Taxes Countdown - 15 weeks

We had another ultra sound today - didn't get much more with this scan than a month ago, but we were able to get a pretty decent profile shot! Which was nice!

Now that the holidays are over, I am here to be your official tax day count down. I am due April 14 (okay a day early but close enough!) So everyone you have 15 weeks to get your taxes done! Ours better be done early this year!

Got Milk?

.... cause all of a sudden Annabelle wants some!

Annabelle stopped drinking milk the day we took her bottle away. We tried relentlessly to try to get her to drink milk from a cup, but we have had no luck. Finally we sort of gave up. I could probably count the number of sips she has had on one hand since she gave up the bottle up until about mid December. Recently at play dates with Avery, she had stolen his cup a milk, and according to Cassie even had her own cup on at least one occasion. I didn't think much of it, probably a fluke to show off for Avery, but in Portland all of a sudden she started requesting milk, and actually drinking it. So weird! I was just about to cancel our milk delivery, but I guess have to wait & see.

Blizzard hits Portland

Okay, well that is what you would have thought from watching the news coverage! They had about two inches of snow! But Portland doesn't handle snow very well. In all fairness Denver is fairly flat in comparison to Portland, so it is a little different, but you wouldn't think a couple inches of snow could cripple a city! People just abandon cars in the middle of the street - it is crazy! But that didn't stop my mother from making us head out and see Candy Cane Lane (a street that requires every house puts up holiday lights ever year!) It was a family tradition growing up to go see the lights, and I did want to share the experience with Annabelle and Scott but it was a little ridiculous given the snowy circumstances. I wasn't worried about our ability to get around in my mother's car, the issue is everyone else in Portland. What should have been a twenty minute ride, was a good hour & fifteen minutes - and really I think we got lucky. Since it took that long we decided to drive up and down Candy Cane Lane twice! Unfortunately it was freezing & extremely wet so we didn't get out and walk or take any pictures, but Annabelle really was amazed by the constant display of lights. At home we tried to drive around one night to look at lights, but when it is blocks & blocks between decorated houses, she loses interest fast!

Afterwards we rescued Debra (the bus never made it!) and got her back to her car. Picked up some burritos & headed to her house for Annabelle to run around. She had been in the car for over two hours at that point, and really need some time to just be a kid. She ran around & charmed Debra, as she does! Again - no pictures! I really wasn't on my picture game this week! But it was great to see Debra!

Baby Brandon

The rest of the trip was spent at my mom's house! We spent Sunday night just hanging out at her house, and Monday we hit Ikea, had lunch with Melissa (I failed to take a picture!) and then after naps all around, Baby Brandon (and his parents) came over for a dinner visit! Of course we are very curious how Annabelle will do with a sibling come April. But hopefully she loves hers baby sister or brother as much as she loves all of our friends little ones! I fear it might be different when the baby is a live in!

Meet adorable baby Brandon

Seriously...?

....Is no one going to comment on the fact that I spelled CHRISTMAS wrong! I thought it was hilarious! :)

PDX Children's Museum

For this adventure Annabelle only had four adults following her around! Some how she made it work. I still haven't been to the Denver Children's Museum, but Annabelle has been a handful of times with Maggie, so it was clear she knew what to do. So we let her lead the way.

They have a Clifford exhibit at the moment, which included a couple vehicles to drive & mail to deliver! No pictures near the big red dog though!

Then we hit the water room! She quickly figured out how to send boats & ducks down the stream! Good Stuff!

Then we hit the theater / dress up area. Annabelle checked out the stage for a few minutes, but immediately found the lights & sound board. I see her on stage, but maybe she has some control issues like her mama!

Next it was the grocery store, Annabelle found a cart, picked out her groceries, and then after she was done shopping she had another museum guest check her out!

After that it was time for the medical center! She was fading at this point, and a couple of the other parents were laughing watching her stumble around in a daze! "Time to get this one home!" Luckily my parents live about 2 minutes from the museum, so it takes longer to load all of us in the car, than get home!

And just to prove how badly my child wants to keep her height a secret! This was in the construction area that we didn't really play in because she ran out right after I snapped this picture!

Urgent Care

Well I ended up in Urgent Care with low oxygen levels - I guess that is what happens when you can't breath (asthma + head cold + pregnancy = bad combination) After two trips to Walgreens & $300 in medical bills (even after insurance! Merry Christmas to me!) I finally am starting to feel better.

The rest of the day consisted of 5 adults taking Annabelle to the movies! They were all amazed at her attention span & ability to eat popcorn without taking her eyes off the screen! That's my girl!

And then we had a lovely hodge podge dinner (fried chicken & greek fries, pizza & left over prime rib) from all my brother's favorites places, since he hasn't been in Portland for over 3 years! Followed up by lots of Wii and Annabelle dancing (raising the roof, to be specific) to the Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling.

Chistmas Day

We took off Christmas morning and headed to Portland. Annabelle was a fabulous traveler once again, and snuggled with us the entire flight despite the fact that she had a perfectly lovely (purchased) seat right between us! Oh well!

We arrived at the airport, loaded into the cars (and yes that is plural!) had some lunch, & then frosted our traditional family sugar cookies.

Sprinkle. Looks Good to Me. Eat!

After the morning festivities, Annabelle & Mommy crashed for a couple hours. I unfortunately came down with another cold so was not feeling so hot by the time we arrived in Portland. We got up in time for a speed round of present opening & wrapping paper clean-up right before the rest of the family arrived for Christmas dinner.

Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures of the evening festivities because I just wasn't feeling good, but this one makes me laugh.... Porter is looking at Annabelle like "wow, do all little girls talk this much?"

The EVE

We spent Christmas Eve with Scott's family - a smaller affair than normal, but we had a yummy lasagna dinner (Annabelle LOVED it!), a gift exchange, and munched on lots of yummy sweets.

And after the family headed home, we started our new tradition of spending the night up at Grandma Sue's house which was really nice - we got to make the most of the evening without having to worry about getting little miss Annabelle home to bed!

Off to Portland in the morning!

Mama, what you dooing?

This question has started to become a favorite in our house! "Why?" must be coming next!

The conversations go something like this...

Annabelle: Mama, what you dooing?

Mommy: Packing for our trip to Portland

Annabelle: Mama, what you dooing?

Mommy: Packing for our trip to Portland

Annabelle: Mama, dooing?

Mommy: Packing, Packing, Packing!!

Annabelle: Mama, dooing?

Mommy: Same thing I was doing two seconds ago... Trying to pack for our trip to Portland, it would be a lot easier if you would go find something to play with!

Annabelle: Mama, what you dooing?

....you get the idea!

I needed a change...

Well I am super excited to release my updated blog format! I have been working hard with Jennisa at Once Upon a Blog to create something new! I hope you like it as much as I do!

Oh...and I just loaded Photoshop to my computer! What a fabulous day!

Hanukkah with the Wilsons

We got together with the Wilson family for our annual Hanukkah celebration - complete with pizza, a donut Menorah, a few gifts & of course a game of dreidel!

Annabelle jumped right into the game of dreidel and did surprisingly well! She couldn't spin the dreidel herself so the boys took turns spinning for her, but she would gladly take the pot! The funny part was how she was practically sitting on her chocolate coins to keep them safe!

Hanukkah with some Monkeys

We had a fabulous get together with the usual suspects for Hanukkah. We lit the candles with the kiddos, had a craft, ate like kings (artichoke dip, brisket, latkes, mac-n-cheese, jelly donuts, & a three layer mouse cake!) and even did a little gift exchange with the kiddos. It was anything but a quiet evening with four two year old running around, and next year there will be three six month olds added to the mix.

And after dinner, the kiddos turned into four little monkeys jumping on the bed! And boy were they having a great time!

But we managed to get them to sit still long enough for one group shot! Four cute monkeys!

Hats....

Where is Mickey?

Grandma took all of us to a production of Disney on Ice which included Cars, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid & Tinkerbell, but since Annabelle doesn't really know any of those movies yet... she just kept asking "where is Mickey?" and "Mickey come back?" But she loved the popcorn and all the animals in the Lion King number!

2 YEAR DR APPT

Well, I would say this appointment went anything but smoothly! Annabelle apparently had a rough morning, so when I picked her up from Maggie, I knew it could be a struggle. First off I scheduled the appointment right smack in the middle of nap time! Genius! So what should have been an hour ordeal, turned into a two hour ordeal! Annabelle flipped out the moment I tried to start getting her undressed, and it quickly unraveled from there. Nurse Betsy tried to bribe her with a lolly pop, which did calm down the tears but made her absolutely no more willing to sit naked on a cold scale, have a measuring tape put around her head or lay on some tissue paper!! Finally I suggested they must have a big kids scale! Lets try that! So naked Annabelle ran out into the hallway and again lost it, when we were trying to get her to stand on the "black square" well another lolly was presented and wallah! We have the weight of Annabelle + two lolly pops. And after two hours I still have no idea how tall my child is! Oh well maybe next year!

Weight (Annabelle + 2 lolly pops!): 29lbs 8 oz

Height: ?

Head Circumference: 48 cm

21 Week Appointment

We had a rather uneventful ultrasound, and I say that because Baby Buzz didn't want to get any pictures taken. Since we didn't even get the pictures the doctor was hoping for, we have another ultrasound schedule for New Years Eve! Which is great for us because we love a chance to see the baby & hear that heartbeat! Here is what we got! Sorry they are so hard to see but trust me there is a baby in there! Buzz is kick, kick, kicking away these days!

All Dressed up for HONK!

Grandma Sue took Annabelle for there first (of I am sure many) Annabelle & Grandma outings for her birthday this year! We got her all dressed up in an outfit from Grandma, and sent her on her way (with goldfish crackers, of course!) They went to the musical HONK! an adaptation of the The Ugly Duckling. Very Cute!

Dinner Celebration at the Bentons!

We headed to dinner at the Bentons after our photo shoot....Liz had a big birthday on Thanksgiving day. So we had to celebrate the November Birthday girls! But the real reason for the dinner, was for the Itens to meet Miss Amanda (Brad's girlfriend of a million years that we have somehow missed every previous opportunity to meet.) Amanda managed to escape a picture! Next time, watch out! Liz & Annabelle on the other hand, were happy to my subjects for the evening!

Annabelle loved all the attention - she was absolutely spoiled rotten! She ate pretzels & apples for dinner, and whip cream for dessert! She was amazed the entire table knew the ABCs song!

And then there was Theo! She love, love, loved playing with Theo. And he didn't seem to mind her to much because it meant a steady stream of snacks! Remember these photos with all the same suspects! What a difference a year makes!