Annie Jane: The First Year in Photos

One Day:

One Month:

Two Months:

Three Months:

Four Months:

Five Months:

Six Months:

Seven Months:

Eight Months:

Nine Months:

 No Ten Month Photos--Oopsie!

Eleven Months:

Twelve Months:

I'm Back!

I'm back from my blogging hiatus!  In the nearly six years since I started this blog, I don't think I have ever gone such a long time without posting.  Truth is, over the last three months since Adam has been the bishop, it's just about all I can do to keep my head above water.  If I had to sum up the last few months in a single word, it would undoubtedly be "overwhelming."  But we have had several important events over the last couple months, too.  During the two months between April 16 and June 16, 4 of us in our family have birthdays.  Matt graduated high school (and should be getting a mission call THIS WEEK!!!), Annie took her first steps, Ty graduated from kindergarten, I ran a PR half marathon, and we spent some time at a dude ranch in Southern Utah.  So I'm even feeling a little overwhelmed about catching up on all that!  But I have to start somewhere, so here goes.
I guess I'll begin with Annie's birthday, which was yesterday.  As it happened, her first birthday fell on Father's Day, so she and Adam got to share their special day together.  After being in Utah all week, we just kept things pretty low-key.  I made her some pink cupcakes, which she LOVED!  And then we opened presents and hung out with our family.

She had blueberries and scrambled eggs for breakfast--2 of her favorites!

All ready for church in her new birthdy dress

It's blurry, but so cute!

Birthday cupcake

That cupcake didn't stand a chance!

Yum!

Getting hosed down after the cupcake

Present Time!

She loved ripping the paper

And she loved the doll Ty chose for her.  

And here's one of McKay, well, just being McKay

All About Annie at Age One:

• She's still my smallest baby and my baldest baby.  Her hair is finally starting to sprout some, but it's so fair that she still looks extremely bald.  
• She can walk, but needs a pretty good incentive to.  She is not a risk taker at all--she keeps a hand on the couch, wall, table, etc. whenever she can.  But she has walked a good 7 or 8 steps at a time without holding on to anything.
• She's very attached to me.  Often she won't let anyone else hold her if I am in the room.
• She also adores McKay.  I can't tell you how fun it is to watch the two of them interact!
• She can say several words, but it seems like as soon as she learns a new one, she stops saying one of the old ones!  These are the words she says or has said in the past:  bye-bye, ball, mama, uh-oh, baby, thank you, no, mmm-hmm.  She also signs "please" when she wants a bottle, nods her head "yes," and shakes it "no," and can wave "hi" and "bye."
• She has a pretty mellow temperment overall.  But when you make her mad, oh baby, watch out!  She does this whole body shake thing and screams "Na, na, na, na!"  (Which means no.)  It's kind of hilarious.  
• She definetly has a strong sense of agency.  She does NOT like to be told what to do.
• She is an absolute pleasure to have in our family.  I always thought we would only have boys, and honestly, I really thought I was ok with that.  I can't say enough how much I LOVE having a little girl.  We just adore her!  

A Day for McKay

McKay had a birthday!  His actual birthday was on Tuesday, but since we had Teacher Appreciation scheduled on that night, we had to adjust accordingly.  We invited his primary class for a birthday party at the park last Saturday.  It was super windy, but it was the warmest day we have had in while!  We had pizza and cake and the kids got to play.  And I have to say, hosting a party at the park is the BEST way to go.  Minimal activity planning, easy set-up and clean-up--it's perfect!

Last night we let McKay pick a place to go out for his birthday dinner, and he chose Chuck E. Cheese's.  I know some people hate that place, but I actually don't mind it at all.  My kids, and McKay in particular, were in heaven!  I love to see them so totally happy.  

We love our little Mac!  Happy fourth birthday, buddy!

Playing Catch-Up

I've been a bit overwhelmed the last few weeks, which is the primary reason for my lack of posting.  But there are a few things that I still want to backtrack and document here.

First off, Adam had a birthday!  And because I have had a few people say to me, "I have to know.  How old is Adam anyway?"  He just turned 32 about two weeks before he was made Bishop.  We had a fun, low-key celebration with just our family.  We went to Red Robin for dinner, then had Coldstone cupcakes and opened presents.  

I am realizing more and more how unlikely it is to get a good picture of everyone all at once.  So I decided to include this one.  Because I usually delete a good ten pictures like this before I get a semi-decent one.

Next up, a little project.  Right before Matt came to live with us, we bought this little unfinished-wood dresser at Ikea for Ty.  He told us when we bought it that he would like us to paint it blue for him.  Then we had the task of consolidating both boys into one bedroom, getting a room ready for Matt, and then painting and decorating a nursery for Annie.  Painting Ty's dresser was all but forgotten.  Recently, though, Ty has been asking if we could paint it.  And when I picked him up from school one afternoon and he requested that we go to Home Depot so he could choose out a paint color, it seemed like as good of time as any!  So this was my little project the week before Adam was called.  It was hugely therapeutic for me to have a project and work with my hands.

Before

I painted it the shade of blue that Ty chose, then sanded the edges a bit, and replaced the wooden knobs with baseball, basketball, and soccer ball ones.  Ty loves it.

After

 Lastly, Annie hit the 9-month mark.  So here are a handful of pictures of her over the last month.  She is really growing into herself and has a super cute personality.  It seems as though her hair is finally starting to sprout, too.  She still doesn't have tons, but there is sweet little duck fuzz growing quickly!

 

 

She LOVES to stand up.  She is still showing no signs whatsoever of crawling, but she is really stable on her feet.  She only needs one finger to hold onto, and she can stabilize herself well.  She's starting to cruise the furniture, too.  I think she will be like Ty--skip the crawling stage altogether and go straight to walking.  I give her two months max before she's motoring around.

Nine Months

Whew.

I haven't posted in a while, obviously.  Adam got called to be the Bishop of our ward last Sunday.  It has been overwhelming, to say the least.  We knew about it for two weeks before he actually got called and sustained in church, and it was a rough time!  We both felt humbled beyond anything we have ever experienced.  We are so young.  So inadequate.  We cried.  A lot.  We prayed.  A lot.  It was two weeks I would never, ever want to repeat.
Then Sunday came.  Adam was called, sustained, ordained a High Priest, and set apart as the Bishop.  And over the last few days we have felt a different sort of overwhelmed.  We have been overwhelmed by the number of hugs, the people who have stopped by with cookies and small gifts, the countless offers to watch our kids, the number of people who have expressed confidence, the uplifting emails, text messages, facebook messages, and letters that have come in the mail.  I have never experienced anything like that, either.  It has been beautiful and encouraging.  And though I still have my doubts about myself and my endurance capabilities for the next five years (yikes!--one day at a time, right?!), I have been given the confidence that with the support of this unbelievable ward of ours, we just might make it.