Tired Tuesday

Do you think she plays hard enough?

Happy Friday!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy weekend! Here is a quick video of AM on the morning of her birthday. She already knew what to do with her horse's carrot!

She is hilarious these days. She is absolutely all over the place. It's so much fun but pretty tiring too! We're going to try to figure out what to do this weekend since it's going to be so stinkin' hot!

**She has been doing extremely well without the paci! I am so proud of her. It was no problem at all at bedtime last night!!

Check-up and New Friends

AM had her one year check-up today. Everything went great. That is until her shots. Poor baby! She was not happy but it didn't last too long. The doctor also asked if her ears had been bothering her. She said they were a little pink. I didn't notice anything different but it seems now that it has been brought to my attention I do notice her tugging on her ears a little bit. We'll see how it goes. Dr. W said that if we needed to we could just call back and she would call us in an antibiotic.

Anne Morgan was 24 lb 6 oz (90th%)

30 1/2 in. long (90th%)

18 in. head circumference (70th%)

So she has grown 2 inches and gained 2 lbs since her 9 month check up.

I'm in the middle of trying to transition her to one nap per day. However, Dr. W said not to worry that she was still napping 2-3 times per day. So I won't push it but we'll see. I am also ready to give up the paci. She has never been one to walk around with it all of the time but we do use it to put her to sleep and in the car. Lately she loves the "game" of throwing it over the side of the crib so then I can come get it, hand it back to her, and then she'll go to sleep. I, on the other hand, do not love this game so much. We are thinking about going to the beach this weekend. If we do I may wait until we get back so she can have it on the drive. I don't know how tough I will be on getting rid of it but I do know that I'm ready to and that it only gets harder the longer you wait.

We have stayed busy lately with some new friends. The family across the street has 4 kids. They range from 3 yrs. to 10 or 11. The older two love dogs and have a black lab puppy, King. We've gotten to know them b/c they would always ask about Mollie and Beasley or for advice. They started out asking if Mollie could come out front for them to meet her and play. Once they were comfortable with her they wanted to meet Beasley. This has turned into a daily "play time" with King in our front yard. I'm talking about 2-2 1/2 hours standing in the front yard in 100 degree heat!! Wow! They are the sweetest kids ever. And I love that they love my dogs. M & B love them too, they don't exactly love being outside in the sun playing chase when it's that hot though. This fall will be better. Well my hands were pretty much tied when I had to just stand in the front yard. I couldn't get anything done. AM got bored...and HOT but they just kept playing...and playing...and playing. EVERY SINGLE TIME I pull up in the driveway or go to get in the car, they come running outside to see if they can come play. I think they just sit in their kitchen and stare out the window for me.

I love kids. I always have. So naturally I love this, that they love playing and feel so comfortable. The daughter, Trinity, told me that we were the nicest neighbors they have ever had. She is always so complimentary of us, our yard, the little things. They are so well mannered and polite. And cute. And exhausting. :)

I told them, and their mom when she came outside, they were welcome to come play in our backyard with the dogs and on the new swing set. Their parents didn't want them to at first and I understood that, we don't really know each other. Well finally Monday she said they could. They asked me when I walked outside to go to the gym if they could come play. I told them I had some errands to run and had to go to the gym but they were welcome to when I got home. When I returned, before I could turn the car off they were in the driveway. I didn't feel comfortable just leaving them back there and going inside (even though I was DYING to take a shower and get dinner started) so AM and I and the dogs played with them in the back yard. Eventually I told them that I had to go inside and feed AM. I didn't know if they would head home then or not, they didn't. I told them I would be right inside the door and if they needed me they could come get me and I would be watching them. After a minute, Trinity came inside to go to the bathroom. Then Elijah. Then Joshua. (The youngest was at home) Trinity said that she and Elijah liked cleaning and asked if they could clean the house!!! So they did. And they watched the Disney channel. I kept thinking they would go home for dinner but they stayed, and stayed, and stayed. Trey was really late coming home that night and when he did get home he walked inside and saw the house full! Of course he loved it too but could tell by looking at me that I was exhausted. Their mom called and called them home for dinner. Oh I forgot to mention that King, their puppy, is 100% puppy! He jumps, bites, chews, eats anything he can find, etc. I couldn't even put AM down so I had to hold her this whole time.

The next day Trinity was waiting for me in the driveway. She told me that her mom told her the night before they could come over once a week. She looked so sad. A couple of times I have had to tell them that I had to go somewhere and we couldn't play and they gave me the same reaction. Not rude, just disappointed. I can't tell you how sweet they are, and adorable.

I didn't mean to write so much about this. Sorry! I bet no one is even reading this anymore. At least I have an account of it. And that isn't even everything!! I'm sure there will be many more posts in the future about our new friends. And maybe some pictures too. I don't feel comfortable taking pictures and posting them just yet. I don't want them to be leery of their new friend! Perhaps if we go to their church we could get some...Trinity invited us. Her dad is the preacher. Let's just say we may "stick out" at their church but she was so sweet to ask. I told her maybe if they had a special Christmas program we would come.

