My Budding Photographer!

Daniel LOVES taking pictures with the camera these days. EVERY time I get it out to take pictures, he says, "Oooh, I want to take pictures!" with the emphasis on I!! He's getting better at getting things in the frame that he wants to take pictures of. He often has a goal in mind, but not always- sometimes we get pictures of our ceiling! And when my camera does that 2-second preview of the picture you just took, Daniel thinks he has to shake the picture away- cracks me up!

Anyway, these are just a few of the many pictures Daniel has taken lately that I thought were cute!

Here's his very well-loved lion and kitty cat.

The first picture had only three cars in it, and then Daniel lined up some more and took the picture again. Like I said, sometimes he has a goal in mind...it's cute. And of course I love the toes!

Annabel's toy bin

Mommy and Daddy! We are actually both in the shot, too!
(We weren't both in ALL of them, though!)

Annabel's collection of summer dresses- I love this picture. But then again, I love clothes, so this one strikes me of course!

And of course Daniel takes pictures of his sister, when the mood strikes him. At least this one wasn't two inches from her face. He's starting to think he has to be up very close to the things he's capturing, we're working on that...because sometimes he is literally in Annabel's face!

Anyway, we're having fun letting Daniel explore his world through the camera lens. It's fun to see what captures his fancy. It's fun to see his balance and hold on the camera getting stronger and stronger. It's fun to see his aim for objects and people getting better and better. This little interest and eagerness of Daniel's has surprised me, I didn't see this one coming...but I love it!

Oh- and just a few cute random things we've heard from Daniel lately...

Annabel got a stuffed flamingo from my mom's recent trip to Florida to visit my Aunt Kathy- Daniel calls it a "flamingingo"- I love it! Reminds me of "heli-l-l" for helicopter, from waay back!

We ate chicken patty sandwiches for dinner recently- Daniel kept saying we were eating a "hanguber"- cracked me up! (We rarely eat hamburgers- he doesn't eat them anyway, and we didn't even call this sandwich a hamburger either- so this really just struck me as funny!)

Daniel was playing with his tools in the basement over a week ago. He has a real mini-screwdriver that he absolutely loves. I kept reminding him to be careful and please pretend- he mostly does anyway, but I was just reminding him as I do from time to time. He quickly replied with- "I'm being real. I'm a real boy!" Gotta love it!

Happy Grandparent's Day!

Another way belated post...

We surprised the grandparents with these two adorable pictures framed up for Grandparent's Day. These pictures were taken at the end of August...I hadn't shared them yet because I wanted them to be brand new never before seen surprise pictures for Grandparent's Day.

Daniel and Annabel absolutely adore all of their grandparents- we're so lucky to have such wonderful, special family that adores them right back!

Happy Birthday to Me

Happy Birthday to Me...a loooong time ago!

I'm waaay behind on blogging- since my birthday was over a couple weeks ago. But Ben and I both managed to catch colds that literally knocked us out- mine was the week after my birthday, his was last week- so we're still trying to catch up with life around here. I don't think we're out of the woods yet, but the kids may have escaped this bug. (Go knock on some wood for me!) I sure missed snuggling with my kids when I was sick. I was so paranoid about getting them sick, I tried so hard not to even breathe around them. I'm thrilled to be feeling better! And now we're already getting ready for another birthday- Daniel's 3rd birthday, coming right up this week!

Anyway, I had a good birthday weekend. Ben took the day of my birthday off (it was on a Friday- that helped!) to hang out with us and join us at the library for that fun playtime. I got a little shopping done that weekend with my mom- that's always fun. And my family came over Sunday to celebrate, too! We had a great time. These are a few, okay a lot, of pictures from that Sunday.

Daniel helped Daddy mow the lawn.

Annabel and I had fun watching Daniel play.

Daniel LOVES it when everybody comes over- he just loves to play with them all!
I love seeing the excitement in his face when he plays- that never gets old!

I wish I knew the story behind this picture- I was upstairs, Daniel was playing in the basement with Aunt Christina and Uncle Jason- maybe they can shed light on the moment? In any case, this picture absolutely cracks me up- I had to share it!

Annabel chillin' with Grandma Cheryl- TOO cute!
These are such melt-my-heart pictures!

Annabel's stares at the flames on the candles.
It was such fun to share my birthday with her for the first time!
Oh and do me a favor- don't try too hard to count the candles!

This cake is my new favorite cake- it's called Pig Cake. I didn't name it...but I do love it. I thank The Pioneer Woman for this awesome recipe! And Daniel LOVES it as well! He can't have the cool whip frosting (which is SO yummy!), but it's still just as good.

