Like Sands Through the Hourglass. . .

It's Been a While...

2012-01-18T13:17:00.005-06:00

A really loooong time! So, here are some pictures to catch you up! Christmas was the best and Annie turned 4! I can't believe it! It really seems like we started this blog last week when Annie was just a few days old! If anyone figures out how to make time stop and keep your children little forever please let me know! Enjoy!

Christmas Parade 2011

Christmas in Kentucky

Rapunzel Tower!!!

Love them!

Silly girl!

Santa came!

We LOVED her reaction! She was thrilled!

Barbie Dreamhouses!!

Annie's Birthday at the cabin!

Birthday and New Year's 2011!

Friends having fun!

Silly, loud, giggly girls!

Best cousins!

Sweet friends came to share her special day!

Make a wish!

She got way too much! She is a

lucky girl to be loved by so many!

Matching American Girl outfits!

Tiny Dancer

2011-07-13T09:30:00.007-05:00

Annie started dance class last week and she is super excited! It is a combo class that includes ballet, tap and tumbling. She has the cutest little ballet and tap shoes! They are just learning the basics and having fun right now. Annie seems to be doing great! In all the pictures she is doing almost exactly what Ms. Ashley is doing! The girl has rhythm! She obviously got it from her Daddy because if you've ever seen me dance it is not a pretty sight!

Here are a couple of pictures from her first night. Parents only got to go in for about 15 minutes to watch and take pictures. They do tap the first thirty minutes and ballet the next thirty minutes so the pictures are all tap pictures. She is a super cute ballerina too!

Learning to tap with her heels and toes!

A cute little stance!

Checking herself out in the mirror!

Our Sweet Biscuit

2011-06-27T09:09:00.007-05:00

Our sweet girl is no longer here with us. She is running around the green grass in Heaven. We miss her so much and were very sad to say goodbye to her.

Mitch and I got Biscuit a few months after we got married and she was only six weeks old. She was the cutest thing I had ever seen! She was our little baby. I can still remember when she lost her first tooth! I remember because I was so scared, I had no idea dogs lost baby teeth too!

We have so many great memories with Biscuit. She was very lovable, sweet and often mischievous! She always wanted to shake your hand and be right by your side. She was such a fast learner and had many talents. One of her favorite things to do was to catch the frisbee. She would catch it almost every time Mitch threw it! She had a little trouble when I threw it but that was mostly my fault! She always tried though! She loved Annie and would sit right outside her door when she was a baby. Annie loved her dearly and she was the perfect pet and friend to her!

I believe the old saying "All dogs go to Heaven" and know she will be wagging her tail and greet us with a big kiss one day!

She always loved to tear into her Christmas present!

She also enjoyed a good nap every now and then!

Apparently I woke her while taking the picture!

She always gave this look if her sleep was interrupted.

Like, "Excuse me, can I help you?".

A playful stinker from the start!

One of my favorites! :)

This is a picture I took about a month ago. I didn't even know it was on

the camera until I downloaded the pictures. We would sit in Mitch's

truck bed and watch Annie ride and play in the cul-de-sac.

Love you sweet girl! xo

Spring 2011

2011-05-04T09:26:00.007-05:00

We have been busy and enjoying Spring! We have been playing outside and trying to enjoy some pretty weather before the cicadas come! Ugh, not excited about them at all! I don't see myself playing outside unless I am forced to do so. For instance, at work I will be forced to go outside and "play" while the cicadas scare my 3 year olds and I to death! Thanks to the TN State Laws! Did I mention that I am NOT excited about the cicadas?!?! Oh well, here are some pictures of my sweet girl enjoying Spring and some Easter festivities!

We went to KY for Easter because Mitch's brother and family were stopping in on their very long drive from South Carolina to Colorado! I really don't know how they survived 3 days driving with a 1 year old, a 3 year old and a 5 year old! Oh, and a 15 year old dog! Wow! It was really good to see them and spend a holiday with them though!

This was Annie discovering that the Easter Bunny had stopped

by our house and left her a basket while we were out of town!

She was a little excited!

Tearing into it!

Mmmm...chocolate!

What pretty 3 year old girl

doesn't love a monster truck! Annie

actually requested this!

Dora socks!

She literally made this face at

every item she pulled out of the

basket! I love it!

Easter Egg Hunt!

Liam, Annie and Luke! Cuties!

Annie has been doing chores around the house and earned

money to purchase a new bike! I am so proud of her! Once

she saw this one there was no doubt she was

getting it! It came with streamers, a bell, and a

baby seat on the back! The loaded Huffy! We were

very proud of her for working and earning her money!

She had to dress like Princess Kate!

All natural beauty! I'm jealous!

Very Springy!

Watch out! When these 2 are together there is

no telling what could happen!

Oops..we forgot the vinegar!

2011-04-20T10:55:00.007-05:00

Last night we pulled out the Easter Egg Dye Kit that we bought at Target the other day and decided to make some pretty eggs! We boiled and cooled them and then began to dissolve the tablets in the water. As Mitch was reading the directions he said "Do we have any distilled vinegar?". Hmmm...."I don't think so, do we need it?". "Only if we want bright eggs" he said. We thought no problem, we'll just have pastels! Well, turns out the only colors that work without the vinegar are the pink and purple! Good thing we have a girl! ;)

So excited to dye some eggs!

Watching the color tablets dissolve. I was pretty sure she

was going to be purple before this was over!
"BLUE"!!!!!
Making the holders with Daddy!
"Where is my egg? I can't see it!"
Carefully dropping the eggs in!
Time to decorate!
Our finished product!

The Greatest Show on Earth!!

2011-04-04T14:06:00.006-05:00

A few weeks ago we went to the circus with some friends in Bowling Green. We were lucky and got box seats at a discounted rate. It was nice because the kids didn't have to sit still in their sit the whole time, they could run around and be silly!

I have to admit that I wasn't really looking forward to the circus. I remembered going as a child and it was fun but, it didn't really sound too thrilling to me at this age! Mitch wasn't thrilled either but, we knew Annie would love it! It turns out we were wrong!! We all three enjoyed it!! They had the elephants, lions, and other animal shows that they kids thought were fun AND they had magic shows that really left us adults wondering "How in the world did they do that?"!! It was such a fun experience and I'm sure we will do it all over again in a couple of years!

She Works Hard for the Money

2011-02-21T09:50:00.004-06:00

Last year Mitch and I opened Annie's college savings account. Annie has been saving some of her own money to put into her account for "when I go to college" she says. She loves when we go to the bank because our friendly drive-thru teller, Jessica, always gives her 2 suckers! And although Annie doesn't like suckers for more than 10 seconds she still gets SO excited every time! She and Jessica are best buds! Annie was really excited last week when we counted up some of her money to take to the bank! We counted $50 worth of quarters and some dollars that she has either earned or were given to her by grandparents. She held her head high and was so proud of herself as she carried her bag of money into the bank! Jessica was almost as excited as Annie to see her inside the bank! Here is my proud girl with her loot!

Dashing through the snow...

2010-12-13T10:26:00.005-06:00

Things Annie Says

2010-12-08T09:23:00.002-06:00

Annie has been saying some cute things lately and I have to write them down before I forget.

The other day she picked up a Fancy Nancy book and said "This is my favorite book, Fancy Fancy!". So cute! Then, she began to read it and said "Once uponce a time".

Yesterday she came home from school and Mitch asked her what she did at school she said, "I pway superheros". We thought this was funny because we have never even talked about superheros. Then he said "What superhero were you?" she replied "BATMAN!". Later when I asked her how she learned about Batman she said "Ben!" with a big smile on her face! We haven't heard her talk about Ben as much this year but apparently the spark is still there!

