Fun and Busy Weekend

Brent, Anna, and I traveled home to South Bend over the weekend. We had our annual "Spring Fling" on my side of the family. Big get-together ... Carol came from Texas, Joan from Indy, Jenna from Louisville, and us from Grosse Pointe. What fun the day was! Lots of laughs, food, and family.

On Sunday, we celebrated Brent's Grandpa's (Anna's Great Grandpa's!) 80th birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandpa - a fun-loving, wonderful guy.


We made it back home to Grosse Pointe late Sunday night. Anna did so great all weekend long. She loved seeing everyone - she really loves people! She was a real trooper for the car rides, too.

We are so blessed with wonderful families - the Brechtl, Richmond, Hartsell gang - on every side and all in-between. The closeness and love we have for one another is really special. We have fun, laugh, and cry. Even though we don't all live close together, when we come together we are really "together". That's what family is all about. How lucky we are!

Six Months Old Today

It's late at night, almost 11pm. But I couldn't let the day go by without a post. Today Anna turned 6 months old! Half-way to one year old. Brent and I cannot believe it. Where did the time go?! I spent the day with Anna...admiring her from top to bottom. Her sparkling blue eyes and her sweet open-mouth smiles. Her noisy sounds and quiet giggles. Her soft skin and chunky thighs. Her fat little fingers and even fatter toes. Her head on my shoulder and my heart full of her. I felt especially close to Anna today.

She is our beautiful baby girl, who was born to us six months ago. And she's grown so fast, so wonderfully. Anna Marie, our daughter, we love you so.

Please pass the Beans!

Anna had green beans for the first time today. Yes, please! She finished off every bite. Now peas, on the other hand...not so much. We started peas over the weekend and tried for four days. Not really liking the peas. We'll try again in a few weeks. But, we're on to the beans and she's lovin' it.

Drum roll please....I homemade the green beans! Green bean puree a'la Laura. We got a food mill, which was awesome to use. A bag of frozen organic green beans, a steamer, a food mill...and you got yourself some green bean baby food.

This was the first batch of baby food I attempted so far. I couldn't find organic sweet potatoes to make myself and we didn't have the food mill yet for the peas. But she hates the peas, so who cares. Next, we'll try apples. Cannot wait to start the fruits. Her morning oatmeal is getting a little boring. She always seems a little disappointed. Just wait till I surprise her with apples.

This baby food thing is pretty fun. It was really quite satisfying to feed her baby food that I prepared myself. Not that there's anything wrong with the jars, I'm sure she'll get her fair share of the jars. But, it felt good to feed her "Mommy's Beans".
Kiss the cook!

Belly, Belly all the time

Anna is really into her belly these days. "Onto" her belly, is more like it. Put her down on her back, two moments later, she's rolled onto her belly! She lifts her self up on her arms and is quite pleased about it. But, she often gets stuck on her belly and doesn't quite get the rolling back over part yet. So, she fusses and we'll help her roll back over to her back...and two moments later, she's back on her belly! Belly Girl we'll call her. I even find her sleeping on her belly now. Don't tell the experts. And always, when she wakes up, I go to her in her crib and she's awake, on her belly and smiling away.

Belly Girl

I'm flying!

Busy weekend for me at work. Loved coming home to my baby and better half. Anna gives me big smiles when I get home, which swells my heart. Brent took Anna on shopping outings over the weekend and for a walk outside. Lots of fun with Daddy.

My niece Bella turned 2 years old on Saturday! When we were in Florida, Brent and I were so lucky to be close to our nieces. We were there the day they both were born and spent many, many fun summer Florida days with them. I remember brand-new Bella in the hospital, she was so beautiful. And I remember 1-year-old birthday Bella. She ate corn on the cob and wore a pointy birthday hat. 2-year-old Bella, we enjoy through pictures and stories and send long distance hugs. Brent and I both miss spending time with Olivia and Bella and we can't wait to see them again. As Anna gets older, traveling will get easier (won't it?!) and think of the fun the three girls will have. The hardest part of leaving Florida was leaving our nieces behind. Happy Birthday, sweet Bellzie!