They also gave her a birthday present! We had only talked maybe 2 times at that point. They are so sweet.

One more thing, I have now joined a gym!! Yep! I am actually really motivated right now so I hope I can stick with it. I have done several classes and love it. I was really nervous about doing it since-if I'm truly honest with myself- it has been a while since I have REALLY worked out. On a regular basis to boot! Wish me luck, hopefully you will see some improvements in pictures soon!!

Have a happy Wednesday. It's so stinkin' hot outside!!!!

Georgia Aquarium

Well I thought I was going to wait to do this post. I had a few extra minutes this morning and thought I would take advantage.

Saturday we headed over to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. We considered this Trey's birthday trip (his bday was Sunday-happy birthday!!) Apparently we weren't the only ones who decided to go that day. I highly recommend taking a trip to this aquarium...just don't do it on a rainy Saturday this close to school starting. We had a great time but the crowd was insane. I asked one of the workers when we were in the first exhibit if this was normal and she said she had never seen it so crowded. We definitely want to go back when it will be less crowded. Anne Morgan absolutely loved it. Here are some of the 630 pictures that we took. We had a hard time figuring out what setting to put the camera on. It was hard to get the fish in the background as well as us and not blur or be too dark. It was also hard to get AM to look at the camera when there was so much else to look at! Not to mention she lasted in her stroller about 5 minutes. I was really close to going to the gift shop and buying her one of those leash/harness things.

A shot of the crowd!

AM was immediately interested!

So cool! I've never seen one of these sharks before. (I love sharks by the way...Shark Week is one of my favorite series)

Sometimes she was more interested in us though...

Never seen a Lionfish either

Trey was bound and determined to get some pictures of the TWO hammerhead sharks together. He said it was well worth the wait. Apparently they were flirting.

She was tuckered out by the end.

It was a great afternoon. Happy Birthday Trey! One day I want to go back and spend the night with AM when she gets older. Yep! You can spend the night at the aquarium. How cool is that?!

Be back soon

We're awfully busy around here. There are a couple of posts I need to do but I'm trying to finish up some sewing before I head to Montgomery tomorrow. Then Wednesday morning AM goes to the doctor for her one year check up. I'll post then, it will probably be a hodge-podge. Consider that your warning. :)

In the meantime, here are some pictures of AM's favorite little thing to do these days. I've told you about it...headbands!!

One Year Later

Dear Anne Morgan,

I don't think there are words to describe how your daddy and I feel about you. You are amazing. We love you more than we could have ever imagined; I always knew there was a special bond between a mother and her child and it was something unlike anything else, but I never could fully grasp what that was like...obviously. It is incredible. YOU are incredible.

This past year has been awesome. We have had quite a few trying experiences that would normally make one look back and say "Wow! What a year, I'm glad it's over" but since you were in our lives it's more of "WOW! What a year, I can't believe it's over!" We moved to Auburn when I was about 9 months pregnant with you. We still had not finished moving everything when you were born. Once we did get everything finished, we were getting settled in with you and beginning to relax. When you were just over a month old your brother Beasley was shot. It was a very emotional experience. It drug on and on and on. Poor boy had the hardest time healing. We had to make trips to the vet in Montgomery several times a week. He is better now though and able to play with you! Dr. Welch took great care of him. Right after he was shot the house flooded! We had to deal with moving everything out of the house, have the floors replaced and then move everything back in. That happened around Thanksgiving. I think we moved everything back in the week following. A few more months passed, we enjoyed having Daddy home with us. We decided (call us crazy) to completely re-do our backyard...all for you! It is SO much better. You have a wonderful yard with pretty grass to play in. And now you have a brand new play set that you can enjoy for years. Daddy started a new job this spring and it is truly an answer to prayer. He is so happy there. They actually care about you and his family! Just when things seemed to be going our way, you and I were in a wreck (in our brand new car!) on our way home from visiting your Grandmommy and Poppie at the lake. Fortunately we were OK. Here we are, two months later and we just got our car back yesterday, on your birthday. It's like being in a brand new car all over again! We have had THREE different rental cars over this period. One of which was broken into on a weekend trip to Birmingham. Oh the joys.

YOU have made this past year the best ever. When I look back, and I did a lot of that yesterday, all I see are good things. It was the best year of my life. You are such a sweet girl. You are so smart. Here are some of the things you are doing these days:

-You are not only walking, but practically running these days!

-You LOVE your birthday presents. You have had the best time playing with them the last few days.

-You are still a good eater. You are beginning to show your preferences though. You LOVE chicken, especially quesadillas (we took you to have one last night for your birthday), macaroni & cheese, green peas, green beans, cheerios, yogurt, strawberries, ice cream, graham crackers...

-You finally like whole milk! We had to put a tiny drop of chocolate syrup in your cup for a couple of weeks but now we don't anymore.