I love Daniel's look of concentration- eating cake is serious business after all, and yes, he still makes that "thinking hand" (fisted hand) I've mentioned before.

Remember when I mentioned that Annabel could roll over from stomach to back...well she did it for the first time at this birthday gathering! Everybody saw it- that was lots of fun!

More pictures of my sweet Annabel!

Everybody got a chance to hold Annabel! She loves all the attention of course!

Annabel with Grandpa Gary

Annabel with Uncle Brian

Annabel with Aunt Christina

I had a good birthday, filled with flowers (Annabel tried to eat the packaging when she gave me her bunch!), family, and fun!

No Tears Today!!!

Not a single tear was shed today for Daniel's Big Boy class!!! Hooray!!! Like the teacher said, third time's a charm. I'm so proud of Daniel!

Daniel and I went off to class, just the two of us, this morning. Annabel has been on a different napping pattern lately, going down for naps around 9ish (not surprising since she consistently wakes up for the morning at 7:00AM and thus has been up for a couple hours by then)- this makes her nap sort of right smack dab in the middle of when we need to leave usually. It's been rough; sometimes I can stall her a little bit so she'll sleep while we're out, in the K'tan, OR sometimes I can get her down early enough that she would usually wake up before we leave, but today was not one of those days. She was in bed at 9:15 and we usually leave for class at 9:30, at the latest. This was one of those days in which I'm SO lucky to have a husband who works at home. Annabel stayed home and slept (until about 10:00) while Daniel and I went off to his class.

Daniel walked the whole way in to class like such a big boy. We peeked in to see what toys they had and he pointed out the coloring table right away of course. He did want to be carried as they asked the kids' names, but then after he got his name tag, I put him down at the entrance and he walked right in- he didn't even look back, and yes, I watched him for about two seconds- it was just so sweet to see him going off on his own, with no tears. I was already so proud of him- no tears in the gym as we walked in this time, no tears while we waited (and yes there were other kids still crying- this didn't faze Daniel one bit!), and no tears as he walked in all by himself. I had a feeling that today would be better. I'm glad it started out that way. So, I went off and sipped my Starbucks hot chocolate- a treat for myself on big boy class days.

As usual, Daniel worked very hard on the craft project for the duration of class. He even joined all the kids on the rug at the end of class to read books (this was a new thing they did this week)- so that was great. He was SO excited to see me when I came back, he stood right up and showed me the book he was reading, and he gave me a big hug, and of course was ready to play then. He also wanted to help clean up- except that things were sort of already clean and they leave the toys out for the next group- still, I was proud that he wanted to help. He showed me his project and we set off home to get Annabel and then grocery shop.

Before class, I tried asking him to find and play with two green toys today and then show me when I came back what he played with- that didn't work, which is okay, it was worth a shot I thought. I figure he's comfortable doing the project, it keeps him busy and focused, he knows what to do and how to do it, and he's really been into coloring and gluing at home lately, so I'm glad he's found something he likes to do and that he works hard at it. That's all I want- for him to find something he likes, something he's good at, to try his best, and to eventually try new things. This whole experience in itself is the new thing and he's been such a trouper! I'm so so proud of him! I'm thrilled we had no tears today...it just gets better and better each week!

We're On a Roll!

Guess what our little bluebird did today?!! Annabel rolled over from her back to her tummy! I guess she REALLY wanted that book, which she'd just dropped out of reach. She stretched and stretched to reach it and finally rolled over. And yes she landed on the kitchen floor and didn't even bat an eye about that. She was just happy to have the book back in her hands, er, her mouth!

We were sitting and eating dinner when she rolled over. Annabel had brought this book upstairs from the basement (yes, she had a tight hold on it- she loves this book! Daniel had given it to her and she was very happy about that!) and was happily playing away on the family room floor near the kitchen where we usually lay her down so she can see us while we eat. Lately, she hasn't loved being there, since she really just wants to be in our lap while we eat or quite often, she wants to eat, too. But tonight was different since she had that book! She was chomping on that thing like crazy and at some point she flung it out of reach. I happened to look over at her trying and trying desperately to get that book back and caught the exciting moment! I was so glad I got to see it! She was so pleased with herself, for about two seconds, and then it was back to chomping on the book. Of course we grabbed the camera and captured the moment of her first back to tummy roll!

So now Annabel can roll both ways! She rolls from tummy to back often now, and we'll see how quickly back to tummy catches on after this first time. At least she'll be able to get in and out of whatever position she's in on her own!