Before bed last night she leaned toward me with her hand cupped to her mouth and said "Can I tell you a secret?". I said sure and she leaned in and said "Mrs. Heidi (her teacher) said warm it up ships!". I had no clue what she was talking about. When went upstairs and I had her tell Mitch and he could not figure it out either! She probably said it twenty times and we guessed every imaginable thing we thought it could be but, she kept saying "No, warm it up ships!". Finally, we gave up and I went to put her to bed. I asked one more time and said "what were you doing when she said that?". Annie replied "Shakin' my booty!"! Then I said "did she say 'warm up those hips?". She said "Yes, warm up those hips!". :)

The Flu

2010-12-04T13:42:00.003-06:00

My sweet little Annie girl has the flu! Yes, I am that Mom that cancelled her flu shot appointment and completely forgot to reschedule and now my child has the flu! On the up side, Annie has been in the best mood! Besides her cough, which is getting much better, you wouldn't even know she is sick! She is a trooper! Mitch and I actually joked last night about keeping her on Tamiflu on a regular basis! ;) We have watched the Polar Express 2 1/2 times this weekend and I think tonight we are going to ride in the car to look at the lights on 109 in Lebanon. We are trying to stay in and away from others so we don't infect them. We are making the best of this situation and still having a great weekend!

Anything but shy

2010-11-27T11:54:00.004-06:00

Annie has always been really talkative at home, I mean REALLY talkative. To the point where you sometimes tune it out and then occasionally say "cool" or "yeah" and nod your head like you are completely involved in the conversation but you really have no idea what is going on. In public though she tends to be pretty shy. In the past few days she has done a complete 180. This weekend she walked up to complete strangers and said "I'm Annie. What's your name?". Then the person normally asks how old she is and she says, "I'm 2(while holding up 2 1/2 fingers) almost three(then the rest of the third finger comes up). She just randomly has conversations with people! Last night while Mitch was trying on shoes she played basketball with the sales associate at Dick's for about 15 minutes. Then the proceeded to play hide and seek and soccer! Needless to say, she is becoming a social butterfly!

I'm Minnie!

2010-11-10T09:19:00.003-06:00

A trip to the pumpkin patch!

2010-10-20T09:39:00.005-05:00

Fall is one of my favorite times of the year! And it is not complete without a trip to the pumpkin patch! We went to Bottomview Farms again this year because they have fun activities for the kids and it doesn't feel commercialized like some of the others. I think the sweet little lady that takes your money at the entrance is the owner!

**Side note: I just realized I put these pictures in reverse order! Oops!

This slide was really fun! We both took

a turn taking Annie down it.

I kinda wanted to

try it by myself!

The corn hut

Annie truly loves any type of farm animal!

Examining her pumpkin

The search begins!

We went the 3rd weekend and

they still had a ton of pumpkins-big and little!

So excited and ready to go!

Atlanta Getaway!

2010-09-15T14:18:00.018-05:00

We took a trip to Atlanta for a few days to go the the Georgia Aquarium. I think it is the biggest or one of the biggest aquariums in the U.S. It was really cool and worth the short drive. If you have kids it is definitely a must see!

We also visited the Atlanta Zoo since we got 1/2 off for being members at the Nashville Zoo. Annie loves the animals and they had more exhibits than the one here so it made it fun! We even saw a baby, like tiny baby, gorilla! SO cute! There were a ton of pics from this trip and it was taking for ever to upload so, here are a few!

Yes, she is still obsessed with goats!

In this picture the zoo keeper was telling her she could climb up there

and sit with the goat. I'm really glad she chose not to do that!

She LOVED the pool! She also did great with her

swimmies and was kicking all over the place!

She was the cannonball queen! In and out, jumping
over and over and over...

We also did a lot, I mean a lot, of eating on this trip!

That's what you do on vacation right? Well, that's what

I'm telling myself anyway!

The brownie sundae was a hit!

We ate a Japanese restaurant, YUM! It was very traditional.

We sat down in the floor and had to leave our shoes outside

the room. Annie thought it was so fun to eat barefoot!

We also ate at the Varsity which is like an

old school drive-in and indoor restaurant.

We had breakfast at this little diner. Annie snacked on some

butter while waiting for her pancakes!

Yes, I said butter, please don't judge me!

These are some beluga whales at the aquarium. They were

so pretty. Like a mix between a dolphin and a whale.

They had 2 giant whale sharks. They were at least 20 ft long, maybe more. We were there at the perfect time because we were able to see them at feeding time. The workers got in this little raft and the whale sharks followed them around and ate. The whale sharks were twice the length of the raft, scary!!

This manta ray was beautiful! It was huge too! I was doing flips

and rolls in the water the entire time. It was so graceful! In this shot he came right up to the glass and it was amazing!

Annie with the whale skeleton! Eww!

She had a blast!

An albino alligator. These are found in the Mississippi River!

Note to self- stay away from the Miss. River!

Right after leaving the aquarium!

30 seconds later! Literally!!

Asleep in the car but, still has a death grip on the lollipop!

Bikini babe!

This is what vacation is all about!

On the way home we stopped in Chattanooga and visited Ruby Falls.

We got into an elevator that took us 26 floors(in about 10 seconds) below

ground and took a tour through the cave into the falls. It was really beautiful and even Annie enjoyed it!

Typical Mitch!

Little Preschooler!

2010-08-18T13:37:00.003-05:00

Annie started back to school and she is so happy to be back! She loves talking about all of her friends and especially Ben, her boyfriend! At any mention of school the name Ben comes up multiple times!
Since she is in the 2 year old class this year they go to music class one day and library the other day! She is so excited to tell us about her day! Her teacher said she is awesome! And, she whispered it while other parents were standing around. That's how I know she's telling the truth! She would have said it loud if she was going to tell every parent that! It was a proud Mommy moment!

2010-07-30T14:10:00.008-05:00

July was a pretty busy month and I didn't make any posts at all! Here are just a few pics from July- enjoy! :)

Mom decided since it was so hot outside we would take a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. The girls had a blast and I have to admit it was actually a pretty good trip considering it was CEC! We went early one morning and it wasn't too busy which was nice because you could easily spot the girls!

Morning and Annie playing air hockey! They are such cheaters!

They both slid it and stopped it with their hands.

Rules or no rules, they had fun!

Poor MaeLing! When will they learn?

MaeLing really wasn't choking Annie. She was just doing what we told

her, "Hold onto Annie so we can get a picture!". Annie was ready to play!

One word- Trouble!

She used the majority of her tokens on the carousel!

Annie petting Elvis at the Christmas in July boat parade!

I love this face!

Being silly during a picture with MeMomma and G Daddy!

Woo-hoo! New Barbie Jeep!

She likes to sit and dance to the radio rather than driving!

Fourth of July grill out at Papa and Nana's house!

Nana and Annie on the fourth!

Little Swimmer!

2010-06-28T13:53:00.010-05:00

Annie is loving summer and all things water related, especially swimming! We've been to the fountains at the Streets of Indian Lake a couple of times and she has had a blast! We have to lure her out with promises of ice cream and special treats! Last week it was a trip to Maggie Moo's, which we all enjoyed! Annie has been getting in Nana and Papa's pool almost everyday that she is there and absolutely loves it! We get in our pool on the weekends and have so much fun! She is learning to float, doggie paddle and attempts to swim, which is funny to watch in a backyard blow-up pool! Check her out in these pictures!

Annie and Mitch on Father's Day! I

loved this one because she was smiling at him!

Annie and Mames at Nana and Papa's

on Father's Day!

Here goes Morgan!

Uh-oh! Here they go!!

They love it!

Annie says "Watch me, face first!"

She makes a big splash, wipes her face off and

does it all over again!

Little cutie! I'm jealous of her tan!

Love that face- "okay, take my picture already!"

Summer School Crush!

2010-06-23T14:03:00.002-05:00

This was Annie's first week of her MDO summer session. We started talking about going back to school last week to try and prepare her a little bit just in case she was hesitant. At the first mention of "school" Annie's first response was "Ben!" with a a cheesy grin and thrill of excitement in her voice. After that she mentioned "Allie and Harper" too but, they were obviously not as important as Ben! Annie had a crush on Ben in the spring and was always talking about him, apparently she still does! We were hoping Ben was going to be there since that was all she talked about. I had to work so my sister took her on Tuesday and she wasn't sure if she saw Ben in her class or not. So, we went straight to the source and asked Annie. My Mom asked Annie what color hair Ben has and she answered "brown", which is correct! Then she went on to tell Nana that Ben has blue eyes! Oh my goodness! She also told Mitch the same thing that night! We are not sure what Ben's feelings about Annie are but, another little boy in her class, Caden, was always talking about Annie to his Mom! I guess that's how it goes though! Who would have thought my sweet, baby girl would have her first crush at 2!!