My Dad headed to Chicago yesterday to attend school there for 10 weeks. He'll come home on weekends as often as he can. 10 weeks is a long time! My mom is a bachelorette. She'll keep herself busy and she may even come spend a few days with us! I admire my Dad for seeking out and attending this school. He never stops learning and works harder than anyone I know. And he has a heck of a career to show for it. Good luck Dad, it's your first day of school! I can imagine your fresh pens and highlighters ready to go!

Uh-0h, Miss Anna is awake. I better get her....I'm sure she's on her belly.

Love, Laura

Stain Removal

Now that sweet potatoes are on the menu, stain removal is something I'll have to get good at. Orange spits and splatters leave mean orange stains! Laundry is an everlasting chore. Now it's more of a mission .... to be successful in removal of said stains.

Anna just woke up from a nap. She was so peaceful and then the dog decided she ought to bark. Naptime is over. Ay-yi-yi.

We had a fence guy come out today and give us an estimate. We are lucky to have three sides of our backyard already fenced by our neighbors. So, all we need is a gate across our driveway and a small fence on the opposite side of the house. $500 was the price. Not too bad, though I don't really know the latest going rates on gates and fences. The fence guy did our neighbor's fence, they recommended him and said he was the cheapest they could find in the area. So, I'd like to think we're getting a good deal. It will be so nice to have a fully fenced yard - for the dog (even though she's on my bad side right now for waking the baby) and for our little Anna who is soon to be toddling around!!

Getting Outside!

Yesterday was so lovely outside in the afternoon!
Sunny and in the 50's. Spring is on the way!
We went for a walk when Daddy got home from work.

Check out Anna's cool shades!

Sweet Potatoes

Today Anna had her first taste of sweet potatoes!
At first she wasn't so sure....

But then, she decided it wasn't so bad and she liked them!

Am I Living with a Teenager?

Late to bed, late to rise. Just like a teenager. Anna was late to bed last night....didn't close those blue eyes until after 11:00pm. And she didn't get up until 10:00am! Well, she woke up three times to eat, but other than that, she slept. Not sure what's gotten into her lately, as far as the bedtime goes. She used to be a 9:00pm baby. The past few days it's been later and later. Maybe the time change? Oh who knows, she's just been our Anna...our little stinker.

We had a great outing yesterday. I took Anna to Hallmark down the street and she did so well. She was awake and looked around happily. So well behaved, my good girl. Much better than our mall outings of past. Guess she figured since she's grounded from the mall, she better not push her luck at Hallmark either.

Today, a trip to Kroger is on the to-do list. Have a hankering for BBQ chicken sandwiches for dinner. I found a recipe online and will try it out. It's not too time consuming or complicated...a must with Miss Anna around! Will occupy her with her Exer-Saucer while I cook.

Teething update - she seemed to be better yesterday and wasn't really bothered. Maybe it was a false alarm?

Happy Friday out there. Brent is SO glad it's Friday. Enjoy your weekend out there!

Love, Laura

Up Early

Good morning, it's almost 7:30am. I decided to get an early start to the day. I've washed bottles, eaten breakfast, and showered. Feels wonderful to have all this accomplished already! Anna woke up about 5:30 and has been back to sleep since. I usually go back to sleep with her, but this morning I thought I'd try to get a few things done. I had a nice morning with Brent before he left for work. Nice to be able to talk to him for a while before he goes. Now the house is quiet and it's lovely and peaceful.

I think Anna may be teething a bit. Her gums seem to be a bit inflamed and she's chewing on everything. She's not too fussy, just at some moments when she's particularly "chewy". She chews on my shoulder, even! I got out all our teething toys, but something tells me she'll chew on everything but. Isn't that the way it goes?! She was a little hard to get to sleep last night. She seemed restless and she was biting my finger. But she finally settled in around 11:00 and slept soundly till 5:30. That's 6 1/2 hours, quite a long stretch for Anna! Maybe that's why I'm feeling so perky this morning, 6 1/2 hours is a long stretch for me, too!

