Funny times...

Such little things bring us so much joy! Anna Claire is not being reserved about rolling over nowadays! She conquers a task and two days later she's doing it everywhere! :) I put her on her playmat (it lives in front of the coffee table) and within a minute, Andy called out to me to "look at your baby"...she had rolled over one and a half times and was laying under the coffee table, content as could be! :) I'm just thankful she didn't hit her head on the metal legs!

But now she seems to love being on the floor - I will have to improve at keeping the floors clean, which is no small undertaking with two indoor dogs!

Getting ready to go to Atlanta this weekend for the Passion Conference. I know it will be great, even if I don't get to go to many of the sessions. I am just a little nervous about the ride to and from, since Andy won't be able to ride with me.....:(

Oh yeah, we went to Longhorn today with a gift card we got for Christmas. We sat near some old women who just talked to her constantly. Anna Claire was so funny though - she just jabbered and squealed, which was adorable, but very loud!! Andy said that of course she wouldn't talk when WE want her to, but when we DON'T, then she wants to talk away!!

Anna Claire sings during our supper! 12-29-10

Today we went to Ritchie B's for lunch - it was delicious! I could eat there regularly (and probably will from now on!). Anna Claire did great today - she rode well in her carseat and was in a great mood during lunch. She babbled and cooed and sang the whole time we ate. Hopefully my video from my phone will transfer well. (other than the fact that I recorded it sideways! oops!)

12-29-10 - Daddy babysits at church for first time

Anna Claire rolls over! Yay!

Today is another first! Today, 12-28-10, Anna Claire started the trek towards mobility! She rolled over! It was so exciting! I didn't get it on video because she did it all by herself unexpectedly while i was washing dishes! She did it and I yelled (with joy of course!!) haha :)

The Rules of This House by Gregg Harris

I LOVE IT!

The Rules of this House by Gregg Harris (parent of Joshua Harris of I Kissed Dating Goodbye)

In this house...

1. We obey our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. We love, honor and pray for one another.
3. We tell the truth.
4. We consider another's interests ahead of our own.
5. We speak quietly and respectfully with one another.
6. We do not hurt one another with unkind words or deeds.
7. When someone needs correction, we correct him in love.
8. When someone is sorry, we forgive him.
9. When someone is sad, we comfort him.
10. When someone is happy, we rejoice with him.
11. When we have something nice to share, we share it.
12. When we have work to do, we do it without complaining.
13. We take good care of everything God has given us.
14. We do not create unnecessary work for others.
15. When we open something, we close it.
16. When we turn something on, we turn it off.
17. When we take something out, we put it away.
18. When we make a mess, we clean it up.
19. When we do not know what to do, we ask.
20. When we go out, we act just as if we were in this houe.
21. When we disobey or forget any of the 'Rules of this House' we accept the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

12-27-10 - First time playing the piano

So much cute in one little baby!  She's doing something new all the time! :)

Today, rather than sit in her bumbo seat properly, this is how Anna Claire chose to sit (apparently so she could gnaw on the side of the chair!)

Later, Daddy came home and we got to play the piano for the first time!

Then I got a few minutes alone to take a bath in the jacuzzi tub.....which was very relaxing until Andy came in with a fussy baby!  So we opted to put her in the bath with me.  But then I realized that I could bath her one handed and there was no way to sit her down properly so I could wash her.  Soooo.....then Daddy had to come in and join us so that one could hold her, the other bathe her!  It was fun!  We have to enjoy these times, because it won't be very long at all, that we can't do that anymore.  Right now, there is so much freedom and innocence.  What a blessing!

Christmas 2010

Had a wonderful first Christmas with Anna Claire.  Even though we haven't started our family traditions yet, it was such a joy to reflect on our greatest gift this year - our sweet girl!  Andy and I didn't buy for each other, so there weren't any presents to open (although my parents did give us a couple of gifts), but we had a great season nonetheless.  I anticipate future Christmases with traditions, presents, a "normal" tree (not a tabletop like this years!) and more decorations inside the house (wasn't able to do much this year). 