CUTE Videos!

Here are some adorable videos of Annabel taken the past couple days!

We think it's so cute the way Annabel plays peek-a-book with us! She really does play. It's been going on for a while, too. I think it's just taken me this long to actually fully realize that she really is playing a game with us, that she seems to really understand what she's doing and how to play. She will cover her face with just about anything, hide behind it with a big smile, and wait for us to "find" her; and if we take too long to find her she gets a tad bit upset- so of course we're right there playing with her over and over and over again, or as Daniel would say, again & again!









Nobody makes Annabel laugh quite like her brother! I don't seem to have the same touch he does. I guess I don't do anything that strikes her as funny, but Daniel sure seems to. Of course she is always watching him and smiling when he's nearby- I wonder if he knows how much she seems to already love him. Here are a few videos of Annabel's adorable laughs, as well as snippets of what Daniel is doing that is cracking her up. There are a few seconds here and there where Annabel doesn't seem to know if she wants to laugh or cry, as if it hurts to laugh so much! She must get that from me- I can laugh so hard I start to cry, more so than Ben. Anyway, enjoy this CUTEness!





This one ends with Daniel whispering that there's a spider (it was already dead) in the basement. Cracks me up!







I think this is the best one of Annabel's laughs, mostly because that ball isn't in her face! Daniel was having a ball with that pie tin and for whatever reason that was making Annabel just crack up! Like I said, it actually looks like it's hurting Annabel to laugh that much! Too funny!

Annabel is 5 Months Old!

My sweet happy Annabel is 5 months old today! This past month has been lots of fun with her. She is learning so much and getting stronger every day.

Our latest news is that Annabel can roll over from stomach to back. She's done it a few times now, and it's always so sudden, like a flop more than a roll. She's always so startled when she does it, too. Annabel is just a hair away from rolling from back to stomach- every time I think she's going to do it, she falls back. So, any day now I think!

Annabel is also really lifting her butt when she's on her tummy, and those legs are moving up. She's really working on moving, so we'll see when she actually gets the idea of scooting or crawling. Toys are a huge incentive for rolling and and lifting her butt- she's always reaching those arms out as far as she can and that turns into an almost roll or efforts to lift her butt. So cute!

New this month is a little bit of separation anxiety. Annabel wants to know where we are at all times and hates when we are out of her sight even for a second. Very normal, but this makes it a challenge to try to do anything. And since Daniel is also going through some sort of separation anxiety as well, he's always following us, so even Daniel is out of her sight and she LOVES to watch Daniel. We'll all get through this just fine!

Annabel's naps are still pretty short- only two 45 minute naps most of the time. We are starting to maybe get a few longer naps out of her, as of the last few days, once a day maybe a little over an hour or an hour and a half (now go knock on some wood for me so we don't jinx this!). She's on a very predictable nursing schedule now, too, which is really nice- mealtimes and a couple snacks or at nap time to help fall asleep. Annabel does go to bed early still and sleeps great at night, too, until at least 7 or 7:30, or very occasionally until 8 which is when Daniel gets up.

Also new this week is that Annabel has all of a sudden started to suck her thumb- she seems to do this when she's hungry, maybe tired (often they go hand in hand anyway). We'll see if she keeps it up. Daniel started with his thumb around this age, too, and I wasn't too sure Annabel would, but she just might. And toys of course are always in the mouth! You should see the way she literally dives for her toys with her mouth wide open- it's too funny!

Her hair is getting a little longer. It's so cute- she's got these teeny tiny bangs going! I love it! She's wearing mostly 3 month clothes for daytime wear (or as Daniel calls them, morning clothes), although I've started her in 6 month clothes for the chilly weather this week- and those clothes are still a tad big on her. She is outgrowing her 3 month pajamas, but the 6 month ones are so huge, she's sort of in that weird in between for now.

Annabel still smiles all the time and loves to watch everything going on around her. She's so much fun to be around and she's just so adorable. She laughs most for Daniel, but she does laugh for me when I tickle her, which just gives her the hiccups so I don't do that much- it makes me feel bad! She is happy standing or sitting, both with support of course, and is on the move all the time! She's rarely still- I'll be curious to see what kind of crawler and walker she'll be since she loves to move around so much! We can't believe it's been five months already! We're loving every day! Happy 5 Months, Annabel! We love you SO much!

