1-31-11 - Won't keep feet covered up!

My silly girl!  She just will not cooperate - it's raining, and yes, I know she should have socks on, but she was asleep at the time!!  Just would NOT keep that little foot covered up!!

And it's like she knew she was misbehaving!! :) haha!

1-30-11 - stuck in crib, bath

Had a marvelous day today, despite my sore throat and headache.  (Stinks not to be able to medicate yourself!)  Anna Claire was in a really, really happy mood.  She talked in her crib all by herself for about twenty minutes (I recorded a tidbit, but it's too big to upload here).  She finally turned herself around and got stuck and had to be rescued! 

But she still was smiley after that even!

She also played with me this afternon - she was sitting across from me in her exersaucer and say "AAAHHHH!!" at me - then she would wait and I would say, "AAAAHHH!!" back at her and she would grin and wait......then do it again! :)  Sweet baby!  So much fun! 

I took some cute pics today.  The camera phone isn't the best camera ever, but it is so convenient.  Wish it didn't have that terrible delay......

Oh, and we had fun in the tub too!  But that's ALWAYS her favorite time of day!  I just wish I could figure out how to get her into her sleeper without her wailing!  She's fine being in the tub, getting out, getting dried off, getting lotioned, then I start to put on her diaper and here she goes!  Here's a couple of pics BEFORE she started the daily meltdown!

1-29-11 - Anna Claire loves to jump!

She just jumped and jumped and jumped tonight!  And grinned, and grinned, and grinned! 

1-29-11 - Nana and Pawpaw visit

Well, mom and dad surprised me royally this weekend - they called at about 8:30 Friday night and said they were in Bainbridge!  Glad my house was (sort of) clean!  It was a good visit.  I think Dad is as crazy about Anna Claire as mom is, he just isn't quite sure what to do with her sometimes!  If this weekend is any indicator, she's going to work him over wayyyy worse than I ever did though!

1-26-11 - Dr. visit

Today was Anna Claire's 4 month checkup (yes, I realize that she is 5 months now) and it was a good one, overall.  She was 16 lb. 2 oz. (with a diaper), 26 inches long, 42.5 cm. head circumferance (sp?).  So it appears that she is between the 50 - 75 percentile on everything.  Looking good!

Can I say that I hate going to Anna Claire's doctor visits?  They were fun until she had to start getting shots!  Now I hate them worse than she does!

Dr. Blaxton said that she sees, "no hint of teeth" yet!  (This is despite the fact that she is constantly gnawing and sucking on her hands.....weird.)

Everything looked great, except she has a "vaginal fusion" (no vaginal opening - only a small hole to tee-tee from).  We have to put a hormone cream on her for two weeks on two weeks off and hopefully that will cause it to open up.  Apparently, when you are too gentle with diaper changes and don't wipe little girls' bottoms hard enough, it can result in a vaginal fusion.  So, I'm too nice, evidently! :)  Hopefully this cream will work - I know another little girl in our church that just had to have surgery for the same thing, but it was a minor surgery and she did great.

Dr. Blaxton asked us about what she was doing of course, could she turn towards our voice, roll over, smile in response, etc.  Just about on cue, the silly baby rolled over on the table and grinned at her!  Dr. Blaxton said, "yes, you can hear, can't you!"  :-)

I'm so glad Andy continues to go to these doctor appointments with me though - the vaccinations just break my heart.  She doesn't cry much with the shot itself, but the rest of today has been just terrible.  She just feels awful.  We did choose to only give her the pentacel (Polio, Pertussis, Tetanus, Diptheria and HIB) and wait on the Prevnar (PC).  We'll go back to pick it up.  I still feel very uncertain about vaccines.  I would have preferred not to have her given 5 shots in one today if I could have helped it.  I guess we just leave it in God's hands and know that she will be exactly as He planned her to be - and in my opinion, she's just perfect!

1-25-11 - Carrot

Being a mom evidently means you will try anything to appease (and please!) your child!  Little Bit was discontent - didn't want to eat, but seemed like her gums might be hurting....(she was eating her hands a lot and fussy).   I talked with mom, and she suggested a carrot, which I actually had on hand!  Not sure if Anna Claire liked it for soothing, but she certainly enjoyed playing with it!

