Catching Up!

January:

We bid on a new house and got it.  It’s on 2 acres in Parker, CO.  The house is older and needed a lot of remodeling and updates.  Annabelle’s favorite part of the new house is watching the horses next door. 

February:

Annabelle celebrated her 2^nd Birthday!  We didn’t have a big party.  Instead we just took her to Chuck E Cheese for dinner and celebrated with just family.  It was nice not to have to worry about getting a party together, especially with getting ready to move.  I’m hoping we can do that for a few more years.  Less stress and it saves a lot of money! 

March:

Easter was fun. Annabelle got to dress up and wore her new sunglasses she got from the Easter Bunny.  I tried to explain the purpose behind Easter but I think it may be another year or two before she has some comprehension around that.  Daddy and I learned why everyone hard boils their Easter eggs though.  Annabelle loved finding them and throwing them in her basket.  I can only imagine the mess that would have made.

April:

Annabelle loves hanging out with her cousin Kyle.  He gives her hugs and takes her on wagon rides.  She loves it whenever he’s around to play with her.

In April we said goodbye to the Aurora house.  Annabelle enjoyed running through the empty house yelling and hearing her echo.  She liked doing that in the new house too but now that it has new carpet the echo isn’t really there anymore.  One thing we will all miss most about the old house was the big deck.  Maybe we’ll be able to put one on the new house someday.

May:

At Aunt She-She’s 30^th Birthday party Annabelle got to take her first a couple of whacks at a piñata.

When we moved we also had to change Annabelle’s school.  We were so sad to leave Goddard.  Not just because it was a great school but because Annabelle had made a very special friend.  She had her first “boyfriend”.  His name was Hunter.  Annabelle is really shy and doesn’t talk a lot with people she doesn’t know well.  The teachers said Hunter was the same way but whenever he saw Annabelle he would get excited and yell “Bella!”  They would be playing in the corner of the room and talking to each other but as soon as they knew someone was watching or listening, they would stop and act shy again. 

Unfortunately Annabelle also had her first boo-boo and had to get 4 stitches on her 4^th day at her new school.  She was playing and tripped over a block and hit her chin on a book case.  It was not easy for her to get the stitches either.  It took me and two nurses to hold her down while the doctor numbed her chin and put in the stitches.  That is one experience I hope we’ll never have to re-live again!

Annabelle transitioned from her crib to a Big Girl bed!  It was so much easier than we thought it would be.  We had no issues getting her to stay in bed.  The first couple nights she woke up once or twice but was back to sleeping through the night in no time.  We are so proud of her!

June:

Now that we have a lot of room to run around, we also have a lot to mow!  Annabelle loves riding the lawn mower with Daddy!

Annabelle also had her first gymnastics class and loved it.  The first day she threw a fit when it was time to go.  It was only a 4 week session at the rec center but we will have to enroll her for another session after the baby comes.  The bars and summer salts are her favorites.

July:

Annabelle liked celebrating the 4^th of July until the fireworks came.  She loved the BBQ and being around family and friends but did not like the big booms.  Maybe next year.

Annabelle had her first fishing experience and enjoyed playing in the lake.  We didn’t catch any fish but her cousin Kyle caught a turtle.  That was a fun day!

I know this blog was a little long but I felt like we needed to catch up before the baby comes Friday.  I hope everyone is doing well and I’ll work on getting another blog out really soon!

A Blog for the New Baby!

Ok, so I have to start with how bad I feel that it’s been so long since I’ve updated the blog.  We’re 31 weeks along in our pregnancy and the only blog this new baby has had is a small mention at the end of Annabelle’s last blog that she’s going to be a big sister.  For those who may have only looked at the pictures of her last blog, this may be new news to you. 

We’ve had a lot going on these last 5 months.  We purchased a new home.  We’ll new to us.  It needed (and still needs) some remodeling and TLC.  Mason has been working really hard on scraping popcorn ceilings, knocking down walls, remodeling bathrooms, texturing, painting, trimming, etc, etc, etc.  It gets a little better every day.  Hopefully it will be complete by the time the new baby is here.

Anyway, it’s been crazy with the remodeling, moving, work and taking care of a toddler.  So I hope one day the new baby will understand and forgive me for being a little behind this time around.

So enough with how busy we are, here’s the scoop on the new baby!  We did a cake party again like we did with Annabelle.  The cake party was at the end of February.  Can you guess what we’re having…

That’s right, this time it’s a boy!  Since Annabelle’s name was from my side of the family, we decided to pick this baby’s name from Mason’s side of the family.  His name will be Blake Steven Sargent.  Blake is Mason’s Grandmother’s maiden name and Steven was Mason’s Dad’s name. 