Sweet Summertime!

2010-06-16T13:02:00.005-05:00

Here are just a few pics from the beginning of our summer. I'll post more later!

Morgan, MaeLing, and Annie at Vacation Bible School!

They loved it!

Memomma trying to teach Annie to fish!

She's a pro!

Triple Trouble! Fresh out of the bath after

some swimming pool fun!

Cutie!

Celebrating Nicky's birthday and Father's

day with my family!

Pigtails and a big girl bed!

2010-05-02T21:47:00.003-05:00

I feel like every time I post something I am always talking about a milestone or some new "big girl" accomplishment that Annie has achieved. Every day she becomes more of a kid and less of a little girl! :( Don't get me wrong, not that I don't want her to grow up but, just not so fast! Some things about her growing up are nice. She is very independent and can help herself and us a lot of times too (which is nice!). I also love how she learns something new every day! She can literally learn a brand new song in a day! It's amazing! Well, now that you listened to me talk about how smart, wonderful, cute, etc....she is, here are some pictures of her newest "big girl" accomplishment. (not the pigtails, I just love her hair in them and it is finally long enough again!)

I'm pretty sure I would still think she was the

cutest even if she wasn't mine!

Annie's 1st night in her big bed! Goodbye toddler bed, hello queen size!
Look at all that room to stretch out!

She loves the bed! Now, if we could just get her to LOVE the potty!

Prayers please!

Ready for sunshine!

2010-04-07T14:25:00.002-05:00

My sweet baby girl has been sick for almost an entire week! We are all SO ready for her to feel better again! I took her to see Dr. Johnson last Thursday to discover that Annie had her very first ear infection. :( I am so thankful that she had over two years before ever having one but, I am ready to be done with this one! On top of the ear infection, she has a stomach virus or really bad reaction to the antibiotic. Whichever one, it is horrible. She has been so pitiful with the exception of Saturday and Sunday morning for a little bit. It is beautiful outside and we have been stuck in the house watching Barney of all things for days now! I'm praying that she is on the mend today! She has had a little bit of energy and has actually kept some food down! Yay!! We are ready for sunshine and outside play time!

So pitiful!

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T13:40:00.003-05:00

Happy Easter! We hope you all had a great day of celebration. Here are some more pictures from our Easter.

Annie opening her basket the Easter Bunny left for her at

Nana and Papa's house!

Checking out MaeLing's basket! Little Miss Nosey!

Ready to hunt for some eggs! I think there were
160+ for the three of them!

Concentration.

"Candy !!!"

Pretty cute for the first shot!

It wouldn't be Easter without a hayride right?!

Hello!

Not too bad for a self-timer with a 2 year old!

Too cute for words! Love her!

Pajama Party!

2010-03-24T13:55:00.004-05:00

Just when I thought nothing would keep them quiet.......

The new do!

2010-02-14T19:56:00.003-06:00

We finally took Annie to get her first haircut. We decided the mullet had been around a little too long! Although I loved putting it up in cute ponytails and pig tails, when it was down it looked really.....well, what's the word, horrible! We took her to Snip It's, a kids salon, because we knew she was going to cry and we thought just maybe she wouldn't if it were all fun and silly. BUT, the cuteness of the salon did make one bit of a difference to Annie. She hated it! As you will soon see!

Playing around while we waited. Notice the mullet below!

This is what she did when we sat her in the chair! The stylist had not even touched her yet!

Such torture! The screams could be heard from miles away!

Her lovely locks saying goodbye! (a little calmer now because @ this point we were promising candy, movies, etc!)

She traded her hair for a prize! Waiting for her rubber duck to shoot out!

Winter Wonderland 2010

2010-02-01T14:10:00.005-06:00

Three Eskimos!

Our cute snow bunny!

Our "sled"! We have no hills in our subdivision so we had to improvise and use something we could pull! She loved it and it was quite the workout for us!

Day #4 of the snow. We used food coloring and turned it into different colors.

So much fun!

Farewell to our friend

2010-01-27T13:42:00.006-06:00

We have decided it's time to say goodbye to our dear friend "binky". It's a sad time for all of us but, Annie is taking it especially hard!

Last night was our first night without it and it took Annie a little over an hour to finally fall asleep. Mitch and I both made several trips upstairs trying to pat her back, rock her, play with her hair, pretty much anything we thought would get Annie to go to sleep. She eventually passed out and slept all night. She did decide to wake bright and early this morning at 5:00 am!!! She didn't cry or call for us though, instead, she decided to sit right next to her door and kick her feet on it! Mitch went up there and put her back on her bed and we heard her playing in her room until 7:00. Not too bad! We are hoping it only gets easier from here!

Here is a final farewell to "binky" who was been with us through some good and bad times! Many sleepless nights, long car rides, cranky grocery store trips, and many more!

Annie Brooke turns 2 !!!!!

2009-12-31T14:36:00.004-06:00

It's hard to believe that my sweet girl is 2! These years have honestly flown by quicker than I ever imagined! She is growing up so fast and becoming a sweet and sassy (sometimes more sassy and less sweet!) little girl. I think she even looks more grown up!

To celebrate Annie's birthday we decided to throw this big party in New York and drop a ball at midnight. It was crazy, there were way too many people there, some of them were not invited! :) We actually had a quiet day and night at home. The girls came over that day and we had a yummy pancake birthday breakfast and had tons of fun playing. My parents came over to bring Annie a balloon since we were not having her party until Sunday. Mitch, Annie and I had our own special party around 6:28 which is when Annie was born. We put some cool whip and sprinkles on a cookie and stuck 2 candles in it. We started to sing and Mitch lit the candle. I told Mitch to back up so I could just get Annie in the picture and before we knew it Annie was saying "Hot, hot?" as she was holding her fingers right over the top of the flame!! AHHH, we freaked out and I helped her blow it out super fast! Luckily, we did not have to visit the ER on her second birthday. Lesson learned- Do Not trust a 2 year old near an open flame! Annie loved the cookie, mostly the sprinkles and cool whip!

On Sunday we had a small family birthday party with pizza, cupcakes, and ice cream! The theme- Madagascar- or as Annie calls it "Move it , move it!"! She is a little obsessed with it and Cars believe it or not! We took her to the party store to pick out decorations for her parties and she chose Madagascar and Cars! So silly! Oh well, I'm sure there are many Disney princess birthday parties in our future! Annie had so much eating cupcakes and then she went around to everyone and wanted some of their cupcake and ice cream after she had finished her own! She will be your best friend if you have food! She loved opening her presents! She became a pro at Christmas! She wanted to play with each thing immediately after opening it and then come back to the others a few minutes later to open them!

We will celebrate her birthday in Kentucky next weekend and have a Cars party with the boys! Here are a couple pics!

We are so very blessed to be Annie's parents. She has made our lives so joyful and we love her more than she will ever know! Happy Birthday Annie Brooke!

Diving face first into her cookie!

She got much closer after I took this picture!

What a nut!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T14:35:00.008-06:00

This Christmas was a great one! Annie was at a great age to enjoy all the festivities this year. She loved seeing lights. Everytime we passed by homes or businesses with lights she would say "lights, lights" and point and she was so excited! She also loved snowmen, she could spot one a mile away! She was so cute all season saying "Merry Christmas! Ho,Ho, Ho!" and "Happy Birthday Jesus!". Santa was good to her and our house is now overflowing with toys. We haven't finished Christmas just yet. We still have to go to Kentucky to have Christmas with Mitch's family. We hope everyone had a great one and here are just a few of the 200+ that were on my camera!

We took Annie to see the lights on Hwy 109. There are SO many! There was also a Santa and Mrs. Claus and a Frosty waving at everyone!

Baking and decorating yummy Christmas cookies with Nana and the girls!

They are too cute in their aprons!

Everyone came over on Christmas Eve after church and Mitch tracked Santa on the computer! They were super excited!

Annie and I sprinkled our Reindeer Food (aka: oatmeal, cinnamon, and sprinkles)

in the grass so they could have a snack while

they waited on Santa to drop off the presents!

Leaving out cookies and milk for Santa!

She had to taste all 3 of them just to make sure they were yummy for Santa!