1-25-11 - Big bathtime smile!

My baby loves her bath!  Happiest time of the day!

1-24-11 - eavesdropping on Andy

It's amazing how having a baby changes your relationship with your husband.  I am amazed when I watch Andy with Anna Claire - he is SUCH a great daddy and loves her beyond description.  I like to listen to him coo at her and talk with her when he thinks I am not listening.  He tells her how much he loves her, how beautiful she is, how special she is, what they will do together when she is bigger, etc.  All very sweet.  Well, she was in a mood the other day and I heard him say this: "How is it you are happy one minute and the next you are acting like a baby she-devil?"  I thought I was going to fall out!!  HAHAHAHAHA

1-24-11 - Sunglasses

Today was the first day that Anna Claire would tolerate her sunglasses!  I sent this pic via text to mom and dad - they LOVED it!  Dad calls it her "movie star picture," and that "she looks like she has the world by the tail!"  She's so funny!

1-21-11 - crazy faces!

I love the faces that Anna Claire is learning to make!  She's sucking her bottom lip lately, which I've been told is soothing to teething babies, but since no teeth appear to be on their way, who knows!  I love this crazy face though!

Had a wonderful evening! Tonight was probably the first night since Anna Claire was born that I really felt "together" - not harried, semi-attractive with some new clothes (besides the extra weight of course) and unrushed. Add that to some superb hubby time and it was so great!

1-20-11 - Mom is so funny!

You know, one of the greatest pleasures to me since Anna Claire was born has been watching how mom (and dad too) interacts with and loves her.  It's such a joy and she is so tender with her.  I think they will be close - I look forward to seeing that!

Mom went home Thursday, but they went camping this weekend, well, she took a couple of bi-fold acrylic frames with her with pictures of Anna Claire - she said, "I had to take my baby girl with me!"  So funny!

1-17-11 - Likes pears! First time in jumperoo!

Okay, of the new foods we've introduced, pears are DEFINITELY Anna Claire's favorite - bar none!!  We gave her the first bite, she thought about it - then we spent the next fifteen minutes shoving the pears in, and not doing it quickly enough for her tastes!!  We'd no sooner put the spoon in than she was leaning and reaching both arms with her mouth open at us!!  Silly girl!!

Later today we tried her in the jumperoo-thing that hangs in the doorway.  It was an instant hit too.  Although when she REALLY liked it was when Andy got home from choir tour and was singing "Can't Touch This" to her and dancing in the kitchen....she'd get excited and jump too!!

I wonder how aware babies are to changes in their environment - my mom has been in town and she hasn't napped well the entire time....it's like she doesn't want to miss anything.  She's not the best napper in the world anyway, but the past few days, I'm lucky to get thirty minutes at a time, which makes for a cranky baby in the evening!!

1-16-11 - The Boppy pillow is meant for food....ALWAYS!

We put the boppy around Miss Priss to help hold her up to play, but she couldn't focus on anything except trying to eat the Boppy.  I suppose that considering nearly every time she has eaten, whether with me or via a bottle the boppy has been nearby, this makes sense.  It was so hilarious to see her lick the boppy though.....almost like, "Okay, I know food MUST be nearby!!"

Something else that she did today that cracked me up - I was nursing her and had her laying on the boppy on my right side in the football hold.  Well, mom had misplaced her bank card and she needed some information from the office (she was on the phone in the kitchen), so I jumped up, grabbing Anna Claire like a football on my side.....well, evidently the pressure was too much because she let out a man fart.  It was so hilarious though - the look on her face was like, "honestly, Mom - can you take it easy?!"  I know it will probably mortify her when she's older, but right now she is so cute that nothing is gross! :)

1-13-11

My daughter is already starting to pilfer!  I caught her this afternoon playing in my purse - and she actually got something out and started eating it! :)  Silly baby!!

1-12-11 - Backwards in swing!

