Annie--Eight Months

Another month has come and gone.  Here are the 8-month Annie photos:

There have been two big milestones this month for Annie.  The first is that she is fully weaned now.  It was a MAJOR struggle to get her to take a bottle, but after a miserable day and night, she finally acquiesced and we have not turned back since!  It's a wonderful thing for many reasons, not the least of which is that she is now sleeping through the night.  HOORAY!!!!!   

The other big milestone this month was that she got her two front top teeth in.  And they came in without the drama and misery that the first two brought.  One day I looked in her mouth and saw white, and that was about it.  I didn't even realize she was teething.  So that was pretty awesome, too.

Here are some of my favorite Annie photos of the last month:

I call this her Minnie Mouse dress.

This is one of my favorite ever pictures of her. 

Gotta keep those teeth clean!

Wrong end!

Happy jammie baby

I think she's adorable even when she's throwing fits.

 

Helping Mom cook dinner.

Week of Love: The End

Ok, ok, so I fell off the bandwagon.  I should have known better than to commit to something that requires time every day.  Life is busy!  But I will finish off with this, because I love nothing more than them:

They are my world.  

And he is my best friend.  The very best.

I love, love, love my family.  I get teary almost every time I really think about them.   I am so blessed to have them for my own.

Day 4: Oreo Truffles

It's become something of a Christmas tradition for us to make these and take them to our friends and neighbors during the holidays.  But that's pretty much the only time of the year that we have them.  Until I realized today that I had all the ingredients to make them sitting in my pantry and refrigerator, and I am in charge of the family night treat tonight.  Score!  Maybe it will become a Valentine's Day tradition, too?

Have you had these things?  They are seriously good.

Day 3: Sunday Naps

Aren't they glorious?  And I know I'm definitely in the minority here, but I totally love our 8:30AM church meeting time that allows for Sunday naps to happen on a weekly basis.  I'm a morning person; I am up early everyday anyway.  And no, it's not always fun to get three little people (not to mention a teenager!!) up and ready at that time, but gosh, it's so great to be home by noon.  And speaking of that Sunday nap, I'm signing off.  ;-)  

Day 2: Exercise

Pretty simple actual.  I love to work out.  And while it's not always my favorite thing during the act, I always love how I feel afterward.  Like today, I ran six miles.  It's a great way to get the day started.

A Week of Love

Yesterday I had the idea that for this week leading up to Valentine's Day, I should do a post a day about things I love.  I only wish I would have thought of it sooner; I could have done it for the whole month of February!  Oh, well.  So without further ado, 

Day 1:  Kind/thoughtful/generous people

Yesterday I had a dear friend from my ward randomly drop by with an enormous heart-shaped chocolate-chip cookie that was AMAZING, and a whole load of baby shoes for Annie: 

How cute are these?!

She told me she was at Babies R Us (which is a little funny, since her youngest is 11!) and she just wanted to buy some baby shoes.  So she did.  Big time.  And Annie is the blessed little recipient.

She rocked the reds today!

Every girl needs a pair of red shoes!

I loved my view of her on our walk to the park today!

Since she stopped by yesterday, I can't stop thinking about how incredibly kind and generous that was of her.  I have so many people like that in my life, too--neighbors who bring things over for the boys on every holiday, inspired visiting teachers, grandparents who send extravagant packages, friends who are always willing to help out.   I want to be like that--I am so thankful for their examples to me.