She was fun to dress up though - I took advantage of the season to dress her accordingly!  :)  ("Who Needs Santa When I Have Grandma?" onesie)

Phillip and Janet Hunter gave us a "Baby's first Christmas ornament for Anna Claire's handprint.  It turned out so cute, but she wailed!  She HATES to be restrained or constrained to do something!  :)  Strong will for such a small baby girl!  Here's the ornament:

12-23-10 - Dinner with friends

I am so grateful to my sweet husband for watching Anna Claire and letting me have some much needed time out with friends. It was great to see Julie Hodge and Christal Robertson today! Oh - and it was my first good experience at Mexican Connection. ;)

12-22-10 - Family Christmas Service

She just becomes more and more precious! Tonight we attended our church's Family Christmas Service - a lot of music mostly with some readings. Andy and the rest of the staff surprised the church by doing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with the handbells and wearing Santa hats! This was so fun! (Personally, my favorite part about it was that I know how ridiculous Andy felt in the hat, so that made it all the funnier!) I hope I can get a video or picture of it to keep.

Otherwise, Andy sang "Sweet Little Jesus Boy" and did a marvelous job! :) Rebecca Malphurs calls that song "an English major's nightmare" and she's probably right, but it was masterfully performed! (Yes, I'm probably biased, but he really did do great!) Andy's been going around the house singing it for a month now, so I'm a little glad it's behind him! ;)

Anyway, Anna Claire stayed in the service with us because there was no nursery last night. She was doing wonderfully sitting on my lap, playing with her rings and blanket doll, and then Andy went up to the stage to sing.....the minute he started singing she STOPPED playing with her toys and started arching her back, wiggling and SPITTING!! (BTW - if I haven't mentioned it earlier, Andy taught her to blow her lips and spit over a month ago and she totally associates spitting with her daddy.....she does it almost daily when he gets home!) Anyway, realizing that she recognized his voice and reacted so strongly to it is just another special memory for me. That's why I want to keep this blog - I don't want to forget anything, and my memory is just dreadful.

After the service, Andy was in the mood to sing some more - so off to myspace karaoke he went. Anna Claire decided to sing along - it was their first "duet!"

12-20-2010 - Anna Claire can squeal!

Baby girl just continues to grow and change! Every new phase is a delight! She's been laughing out loud (just a verrryyy little), but she likes it when you take her shirt off - she thinks that's funny. That's also the only time consequently that she will laugh out loud for me. I discovered that she is ticklish. So, if I combine taking her shirt off and tickling her, she thinks it's funny and will cackle a bit for me! :) Today she got a little EXTRA-excited and started squealing. She was evidently impressed with herself, bc she continued to do it, and I was lucky and got a very small bit on audio. 

12-18-2010 - Drinking bathwater

So.....another something to prevent her from doing (while laughing internally).....Anna Claire is learning that she likes to drink the bathwater.  Gross!  She'll lean over on her side and try to lap it like a puppy.  Yuck, I know! 

12-17-10 - Visit with the Claytons in PCB

12-12-10 - Eating at Rodeo's on Sunday

One thing that Anna Claire better learn to like is Mexican food.  That's not optional in our family!  We eat Mexican at LEAST twice a week, but usually more!  Every single Sunday we eat at Rodeo Mexican Restaurant because it's delicious, it's fast and we can get in and out in a hurry to enjoy our afternoon nap.  (Well, we used to have an afternoon nap, but then we had a baby!)

We even have a cute little bib that says, "Quiero A Mi Papi" which I think means, I love my Daddy in Spanish.  That's her Sunday lunch bib!  The waiters and waitresses get a kick out of it.  (We try to reach out to them and build relationships with them so we can talk to them about Jesus. They're nice folks.)

Here's a photo from lunch - sitting like a big girl next to Daddy!

12-09-10

Had a great birthday! We went out and when we picked Anna Claire from Kim's, she was so excited to see me....makes me feel so loved! She had been fussing a great deal and the minute I took her she calmed right down!

She is such a sweet baby. On Tuesday nights Andy rushes to get home because he doesn't want her to be asleep and not get to see her!

12-08-10 - Alfalfa hair!

Every baby needs a bad hair pic!  (Frankly, I have about a million of myself, due to my parent's COMPLETE lack of restraint.....for evidence please see myriad of "Rhonda Mohawk Pics"!)  Well, here's one that Anna Claire will hate when she's a preteen, but I just think she's adorable!!