-You actually drank a cup of water with your dinner last night!

-You usually go to bed between 7-7:30 and wake up at 7. (I wish I could get you to stay up later so that Daddy could see you more) You take a nap from 8:30-9:30 or 10 and then again in the afternoon from around 12:30-2:30. Sometimes you will take a late afternoon nap too. You sleep A LOT! I'm ready for you to drop one of your naps so we can actually leave the house! :)

-You hardly ever cry. Seriously. I have never been around a baby you fusses as little as you. In fact, when we went to the beach with your Armstrong cousins in April, your Uncle Kyle noted on the 2nd that that he still hadn't heard you cry!!

-You will cry when your food runs out though!

-You don't go to the doctor for your check-up until next week but based on home scales you weigh 23 lbs. Maybe 24 now, we weighed you before your birthday festivities!!

-You have had a couple of trips to the beach (unfortunately not more b/c of the dreadful oil spill), lots of visits to the lake, been to Auburn basketball and baseball games and to A-day. We didn't take you to a football game last year and are trying to figure out which game you can go to this year.

-You LOVE dogs, really all animals.

-We have been so fortunate-you have NEVER BEEN SICK! We've never had to go to the doctor except for your check-ups. You had your first diaper rash at the end of last week.

-You still love Praise Baby. We don't watch it as much as we used to (just b/c I don't turn it on) but yesterday you melted my heart when you brought me the DVD all on your own (how did you know which one it was?) and sat in my lap to watch it! You have never been one to let me or your daddy hold you.

-In the past couple of weeks we have finally been successful at getting you to sleep with us! You still don't snuggle up with us but we've at least been able to get you to go to sleep in our bed. Baby steps. :)

-You still only have 2 teeth. I wanted to get rid of your paci at 12 months but since you still have so many more teeth to come I think we will let you keep it a little longer to help you get through some of them.

-You love the water. You love baths and swimming...in the pool or the lake, not your little baby pool in the back yard. You get bored with it in .2 seconds.

-You have really begun to love books. You bring them to me all day long to read to you.

I know this has been really long but I really wanted you to know what all you have learned and done in your first year. I know there is so much more but these are just some of the things that just came to mind. You are the most amazing little being that I have ever know. I love you more than life itself. I cannot believe that God chose me to be your mommy. I am so lucky. I can't wait to watch you grow up. I know that you will continue to amaze me.

Less than a day old. Look at all of that hair!

First week at home, nap time with Mollie

Here is a picture of the billboard of you!

First time to Pop's

5 1/2 months

Your dedication at church in February

And here you are on your birthday!!! "I'm one!"

**I'm missing a lot of pictures that are on the old computer. It finally died. I plan to take it to recover the files at some point.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Yesterday we celebrated Anne Morgan's 1st birthday with a party! (Her actual birthday is not until tomorrow.) Here are quite a few pictures from the party. As many as we took, looking back there are several that we did not get. I really wanted to get pictures of her with her grandparents-each set and a group photo, as well as with her great-grandmothers. Unfortunately we didn't. We did have a great party though! It was REALLY hot and humid so everyone stayed inside...there wasn't any playing on the swing set until after the party and that didn't last long.

Just woke up from her nap, getting dressed in my party outfit made by Grammie!

Playing with Granny Sally (Trey's grandmother)

She was so excited about her horse! He even makes sounds when you feed him a carrot and gallops when you ride him!

Cute adirondack chairs!

And a Radio Flyer wagon!

Some of the guests.

AM and her friend Anna Rae. Anna Rae lives at the end of our street. We didn't know each other before the girls were born. She is the same age, her b'day is July 4th!

Reading a book with Great (my grandmother)

I think Addison liked Blaze too!

AM was so excited when her BF Hubb arrived! (Seriously!)

We did not try to get her to do this, she immediately reached for his hand! True love :)

C'mon Hubb, pay me some attention!

The kiddos enjoying a book, and Addison enjoying Blaze's carrot!

This is Lindsey, Anna Rae's mom. She's a kindergarten teacher so she's a pro at reading books!

She wasn't happy at first, but once everyone started singing to her she loved it!

She got the cutest Stella & Dot bow and necklace set!

Once the party was over she and Hubb had their first date. They went on a wagon ride in the back yard and then off to swing!

Trey's grandparents brought Trey's childhood rocking chair and rocking horse. Love them! So does AM.

She has not stopped playing with all of her new toys except for sleeping last night and extra long this morning. Thank you everyone for making her birthday so special!

This is her new favorite thing. This wasn't on the party day but I have been meaning to share this with you. She found one of my headbands that I use when I wash my face. Well, she LOVES it! She knows to put it on her head, I didn't show her how to do it either. I just noticed her one day last week with it on. She walks around with it on all of the time. Now I just need to get pictures of all of the ways that she wears it. She will not let me put it on her, she has to do it all by herself (hmmm, sounds a little familiar! ha!) I love you Anne Morgan. I can't believe that you are going to be a year old tomorrow!