The doctor says Blake is on his way to being an 8lb baby.  I have to say, this time around it feels like he’s going to be more like 20lbs.  This pregnancy is much harder than the first one was.  My doctor says it’s because I can’t rest as much as I could with the first since I have a toddler to chase around. 

Because we’ve just moved into our new home, we haven’t really done much with Blake’s room yet.  Annabelle started sleeping in her big girl bed last weekend, so he now has the crib in his room and I bought him some curtains, but that’s about it so far. 

Here’s Blake’s latest ultrasound picture.  His head is in the top right hand corner of the picture and his feet are just to the left of his head.  Yep, he’s folded in half.  I don’t see how that could be comfortable.

Since I had a c-section with Annabelle, the doctor wants to do another c-section with Blake.  That is scheduled for July 19^th.  So unless he decides to come early, that will be his Birthday. 

Well, that’s all I have for news on the Baby front.  Hope you enjoyed this latest blog post.  I’ll try not to go too long next time. 

What A Year

This year has gone by so fast.  It’s been a year of firsts. First steps, first day of preschool, first works of art, first face painting, first parade, etc. It amazing how much Annabelle has changed in one short year. 

Annabelle was a cute Lady Bug for Halloween.  We took her trick or treating at the “Boo at the Zoo.”  She got a lot of candy that Daddy enjoyed eating. 

Annabelle, so cute wearing Daddy’s hat.

Annabelle’s favorite word lately has been Snow!  She loves to say the word snow but refuses to touch it and just wanted to stay by the front door when I took her out to play in it.  Someday I’m sure she’ll change her mind. 

For Thanksgiving we went to Kansas to visit the Sargent side of the family.  The farm across the street had 2 camels and a zebra.  I know, weird huh!  Annabelle loved them as long as someone was holding her and was a least 5 feet away from them. 

We had a very special Christmas this year.  It was a very rare white Christmas and Annabelle had some fun news to share with everyone.  You’ll have to read her shirt though. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  It’s going to be an exciting 2013.

What a fun summer!

Annabelle has learned a lot of new words.  Her new favorite for about a month now is Hi.  It’s really cute when she wakes up in the morning and all you here is, Hi…Hi………HI…….hi…..Hi……..Dada, Hi!  

We took Annabelle to get her 18 month pictures taken but she didn’t want to smile for the camera.  Every time we put her in front of the back drop she would start to cry.  As soon as we would walk away, she was fine.  The only good pictures we got were with her sitting on my lap.  Too bad she wouldn’t give us one of her pretty smiles.

As soon as we got home from our photo shoot and I got my camera out, it was all smiles.  She can be such a little stinker.     

We’ve been to the Zoo several times now.  I think she’s starting to take more of an interest in the animals at the Zoo and not just all the people.  She loves to observe people.  I wonder what she thinks sometimes.  The birds are still her favorite since they move around more than some of the other animals and seem to get her attention.  Here’s my sweet girl playing in a log at the Zoo. 

Annabelle loves to climb on stuff.  She will bring a chair, stool or whatever she can find and will use it as stairs to climb onto anything Mom and Dad have said are off limits.  This is Annabelle climbing onto one of her toys.  Silly girl!

We stayed the weekend in Estes Park for Labor Day and Annabelle had a great time.  They had a little park with a swing she liked and lots of horses and ponies that Annabelle liked to look at but not touch.  She even saw a bear in the river right next to our cabin.  I think out of everything she had to do there though, collecting rocks off the road was her favorite thing to do.  My Great Grandma Annabelle was a rock collector as well.  I guess she inherited more than just her name.  

In a couple weeks Annabelle will be walking and/or wagon riding in her 2^nd Alzheimer’s Walk.  This year she has her own personal page to raise money.  If you would like to donate to Annabelle’s page you can go to

http://act.alz.org/site/TR?px=6810789&pg=personal&fr_id=1362&et=CFILkTLx2xI6JJRILUavUA&s_tafId=7585

Hope you all had a great summer!

Not a Baby Anymore

It’s been a couple months since our last blog post.  Since then a lot has happened.  Annabelle caught her first illness right before Easter.  She got Roseola but we were lucky that her fever broke and her rash mostly went away by Easter. She wasn’t contagious to adults and older kids so we were still able to see Grammy and went to Aunt Shells for supper.  So overall it was a good Easter. 

