1 month old

We really have a baby. She is really part of our family. We like her a lot. She has started to be slightly more aware of her surroundings. Also, the other day I came out of the bathroom, started talking to Annie and got 3 huge smiles. Oh man, pulling of hearts strings definitely occurred.



So do we think about anything but Annie? Occasionally. This week was the last week of class, so I had a ton of things due. Aaron's Mom came down and watched Annie while I hid in the bedroom and did homework, only re-emerging for feedings, I got so much done and was glad to be able to do it knowing Annie was in such good hands. Hooray for Grandmas and for last days of class. Now a three week break and then on to student teaching adventures about which I can honestly say I am excited. But we still pretty much think about Annie all the time, and that is probably how it should be.

Baths

Annie fits in a bowl for bathtime. She hated sponge baths, but she is really relaxed when we give her a real one.

Thanksgiving

We went to Aaron's family's house for Thanksgiving. We had a great time relaxing and having everybody cuddle with Annie. The food was great, especially the stuffing...wow! Annie only got the food second-hand, but she liked it too.

This is what everybody with a newborn feels like doing. Annie is a good sleeper overall. She wakes up 2-3 times a night. In the mornings she grunts for about 30 minutes before she actually wakes up. Her new nickname is Little Grunt.

Pretty Baby

I love how she sometimes sleeps with her hands like this.



I think she looks like a little egg in this one.


Isn't she just gorgeous?

Annie and Daddy

Aaron does such a great job with Annie. They are great together, which is good since Aaron will be Mr. Mom next semester while I student teach. But in this pic Annie does look like she has a little trepidation.


Really, I don't think I should refer to Aaron as Mr. Mom. Doing that kind of implies that a Dad at home needs to become like unto a Mom when really baby will be just fine with him being 100% Dad. Fathers are good for babies. I'm excited to stay home with Annie after student teaching, but her DAD will be able to take great care of her as well.

And a video...

We made this little video of Annie for our brothers who are serving missions.

Annie Faces

She's so tiny! She has this face (the sleeping face) a lot.

Annie's first milk mustache (and goatee?)

In the Hospital

It was great to see Annie, but I was feeling a bit strange at this point. Aaron was busy running back and forth between me and Annie. So I told the people sewing me up that I felt like barfing. The anesthesiologist came over with a wimpy little container. I was kind of thinking, "You've got to be kidding me." But then he held up a cotton ball full of rubbing alcohol next to my nose and told me to smell it. Goodbye nausea. At that moment Mr. Anesthesia Man became my best friend.

Isn't she sweet? She doesn't seem to suck her thumb much now. But she is a good-natured baby.

Here's the new little family. The nurses did Annie's hair in a fohawk (sp?). Her hair does have a little curl in it. I was hoping it would.

Annie!

Annie came 11 days early. My water broke in the library. We had tickets to go to a play that night, but our plans changed suddenly. We got to the hospital and found out that Annie was fully breech. Aaron was breech when he was born, too. Like father, like daughter. This is me being mad that I needed a C-Section.
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In reality, we are so grateful we had the medical knowledge to get Annie here safely. Plus, Aaron got to wear this awesome suit.

Halloween

I like dressing up for Halloween. Many members of my family do not. Aaron does not, but he played along with me this time and dressed up as a basketball player. I appreciated it. Annie (the baby) was very happy to be dressed up as a basketball for her first in utero Halloween celebration. She liked the 6 mini-candy bars I ate that night, too. I always try to think of her needs first.


We're getting really excited for our little basketball to be born. She is due in two weeks. Aaron and I took a Lamaze class together. We learned a lot and got some great suggestions to use during labor. But some techniques we learned were just a bit silly. One visualization technique has the labor coach saying to the pregnant woman, "Imagine the baby's head descending into the pelvis" and "Imagine your cervix opening gently like a beautiful flower." Aaron can't say these phrases without laughing, so we'll have to find some other tactics. Each to their own.

Aaron's Birthday

Aaron's birthday was last this month. He is now 28 years old! This is the third time I have made enchiladas for his birthday--once when we were dating and now twice since we've been married. We also made pumpkin cake for desert. It started going bad really fast and got a strange flavor. That was a bummer, but the first warm piece from the oven was very tasty.


William also came over. He brought Aaron some Spiderman fruit snacks for a present. I adore fruit snacks. In the future, I will probably be diligent at buying them "for the kids."

Mask Club

So, for my senior directing class I directed a 40 minute version of The Taming of the Shrew. My cast was great, and I had a good but stressful time. My favorite line from the show was Kate: "Asses are made to bear and so are you." Petruchio: "Women are made to bear and so are you." I feel guilty for putting that word on my blog, but Shakespeare meant it in the best sense possible.

Prego

I live in a married student ward. I know a lot of pregnant people. They all take pictures of their cute little bellies and I "ahhhh..." and "ooohhhh..." like I should. But then I try to take a picture of my cute belly and I always look strange. Oh well. It's my belly, there is a girl baby inside of it, she moves around a lot, and we are happy.
P.S. Thanks Natalie for letting me borrow your maternity clothes!

Other Summer Adventures...

We also had a great time at the reunion Liz and Darren planned. We've got some pretty cute and cool nieces and nephews. These pictures of Klara made us giggle. She is a bit of a wild woman right now. She made us excited to have a girl of our own.





In June we tried out our new tent which we bought last August with wedding gift cards. It rained during the whole camping trip. We discovered that we really like our rain flap which extends beyond the tent to give a little added shelter. Aaron is helping the tent to dry. Tall people can be so useful.

This is mostly the upstairs. Directly above is a hallway they added to separate my old room and the boys' old room. The picture above that is the "storage room" where Joe once through an old computer out the window for fun. The middle picture is a view from the boys' bedroom. And of course we have the beloved laundry chute.

This is the stairwell on the way to the basement. Amazing isn't it! We also thought the way they rigged up a shower in that strangely shaped bathroom was rather ingenious.

These pictures are of the kitchen. They took out the old water closet to make the kitchen bigger. The floor was still a little crooked, though.