Santa came!! Annie got all kinds of toys including a tricycle, the giraffe bike, Leap Pad Jr. and books, bath toys, movies and more!

She loved her new giraffe ride and learn bike!

Coloring and making music with Daddy!

Who knew there was a movie named after her?!

Christmas love for Biscuit!

She needed a bone too! She tasted it on several spots to see if any part tasted good! She soon discovered- it did not!!

A power rest time! Opening presents is a work out!

Santa also brought her a lot of toys to Nana and Papa's house! She has a Biscuit Christmas book to add to our collection!

She got a baby, a Little People barn, lots of books, a kitty cat, a lap top and more than I can remember from Nana and Papa but, she still wanted to steal Morgan's baby pack-n-play!

A visit to Santa!

2009-12-16T15:04:00.003-06:00

We decided to take Annie to see Santa last weekend. We were not sure how she was going to react to him because even though she had been talking about Santa, she doesn't like to be around men that she doesn't know. Really the only men she likes are her Daddy, Papa, and G-Daddy. She is even a little unsure of her Uncle Del and Uncle Jason too although she is getting better! So, we were heading over to see him at the Streets of Indian Lake and she saw him from across the street and said "Santa Claus!". We got a little excited because she started waving and saying "Santa, Santa!" BUT, the smile and wave slowly drifted away and turn into a "Who is this strange man in a big red suit waving at me?" face! We convinced her to get closer to him but only because he had a candy cane! When we tried to get Annie to go sit with him she was not having it! Here are some pictures!

She had no idea that he walked up behind her and was smiling! She was laughing at the girl taking the picture!

In this one she knew he was there! As if you couldn't tell!

The Zoo!

2009-12-09T13:18:00.003-06:00

We took Annie to the zoo a few weeks ago because she is obsessed with animals right now! Any animal she sees in a book, on tv or anywhere for that matter! If she doesn't know what kind of animal it is then she just calls it a "doggie" or "doggie dog" is what she has been saying lately! We took some pictures but we only got video of her seeing the big animals so here are a few of the pictures we took!

At our first stop, the monkeys! She was so excited!

Annie and Mitch waving at me through the meerkat window!

She LOVED the goats! I mean REALLY loved them!

She could have stayed in the petting zoo all day!

"Kitty, kitty" -calling the baby cub!

"Big kitty"! She loved that it walked right past her!

November in a Nutshell

2009-11-29T19:55:00.007-06:00

Wow, I didn't realize that I had not posted anything since Halloween! November has been fun and busy. We have had a lot of family events. Mitch and I went to the UK/Vandy game with his brother and our sister-in-law and Annie stayed the weekend with Nana and Papa and had a great time! We celebrated Thanksgiving with both of our families and Annie loved spending time with grandparents and cousins! She also loved eating, her favorite part was probably the desserts! She also loved macaroni and cheese!
It's hard to believe that Annie will be 2 in a month! She is learning and getting smarter by the minute! She is super talkative, although sometimes shy around other people. Her favorite thing to do right now is sing! She can sing her "ABC's", "Jesus Loves Me", "Jingle Bells", "Wheels on the Bus", "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and several others! She can say anything! One of our favorite phrases is "Hotttt, Coffee!". It is hilarious to hear her say; she sounds like she works at a diner!
We are looking forward to this Christmas season! It is our favorite time of the year and can't wait to spend it with our little girl!

Annie and Morgan being silly!

Cooking up some yummy food!

An entire weekend in KY and this is the only picture I took! Sam, Annie and Max cooking together at MeMomma and G-Daddy's house!

Mommy's little helper!

Finally finished!

She thinks the beads are a "necklace".

Tasting some yummy icing that Nana made!

Helping Daddy rake the leaves!

Crazy, sleepy head!

Smelling the flowers!

Bubbles!!

Halloween Fun!

2009-11-01T21:26:00.007-06:00

We had a great Halloween! Our day started off with sprinkle and pumpkin shaped doughnuts from Krispy Kreme! Then we shopped around the mall for a little while. We came home and Annie and I drew a face for our jack-o-lantern and then Mitch used his skil saw to "carve" it! It is so much easier and faster using the saw! After Annie woke up from her nap we got her dressed, tried to do a photo shoot and headed over to Nana and Papa's house. We ate over there and did more pictures with a super cute pirate and Jasmine (aka Morgan and MaeLing!). Then we headed out to get some good treats! We went to a trunk-or-treat at the girls school. They had some fun stuff, including a bouncy house that all three of them loved. It took forever for us to lure Annie out with candy! We did some more trick-or-treating and headed home. It was a fun day! Enjoy the pictures!

Our super cute UK cheerleader!

Papa and Annie

Nana and Annie

"Go Cats!!!" at the top of her lungs!

Helping draw a face for the Jack-o-latern. She really thought she was doing it!

She said "Eyes and happy face".

Loving her doughnut!

Starting the day off with Krispy Kreme! One word- yummy!

"I'm Gorgeous"

2009-10-19T22:53:00.005-05:00

Well, let's face it, she's cute! We always tell her that she's pretty and all of her grandparents tell her she is gorgeous so, she is bound to say it too! A couple weeks ago we were walking down the hall at church and our preacher walked by us. He turned around to talk to Annie and I and said "Well, aren't you pretty!". I know was being honest because 1. He is the preacher and 2. We were in church! She flashed her smile at him and I said "She knows it, and she will even say so!". He laughed and said that was good because it meant someone had told her that about herself!

Her very own stylist!

She looks like a big kid in this one!

Hollywood Glamour Girl!

Mmmm...Lotion

2009-10-15T22:03:00.002-05:00

Every night after Annie gets out of the bath we put her bed time lotion on her. I always squeeze some on her belly and on both of her legs to start and we count, one.. two.. three. Then Annie starts to rub in the lotion that is on her belly. For some reason, maybe because it smells so good, she always gets a little on her finger and tastes it! Strange, I know, but she does it every time. So I always say, "We don't eat the lotion, that's gross". Tonight, like every other night, I put her lotion on her belly and legs. She looked at me and said "Don't eat it." Then, she tasted it and said "That's gross!". I guess a little Johnson's baby lotion can't hurt!

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch!

2009-10-06T13:33:00.007-05:00

On Saturday we took Annie to the Pumpkin Patch! We went to Bottomview Farms in Portland and we loved it! I was really excited, probably the most excited one of the three of us! I love pumpkins, fall, etc. and that is the first thing that pops into my head when the weather gets cooler! Speaking of weather, the weather on Saturday was perfect for pumpkin picking!

That morning we woke up and got Annie dressed in her Halloween shirt, socks and bow (of course) for super cute pumpkin patch pictures. Mitch wanted to stop by the Hendersonville Farmer's Market on the way and I kinda gave him a hard time because I was really excited. Did I mention that I was excited! I'm glad we stopped though because we bought some really yummy veggies!

Annie loved the farm. She loved the animals. I think her favorite was this chocolate Lab that she kept chasing and petting. She even gave it a kiss! So sweet! She loves all animals. She wasn't even scared of the big cows, donkeys, or llamas! She had a ball on the hayride and Mitch and Annie went on a train ride around the farm. We went through a hay bale maze and then grabbed a hot dog before we headed home. Annie was asleep in less than 2 minutes in the car! I think that means she had fun! Happy Fall!

Going through the hay maze! She loved leading the way!

Me and my girl!

Petting the goats. Then she yelled and scared them all away!

Petting a big cow. Did I mention she loves animals?

Daddy, maybe you can get this one!

Annie with all of our pumpkins!

Perfect size for her!

Excited about the hayride!

Mitch and Annie as the wagon started moving!

Copy Cat!

2009-09-17T21:55:00.003-05:00

Mitch and I are loving the stage that Annie is in right now. She is so fun and watching her constantly makes us laugh. She wants to do and say everything just like us. She repeats EVERYTHING! Don't tell her a secret if you don't want to get the word out! Most of the time it sounds like the word but even when it doesn't it is still so cute and funny. She is also really bossy. She tells Biscuit what to do all the time. Mmm, I wonder where she gets that? She says "bed!" and points and then when she goes to her bed she says "stay". It actually helps me out sometimes! Oh, and speaking of helping. This kid loves to help. She is great at cleaning up her toys and putting things back where they belong. She also loves to help me transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer. She gets upset when I quit handing her clothes but is easily satisfied when I tell her to close the dryer door. :) Overall, she is a pretty sweet girl! Stay tuned for more pictures!

