Fun with Anniston

Well, we are 7 months in to this parenting thing...
Are there sacrifices?  Yep
Is it all worth it and better than I could have ever dreamed?  You betcha

I laugh to myself when I think about how I used to not want to have kids, when I thought that I wasn't really built to be a good, nurturing mom, that I wasn't sure if I would like having kids- maybe I would like having teenagers, but certainly not babies...and here I am, a mom that comes completely undone by one smile from her little one.  I know I have much harder days ahead of me...but I have so many indescribably good days ahead.  Maybe, just maybe...I was made for this.

So what is my 7 month old up to?
Crawling.  Standing up in her crib.  Saying DaDa.

We went to her six month doctor appointment.  The highlight?  As I was leaving, they tell me excitedly, "We have something for your baby book!!!"  I'm thinking, but I don't say- I don't really have a baby book...instead I say "Great!"...they proceed to say "You can put this in your baby book to remember coming to see Dr. Wilson", and then they hand me this...

A sticker of Jasmine.  For some reason, I found this incredibly amusing.  They were so excited to give me a generic Disney sticker to put in my baby book to remind me of a Doctor visit.  I just loved it.  So yes, it will go in my baby book, AKA my blog.  :)

6 month stats:
Weight:  16 lbs 3 oz, 25-50%
Height:  26 inches, 50%
Head:  16.25 inches, 10-25%

We have been having a fun summer.  One Sunday morning we woke up and took a family walk to Starbucks for breakfast and coffee.

We spend a lot of days just around the house...watching Anniston explore her new world.  She's so fun.

Our little monkey all ready for bed...

I can't help but think she looks a little mischievous in this one...

It was so fun the first morning I came in to find out that she can now do this:

One of my favorite things is to come get her in the morning or when she wakes from a nap, to be greeted by a smiley baby ready to play.

We had a couple of sick days this month, which is never fun...but I have to admit, there is something sweet about cuddling with a little one that isn't feeling too well.  She just needs her mom...

 We enjoyed some Thunder basketball.  Even Anniston got into the Thunder spirit.

We got to go to the lake to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday.  It was so fun to spend time with family and to celebrate the first man of my life.  My dad is amazing- to say he's a great husband and a great dad doesn't quite do him justice.  He's pretty incredible.  I am so thankful for dad, and now Pops...I can't wait for Anniston to grow up knowing her Pops, and for her to also love her dad like I love mine.  What a blessing to have an incredible dad and also an incredible husband that is an incredible dad to our little girl.  Anyway, it was so fun to celebrate him for a weekend.  It was also fun to get the girls together.  I can't wait until they can run around and play together....they don't look like they are having too much fun here, but I promise, they had their share of smiling, hugging, playing...

Easton is getting old enough to play out on the water, which is so fun.  This is her tubing with her mom and dad.  Makes me so excited thinking of the girls tubing together.  Maybe next year.  :)

 Loving the summer!!

For Our Nannies

Just a little bit about our Nannies...

So our nanny Sara left us for the summer.  I can't say enough how thankful we were for Sara this Spring.  We really wanted someone to come to our house to watch Anniston.  We hired her before we met her, trusting a recommendation from a friend....all we wanted was someone to watch Anniston and to come home to a healthy, safe, fed baby...and what did we get?  We got someone that prays over our daughter, worships with our daughter, dances with our daughter, loves our daughter.  We were so thankful.  It's like asking the Lord for bread and getting an extravagant feast.  She was the greatest blessing during a season of transition, a season of waiting, a season of unknowns.  We love Sara.  But Sara went to serve another family this summer in Beirut.  I can't imagine what a blessing she is to their family, just as she is to ours.  We were happy (and very sad) to send her out to give away what we had been receiving....so what does that mean for us?

Enter Shannon.

Shannon is a dear friend of ours.  Jake and I love Shannon.  But most importantly, Shannon loves Anniston...and Anniston loves Shannon.  The first day Shannon watched Anniston she played me a sound clip of Anniston laughing.  Nobody can get Anniston to laugh like Shannon can.  To have someone that comes to your house and makes you feel like watching your daughter is not a job, not a burden, but is a joy, a blessing, a blast, something to look forward to....to have someone that leaves your house after a long day only to talk about your daughter to her family, someone that sends pictures of your daughter to her friends because she finds your daughter so fun, so beautiful....it's like water to my soul.  Just what this momma needs when she loads up her car and drives to the city for work.

I remember when we were beginning to pray about my work situation and asking the Lord to provide something for Anniston that we felt good about...and of course, what did He do?  He blew our expectations out of the water.  We are so so blessed to have two amazing women pouring into our daughter, loving our daughter, bringing joy, peace, laughter into our home.

Thank you Sara and Shannon.  We are overwhelmingly grateful.

Catching up with the Bauer's

Well it's been too long since I've last written.  My baby girl is six months old.  Six months.  She's a busy little bee.  She is moving all around...she's crawling.  Well I can't tell if it's a legit crawl or not.  It's like a hand, knee, elbow, scoot type of thing.  She's sitting up by herself, but never for long.  She's too interested in being on the move to sit still for too long.  She likes her veggies, but not her fruits.  She wants nothing to do with bananas or pears...but bring on the squash, carrots, green beans.  She still smiles all the time, except when you leave the room or run the vacuum...found out today she is terrified by the vacuum.  Ok by me.  :)

This is Anniston sitting in my lap, watching "her favorite show", Wheel of Fortune.  I like to think she loves this show for the lights and the colors and the sounds.

For Mother's Day, my brother, sister-in-law, and niece met us in Tulsa to spend time with the fam.  I also got the privilege of celebrating my dear friend Francie at her wedding showers that weekend.  I'm so excited about her big day coming up in October!  This is Nana Great with her Great Granddaughters.

Easton and Anniston are going to be little buddies.  I can't wait until they can run around and play together...Easton can't wait either.

Jake and I left Anniston overnight for the first time and headed up to Oklahoma City to celebrate our anniversary.  Jake's mom generously offered to watch Anniston while we had our getaway.  We had such a good time!  I am so thankful for my amazing husband and the 7 years of joy and adventure we've had.

We had a glorious day last week where Jake and I were both off work...so we had family time in bed.  Love these little cuddle buddies.

 I love this picture because I like to think she gets this from me.  I love to scoot down to the foot of the bed and hang my feet off the end...I smiled when I saw Anniston doing this.

 We spent Memorial Day at the lake.  Isn't the view beautiful from the house?

My dad and uncle Billy and Lucas enjoying their morning coffee on the lawn, looking out at the land.

 Anniston loves her Nana Great.

It was so much fun to get to spend time with the Oglesby family...and I think they had fun getting to meet our little one.  :)

We were blessed by a gift of a double stroller from one of our dear friends, so we took it to the lake to give it a try...as you can tell, she loves it!

I included this picture for two reasons- 1) I say she smiles all the time, which is mostly true.  It is very rare that she cries, but I figured I would testify to the fact that it does in fact happen.  2)  I think her cry is so cute.  This picture doesn't so much do her justice, but when she sticks her bottom lip out and starts to cry, I can't help but think how cute she looks...this picture just makes her look sad.  Oh well....

 I was in the laundry room the other day and didn't know what to do with Anniston while I folded laundry, so I stuck her in the laundry basket.  She didn't seem to mind...

Just a few more pictures of my beautiful girl...

So much to be thankful for.