May 2015 Fun

May has been a great month.

Our Anniversary
Steve and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on May 5th.  I feel so blessed to have spent the last 8 years married to this wonderful guy.  He is such a hard worker and an even better daddy.  We celebrated our anniversary with a night out by ourselves.  Anne had a wonderful time at a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's.  It was very nice to have a relaxing evening alone.  We went to a bed and breakfast in Syracuse, Indiana.  There wasn't much to do in Syracuse, so before picking up Anne we stopped and saw a movie, The Avengers.  The movie had its entertaining parts.  Personally, I thought it started out a little slow but by the end it was entertaining.

There was a jacuzzi tub right in the room.

Mother's Day
May 10th was Mother's Day.  Mother's Day can be a difficult day for some.  Whether, it's because of loss or infertility for some wonderful ladies the day is not filled with happiness and joy.  I understand this all too well.  I remember dreading the day, avoiding TV and news because everything was about Mother's Day.  Everything was a reminder of the lives we lost.  I know what's it's like to hate going to grocery store or the mall because there were babies and pregnant ladies everywhere.  I'm keenly aware that when I go out with Anne or even without Anne now I'm pregnant again that I may be bringing pain to someone without even meaning to.  That makes Mother's Day all the more special to me.  God has blessed us with two beautiful angels that we will forever be connected to, one little girl that we hold in our arms, and another I hold inside.

Mother’s Day is a celebration of ALL mothers, whether you hold your children in your arms, you hold your children in your hearts because God holds them in Heaven, or you hold them inside expecting them this year.

Our family made a reservation for lunch at Legends at Notre Dame.  It's becoming somewhat of a tradition, I think.  We came here last year too.  The food and atmosphere are very good.  Afterwards, the family enjoys walking around the Notre Dame campus but it was rainy.  I love being a mom to my sweet Anne.  On Mother's Day, I was 23 weeks with our second miracle.  We very much look forward to the arrival of our second rainbow in September.

Of course, I would be wrong to not honor my own mom.  I have learned so much from my mom about being a mom.  I hope that someday I am as good of a mom as she is.  I am extremely blessed that she is able to watch Anne while I work.  It feels good to know that I don't have to worry about her care when I'm away from her.

Memorial Day Weekend
This weekend, Steve's mom visited town on Sunday and since South Bend was celebrated its 150th Anniversary we joined in the festivities.  After lunch, we headed to downtown.  I thought is was actually quite well done.  The entire kid's area was free.  I love free fun.  

On Monday, my parents had their annual Memorial Day picnic. So after the parade, Anne and I worked on making some deviled eggs, which my dad helped me finish at their house.  It rained for about 20 minutes during the parade but turned out to be a beautiful day.

 Anne coloring her "Panda Mask" at the festival.

 She tried her hand at a bouncy slide with her Sister-in-Law, Julieanne and her cousin, Jacob.

 Papa shared his chocolate ice cream cone with me. ~ Anne

 Watching the parade with Grandma.  "Look, there's a doggy." ~Anne

 Anne using Grandma's hat to stay dry in the rain.

 

18 Month Update

Anne had her 18 month well-baby check up today. She will actually be 19 months next week, but this is the time when we get an appointment scheduled.  She has grown so much since the last update.  It seems like she gets bigger and smarter every day.  We just love her so much.

She has had a lingering cough and cold this week.  The poor girl was so miserable.  The doctor checked her out and said everything looks and sounds good, but one of her ears was a little red so he prescribed some medicine for her.

She loves to 'read' books. This is her 'reading' with her friend, Lily. 
After the took all the cushions off the couch, of course.

Weight: 21.6 lbs (10%)
Height: 31 inches (25%)
Head: 18 inches (25%)

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TEETH: 12 but another upper canine is on the way in.

WALKING: She is learning how to run.  She loves to climb everywhere.

WORDS: She is learning more new words all the time.  Her favorite word right now appears to be "Shoe."
Sometimes she will just babble away and we have no idea what she is saying and other times she is perfectly clear.

Words she can say:  Mommy, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa, Austin, Shoe, Strawberries (sounds like 'Aubreys'), More (sounds like 'My'), "Oh Wow", "Uh, Oh", Up, Down, No, "All done", Birdies, ball, bear, Monkey

SIGN LANGUAGE:  Thank you, More, Please, Birds, Elephant, Mommy, All done, banana


BEDTIME: Bedtime is generally around 9pm. We are still working on teaching her to sleep through the night.  She will usually sleep until midnight or 1am in her crib before waking up and spending the rest of the night in our bed.  Hopefully, when she is over this cold and congestion we can work on sleeping longer again.

FAVORITE FOODS:  She could eat her weight in strawberries.  She loves anything with pasta especially with Grandma's homemade sauce.  Vegetables and fruits are still a favorite food. She tried a pickle today. She was not a fan. I wish I would have taken a picture of the face she made.  It was priceless.

 Anne is so happy that she cold and snow are gone.  She loves to be outside. She would spend every waking moment playing outside if we let her.  She imitates everything we do, which is really fun.  She 'feeds' her toys and rocks them to sleep, just like her mama and papa do for her.

God's Unexpected Blessings

I had a very humbling thing happen today. I was out grocery shopping with Anne. She was acting pretty good considering she wasn't feeling good.  After getting all our food, we were standing in the checkout.  The lady standing behind us only had a few things, so I asked her if she wanted to go ahead of us. At first, she said, "no" because I had a little one but I insisted. I had a WIC voucher and I know those can sometimes take extra time.

I didn't expect what would happen next. When I got to the cashier,she said the lady in front of me insisted that she give me her change.  The cashier actually said, "I guess there are good people in the world."  Wow. I was shocked. I told the cashier to save it for someone more in need but the cashier said the lady made her promise to give it to me.

I wish Anne was old enough to understand the kindness that was showed to us.  I didn't count it until I had met Steve for dinner at Sears. I figured it was just a few dollars.  It was $83 and change.

I definitely plan to pay it forward.