It's great to be a Tennessee Vol!

2009-09-11T10:16:00.002-05:00

Go Vols!!

Tennessee Baby!

Eating lunch in the living room so we could watch the game!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!!!

2009-09-10T19:46:00.008-05:00

Dance party to Splish Splash!

Hot mamas!

My pretty princess!

Annie and Mitch playing in the house.

Annie loves her new tunnel and Dora play house!

Down on the Farm!

2009-09-02T10:31:00.007-05:00

A few weeks ago we went on a long weekend trip to Murray. Mitch helped his Dad and brother cut tobacco a few days and Annie had fun playing with her cousins and exploring the farm and all of its toys. She followed Sam around the tobacco patch and through the garden. She also loved riding on big tractors and four-wheelers with Daddy, MeMomma and G-Daddy! The weather was beautiful that weekend and so we spent the majority of time outdoors! Biscuit loved being able to run free without a privacy fence or leash! We were a little worried to let her roam at first but she did so great! So sniffed and wandered all over! Overall, it was a great visit!

Fits are No Fun!

2009-08-18T22:22:00.004-05:00

I've always heard people talk about the terrible two's and three's but they failed to mention the terrible twenty month old's. Here lately Annie has decided that she likes to throw fits. No matter where you are or who is watching. This is SO wonderful for the parents of the precious looking little girl. The best fits are the ones thrown in public. We went out to eat at Kabuto (a yummy Japanese Hibachi grill) on Saturday and sweet, adorable little Annie decided she did not want to sit in her high chair. For the sake of those sitting at the table with us, we glady took her out and let her sit in our lap. This was not pleasing to her either and she began fussing and hurling her body in all sorts of directions. We had tried everything, and I mean EVERYTHING to calm her down. We pulled out every snack, every toy, her paci and nothing worked. I finally resorted to the teething tablets. Annie loves those things and she would eat them like candy if I let her. They are just little herbal tablets that help calm them down when they are teething. Luckily, there were four or five in the bottle and she gobbled them all up. Then, she enjoyed playing with the empty bottle for the rest of our meal! She would take a bite, dip the bottle into her sauce, lick the sauce, take another bite, etc. Needless to say, it was an unforgettable dining experience! We've talked to some other parents of children the same age and they all have similar stories so, at least we are not alone! I'm already praying for patience for the teenage years! :)

Beware of the geese!

2009-08-18T12:43:00.006-05:00

Annie loves going to the park to feed the ducks and geese. Sometimes it's a little scary though! Those geese act like they haven't eaten in weeks! Annie isn't scared at all. She holds her hand out like she is saying "Come here little goose!". Of course she calls all of them "ducks, ducks". Since it was nice weather, we went over to the park area and played a little while too!

"Hello, anyone in here?"

A huge giggle!

Oh no, I got dirt on my hands!

"I see you!"

Pointing and Roarrring at the lion!

Geese, geese everywhere!

ABC's!

2009-07-28T22:51:00.014-05:00

Annie and her buddy Wyatt splashin' around!

Reading her favorite book Llama Llama Red Pajama.

Leaving Annie and Biscuit alone for playtime in Annie's room.

Biscuit is saying "Please don't leave me in here with her!"

Being tickled by Mommy!

The after!

It taste yummy!

The before picture of finger painting. Annie's new favorite-corn on the cob!

She takes a pretty big dent out of it too!

Yesterday Annie and I were in the car driving home from the grocery store and we were singing the alphabet. I could hear her singing but, I wasn't really paying attention. When we started singing it again, I heard her say "E,F,G"!! It was the cutest thing ever! She knows "E,F,G" and "Q,R,S"! Only 20 letters to go! Today we worked on A,B,C,and D! She is trying her hardest to say anything you ask her these days! Her new phrase is "Hi chica!". Not completely sure where she got that one but still pretty funny!

In other exciting news, Annie has started using the potty some! Last weekend she went a couple of times and she has went a few more times this week! She starts dancing on her potty when it plays a song. We are still very far from being "potty trained" but, you have to start somewhere!

Here are some pictures of the cutest little girl for your viewing pleasure!

Summer time!

2009-07-22T13:19:00.008-05:00

More pictures to come soon!

Our family beach photo.

Jennifer, Will, Wyatt, Annie and I

hopped in the water to cool off!

Three pretty girls at the beach!

Annie loved riding on the boat! Check out that hair!

Vacation 2009

2009-06-29T12:39:00.005-05:00

Last week we went on vacation with my family to Destin, FL. Annie had a blast! She loved the beach, she would just take off and walk straight out into the water! She was fearless! She also loved scooping the sand and playing with all the sand toys. We also dunked her under the water in the pool and she loved it! We went on a boat ride and Annie fed the seagulls and watched the dolphins pop up out of the water! We had a great time and the weather was beautiful!

May Moments

2009-05-28T09:46:00.007-05:00

Pushing her baby stroller. For some reason she thinks it's funny to

throw the baby out and then put her back in!

Papa, Nana, G Daddy and MeMomma on Memorial Day.

Check out that belly!

Soaking wet from the water fountain at Lowe's!

She loves playing in water! No matter where she is!

Annie enjoying her first Oreo!

Needless to say, she loved it!

Filling it up!

"bye bye"

Annie and Mitch starting up the tractor.

She wasn't scared of the loud noise at all!

She loved riding the four wheeler with G Daddy!

So excited to see Daddy pull in the driveway!

I love those blue eyes!

Loving bath time!

Her New Obsession

2009-05-05T21:21:00.003-05:00

I think Mitch's shoes are bigger than her body!
Mine are a little closer to her size!

This is what Annie has been up to lately! She LOVES to put on any shoes she finds lying around. It is hilarious to watch! She is getting so good at putting them on and has been trying to walk in them! She is definitely a girl!

"Cheese"

2009-05-01T11:08:00.002-05:00

Annie saying "cheese" in her new sunglasses!
She loves her new chair! She is so big now!

She loved splashing around outside with Daddy!

"Duckie, duckie"! She cannot be trusted to throw the bread.

She wants to eat it herself!

My little musician! Yet another trait she gets from Mitch!

Easter 2009

2009-04-17T21:43:00.014-05:00

We had such a wonderful Easter this year. Annie is at the perfect age and loved every part of it, from opening her Easter basket to hunting Easter eggs! Mitch and I put her Easter basket together about a week before and I couldn't wait to hide it. I don't know what I was thinking though, you can't hide a one year old's Easter basket! This year the Easter Bunny left it out in the open in the living room but, next year she will have to hunt it down!

Annie looked SO cute in her pink and green polka-dot dress with her massive pink bow! I always lay her clothes out and Mitch always dresses her on Sunday mornings. He has gotten so good at putting on all of Annie's girlish accessories from tights to bloomers and bows! When he reached for the bow on Easter morning he looked at me and said "Seriously?" I shook my head yes and he said "Blair, we used to talk about people that put these bows in their daughter's hair"! And the truth is, we did! Now I know why they did it, because it is so darn cute! I know that it was practically the same size as her head but, it looked so adorable that I just couldn't resist! Everyone at church thought so too and she was definitely not the only little girl with an enormous bow in her hair!

Mitch's parents came down the weekend before Easter and brought all of us chocolate Easter bunnies. Yummy! Annie had a great time visiting with her MeMomma and G Daddy. On Easter afternoon we went to my parents house and had Easter dinner and an egg hunt with her cousins. All of the girls did so good and found a bunch of eggs! Nana and Papa got Annie an Easter basket with lots of treats! Easter 2009 was so great and here are a few photos from it!

New pictures finally!

2009-03-21T16:30:00.006-05:00

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted anything! Since my last post, Annie has been a very busy girl. She is walking all over the place now and thinks she is big stuff! It is so cute to see her little body look so much like a big person! Its kind of bittersweet because now I think she is an official toddler and not a baby.

She is loves her Daddy so much! That is all she ever talks about, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!" Since she is stuck on the "D" sound so much we have been trying to teach her to say Doggie. She can also say "Woof, woof" when you ask her what a dog says, very cute!