No plans for today, just a nice day at home with my baby girl. I'm so blessed to say so.

Have a great day!

Love, Laura

Exer-Saucer Queen

Almost a whole week has flown by since I've been able to blog. Where does the time go these days? Lets see, what has happened in a week.....

We bought Anna an Exer-Saucer over the weekend. She loves it! She turns herself around in a circle and plays with all the toys. She thinks it's just the neatest thing. She especially likes the buttons with animal sounds and music. She seems to have a liking for the cow at the moment. She concentrates most on him and I'll hear "moooo" every once in a while. She is just so curious at this stage and she's loving her toys, toys, and more toys!

I had a very busy weekend working at the hospital. Non-stop work, but it made the days fly by. Brent and Anna had a good weekend together. Daddy takes such good care of Miss Anna and they have such fun. I miss Anna so much when I'm away. The best part of coming home on Saturday - she gave me a big happy smile!

Crib report - Anna is doing really well in her crib at night. Usually up once and then back to bed. Last night she slept for 5 1/2 hours straight! Yahoo! I am sleeping well, even without her by my side. But any peep on the baby monitor and I'm awake and in Mommy-Mode.

Anna is on to oatmeal baby cereal. She seems to like it just fine, sometimes even seems to enjoy it. Next is barley cereal and then on to fruit and veggies. Who wants to eat barley?? Not me, but that's what they recommend. We'll try it and who knows, she may like it!

I saw a robin in our front yard a couple of days ago! There is hope for spring after all! Today is sunny, but pretty cold and very windy. But there is hope! The sun sure is lovely.

Hope everyone is well....hope your day is sunny, too!

Love, Laura

Made it Half Way

Brent got home safely from Grand Rapids yesterday evening. So happy to have him home! Anna was in her bouncy seat when he came in the door. She smiled so big and her little legs just started kicking away. "My Daddy's home!!"

We are working on getting Anna down in her own room at night. She has been sleeping in her pack-and-play next to our bed. Very cozy next to Mommy. But, it's time to move her to her own room and into her big-girl crib. Last night we decided to give it a go! First night away from Mommy's side and into her own bed in her own room. Quite a step - both for me and for Anna. I rocked her to sleep and said her usual prayers for her ... with an extra prayer for a peaceful night kept safe in her room. And she made it half way through the night! She usually gets up once or twice through the night still, so she kept to her schedule. She slept from
9:00pm - 1:30am. I went down and fed her and she went back to sleep .... for a few minutes. Then I listened to her talking away on the baby monitor and fussing a little bit. So, I left her and hoped she'd fall back to sleep. 10 minutes later, she's still talking. By now it's about 2:30am and I decide ... well, we did good enough, I'll just bring her to our room and we can both go back to sleep. I picked her up from her crib and she spit-up. Ay-yi-yi. So, into new jammies for Anna and a new shirt for me. And she's smiling and thinking this is great fun to be up so late! 3:30am, she's tucked in her pack-and-play and I'm back to sleep. Well, we made it half way!

Just Us Girls

Hey all!

Brent is in Grand Rapids today and tomorrow for a conference for work. Anna and I are on our own for the first time! He left this morning and will be back tomorrow sometime after dinner. We are missing him already! He would usually be home from work by now and Anna would be all smiles for her Daddy. Can't wait for him to be back home!

Anna and I have had a good day. She was a great napper this morning and this afternoon. I even slept for an hour myself. We just made a trip to Walgreens and she's asleep in her car seat. She'll be up soon, she never sleeps long in the car seat unless she the car is moving! Tonight we'll have some play time and there's a can of soup with my name on it for dinner. I will miss Brent most at night .... it's never right without him by my side.

American Idol .... I used to be a closet fan, but it's been out for the past few seasons now. I just can't help myself, I watch every time. This year hasn't been the best for me .... maybe it's because it's often interrupted by Miss Anna or maybe because it really is a dumb show after all. But, we'll watch anyway!

Hope all's well with you out there! Leave me a comment if you stop by the blog, I'd love to know who's reading!

Love, Laura