We’ve been on the lookout for a toddler friendly bracelet and her Great Uncle Jeffrey found one and sent it to her.  It went perfect with her outfit for her friend Lillia’s fancy tea party.  If only I could get her to remove her sunglasses.  She insisted we keep them on. 

See how proper she is!  She even holds out her pinky.

Annabelle started school 2 days a week last month.  We enrolled her into a good preschool where she can start working on her socialization skills.  Every day they have art, music, indoor gym and 2 outdoor play times.  When she’s a little older they’ll start teaching a second language, baby yoga and she can enroll in dance there.  This summer they have what they call water days one day a week.  The kids come to school in their swimsuits and play in the sprinkles, baby pools and water tables.  So far she loves it!  She doesn’t even cry when we leave her there.  She just waves goodbye.   This is Annabelle playing on her first day of school when we came to pick her up.

Of course as soon as she started school, she got her first cold.  That was no fun!  Her hair is now getting long enough where we can start to do something with it.  Or should I say, have to do something with it.  It drives me nuts when her hair is in her face.

Her new word lately is Tickle.  She loves to tickle and to be tickled.  She has also said down, usually as we are walking down the stairs.  She has several new teeth and is working on another.  She is growing up so fast!  When we look at her now we think, “She’s not a baby anymore.”   Now she’s an official toddler.  It's a lot of fun watching as her personality comes out and she becomes a little person.    

March 2012

Annabelle now loves to go for rides in the tricycle we got her for her Birthday.  At first, she only liked to ride it in the house.  But after a few tries outside, she now loves to ride it around the neighborhood.

Annabelle got a family membership to the Zoo for her Birthday.  We can now take her whenever we feel like going.  Daddy, Grammy and YaYa were the first ones to take her.  I thought her favorite part would be the monkeys but I’m told her favorite part was the birds.  I wonder if she understands that she doesn’t have to go to a Zoo to see birds? 

In some ways Annabelle is a little tom boy.  She loves to play with trucks, trains and to go outside and get dirty! 

In other ways she’s a little fashion diva.  She loves to wear hats, shoes, sunglasses and even likes to use links as bracelets and gets mad if you try to take one off.  I’m on the lookout for a little tiny bracelet that she can wear all day and is toddler safe.  If anyone knows where I can get one of those, let me know.

Annabelle is becoming a pro eater now.  She loves strawberries, peas, scrambled eggs, cheese sandwiches, and Daddy now has her addicted to macaroni and cheese since he let her have some of his.  She’s even had spaghetti.  

She also likes to climb into things.  One day Mason found her sitting in her drum.  Another day I found her in one of her toy bins. 

Her most favorite thing to do though is go to the park.  She also doesn’t seem to mind when Daddy picks out her clothes.

Oh, there is one last thing she started doing now….

 

 

1 Year

It’s crazy to think that one year ago we brought home this tiny little peanut that just slept, cried, spit up and pooped.  Now we have this little girl that is 98% of the time smiling, laughing and is far from being a baby.  It’s amazing how fast it goes by and how much they change in such a small amount of time. 

We had a small party for Annabelle on her Birthday.  Since she loves dogs so much, we made it a dog theme.  I think she really liked it.  She got a new tricycle for her Birthday.  So far she only likes to ride it inside.  As soon as we take her outside in it, she starts to fuss.  I’m not sure if it’s the bike or if maybe she doesn’t like the chill in the air. 

Annabelle took her second plane ride a week before her birthday.  We bought a seat for her this time hoping it would be easier.  She did better on the flight there than the flight home. On the way home she just wanted to sit on my lap the whole time and take the booklets out of the seat pocket in front of us and throw them on the floor.  At one point she threw one at the lady across from us.  That was the end of that.  How embarrassing!  Luckily the lady was very forgiving and didn’t seem too annoyed.   

We have moved past the 1 stair mark.  She can now zip up the stairs!  We now need to make sure we don’t forget to latch the gate.  We’ve been working with her on how to get down the stairs by turning around and going down on her belly.  She does pretty well until she gets inpatient and tries to turn around and go down head first.  Hopefully she’ll catch on quickly. 

Her second tooth popped through her gums the day before her birthday.  Luckily she hasn’t been too cranky while cutting her teeth.  Hopefully it will stay that way.

She’s not walking on her own yet.  As soon as you let go for her to try and walk, she gets scared and slowly lowers herself to the ground to crawl.  She does really good zooming around as long as she has something to hold on to. 

Here’s other pics from the last month.  Enjoy!