Mental note though - Until she is older, I will never try to put Anna Claire to bed early again. It's not worth what she puts me through when she wakes up. :( ugh...

12-04-10

We FINALLY got our Christmas tree up tonight.....wimpy though it is.  This year with having a new baby in the house and having rearranged furniture so that my spot for the tree was taken, we decided to make life easy and do a tabletop tree.  It's cute - small, but cute.  Anna Claire likes to look at the lights. 

When we got it up tonight, Andy lifted her up and walked her over by the table - he started to sing, "O Christmas Tree" and I joined in.  The song went something like this, "O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, da da da da da da da" (to the tune)!  What made it so funny is that we each expected the other to actually KNOW the second line, so when we BOTH started doing da da's in place of words it was hilarious.  Special memory.  :)

12-03-10

I am so convicted about my bible study habits, yet, I am not sure how to improve!  I want to be the woman that Anna Claire can mimic in her relationship with Christ, yet my own walk is so lacking!  I pray more, but my overall devotion and personal time is minimal!  I know that's wrong, but I don't know exactly how to rectify it!  There is so incredibly much to be done at any moment - not only housework (which is exhaustive in itself) but calls to be made, appointments to set, errands to run, pumping breastmilk, on and on and on.  No excuse I know, but I don't know how to pull out of that to have time alone.  :(  I have no doubt that I can do nothing - including being a good mom - apart from the vine though.....

Anna Claire was sweet today though - well, some of the day!  She absolutely LOVES her bath.  She played and kicked and splashed for probably thirty minutes today.  Smiling as wide as she could! I thinks she wore herself out because she is fast asleep right now in her crib.  Tonight is the first night we are trying to let her sleep in her own room.....we'll see if it works.  I kind of sit on the fence - 50/50 as to whether it will work or not.  She doesn't nap well in there, but then again, maybe she is tired enough and has become used enough to the crib for it to work. I'll let you know. ;)

Another last night - this is the last night she'll be able to wear my old terry cloth sleeper from when I was a baby - the pink one.  (She's already outgrown the teal one.)  Another milestone.  As much as I look forward to her growing and changing, I don't want it to happen too fast.  I guess maybe I'm a little melancholy about these things, but I am aware that as she grows I am one step closer to losing her to adulthood....I know that's stupid.  My mom hasn't lost me - in fact, we're super close (which is a miracle considering how different we are!)  I just wish I had some kind of absolute assurance that Anna Claire would grow up to love God and serve Him and to love us and stay close to us.  But as we have daily proof, there are no guarantees and she will certainly grow to have a will of her own.  Then again, I do have to remind myself that if we love her unconditionally and raise her to know God, then it's in His hands....and regardless of the fact that I struggle with my daily quiet time, I DO pray for her - regularly.....like I've never prayed for anyone before, ever. I am truly desperate that God always be at work in her life. 

Like I said, we had to go to Graceville, well coming home was atrocious.  She HATES her carseat all of a sudden (well since Thanksgiving really) and she screamed all the way home.  It was awful.  Andy handles screaming much better than I do - my nerves can't take it.  Even he was getting stressed out though.

12-3-10 - Daddy dresses daughter

Andy is so willing to help - and I'm so grateful!  Unfortunately, he's not always the most attentive to details! (Notice the bow on the BACK!)

12-02-10 - Date nights are great!

My assessment of Ruby Tuesdays.....overpriced and mediocre. Same assessment I had the last time I went there probably two years ago. Garlic biscuits couldn't compete with Red Lobster's, ribs couldn't compete with Chili's, Applebees OR Longhorn's, asparagus was good though! And the company was the best! ;) LOVE my date nights with my sweet husband!

12-1-10

Today started out pretty rough - we were supposed to have Anna Claire's three month pictures made (and our Christmas pictures).  Well, I had a feeling that she wasn't going to be her normal happy, smiley self.  I was right.  :(  Made it through the Christmas pics, but had to reschedule the 3 month set to next Thursday.  I suspect she may be starting to teethe.  Drooling a lot, eating her fist, etc.  Plus, she's been spitting up like a fountain for two days straight.  :(