Loving my Precious Rainbow

Do you ever just look at your baby and think there is no way you could love her more?  I have done that quite a few times today. I feel so blessed to be her mommy.  Even though she has been up since 6:30 and she she has refused to take much of a nap today, she is still my sweet girl.  We had some snuggle moments today that just melt my heart.  Sometimes she Smiles at me like I'm her whole world and she has no idea that she is mine too.  I remember those years of uncertainty wondering if we would ever be blessed with a take-home baby.

Right now, she is sharing my cup of water, going to get more water and bringing it back.  I guess she thinks I need to drink more water.  On the way to the fridge, she found her box graham crackers and brought me the whole box. I guess it's snack time again.

It's hard to imagine within the next few weeks, she will be a big sister.  The house has been a bustle of activity getting ready.  I've cleaning and trying to keep up on the laundry.  Freezer meals and freezer corn have been done, bassinet has been assembled, the play room, aka living room, has been cleaned and rearranged.  We are ready, if you ever can be truly ready.

I have no doubt she is going to be a great big sister.

Getting Ready and an Update

Ok, I haven't been a very good blogger lately.  I find sometimes it's easier just to post a status to Facebook then write out a whole blog post.  I apologize for my laziness.

Anne is 22 months old now and learning more everyday.  Her vocabulary has exploded lately and she will repeat almost anything you say.  We are starting to introduce Potty Training.  She did go one time on the potty and we cheered for her.  She will tell us if she is "dirty" but not until afterwards.  I guess she has to start somewhere.  Her favorite songs right now are No More Monkey Jumping on the Bed, 10 Little Buses, and the ABC's.  She loves her coloring activity kit and anything that is outside.  I don't what we are going to do this winter when we can't go outside much.  Her favorite toys continue to be her black bear and rainbow bear.  One or both of those bears come with us everywhere.

She is preparing to be a big sister.  I'm not sure that she fully understands yet what that means.  She has been very clingy to be this week so I think she has an idea that something is going to be changing.  I'm trying to give her extra love and attention because I know it will be a big transition for her having to share mommy.

Weight: 22lbs, 4 ozs (10%)
Height: 32 inches (25%)
Head: 18 inches (25%)

It's been a pretty productive weekend for Steve and I.  He had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off.  That is almost unheard of in the retail world.  It was great to have him home.  Friday, we babysat for a cute little 4 month old boy.  It was good big sister practice for Anne.  She did ok.  I made a check list of things that we still need to do before the baby comes.  I can't believe I'm Full Term, as of Saturday.  This pregnancy has gone by so fast, it seems.  I feel incredibly blessed to have this baby growing inside of me.

Clean, dust, and vacuum Anne's Room - Check
Clean, dust, and vacuum Living Room and Master Bedroom - Check
Clean dining room and mop floors - Check
Clean the kitchen, including dishes - Check (for the most part.  There are still some dished to do)

Wash and Fold a load of laundry - Check
Wash and Fold Anne's Diapers - Check (even though I had to dry them twice thanks to a rain storm)

Have tacos and celebrate rainbows with great friends - Check
Tag and drop off 5 totes of baby stuff for the Granger Children's Resale - Check
Install infant car seat - Check
Vacuum out Lexus - Check

Wow, I wonder if there was anything else that we got done between Friday and today.  Yikes.  We still have to put together the hospital bags and Anne's overnight bag for when she goes to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The bassinet is still at my parent's house too.  The swing is here already and I got our bouncer today.Baby needs to stay inside for a little bit longer.

Baby had it's 37 week appointment today.  Today, the baby measured at 38 weeks and had a nice strong heart beat.  This eases quite a bit of my anxiety since at the last two appointments, the baby was measuring 2 weeks behind.  Apparently, baby was just gearing up for a big growth spurt.  The OB said the baby is already "head down" but it facing up so she wants me to try to get him or her to turn over.  We are just waiting now.  It could be any day.  Anne was 6 days early and almost my entire labor was done at the hospital, so it will interesting to see what this baby does.


I realize that I haven't really done any maternity pictures yet for this baby.  I should probably get on that.

Hello Third Trimester

 Anne at 28 weeks and Rainbow #2 at 28 weeks.

How far along?: 28 weeks

How big is baby?:

Your baby's the size of a cauliflower!

He or she is about 16 inches and now about 2.5 pounds.

It seems so strange that we have 12 weeks or less left.  This pregnancy seems like it's gone by so fast.  I love when Anne pokes my belly and says, "baby."  I'm not sure she truly understands what's going to happen in a few months but she is, no doubt, going to be a great big sister.

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.

Precious Moments

This week's family sickness has reached the smallest member of the family. She was up every hour last night between 9pm and 2am. Poor girl couldn't breathe, she was so congested.  I finally got her to sleep for 2 hours sitting up in our recliner, then she joined us in bed and slept another two hours.