Big Boy Class: Take 2

Today Daniel had his big boy class again. It was better this time, but still not without tears, which I expected. Up until last night, Daniel kept saying "not my big boy class," but he did keep up our refrain of me saying "Mommy always comes-" and he says "BACK!" We checked a book out at the library called "Momma Always Comes Home"- which I changed up a little to read "mommy always comes back" since it's not home I come back to in his case. Anyway, last night, Ben talked to Daniel about the class a little while we sat on the deck and ate a snack. Ben asked Daniel to make him a project and Daniel was very eager to do so and even told the whole story about how it would go "I make a project at my big boy class. I give it to Daddy and Daddy say "Oh WOW!" It was so cute. So of course that's what he did today- he made a project and Ben made sure to say WOW!

Daniel recognizes many buildings and even streets now, so when we turned onto the street toward the park district, he said "there's my big boy class"- and that was it. He even very willingly got out of the car, which I was really afraid he might not even do. But he did- no drama, nothing, he just got out. We walked in and he really wanted to be sure to hold my hand. He was fine walking the whole way in, until we got to the gym. THEN he started to cry, hug me, and want to be carried. He kept saying "I want to go sit with you" and then he started talking about the toys he wanted to play with me- "I want you to come cook with me." I suggested we take a peek at the toys and after a little bit more clinging and me reminding him I'm coming back, he took me up on that- "I want to go peek with you." He walked over to where we could peek and that helped a little, and just like last week, he was ready to bring me in so he could play. We waited for the teacher, he asked me to pick him up again, I did- he'd stopped crying by this point, and when the teacher was ready and starting to ask the kids' names, we talked about his name- is your name Sam? and he'd say NO it's DANIEL! I asked him if he wanted to walk in or he wanted me to carry him and he still wanted to be carried, which was fine with me. And when it was his turn, he told the teacher his name, I asked where he wanted his name tag- on the front or on his back and he said "prolly on the back" and she stuck his name on the back and I handed him off to her, she set him down and I took off. I have no idea when he started crying again, but I'm sure it was right away.

Annabel and I had quite the adventure for the next half hour- we talked to a very nice grandmother of a boy in Daniel's class (I'd met her in other classes before) and then, well, I noticed that Annabel felt very wet. Turned out her diaper literally exploded!!! All over her pants, all over and I do mean all over her leg...and guess what? I had NO WIPES! UGH...that's the first time that's happened to me! We never take wipes out of that bag- well, I guess we did for some reason- whatever, I didn't have any. I couldn't believe it! Well, that nice grandma said she had wipes in her car so she saved my life and got them for me. So I cleaned Annabel up and that took care of the time I had to wait for Daniel. It was quite the distraction- not that I needed it today, I didn't cry this time. I felt so much better about how Daniel went in. I had no doubt that he was crying, but he seemed to handle going in better this time, and I liked that I was able to hand him off, instead of them picking him up and putting him in like last week- I hated that, still do, and that really set me off more than anything- so this was a compromise for me, handing him off, since he didn't want to walk in just yet. Maybe one of the next few weeks he'll walk in...we'll see. We're taking it one day at a time for now.

Anyway, Daniel worked very hard on his project. He cried, but he worked hard and he was again very verbal about what he needed. He'd filled up his sheet with letters and told the teacher he needed a new sheet since this was filled up and she suggested he flip the paper over and he got started right away again. They were proud of his hard work! So was I! And so was he!

The minute he saw me, he stood up and as soon as I was next to him he gave me the biggest hug, asked me to help him glue the dot on (see above picture), and then, just like last week, he was ready to play again! He really does just wait for me to come back so he can play. I tried all week to tell him that he could play without me and make me some food in the kitchen for when I came back, that he could play and then tell me what he played with. But, he says he just wants to play with mommy. Like I said, we're taking it week by week- I'm sure he'll get there, in his own time. I'm so proud of Daniel for getting through today as well as he did! I'll keep you posted!

Activities with Daniel

Besides his not-such-a-hit big boy class, Daniel also started his other classes this week, too. Plus we joined a fun activity at the library. SO, we had quite a busy week!

Wednesday was our usual Nature Class (we kept going all summer and will be continuing all through fall, too!) and we had a lot of fun. Ms. Connie wasn't there, so we had Mr. Andy- the change in teacher didn't faze Daniel one bit, and he even talked to Mr. Andy and showed him something he found, too. Go Daniel! Anyway, we had shapes and colors and textures to find on our hike and we got to do leaf and bark rubbings (picture below), too. Annabel's new nap pattern, and her very brief naps, means she only sleeps through part of the class, if at all, but she's still a great sport in the K'tan. She just loves to look around while we hike and of course she loves watching Daniel!


