Hope Branstrom

We were thrilled we got to stop by and meet the newest addition to the Branstrom Family. They are officially a family of FOUR! YEAH!

Here are a couple pictures of Annabelle meeting Hope - I'm not sure Hope was as excited as Annabelle was to have a new friend!

Bentons in Town

Liz had a horse show, so Jeff & Debbie came to town. Horses & Bentons what could be better? So Annabelle and I ventured to Parker, CO to check out the action!

Here is Liz & Teddy!

Annabelle having a horrible time as usual!

Mind Melt!

8 months and a Petty Theif - Geez!

Annabelle is 8 months today! Can you believe that??? We can't!!

We have LOVED every minute of it! At the risk of being totally cliche - she is an absolute joy!

But I do have a story to share - we have a petty thief on our hands. We went to Racine's tonight for dinner, and I gave Annabelle a spoon to play with, she must have dropped it in her car seat at some point and we didn't notice it until we got home! oops! So this is really probably her parents fault - remember we are ROOKIES! Hopefully by the time she is in Junior High we will be one step ahead of her, but at the moment we seem to be one step behind! Don't worry we will return the spoon the next time we head to Racine's, which is my new favorite family restaurant, so surely they will have it by the end of next week!

Quiet Game

So here is a little scene that took place in our house this morning at about 7:45am :) You must understand our general morning schedule is Anna gets up for a bottle, plays & chats with us for about 30 mins and then usually goes back to sleep for an hour or two. This was definately after an hour of solid baby conversation (do we wonder who she gets that from?)

Annabelle: baa, baaa, daaa, bbbbbbbbbbb, baa, goooo (wiggle, kick, wiggle)

Daddy: Annabelle, how about we play the quiet game?

Annabelle: (as if with comedic timing) hee hee hee

Daddy: You lose!

Blessings!

This post will not be about our family but instead about the many blessings our friends have received this past week. We have four, yes FOUR new babies to welcome into our lives! Can you believe that??? all in the matter of a week! It brings tears to my eyes remembering how I felt the first couple days with Annabelle, how much love these families are feeling right now.

So on to introductions!

First to join us was Travis Sedway Taylor on July 12th. Danna (his mommy) has been a good friend to me. She was kind enough to share her horse Zello with me for about 3 years. And we have shared a friendship ever since.

Then on July 14th, David & Julie met there second daughter Hope in China!! She is a beautiful 17 month old (I think I have that right!) They will return to the States the the last week of July to introduce her to her sister Claire, the rest of the family and all there friends. We can't wait to meet you Hope!

And then yesterday July 15th, Jessica & Nick welcomed two wonderful babies - yes TWINS! They had a little girl Alexandra Brook & a little boy Damian Dee. They look adorable from the pictures I have seen, and mom is doing great!

Life is truly amazing!

We have 7 friends (that we know of) who are currently pregnant that will give birth by the end of the year!! Annabelle would just like to thank all of you who have had babies or are going to have babies this year for making friends for her! :)

Bath Time

For those of you that don't know this about me... giving Annabelle a bath when she was first born was the one thing I was TOTALLY freaked out about. Partly because we don't have the best set up for an infant bath (old house), but mostly because I just was so scared she was going to slip out of my hands and either get hurt or drown! I know probably a little neurotic but we all have our fears with newborns, and this was mine! (Not to mention that for the first month and a half she hated the bath and screamed!! Which did not help!)

Well Noelle heard that I was stressing over bath time, and loaned us a wonderful bath seat which worked TONS better than the plastic tub I had. I have loved this seat so much it is now my standard baby gift for first time moms! (cats out of the bag for all our friends who are about to have babies!) I was totally hoping Annabelle would use it until she left for college :), but Monday night at bath time, Annabelle clearly demonstrated she does not need the seat any longer. Mom is not ready to stop using it, but she certainly is!!

If you remember from previous pictures, she used to recline!


Clearly she loves the water now!! And Daddy was making bubbles at the same time!

GG's 80th BIRTHDAY

We all hope to be doing as well as she is at 80! We had a wonderful BBQ up in Lyons with Scott's Denver based family. We missed everyone who is spread out around the country!

GG & Annabelle
Annabelle eating (or more accurately sucking on) some watermelon
Oh and Uncle Jon was in town this weekend from Florida for his best friend's wedding, so he was able to join us in the festivities! And hang out with his niece!
Thanks for hosting Cindy & Pete it was a lovely afternoon!

Six Month Pictures

I know these are a little late, but better late than never! Enjoy! These are some of my favorite!

Trying Finger Foods

Haa haa - not crazy about it!

Swimming in Breakenridge

Splashing Daddy is fun!

Motion Pictures

Here are a couple videos, I tried to pick short videos, but I think it is fun to see her in action.

In the Baby Pool ~ May 18



Jumping - Sheer Joy ~ May 25 & Jul 6 (what a difference 6 weeks makes!)

Rolling Over - Jul 2

For some reason I can't load the first food video - which is the best one - or at least I think it is! Still trying!

Happy 4th of July!!

Auntie Michelle gave Annabelle an adorable dress for the 4th!

This picture might be my new favorite!

We had a busy day - first we had Avery & Hannah over for a pool party. The babies had a FABULOUS time splashing around in our back yard. How cute are these three? We even got them looking in the right direction! :)

Here is Annabelle & Avery - they are only 2 weeks apart.

Daddy picked out this pool/water mat for Annabelle and the 3rd time is the charm, she seemed to really like it this time, even though the water was super cold from the hose! What fun - the water sprays up on you!! Thanks Daddy!
After the kiddos left we all took naps and got ready for a BBQ dinner - chicken & beef kabobs, corn on the cob, chips, fruit & homemade ice cream (that turn out a little like ice cream soup, next time I will have to make it in the morning, and freeze it all day.) I didn't get any pictures of our BBQ, guess I was actually pictured out from earlier in the day! After dinner we headed to Stapleton to watch some fireworks! Annabelle slept in the car, but I can't wait until she is old enough to stay up - lots of things to look forward to!

Happy 4th Everyone!