6 (1/2) Months

Hard to believe you are now 6 months old!  It was an exciting month.  We, unfortunately, celebrated you turning 6 months old with a doctors visit.  We noticed you had started to run a fever, were pretty congested, and just not acting quite like yourself around Wednesday.  By Friday you had maintained a 101.7 fever for a couple days, so the doctor wanted to see you.  Not a fun way to end the month!

It seems February started with mommy being sick, and ended with you being sick.  BUT, the in between part was very fun and exciting.  Mommy had her birthday.  Had parent dedication at church. We celebrated your first Valentines Day.  Met some new friends.  The list goes on and on!

We discovered on Valentines Day that you had cut your first tooth!  I couldn't believe it!  You cut that first one so easily, I didn't even know it was there.  The second one, well...that's a different story.  You were needing a lot of extra TLC, and needed to be near me at all times.  We had a few rough nights, and a lot of naps with momma, but we got you through it.  You now have your two bottom teeth!

You are getting bigger and more alert by the day.  People typically comment about how alert you are.  You want to see EVERYTHING that is going on around you.  You want to reach, touch, AND eat anything you can get your hands on.  You now reach out for us to hold you, and it absolutely melts our hearts!   You weight 19 lbs 11 oz, and 27 inches long.  You are one chunky monkey!  You're about 95% in weight and about 90% in height.  And people always comment about your big beautiful blue eyes!

You go to bed so easily!  It's wonderful.  You are definitely down in your crib no later then 6:00.  You go back and forth with your mid night feeding, which usually happens around 2:00.  You got off your schedule quite a bit with the teething and being sick.  You are still an early riser.  You typically get up by 5:30 or 6:00, but sometimes you like to get up by 5:00.  I'll feed you and then Daddy takes over.  Thankful Daddy gets up with you in the morning, so mommy can sleep a little bit more!  And you're now a tummy sleeper!  I knew you would be.

Naps are a totally different story!  You do not love sleeping in your crib for naps.  I think there's been maybe one nap you haven't cried for at least 10 minutes.  You definitely are most comfy napping in mommy's lap.  I have to admit I don't really mind, but know we've gotta figure this nap thing out so I can get a few things done around the house!

We haven't started crawling yet.  Rolling is your mode of transportation these days.  You love to roll!  When I pick you up from the nursery at church they always comment on how much you love to roll.  You army crawl a bit and lunging toward everything.  

Other things you're doing...
- sitting up on your own
- your pencer grasp is so good!
- you're "talking" all the time
- sucking in your bottom lip (so cute)
- you can anticipate when we're about to tickle you
- you love grabbing our faces
- you love to scratch things

6 (1/2) Months

Hard to believe you are now 6 months old!  It was an exciting month.  We, unfortunately, celebrated you turning 6 months old with a doctors visit.  We noticed you had started to run a fever, were pretty congested, and just not acting quite like yourself around Wednesday.  By Friday you had maintained a 101.7 fever for a couple days, so the doctor wanted to see you.  Not a fun way to end the month!

It seems February started with mommy being sick, and ended with you being sick.  BUT, the in between part was very fun and exciting.  Mommy had her birthday.  Had parent dedication at church. We celebrated your first Valentines Day.  Met some new friends.  The list goes on and on!

We discovered on Valentines Day that you had cut your first tooth!  I couldn't believe it!  You cut that first one so easily, I didn't even know it was there.  The second one, well...that's a different story.  You were needing a lot of extra TLC, and needed to be near me at all times.  We had a few rough nights, and a lot of naps with momma, but we got you through it.  You now have your two bottom teeth!

You are getting bigger and more alert by the day.  People typically comment about how alert you are.  You want to see EVERYTHING that is going on around you.  You want to reach, touch, AND eat anything you can get your hands on.  You now reach out for us to hold you, and it absolutely melts our hearts!   You weight 19 lbs 11 oz, and 27 inches long.  You are one chunky monkey!  You're about 95% in weight and about 90% in height.  And people always comment about your big beautiful blue eyes!

You go to bed so easily!  It's wonderful.  You are definitely down in your crib no later then 6:00.  You go back and forth with your mid night feeding, which usually happens around 2:00.  You got off your schedule quite a bit with the teething and being sick.  You are still an early riser.  You typically get up by 5:30 or 6:00, but sometimes you like to get up by 5:00.  I'll feed you and then Daddy takes over.  Thankful Daddy gets up with you in the morning, so mommy can sleep a little bit more!  And you're now a tummy sleeper!  I knew you would be.

Naps are a totally different story!  You do not love sleeping in your crib for naps.  I think there's been maybe one nap you haven't cried for at least 10 minutes.  You definitely are most comfy napping in mommy's lap.  I have to admit I don't really mind, but know we've gotta figure this nap thing out so I can get a few things done around the house!

We haven't started crawling yet.  Rolling is your mode of transportation these days.  You love to roll!  When I pick you up from the nursery at church they always comment on how much you love to roll.  You army crawl a bit and lunging toward everything.  

Other things you're doing...
- sitting up on your own
- your pencer grasp is so good!
- you're "talking" all the time
- sucking in your bottom lip (so cute)
- you can anticipate when we're about to tickle you
- you love grabbing our faces
- you love to scratch things

Catchin up...

I've talked about my college roomie, Ashlie, a few times before.  She's one of my go-to's for any and all advice baby.   A LIFE-SAVER.  She lives in Houston with her family, but comes to Dallas often since both her and her husbands families are here.  We finally were able to mesh schedules and meet for lunch.  She hadn't met Annabelle yet, and I hadn't met her youngest. Audrey yet.  So fun catching up, and letting our two little ones meet!