1-12-11

Nothing much to report - no big firsts - but yet so much happens every day!! :) Watching a baby change would be boring stuff to most folks (at least with other people's kids), I'd bet, but watching Anna Claire is a wondrous thing to me! It's amazing how much she is changing and growing. At the very same time, I can feel so much pride and happiness in what she is learning, but grieve a little that she is growing up so fast - already she is so much less of a "baby" than she was even two months ago! And she's just almost five months old!! :)

We are still wrestling with the vaccine issue....we've gotten all her vaccinations that are recommended up to this date, but I still just don't feel good about it. She was sick for like, four days afterwards. I ordered a book by Dr. Sears called, The Vaccine Book, that Leah Miller actually recommended to me. I hope that it will either calm my fears, or educate me as to how I should proceed. I have HUGE reservations about the MMR. It's not that I don't want her vaccinated.....it's just that they get so many more vaccinations than we ever did by this age. I mean, what would it hurt to let them start talking and spread the doses out a bit? I'm sure doctors have good reason for what they choose to do, but I just am not certain that you can ever say that any medication is good for EVERY baby in America at the same age......surely we are all a little different and some children won't react as well as others.

1-11-11 - Fell asleep on floor

Anna Claire got so tired from rolling around on the carpet that she finally just gave up the ghost, found her thumb and sacked out right there on the carpet!

1-11-11 - Anna Claire is a bed hog!!

She thinks she is supposed to be able to stretch both arms out sideways - AND she wants to be able to touch one of us, so even in our king bed, whoever she chooses to touch is going to be hanging off the end of the bed!!  Doesn't make for a good night's sleep! :)  haha!  Precious times though!

Thankfully she doesn't sleep with us much.....last night she was so fussy and was having such a hard time calming down that we fed her a bottle and she fell asleep in our bed.  We *thought* it would be a good idea not to move her, after all, how much space can a small baby take up?  Well, THAT was an error in judgment.  Turns out, a small baby can take up a LOT of room. 

1-9-11 - Slept all night in her Crib!

Last night Anna Claire slept all night in her crib for the very first time!! yay!! Let's just hope this isn't a fluke!! :)

1-9-11 - Fairy Princess dress

We have been beyond unbelievably blessed.  So much so, that I've bought NO clothes personally for my doll baby.  Until I saw this one at a secondhand store for $3.50.  Doesn't she just look like a fairy princess!  So beautiful!

1-8-11 - Skype!

Tonight we tried Skype for the first time with my parents - it was fun, although their connection speed was too slow to get a really great picture.  (Mom's going to upgrade it tomorrow!)  I think it will be fun for them to be able to see Anna Claire every now and then via video chat.  I remember watching the Jetsons as a kid and thought all our telephone calls would be video chat by now.  :)  So much for that, huh?  Right along with flying cars....

1-7-11 - I tried baby food for the first time! Prunes!

What can we say, she's been having trouble *going* so we decided to try some baby prunes.  Don't know if they will help or not - because we aren't sure how much went down!! 

I have to give HUGE props to All Baby Detergent - this bib actually came clean!!

1-5-11 - I love the exersaucer!!

We found a new toy.....our girl is finally big enough to enjoy an exersaucer!  We put her in it in the nursery today in church and OH MY GOODNESS!!  She got SOOOO excited and played, and played and played!!

Update:  1-7-11 - Then we had to get HER exersaucer that we bought from Kids Market out at home and clean it up.....needless to say, it's been a big hit too!!

1-2-11 - I got to see BETH MOORE!!!!

Wow, what a day! It's not everyday that you get to see your biggest role model in person! She taught a great lesson about the mind, capturing every thought. Never ceases to be a challenging topic! The battlefield truly is in the mind. Beth said several things in the first session that were of note, but my sleepy mind can only remember the highlights of the day at the moment. The thing that sticks out to me at the moment, was her statement that we can't necessarily change the way we feel, but we can change the way we think, which will ultimately change how we feel AND how we react to those feelings. We may not like something about our past, but we can think about it differently and the hold it has on us will change. She gave the example that in her situation of childhood abuse, that when she stopped thinking of it from a victimization perspective, but as a ministry perspective - stopped saying "why me" but instead basically, "how can you use this, Lord" then He changed the hold it had on her life. Incredible story - very powerful.