Thursday we have a new class also at the Nature Center called Nature Jams- basically a nature music class. We have a different teacher for this class and the class includes younger children (most of them are around 15 months old)- in fact, Annabel is registered in the class! Mostly because I felt wrong about bringing her and not registering her (the classes was listed for 3 month olds to 3 year olds), though I did feel it was rather silly that a 5 month old had to pay when they can't make projects or really join the activities- alas, I consider it a minimal donation to the program and if it means they don't cancel the class because of one more registration then that's great! Anyway, Ms. Angel was fun. We got to go on a hike looking for acorns, paint by shaking paint-dipped acorns in a tin can filled with a sheet of paper (that was neat!), plant grass (because that was easier than acorns), and play with instruments. Annabel slept for part of this class, too, but was otherwise very alert and adorable as always!


We've been outside enjoying the cool weather this week. Daniel wanted to make his bubble snakes again, so that was fun. Annabel and I enjoyed watching Daniel!



Friday they did a playtime at the library that we signed Daniel up for. They do this playtime once a month, for ages 2-6. We've never gone and it was so much fun! Daddy even came with us, too. It was crazy busy with LOTS of kids and their parents there and LOUD (and unnecessary we thought!) music, but Daniel just dove right in! He played with puzzles, foam numbers, and even joined the parachute activity at the end, shaking it and helping Daddy throw the balls on. We'd sign up for this again! And of course, after this activity time, we went and found some new books to borrow. I love the library!





And that was our busy week! We have another busy week ahead of us again, with another hopeful attempt at Daniel's big boy class. All week, as we've gone to the different classes and activities, Daniel just kept saying "NOT my big boy class!" It took me all week to get over that rather traumatic experience, and clearly he's still not a fan of that experience either; and all I can think is I need to get past that day, and yet, with each day that I get away from/past it, I'm just getting closer to the next time we go...but I'm trying to stay really positive, I'm trying to gently weave it into our discussions/activities with Daniel, and I'm trying to come up with strategies to help Daniel. We shall see how it goes!

Fun with my Kiddos!

Just a few random moments around the house this week...

Daniel made a new discovery the other day...He figured out that he can use his footstool to reach all the "switchers" to turn the lights on, and off and on again. He was carrying that footstool around for quite some time looking for all the "switchers." We have a few tricky switches, too, and it was cute to see his reaction when the lights went on in different places than he expected, or in some cases, when the switch didn't go up to go on.


A sweet picture of Annabel!


Annabel loves this new butterfly crinkly toy. It came with a pair of pajamas Grandma Cheryl gave her. You've gotta laugh when she plays with it, mouths it, and then leaves it on her face and then sends her arms flying! Silly girl!

Train Museum Adventure

We took a day trip last weekend to the Train Museum in Union, IL with Grandma Mary Kay and Grandpa Larry. It was a fun day filled with riding on trains! We went to this museum last year and had a great time, but I was SO sick, newly pregnant sick, the sort of newly pregnant that I hadn't told anybody yet- I remember blaming the heat that day! Well, I'm not pregnant this time and the weather was actually chilly (although, yes, you will see we're all wearing pants and Daniel is in shorts...he's sort of anti-pants right now, who can blame him- none of us really want summer to be over anyway!, and I didn't fight it)...this made for a great day all around! Both kids were so wonderful and such good sports for the whole trip- we were so proud of them!

Daniel with Grandma and Grandpa ready to ride a train!

Annabel's FIRST train ride!

What an awesome picture Ben took!

Group picture! (except for Ben, he's taking the picture!)

Daniel and Grandpa

Annabel was SO wide eyed when we were in the huge train "garage" checking out all the old trains...and I just LOVE her hands curled up by her chin! So cute!

Annabel looks so tiny compared to the trains!

Peek-a-boo, I see Daniel and Grandma!

Riding on a trolley!

Daniel had fun checking everything out!

We got to ride a train with just cabooses...it was neat! And I have to say, I almost didn't know who Annabel was...she sat so still in my lap for the whole, loooong ride! She never sits that still at home! I was impressed! Clearly she enjoyed this ride!

Annabel and Daddy!

The conductor, whom Annabel watched every time he walked by, let her try on his hat!

Daniel and Grandpa in front of the caboose we rode on!
Daniel had such a great day!

Annabel was so happy and alert most of the day.
She did sleep about a half hour, total, in the K'tan.

Every time there was a loud noise, Annabel would throw her arms up like this! And at a train museum, this was pretty often with all the horns and whistles going! She handled it all so great though- she was a trouper!

On the way home, Annabel took a nap! Daniel did not, however!

Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for a fun adventure!