 These are the moments I treasure. Anne won't remember the time I filled the dishwasher or folded the laundry.  She doesn't care if bathroom needs cleaned or her playroom is messy.  She will remember the times she giggled together, snuggled and napped together.  I love her so much.  I am so blessed that I get to be her mommy.

One Year Update

 We celebrated Anne's birthday today.  We could not have asked for a more beautiful day.  Anne is so blessed to have so many amazing friends in her life.  My parent's house was just full of people that love Anne.  

Thank you to everyone who came.  I can't believe she is one year old.

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Weight: 17 lbs, 9 oz
Height: 27.5 inches

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Eating: She loves to eat.  There isn't many foods that we haven't fed her that she hasn't liked.  She prefers to feed herself over purees now.  She still nurses around the clock, getting up several times a night. 

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas, whole wheat cereal, guava, watermelon, pasta with sauce, meatballs, yogurt with any fruit, BBQ anything, kidney beans, eggplant, meatballs, bread, hot pretzels, hummus, cabbage, brussel sprouts, ice cream

Thumbs Down: oatmeal cereal, spinach, peaches, any pureed meats (but she will eat chicken right off the bone cut into pieces)

Sleeping: We are starting to some sleep training.  I started reading the book The No Cry Sleep Solution.  Hopefully, the book will give us some give tips to help her sleep better. 

At first, she just looked at the pretty cake. She wasn't sure what to do with it.  After her dad and Grandma showed her to taste it, she happily ate some.

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Milestones:
* She can say: dada, mama, mommy, uh oh, hug

* She can sign: more, all done

* She is growing and changing everyday.  She just loves to explore and learn new things.

* She is crawling and climbing everywhere and getting into everything.

*Anne has 7 teeth now. 

* Her favorite way to start her day is to hug her bears.

The party wore her out.  Sweet girl snuggled up with her dad and took a nap.

Happy Birthday Anne

It's 2am and you are probably wondering why I would want to be awake this early.  Actually, if you know my little girl, you might not be wondering since she loves to wake up in the middle of the night for fun.  Tonight though, I think she just wanted to reminisce.  Exactly one year ago, at about 2am, our little girl decided it was time to enter the world.  She had chose her birthday and needed to break her mommy's water to make it happen.

I have to say though that when my water broke, it was probably the most relaxed I had been the entire pregnancy.  I think it was because I knew that by the end of the day, I would likely be holding our rainbow baby.  Our two and half year journey to becoming parents would finally end with a baby in our arms. 

This last year has gone by so fast.  I just nursed her and rocked her back to sleep.  I am just as in love with her little face now as when I saw it for the first time.  We have such a fun day planned.

Our beautiful miracle turns one today.

Happy Birthday, Anne!

11 Month Update

Eleven months have passed since our beautiful baby entered the world.  The time has gone by so fast.  We are so blessed to have her in our lives.  Everyday, she gets more and more personality.

Milestones:

* She is growing and changing everyday.  She just loves to explore and learn new things.

* She is crawling everywhere and getting into everything.

*Anne has 6 teeth now.  Three on the bottom and 3 on top.  Number 7, I believe, is on the way.

* She started to really enjoy standing and cruising around the room on her walking toy.  It's fun to watch her learn these new skills.

*She can climb up steps now.  She hasn't mastered down yet though.

 

Let's go shopping, mom.

She is "walking" and climbing now.

 Queen of Peace Peace Fest -- Anne got to dunk Grandpa in the Dunk Tank.

 Anne introducing papa to her friends.

 She got to try her first Blueberry donut at the Blueberry Fest. -- Loved it!

We stopped by Ben's Pretzel in the mall.  She ate almost an entire Pretzel Stick by herself. -- Loved it.

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Weight: 16 lbs, 4 oz
Height: 26.5 inches

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Eating: She loves to eat.  There isn't many foods that we haven't fed her that she hasn't liked.  She prefers to feed herself over purees now.  She still nurses around the clock, getting up several times a night.  She loves to feed herself peas.  If we will her tray with various food, she will push the food out of the way and eat all the peas first then continue with the rest.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas, whole wheat cereal, guava, watermelon, pasta with sauce, meatballs, yogurt with any fruit, BBQ anything, kidney beans, eggplant, meatballs, bread, hot pretzels, hummus

Thumbs Down: oatmeal cereal, spinach, peaches, any pureed meats (but she will eat chicken right off the bone cut into pieces)

Sleeping: She still nurses around the clock, waking up every 3-4 hours during the night.  I hoping this habit breaks soon.  We are trying a sleep routine of diaper change, bedtime snack (usually nursing), then a bedtime story, then getting rocked to sleep.  This month has been rough.  She has started to not want to sleep without us present.

10 Month Update

Anne's new love is to open and close doors.  Because of this, Steve has installed safety locks on the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom.

 She loves to explore.  She first task each morning is to pull all her toys off the shelf and play with all of them.

 When ever possible, she wants to break out of her baby gate.  The park is her favorite place to go.