We can't wait until the weather warms up and we can play outside. We have played in the yard a couple of times and Annie loves to watch Biscuit chase the bubbles!

Daddy's Girl

2009-02-05T11:23:00.006-06:00

As much as I don't want to admit it, I think I have to say that Annie is a Daddy's girl. Don't get me wrong, she loves me but, she has a such a good time with Mitch! She is so much like him it's scary! She is already so daring. She loves to be scared and surprised and she loves to be tossled all around when your playing with her! The crazier the playtime the more laughs you get from Annie! Those two together are going to give me a head full of gray hair! :) Here are some pictures I thought you might enjoy!

Little Cutie!

2009-01-25T20:33:00.001-06:00

Christmas and Birthday in Kentucky!

2009-01-20T21:49:00.003-06:00

We went to Kentucky to celebrate Christmas and Annie's birthday with Mitch's family almost two weeks ago. (I'm a little late getting this pictures up!) Annie had a great time! She had fun playing with her cousins and spending time with G Daddy and MeMomma! She also got to see both of her great grandmothers at her birthday party! We came home with several more toys and our living room is beginning to look like Toys R Us! Annie got her first basketball goal from MeMomma and G Daddy. (I wonder who told them to get that? Hmmm....!!) It was fun seeing everyone and getting to spend time with them!

Birthday Celebrations!

2009-01-07T21:19:00.007-06:00

Annie turned the big one last week and we have been celebrating ever since! On New Year's Eve, Annie's official birthday, we went to our friends cabin with our some of our close friends from college and their kids. It was so much fun! Our friends Rachel and Eric bought Annie a cake and we all had so much fun watching her dive into it! It was a great night and such a memorable way to spend Annie's first birthday!

On Sunday we had a party with my side of the family at our house. I made two cakes. One for Annie and one for all of us to eat. Annie's special cake was supposed to be a big cupcake but at the last minute when Mitch and I went to put it together it started falling sideways! Oh well, it eventually got demolished by the "cake monster" anyway! Annie had lots of fun. She ate two entire pieces of pizza, danced a little, and played with her family! Annie loved all of her presents especially her new DVD player for the car and DVD's! Thanks Nana and Papa! We had a great party!

This weekend we are headed to Kentucky to celebrate Christmas and Annie's birthday with Mitch's family! We will post more pictures and update you on that when we return!

Happy Birthday to our baby!

2008-12-30T21:46:00.003-06:00

Happy First Birthday Annie Brooke! It is so hard to believe an entire year has come and gone. What an amazing time we have had with our precious baby girl! She has brought us more joy than we could have ever imagined and we look forward to what the future holds. My only wish it that time would not go by so fast!

I took her to the doctor today for her one year well check. She now weighs 20 lbs. 10 oz and is 29 inches long. She has almost tripled in weight since birth! Wow! She was in the 50th percentile for height and weight and Dr. Johnson said she was looking good! Her top two teeth and getting bigger each day and you can almost see one when she laughs really big!

Annie's First Christmas!

2008-12-30T10:32:00.003-06:00

We had such a wonderful first Christmas with Annie this year! It was so fun getting all of her presents from Santa ready on Christmas Eve night! I think Mitch and I were more excited on Christmas morning than we have been in years! Annie was more interested in playing with her Santa toys and didn't really care to open the ones we had wrapped for her! Oh well!

We spent Christmas morning at our house and then went to my parents on Christmas night. Santa had visited her there too! We are going to Kentucky next weekend to see Mitch's family and celebrate Christmas with them! We hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Chapman Look-alike Meter

2008-12-22T20:42:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family history - Dynasty

11 months and counting!

2008-12-21T20:27:00.013-06:00

We can't believe that Christmas is almost here and Annie will be a year old in a week and a half! Where does all the time go? It seems like every time we turn around she is doing something new!

She loves to chase Mitch and I around the house! She is such a fast crawler we don't know if she will every want to walk! She giggles and laughs the whole time! She also loves it when we chase her. She turns her head to make sure we are still coming and then cracks up as she heads to another room! Annie also thinks our dog Biscuit likes to play chase. Unfourtunately for Biscuit she doesn't! Annie crawls towards Biscuit's bed and Biscuit gets up off of it to go to another room. When she walks by Annie, Annie thinks Biscuit is chasing her and she laughs and turns to go to another room too. Then, poor Biscuit turns back around to go to her bed and the cycle continues! It is really funny to watch because Annie has no idea that the dog is trying to get away from her!

All Annie wants for Christmas is her two front teeth to come all the way in! They are there, you can see them but, they are still tiny! We can't wait to see what she will look like with top teeth! We have gotten so used to just the bottom two!

We are looking forward to spending Christmas with our sweet little girl this year! We hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

Christmas Fun!

2008-12-07T20:17:00.007-06:00

Annie met Santa for the first time last week! She did so good! She checked him out at first; I think she was wondering what was on his face! Then, she just sat with him and giggled at the camera!

Annie waved at people on their floats during the Christmas parade! I really think she was trying to shake her big mitten off her hand! Either way it was still cute!

Mitch's Skydive!!

2008-12-05T22:04:00.003-06:00

If you can't tell by his face, he loved it! He already wants to go again!

Yah, he landed on his feet! I filmed the jump and fall so, I only have pictures of him safely on the ground!

All geared up and waiting to get on the plane.

Mitch and Annie before the big jump!

Halloween 2008

2008-11-02T20:52:00.005-06:00

Annie trick-or-treating at Nana and Papa's house.

The prettiest flower I've ever seen!

We gave our pumpkin the same two bottom teeth as Annie!

The easiest way to carve a pumpkin! Seriously, it took two minutes!

Annie liked touching the mushy pumpkin. She wanted to eat it!

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch!

2008-10-24T22:01:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday we went to a pumpkin patch and corn maze. We took a hayride out to the corn maze which was pretty big and confusing but, we made it out! Then, we took the hayride back and picked some pumpkins from the patch. They had all kinds of farm animals to see and we even witnessed a pig race. That's right, I said a pig race! It was a great day and the weather was beautiful! Happy Fall!

If you look close in the top picture you can see Annie's two teeth!

Recent Pics of Annie

2008-10-12T21:14:00.010-05:00

We've been super busy lately and I haven't been able to find time to blog so here it goes. Annie is all over the place these days. She is a super speedy crawler and will pull up on just about anything. These things include furniture, cabinets, our legs, the dog and just about anything else she can get her little hands on! She is also quite the chatterbox. She says "Dada" all the time and talks VERY loudly especially on quiet Sunday afternoons when Mitch and I are trying to relax on the couch! She has the custest giggle and sometimes she even snorts! Which makes it even cuter! The other day she was giggling and fell over sideways from laughing so hard!

We went to see Dr. Johnson last week and Annie weighed in at 18lbs. and 8 oz. Not quite the 20 we were hoping for so that we could put her in the "big girl" car seat but, she will be there in no time. Especially with all the carbs she likes to eat! We have started on table foods recently and since she only has one tooth we weren't sure what all she could eat. We've really only been giving her breads and crackers and she loves them!

Here are some pictures from the past month. I can't believe how fast she has grown!

Pretty pink kicks!

2008-09-13T19:24:00.006-05:00

Mitch and I bought Annie some pink Converse shoes a couple weeks ago and I've been waiting for it to get cooler so she could wear them. Well, it wasn't cool but I really wanted her to wear them to school the other day. When I put them on she was very interested in them. I was sure she was going to figure out how to get them off in 5 seconds after it took me a few minutes to get them on her feet! They looked SO cute and made her look like such a big girl especially when she pulled up.

Kentucky Trip

2008-09-02T20:16:00.010-05:00

This past weekend we took a trip to visit Mitch's family in Kentucky. It was really great to see everyone. It has been two years since we have all been able to get together at the same time since we are all spread out in different states. Annie had a great time with all of her cousins. She played with tractors and monster trucks with all of the boys! She loved her older cousins, Sam and Luke, and would smile every time they came around her! She tried to keep up with Max who is the fastest little crawler-hopper I have ever seen! She and Liam, the baby of all the babies, had lots of conversations on the floor together! We attempted to get a group photo of all the children. As you can see in the picture it's not so easy to try and get five children under the age of four to pose for a picture! It makes me laugh to see Sam smiling with all the chaos around him! It was a great Labor Day and we hope everyone else had a wonderful one as well!

