Annabelle - Four Months Old!

Annie is four months old! The time has gone by so quickly! Below is a photo of Annie, hanging out and sucking her thumb, with her dad on October 1st!

Next is a photo from October 2nd of Annie napping on her play mat, after rolling over a bunch of times and pulling her frog...which makes him sing! She is constantly rolling from her back to her tummy. She can't yet roll right back onto her back, so after several minutes of trying, I'll roll her back for her. Then, I turn away for a second, turn back and realize she's already rolled back onto her tummy! She's quick!!

Playtime is awfully tiring! She spends a lot of time on her mat, as we are trying to get her to roll over from her tummy onto her back. She has done it twice, so far! In the next week or two, she'll start rolling that way a lot more consistently!

Here is a picture of Annie on the couch! I propped her up against some pillows...and she flopped right over! So, I ran and grabbed the camera! You can really see her red hair in this photo!

Here are two photos of Annie on October 3rd! She is just too cute!!

Here are three photos of Annie on October 5th - her 4 month birthday!! She loves it when her feet are bare and she can play with her toes!!

She also LOVES to look at fans!! Any kind of fan...it doesn't even need to be turned on! She will just stare and giggle at the fan!!

Arizona 2009

On September 11th, we took Annabelle on her first vacation! We went to Scottsdale for a week! It was a fantastic vacation! Annabelle rolled over for the first time in Arizona, and Mike and I were standing over her, watching in awe as she rolled from her back onto her tummy!


Above is a picture of Annie on the plane, on the way to Arizona! We were lucky...the plane wasn't full, so she got her own seat! On the way home, we weren't so lucky...the plane was full. So, Annie got to sit on our laps, while her car seat was stowed in the belly of the plane.

At night we would walk to the Kierland Commons, which has a bunch of restaurants and shopping...an outdoor mall basically. Annie spent most of her time outside in the morning and evening. In the middle of the day, we mostly hibernated inside!

We spent a lot of time in the hot tub in the morning! It was probably 80+ degrees outside, but the pool was a bit cool in the morning.

It was Mike's mission to see how many times he could go down the waterslide! He had some competition over the weekend from some little kids - who would cut in front of Mike in the waterslide line. They didn't take him seriously! During the week, he pretty much had the slide to himself!

Annie spent a lot of time poolside! She got splashed a few times when her dad decided to do cannonballs into the pool!

Annie got a new toy from "Peek...Aren't You Curious" in Scottsdale! The little duck, whom we have named "Mr. Quackers"! She likes to hold him, since he is extremely soft!


As soon as we got settled into our room, on the first day, we put our swimsuits on and headed to the hotel portion of the resort. The hotel's set of pools includes a lazy river (as well as a second waterslide - which Mike couldn't resist!). Annie enjoyed the lazy river. She would fall asleep on Mike after a few laps!

Annabelle's Professional Photos

Since I was in junior high, I've liked the idea of having a large-sized photo of each of my kids, hanging in my house. I got this idea from people that I babysat for regularly!

Luckily, Mike and I are in agreement on decorating our house!

Throughout the last trimester of being pregnant, Mike and I spent a lot of time researching baby photographers and photos.

We decided that we had to have a photo of our baby suspended in a sack, from a tree branch!

So, two weeks ago, we flew out Kelly Highby from Nebraska to photograph Annabelle! She did a fantastic job photographying Annie, Mike, Molly and I! The photo session didn't go exactly as planned (it rained the whole time, a semi was overturned on I-55, which delayed Mike and Kelly from the airport for two hours, and Annie was wide awake for much of the time, rather than sound asleep!) But, the photos turned out great thanks to Kelly's patience!

To view the photos, go to:

www.kellyhighbyphotography.com

Click on "enter site", then "clients".

The password is: annabelle0

Photos will only be online for a week! So, don't wait!

Fun Weekend with Friends

This past Thursday, Annabelle got to meet our friend Jordon! He was in Chicago and took the train out to Naperville. So, we got to have dinner with him! Annabelle was very well behaved at the restaurant (only her third time in a restaurant)! She slept the entire time...so she didn't really get to meet Jordon...but he saw her!

On Friday night, our friends John and Krissi came to visit with their one year old daughter Jocelyn. She is SUPER CUTE and a handful, since she is walking! Mike and I got a glimpse of what our life will be like in 11 months! So much fun!

On Saturday, Mike and John went to the store and came back with a baby pool...which quickly became a "doodle pool"! Molly LOVED the pool and had a wonderful time jumping in and out of the pool! She can't wait for next weekend!

Annabelle's Latest Photos

Poor little Annabelle! She is my favorite subject to photograph. So, we had another little photo session today...and then spent some time with photoshop! She is such a good baby!...as long as she is kept well fed, with a clean diaper!!



She slept right through being wrapped in "cheese cloth"!



- Jill

Father's Day (Weekend) is Awesome!

The perks of being a father keep getting better.

After going to bed before 8pm Friday, I woke early and well rested Saturday in preparation for our first trip to Saugatuck, MI with Annabelle. I must say this trip to Saugatuck got off to a much slower start than any of our trips last summer. It took multiple diaper changes, several bottles of milk, and a Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate chip bagel from Panera to leave our house.

Though we did not get on the road as quickly as we did P.A (Pre-Annabelle), it was great to get to share one of my Top Ten Favorite Things, (A future blog entry), with my daughter. As all great trips to Saugatuck begin, we had lunch at The Butler. It took us a little while to get comfortable in our first restaurant experience with Annabelle, but once we did our little girl did what she does best, turn heads. We met I couple from Orland Park, IL that have retired and spend their summers in Saugatuck. Hopefully Jill and I will be that lucky.

After lunch, we strolled the town with Annabelle. It was a nice stroller session, which involved taking Annabelle out of her carrier several times for photo sessions. It was great to expose Annabelle to Saugatuck, as well as see Jill venture further into her photography passion. It was great to see two of my three girls so happy. As for the third, I could not see Molly at her grandpuprents back in Plainfield, but I am sure she was a happy Doodle.

As great as Saturday was, Jill, Annabelle, and Molly treated me to a Father's Day present Sunday. I was pumped to get a digital photo frame to put on my desk at Unilever. It will be plugged in first thing Monday morning.

Thank you Jill, Annabelle, and Molly for a great weekend. We cannot wait for Mother's Day 2010.

I must start planning now to top what you did for me Father's Day (Weekend) 2009.

- Mike

First Post...

Where does the time go?

I've been home with Annabelle for almost two weeks now. Last night, I thought I'd spend today taking the baby on a walk, cleaning the house, calling Melissa back, writing thank you notes, etc. When Mike got home at 5 pm...I had no idea what I had done today.

I created this blog...but couldn't come up with anything to write about. I changed many diapers and fed the baby. I let the dog out twice. But, that still left many hours unaccounted.

Perhaps I'll do better tomorrow!

I have been having fun taking photos of Annabelle. So, maybe we'll have another little photo shoot tomorrow! I seem to have a passion for photography! Little Annabelle is my favorite subject! I tried to photograph the dog yesterday, but she wasn't cooperative whatsoever. Everytime I got near her with the camera, she ran away! ...maybe tomorrow!

- Jill