Chick Fila's Cow Appreciation Day

 

She loves to eat!

 
Her first 4-H fair.  The Elkhart County Fair is huge. She loved seeing all the animals.

At the Amish Acres Arts and Craft Festival, she saw her first puppet show.  She was just enthralled in the show.

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Weight: 16 lbs, 2 oz
Height: 26.5 inches

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Eating: She is still nursing around the clock.  She prefers to feed herself solid foods to getting fed purees.  We have breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner, then a bedtime snack.  This routine seems to working.  There haven't been many foods that we have had her try that she hasn't liked.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas, whole wheat cereal, guava, watermelon, pasta with sauce, meatballs, yogurt with any fruit, BBQ anything, kidney beans

Thumbs Down: oatmeal cereal, spinach, peaches, any pureed meats (but she will eat chicken right off the bone cut into pieces)

Sleeping: Not much has changed in the sleeping department.  She still nurses around the clock, waking up every 3-4 hours during the night.  I hoping this habit breaks soon.

Milestones:

           * She is growing and changing everyday.  She just loves to explore and learn new things.

* She is crawling everywhere and getting into everything.

* She can wave now.

* Her favorite word to say is "dada."  She babbles it all day to her toys and anyone who will listen.

*Anne has 5 teeth now.  Two on the bottom and 3 on top.

9 Months Update

Anne never ceases to amaze us. I absolutely love that I have the ability to stay home with her. She had her 9 month check up on Friday and she is perfectly healthy. We are so blessed to have a healthy, growing girl. She loves to eat but she wants to do it herself now. She fights me for the spoon if I try and feed her. She loves to use her fingers and feed herself. She will try just about everything we put in front of her. The doc OK'd tomatoes yesterday, so she go to try some pasta noodles with tomato sauce. She loves it.

She has learned this week how to clap, so now she claps and dances to her music.

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 Anne is crawling everywhere now.  She loves to pull her toys off the shelves and play with everything at once.  

Weight: 15 lbs, 15 ounces
Height: 26.5 inches

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Eating: She is still nursing around the clock.  We have started introducing solid different foods.  She is starting to prefer to eat whatever we are eating, instead of enjoying her purees.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas, whole wheat cereal, guava, watermelon, pasta with sauce, meatballs, yogurt with any fruit

Thumbs Down: oatmeal cereal, spinach, peaches, any pureed meats (but she will eat chicken right off the bone cut into pieces)

Sleeping: Not much has changed in the sleeping department.  She still nurses around the clock, waking up every 3-4 hours during the night.  I hoping this habit breaks soon.

Milestones:

*"Mama" and "Dada" are her favorite things to say.

* She can pull herself up to a standing position.  Because of this, we had to full lower her crib mattress and we have to watch her carefully so she doesn't fall.  She hasn't learned fear yet.  Sometimes, she struggles to get back down when she gets up.


* She is still a daddy's girl. She loves when Steve comes home from work and when we visit Sears during the day.

*She loves to go to the park, anywhere outside really.

          * She loves to pull her toys from the shelf and play with everything all at once.

*Anne has four teeth now.  Two on top and two on the bottom.  I think a few more are on the way soon.

 Aside from reading and playing with blocks, she spends her days crawling around, dancing and clapping, playing with friends including her cousin, Austin, and just enjoying life.  She is generally pretty happy kid.

8 Month Update

Anne is getting bigger before our eyes.  I just can't believe that she is 8 months old already.  It's gone by so fast.  Before long, she will be crawling, then walking, then everything will be an adventure for her.  This month, we celebrated Anne's first Mother's Day and Memorial Day.  It was a beautiful day.

She loves to explore everything.

 

 

 She enjoyed "helping" me and Grandma work in the garden.

 Anne has started to recognize when we are in Sears now.  As soon as we walk in, she starts to look around because she knows her papa is there somewhere.  Steve let Anne "drive" one of the new tractors.

 Anne's first Memorial Day parade.  She slept through most of it.

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Eating: She is still nursing around the clock.  We have started introducing solid foods.

So far:
Thumbs Up: sweet potatoes, green beans, applesauce, avocado, peas, squash, carrots, bananas, whole wheat cereal, guava, watermelon

Thumbs Down: oatmeal cereal, spinach, peaches, any meats

She is not yet a fan of meats.  I have tried mixing the chicken with sweet potatoes, which she loves, but she still doesn't want it.  I think it's the change in texture.


Sleeping: Not much has changed in the sleeping department.  She still nurses around the clock, waking up every 3-4 hours during the night.  I hoping this habit breaks soon.

Milestones:

* She is really getting the hang of rolling and turning to get the toys that she wants.

* She can ride in the front of the stroller now, like a big girl. 


* Her voice is a new "toy" to play with.  She isn't saying any words yet but she loves to make vocal sounds.

* Crawling may be right around the corner.  She has begun scooting with her knees but hasn't quite gotten the whole crawl in yet.

*Anne has two teeth on the bottom now.