Happy Birthday Mitch!

2008-08-25T11:55:00.001-05:00

Today is Mitch's 27th birthday! He is getting old right?! Well, I shouldn't say that because I am 2 months older than him and that would make me old and I'm definitely not! Anyway, that is all for today; just wanted to say Happy Birthday!!

Just For Daddy!

2008-08-13T14:02:00.005-05:00

This Cardinal's outfit is probably Mitch's favorite thing Annie wears. (she doesn't have a UK outfit yet but, that will take the #1 spot when she does!) I call it her tomboy outfit but at least she has a red bow to make it a little girly!

Have a great day Mitch!

Growing up too fast!

2008-08-11T22:53:00.005-05:00

Annie is getting so big and with every day that passes it seems like she is doing something new. She is sitting up like a big girl and loves watching her Baby Einstein and Brainy Baby DVD's. These are very helpful while I am trying to cook dinner! As you can see she gets really focused on them.

She loves to hold our hands and stand up. When you try to sit her down on the floor she arches her back and straightens her legs so that she can stand instead of sit! It takes several attempts to successfully sit her down. When we went to pick her up at the nursery on Sunday her teacher, Mrs. Denise, said "She really wants to stand!". Poor Mrs. Denise she probably got stuck holding Annie in the standing position the entire time she was in there!!

Last week we did a total makeover upstairs. We switched Annie's room and the office/spare bedroom in order to give Annie a bigger room. We went to Lowe's and bought what we thought was a light cream color paint for Annie's room. We planned on using pink and green as accent colors. We primered the walls and he next day I began painting. I began to realize that the "cream" was lacking a little cream color and was pretty much white. I finished painting because I thought it might just be my eyes but then I realized that I spent an entire day painting Annie's room WHITE! We added pink and green to try and brighten it up. I think it will be cute when all the decorating is finished! I'll post pictures later.

The little artist!

2008-08-08T10:41:00.005-05:00

Annie and I tried to do an "art project" the other day. I had to sit her in the Bumbo because I didn't want paint all over the living room floor! I can just picture her scooting her little bottom all over the rug with pink and green feet! When I first painted her feet she grinned because I think it tickled! She tried grabbing at the paintbrush the entire time! And then after the novelty wore off, she grabbed and ripped the newspaper that I had put underneath her! I think she enjoyed it much more than the paint! The footprints that I made did not turn out so well. At school they made the perfect little hand prints and footprints, I don't know how in the world they did it. They must have tried it while she was napping! Or maybe they are just really good!

She's already using up all the minutes!

2008-07-24T16:29:00.005-05:00

Annie's favorite toys are our cell phones or the remote. She also tries to grab at the laptop if she is sitting with me while I am the computer. She apparently loves electronics! We found an old remote that we don't use anymore and gave it to her so she could play with it and not ruin ours with all of her drool!
The funny thing about Annie and the phone is that she will be babbling up a storm and when Mitch or I hold the phone to her ear to let her hear someone's voice she goes completely silent, stares, and tries to grab it out of our hands! Almost immediately after the phone is out of sight she becomes the largest chatter box again!

Annie and I played peek-a-boo yesterday afternoon. We normally just hide our faces with our hands but instead I pulled the blanket down over her face and lifted it up. The first couple of times she looked frightened and then she started to giggle!

Annie was listening to Mitch read a book the other night on the bed. We read most books aloud these days, whether or not they are children's books, because they say it's good for babies to hear a variety words. Annie should know all about What To Expect the First Year and Rich Dad Poor Dad!

Annie's 1st Camping Trip!

2008-07-22T08:58:00.002-05:00

All of us before we started out on our hike.

Annie looks so thrilled!

Mitch and Annie climbing down the rock wall with only

a cable wire to hold onto for safety. It was a little scary!

Annie's favorite part of the trip! Relaxing on our air matress in the tent after an exhausting day!

More Annie Photos

2008-07-16T09:36:00.006-05:00

Mitch put this bandana on Annie the other day and it just looked so cute! She looks like she is ready to ride a Harley!

What an adorable little smile! :)

Hiking Trip!

2008-07-13T15:15:00.007-05:00

On Saturday we went on a day hike with our friends, Trent and Jennifer, and their little boys Will and Wyatt, to Fall Creek Falls. The falls were so beautiful and we had a great time. Once again, Annie was strapped to Mitch's belly and I carried the backpack and cooler on my back. After stopping at every scenic overlook (because we were very optimistic at the beginning!) we made it to the bottom of the largest fall. We all took turns jumping in the rather chilly water! Except for the babies, only their little feet got wet. Needless to say, we were absolutely exhausted when we arrived back home Saturday night. Our next adventure is a weekend camping trip, we will let you know how that goes! Don't worry, Annie was not strapped to Mitch in the picture where he is scaling the rock wall!

Cutest Tee!

2008-07-11T14:16:00.009-05:00

I found this shirt at Target and had to get it because it was adorable and so fitting of Mitch. He thought it was really cool when he saw it too! It says "Daddy Rocks and sings to me" and it has a hot pink guitar! How cute! The picture is a little fuzzy because someone is a little bit of wiggle worm! She is all over the place these days. She is definitely keeping us on our toes! She is sitting up but only in the tripod position right now. She loves to stand when you hold onto her fingers and tap her left foot! It's really funny! She is also working on the army crawl. She can't be left alone in the middle of the bed with pillows around her anymore because who knows where she might go! We seriously need to baby proof our house!

A few of Annie's favorite things!

2008-07-11T13:36:00.008-05:00

Besides loving Mommy and Daddy Annie really loves her food. She is now eating just about every baby food that Gerber makes and she is not very picky, which is great! She also adores her bottle! If she sees you walk into the room with it she wants it ASAP or she is not a happy camper! After she finishes the bottle she gazes at it the entire time she is trying to burp. If she could move things with her mind that bottle would be back in her hands in a second! It is actually quite funny to watch!

Her newest love is these little sweet potato puffs. She is still learning how to get them from her hand to her mouth. They pretty much dissolve instantly and since she drools like crazy they end up stuck to her hand instead making it into her mouth! She is getting better at it each and every day though! We have also tried the sippy cup with some water. She can hold it up to her mouth to drink but would prefer you to do it for her! She enjoys relaxing and letting you do all the work!!

American Sweetie!

2008-07-04T08:56:00.002-05:00

Happy 4th of July! We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday!

Six Month Old Baby Girl!

2008-07-02T09:17:00.007-05:00

Where has the time gone? Annie is six months old, can you believe it? We went this morning for her well check with Dr. Johnson. He said everything looks wonderful, which is always great news! She now weighs 15lbs. 13 oz.! She is definitely a good eater, there's no doubt about it! Check out the rolls on these thighs if you need proof!

Annie and I did a photo shoot Monday and these are some pictures I took. She actually had fun and several outfits later we had some good pictures! Towards the end she was pretty much done as you will see in the picture with the white dress with polka dots! Mitch thinks I'm a little camera crazy but I have to capture every moment!

Annie's latest thing is to blow kisses. It is so adorable! I'm trying to capture it on video and I will put it on here. Have a great day!

What a stinker!

2008-06-26T10:11:00.003-05:00

Annie will be six months old next week! Isn't that hard to believe? She is growing way too fast! We've decided that she isn't allowed to get any bigger.

Annie is working really hard to sit up. When you put her down on her back she raises her head and feet up like she is doing crunches! She is going to have some great abs!

I thought you might enjoy some new pictures of Annie Brooke!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-17T10:13:00.003-05:00

Happy Father's Day to Mitch, Papa, and G Daddy! We love you all! Here are some cute pics of Annie and her Daddy!

We hope everyone is doing well!

Annie's Water Play!

2008-06-17T09:57:00.003-05:00

Annie is quite the little fish lately! She loves bath time and also has fun splashing in the water. This is her and her friend Paxton at water play at school. They are good buddies! Her teacher said she and Paxton had more fun splashing than the older kids in their class! Annie also loves her HUGE duckie bathtub! She loves kicking her feet and splashing the water on herself. She also smiles when we squeeze his bill and it makes a quacking sound!