Lots to celebrate

I decided to put all of February's celebrations in one post.  It's hard enough for me to get A post up, that I figure the more I condense the more likely a chance it makes it to the blog.  February sees a lot of birthdays with people we know (mine included).  I wouldn't say that I'm a huge Valentines Day person, but given the circumstances this year, and the lack of date nights, I was looking forward to a for sure day with Travis.  We also had our parent dedication at our church this month.  Here's the rundown...

Travis and Annabelle did a great job making me feel extra special this year!  The weekend started with some lunch and drinks with a few great friends.  Saturday morning I got brunch, then a late lunch with the family, and a little pampering with a manicure and pedicure!  Another big milestone happened this month.  For my birthday, Travis and I had our first date night out!  We had both not been away at the same time since Annabelle had been born.  Kinda crazy, I know.  My mom came and watched AB (she was already in bed) while Travis and I had a yoga/wine&chocolate night.  It was the perfect date for us.  You should definitely check your local yoga studio for any fun events they might hold.  It's such a great break from the dinner/movie combo.  

Soon after my birthday was Valentines Day.  Travis did such a great job spoiling both of us for that special day.  He planned a sweet lunch at Ellerbe's in Ft Worth, and then we went to the zoo!  So so fun!  I love the zoo!  The weather was absolutely perfect.  We headed home, AB napped, and we called it a day.

I am so annoyed at myself for not getting more pics from the parent dedication!  There were so many people that came to support us, so it was kinda crazy.  My mind was everywhere except getting pictures.  Such a special and important moment for Travis and I.  Having so many of the people that love us and do life with us, praying over us and sweet Annabelle.  Truly a blessing.  We cannot do this without the support, love, and prayers of our community.  Thank you to everyone that came and loved on us!

Whew! What a fun month!

Baby Campbell

I've known my friend Katie since junior high.  She's been the one I've kept close to over the years, and consider one of my best friends.  It's so fun to have a friend that has known you through all the years; the ugly years (we're talking jacked up teeth and all!), the fun years, and the growing years.  Such a blessing.  Well, turns out 2012 was a big year for both of us!  We both were expecting sweet baby girls!  So fun to think of the years to come, and seeing our babies grow up together!  Here's to all the mommy wine parties and baby play dates to come!  Love you and sweet baby Campbell!

Sweet baby Campbell!  She is the tiniest, cutest little baby!  

Katie with Annabelle just a few days old!

And Katie with Annabelle at week 21.  Can't believe how big Annabelle's getting!

My Daddy

I love my daddy!

5 Months

Whew, we survived!  It's been a rough month around here!  Between lots of waking up at night to mommy getting sick twice, it's been a bit challenging around here. December ended with very little sleep at night, and in January it kept right on going.  Just couldn't get out of our bad habit!  So, we had our own baby sleep bootcamp, and you passed with flying colors!  By the end of the month we had our sleeping baby back!  Woohoo!!!

Everyone who sees you says you're just the cutest baby!  Many say you look just like the gerber baby!  Your big blue eyes are usually the first thing they notice.  At your 4.5 month doctor appointment you weighted 18.6 lbs and are now 26 inches long.  Still our cute little chunk!  You're in 9 to 12 month clothing now.

At the beginning of the month you rolled from tummy to back.  So we're rolling both ways now!  You are such a rolly polly!  You roll everywhere! When I put you down on the ground and walk away for even a second I come back and you're halfway across the room.  You are most definitely a mover.  You're already starting to army crawl a little.

You are so very aware of EVERYTHING around you!  You just want to look and touch and grab any and everything you see!  It really is so fun watching you learn and discover so many new things.  You got a new toy for Christmas, your Baby Einstein exersaucer, that you absolutely love!  It's really amazing to see you figure everything out.  How to pull, push, and swivel around.  You're so smart!  Mr. Turtle was a fast favorite.  I think Mr. Crab is quickly taking over though ;-)

We survived a couple of big sicknesses this month.  I got the sickest I've been in a long time mid-month, and it lasted almost 2 weeks!  Then, the last day of the month I managed to get a stomach bug that had me puking like crazy!  Horrible being that sick and having to stay away from you as much as possible, so you wouldn't get it.  Couldn't snuggle and hold you hardly at all!  Fortunately, you managed to come out unscathed.  Daddy did a great job, and we had Gigi over quite a bit to help while Daddy was at work.

We started you on solids this month.  We decided to go with sweet potatoes first.  We gave you 1 teaspoon for about 5 days. You loved them, and did such a good job of eating them!  You got down every last bite.  Unfortunately, we noticed around day 4 you started breaking out in a terrible rash all over your face.  Turned into some really really bad eczema.  I'm already dairy and soy free, so the doctor told me to cut out eggs since your eczema and gas were getting worst.   Once we started feeding you sweet potatoes and it got even more worst, she asked about my diet.  Well, sweet potatoes is a huge staple to my diet (eat them probably 5 days a week!).  So, we both had to cut out the sweet potatoes.  A week later the eczema and rashes went away (thank the Lord!).  We're going to try carrots at the end of the week.

Here are some other fun things you're doing now...

*You love playing with Daddy's beard
*You are always chewing on your hands.  Not exactly a thumb sucker, but pretty much the whole hand.
*I should just trying to put headbands on you.  You almost immediately pull them down and start chewing on them.
*Same thing with socks or shoes.  You manage to get them off with in seconds of them going on.
*You giggle all the time!  We love it.
*You still love practicing standing up.
*You're passing toys from one hand to the other.
*Love reading time with mommy!
*Love singing along to music playing.
*You managed to get your foot in your mouth this week.  You thought that was a pretty cool trick!
*You're almost sitting up all by yourself!  We're kinda slumping over more than sitting, but we're close!