papaw is the clear winner. He got the name and was only off by one day and 2 oz. Congratulations, Papaw!!! Your prize is having your picture published below. :D



Nana and Papaw came for a visit yesterday, we had a great time!

Mother's Day

Annie and the Gent sent me these gorgeous tulips (my favorite spring flowers) on Friday! On Sunday I got cards from both and a subscription to Southern Living. Now I won't have to keep borrowing Mom's. We spent the weekend at Honey and Poppa's house. It was Annie's first trip there and she had so much fun! She had a beautiful crib all set up for her, along with a changing station, towels, blankets, books, and anything else a baby could need! All four of her grandparents are spoiling her but I don't think she minds. ;) We also got to visit with Aunt Tessie and Uncle Tyler and Uncle T's dog, Charlie, a very adorable bulldog.

Siblings

Most days I wear this necklace (Lisa Leonard Designs - love her jewelry!). On one side it says "Faithful" and on the other side it says "Noel Christian." I wear it close to my heart, as a gentle reminder of Noel's life and of the Lord's faithfulness in all circumstances.

Annie loves to wrap her little fingers around it as she nurses.

Oh, my heart.

I wonder what sort of relationship these two will have? I don't plan to keep Noel a "secret" from Annie, but I don't want her to dwell too much on it, either. Perhaps Noel will be the way to introduce Annie to the idea of heaven, the concept of death and life eternal with our Savior.

Noel will always be my first, though not my firstborn. Such a strange dichotomy. Noel was my first baby, the baby who made me a mom in my heart. And Annie my precious daughter, who made me a mom here on earth. Noel taught me faith, and Annie hope.

He makes all things new.

Two Month Check-Up

Annie went to the doctor today for her well baby visit. She is 22 3/4 inches long and 9 lbs 7 1/2 oz. She is still on track for the 75% percentile in length and 25% for weight. Maybe she'll be tall and thin when she grows up, lucky girl. ;) She made it through her immunizations okay - I think it was worse for Mama than it was for her! Dr. F is very impressed with how strong Annie is. She has great head control, rolls over, and when you pull her from lying on her back to a sitting position she holds her head upright. Dr. F says babies usually can't do that till four months, so way to go, Annie! My strong and feisty little peanut!

Road Trip!

Last weekend we took Annie on her first trip to Bebe and Papa Rick's house. She did great in the car and we had fun spending time with family. Annie was loved on by lots of new people!

Papa Rick


Bebe


Uncle Andrew


Aunt Katrina


Granny


Aunt Marsha (who tells us she loves watching Annie's adventures via blog!)


Aunt Sandra


Aunt Heather


Paul


Annie's very own nursery, complete with comfortable rocking chair, pale pink walls, ladybug bedding, and a changing table stocked with Luvs diapers, blankets, towels, and anything else she could possibly need. :)


Tummy time!