GATLINBURG TRIP/MOTHERS DAY

2008-05-26T12:17:00.003-05:00

Aloha, senor y senorita's.

Esta nina is muy bonita y mucho grande. Ella es rolling over, y canta y jugo la guitara. !Mucho gusto!

Any who, now that I can get B off the computer and actually write something (she likes to show off her espanol skills, they just don't pay the bills).

Here are some pics from Gatlinburg trip. We did some wild and crazy stuff. i.e. Dolly Partons Dixie Stampede, Aquarium. We did go on a 5 mile hike in the hills that was really fun. Kinda scary w/ a baby strapped to your belly though. All in all very good w/e trip to get away.

2008-05-21T18:10:00.001-05:00

Pretty in Pink

2008-04-27T20:17:00.004-05:00

After church I took some cute pictures of Annie in her dress. She was loving it! It was like she knew I was taking pictures though so she wouldn't smile! She just kept looking at the camera like "You are going to use that bright thing again?". She has been so sweet today. She was awake the entire church service and was in such a great mood. The people around us thought she was so cute. Everyone smiled when she started talking! We went t eat at Kabuto (a Japanese steakhouse) and she enjoyed the show! She wasn't bothered by the loud banging or the large fire! Her eyes opened wide but she just kept smiling! Have a great week!

Annie's Church Dedication

2008-04-22T15:20:00.002-05:00

Annie's dedication at church was on Sunday. She looked so beautiful in her dress and did so well on the stage. We were a little worried because she was tired and got a little fussy right before church started. Luckily, she got her crying out before we had to stand in front of everyone. It was a very special day and were glad we had family there to share it with us!

"Bath Time!"

2008-04-14T19:57:00.004-05:00

This is a sweet picture taken of Annie after we finished with her bath the other night. She really likes having "naked time" as Mitch calls it!

Sleepy Head!

2008-04-14T19:47:00.003-05:00

She looks so innocent while she is sleeping. She loves her sleep! Annie gets her best sleep early in the morning in our bed while we get ready for work and school!

Hello!

2008-04-14T19:39:00.003-05:00

Update on Annie

2008-04-04T13:09:00.005-05:00

Annie has been a very busy girl lately. She has rolled over two times! I have missed both of them though. I can't believe it! I stayed home twelve weeks and saw her every move and then she decides to roll over for Mitch! What a little stinker!
She has been having a great time at school. She actually skipped a couple of days this week! Not really, she was actually sick on Tuesday and then Mitch came and picked her up early on Wednesday. She is much better now! Mitch is gone for a couple of days and it's just Annie and I. Let's hope we make it! We might need your prayers!
We hope everyone is doing well! Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T17:34:00.004-05:00

Annie looked so adorable in her Easter dress today! She even wore tiny white patten leather shoes! I'll add a picture of those too. She slept through the majority of church and woke up for just a little bit when we went out to eat with our family. She completely missed the Easter egg hunt at my parents house although she did get one egg at an egg hunt yesterday. She posed for a million pictures with her two cousins MaeLing and Morgan. It felt like they were going to prom because there were so many flashes! All in all it was a wonderful first Easter with our sweet Annie!

All Grown Up!

2008-03-14T16:07:00.005-05:00

Today was Annie's first day of school! Well, I don't know if you can call 2 1/2 hours a day but oh well. It seems like she just came home from the hospital yesterday. I never knew that twelve weeks could go by so fast. I have really enjoyed spending all my time with Annie but I know that this will be a good learning opportunity for her.
Annie did so great! Her teachers said that she was a very good girl! She even got Easter egg stickers on her chart! She smiled at everyone and did some talking too. Here is a picture of her listening to some music on a big butterfly pillow.

Splish Splash!

2008-03-14T15:59:00.003-05:00

After Annie's bath last night she was smiling like crazy! We are very lucky that she enjoys taking a bath. That wasn't the case at first but now she will sit there for a while. Last night she tried to stick her soapy hand in her mouth. I thought we got to it fast enough but after her bath she had the hiccups. It was probably from the soap! Ooops!

A Beautiful day for a stroll!

2008-03-14T15:51:00.004-05:00

The weather was beautiful yesterday. It was sunny and 75 degrees! Wasn't it just snowing less than a week ago? Annie and I decided to take a stroll around the neighborhood since it was so nice. Annie attempted to go to sleep but all the seams in the sidewalk kept waking her up! When I moved from the sidewalk to the street she fell asleep very quickly! At least I enjoyed the fresh air!

A Snowy Day

2008-03-11T12:32:00.005-05:00

We had another beautiful snow this past weekend and had to get Annie's picture made since we don't have it very often. She is only two and a half months old and has already seen two snows in Tennessee; that is very unusual!

Mitch decided to take advantage of the snow and get out his skis which don't get much use around here. We headed over to my parents house and he went skiing down the big hill in their front yard! It was pretty funny. He got worn out very quickly since there was no ski lift to take him back up to the top! After about 6 or 7 times down he came back in to hang out with my parents and our nieces, MaeLing and Morgan. It was a fun day! We hope everyone else enjoyed the snow too!

Two months old already?

2008-03-03T11:26:00.004-06:00

The time has flown by and Annie is already 2 months old. We can't believe it. Annie had her well check on Friday. She now weighs 10 lbs. and 12 oz. ! She is up three pounds from her birth weight! She is also getting very long; her length was 22.5 inches. Dr. Johnson said she was in the 50th percentile for height and weight. Annie also had to get five shots and she did not like it. :( Next time Mitch is going to take her and be the bad guy instead of me!

Orange or Blue: Which one looks better on me?

2008-03-03T10:18:00.007-06:00

Definitely orange!!
Yesterday we watched the Tennessee vs. Kentucky basketball game. Mitch was wearing his UK shirt and I had on my UT one. Mitch went into the other room and I quickly tried to find Annie's UT pacifier. When Mitch came back in he said "No way!" and laughed! Then, we had to find her UK as well. Annie didn't really have a preference at first but she did eventually spit out the Kentucky paci!

Snow Day!!

2008-02-27T08:29:00.002-06:00

We woke up this morning and the ground was dusted with snow and some was still falling so, I decided to get Annie's picture of her first snow day. After putting her coat on and dressing her up like an eskimo we went outside. I thought it would be cute to put her next to the Easter flag for the picture. A snow bunny next to the Easter bunny!

Sweet Baby Girl!

2008-02-26T09:32:00.003-06:00

Annie took her first trip to Murray this past weekend to meet some of her family. We all had a good time but we've noticed that someone came home a little spoiled! Well, I guess I should say a little more spoiled than she already was!

Annie is smiling all the time now. She has even giggled a few times for Mitch and I! Baby talk is her new thing too. She is quite the talker. We are enjoying every minute with her!

She is getting so big. I weighed her Sunday night on our scale at home and it said she is about 10 1/2 lbs. We go to the pediatrician on Friday so we will have a more accurate weight then. The nurse said she is going through a growth spurt but I think she is just going to be a big eater like her parents!

We hope everyone is doing well!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T10:24:00.002-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Mom and Dad came by last night to give Annie her Valentine's gift and as you can see she was all smiles. Mitch and I have been trying to capture a smile on camera for a couple of weeks now but haven't been quick enough. Luckily, Dad was able to catch it on camera while we were all saying "Hurry, hurry!".

Hi There!

2008-02-07T08:36:00.000-06:00

Annie is so alert these days. We are really starting to see more of her eyes which are starting to turn a little lighter blue. We are still not sure exactly what color they are going to be yet.

Last night we read in the baby book that by the end of 2 months she should be able to follow an object with her eyes when you move it. We tested her and moved the pacifier above her head from one side to the other and she followed it! We were so excited! She's so smart!

$$$$$

2008-02-07T08:30:00.000-06:00

We were shopping at Target the other night and saw this shirt. We thought it was appropriate since it is tax season and she made it just time to counted on our 2007 taxes! She cut it pretty close with only 5 1/2 hours to spare!

Annie meets Gnash

2008-02-04T14:39:00.000-06:00

Mitch ran in a 5k race on Saturday and Annie and I went to cheer him on. While we were waiting for him to finish Annie met her first mascot! She got her picture taken with Gnash the Nashville Predators mascot. As you can tell she was very excited!