I was challenged in the first session that I must do better with guarding my thought patterns, conforming myself to Christ, renewing my mind. The text spoke of renewing our mind, so that we can know God's perfect will for our lives. It's one of those conditional statements. I do not want to miss the details of God's perfect will for me because I refuse to sit in His presence and allow the Spirit to renew my mind.

I also went to a breakout session with Brenda Brown and Donna Granberry that Beth led. It was really good too. She talked in that session about delighting in God - exploring Psalm 37. She said, "What takes a bite out of our delight?" Then she used the acrostic "J-A-W" and went through the idea that J-ealousy, A-nger and W-orry steal our delight (based upon the passage). Oooh....she made a comment about jealousy - that if a person does something well, and we feel the need to lessen their success (well, she didn't do as well as she did LAST time...., etc.) then it's not a problem with the person, its revealing something we don't like about OURSELVES. We are jealous of their Christian conviction, talent, faith, etc......and we don't see it in ourselves or we wish we had their talents for our own. Man, oh, man....Lord, don't let me try to steal the glory from you by diminishing the offerings of others. Let me serve you wholeheartedly in my own way, the way that YOU intend for me to do!

Anna Claire did great, as usual, though. We couldn't bring the stroller, as they weren't allowed in, but Andy wore her in the baby bjorn and she slept on his chest for the first session. So cute! She was squirmy later in the breakout session, and wanted to "sing" happily for everyone, so Donna offered to take her out for me. :)

It was special having her there though - listening to such a godly woman speak, being challenged to be the kind of woman that I want Anna Claire to emulate (SUCH a huge responsibility) and having my sweet baby daughter asleep against me in the bjorn. The complete peace that she shows when she sleeps so soundly against me warms my heart. It's hard to describe the emotion, but while she laid there, I thought to myself that as much as I look forward to having fun with her when she is bigger, there is no part of me that wants to rush this time.....I wouldn't give up this memory and this time for anything! She is so precious to me and I love her beyond words. I have never been more grateful to God for anything - and I have never understood James 1:7 as I do now. (Although I do realize it encompasses all gifts - spiritual and otherwise.)

Francis Chan spoke tonight about making our lives line up with what we say we believe. That's a biggie too. I know Andy really enjoyed it because he texted me about it. I look forward to hearing his thoughts. Francis has evidently taken some time recently to meet with the persecuted church in India, China and Thailand and his stories were powerful. The thread throughout all their stories was the joy that marked their lives, even when being persecuted. I get scared about the possibility of persecution in the future, but isn't it reassuring to think that under those conditions, that God just pours His grace on believers, enabling them to endure and even to rejoice! I have to remind myself that we are given grace for what WE are asked to do, not for tomorrow. I just need to live faithfully today.....and I have sooooo far to go. Lord, forgive me for being so unfaithful to your word, to prayer, for living in a way that is too dependent on myself and subconsciously believing that I can be a good wife/mom without you. I may not believe that intellectually, but by neglecting YOU, my actions show my lack of dependence! Forgive me, Lord! Help me to change through Your power and help my life line up with what I believe! I know that everything that is beautiful in my life is YOU, and anything that would attract others to me is also YOU. Please develop those qualities, even though I am so unworthy.....

Trip to Atlanta - 1-1-11

Today is 1-1-11! Cool, huh?! I didn't realize it until I heard Louie Giglio say it at the Passion 2011 Conference today! (Via online streaming.)

We got up this morning and left to drive to Atlanta - Anna Claire and I rode separately so that we would have freedom to stop if necessary. She was wonderful though - what a trooper! :) Donna Granberry rode with us, and I enjoyed talking with her. I always second guess myself, wondering if Jesus would be pleased with all that I said and my opinions. I tried to be gracious and delicate with my words, but I'm never sure if I succeeded or not.

She did bring up one of my great desires though - a bible study for young moms! How wonderful would that be! I've thought about that many times - how much I would enjoy learning from a more experienced mom. She mentioned that maybe Lauren Malphurs would teach it, and I think that's a great pick.