Pictures from the Week....

No energy to write.

 Annabel looked so cute in her little Carharts!

 A budding reader....

 The next day, Annabel discovered some goodies... yeah, probably not the best place for it these days... 

 Tom Collins, anyone??

 Enjoying a snack of apples and grapes on the couch with mommy...yum!

 Annabel's not a huge fan of brushing her teeth, so I thought maybe if I demonstrated she would be a little more interested! Look how intently she watching me! (P.S. Do you love the door that Derek stripped and put back up without sanding and painting??)

 

We went down to my parents this weekend so Derek and Marcus could hunt. They didn't have any luck, but we did have fun! Sunday was such a beautiful day, I couldn't resist getting Annabel bundled up to play outside. 
 We went to 'Once Upon a Child' while we were there. Annabel needed some new jeans because someone (I won't mention names) left her only pair of jeans wadded up and wet in his Jeep and they are moldy and ruined. So, I found two super cute pairs - and I couldn't resist this little grey two-piece outfit. Even though she doesn't need clothes, I'm a sucker for coordinating outfits (makes getting dressed in the mornings so much easier!). You can't see it too well in the pictures below, but its like a little tunic/dress with leggings. 

 

 Again with the books! I love it!

Last night as I was working on this post, Annabel woke up for the third time between 8:30-12:30. She is sick again! She just got over the last cold, and now she is snotty, feverish and cranky all over again. Annabel slept with us (me)  and we were up a lot last night! Boo!

I Ain't Never Gonna Talk Good

Earlier this week our friend Isaac came over to hang out and watch the baseball game ( I'm not really sure which one?).  Somehow we got to talking about how people's bad grammar is really annoying. Derek gets irritated when people say "irregardless" (its a double-negative; the word is just 'regardless') or "doin' good" instead of "I'm doing well" when asked how they are. I was saying how in my line of work, I often talk to people who are, shall we say, educationally-challenged (though I hope that I show a little more compassion than my sarcastic husband!) Anyway, I told them how two of my biggest grammar pet peeves are when someone says "flustrated" instead of "frustrated" and "ideals" instead of "ideas." So the next day I get a text from Ike that says, "I have some flustrating ideals I need to talk to you about." That made my yucky day so much better!!

A Picky, Sicky, Silly Little Monster

Annabel and I have been hanging out inside all weekend, because it's COLD out! This morning there is a layer of snow on the ground - boo. Its going to be a long next 6 months:(

Derek was hoping to make it out for the first day of deer season, but he had to work all weekend. I know he was disappointed, but he and Marcus are planning to go down to my parents next weekend to go. Oh, who are we kidding - I'll probably go, too. 

Yesterday Annabel and I layered up and headed out to church. However, halfway through the service I was called out because Annabel had not stopped crying since I dropped her off and she felt warm. Sure enough, her temp was 103.5 and she was not a happy kid. With Motrin, she fluctuated from 101 to 104 all day, but today she's down to 99.5 and she's happy as could be. Right now she's looking out the window at the birds and clapping at them! So cute! She loves to look outside.

Earlier this week we had a nursing student from my school come over and do a Denver Developmental scale on her for class. Its basically the same thing they do at her appointments, just gauging her development based on her age. She was slightly ahead of her age group, having already mastered saying 6 words, walking backwards, stacking one block, and taking off an article of clothing. I think these tasks were average for 15-mo olds, whereas she is 14 months. She failed at stacking more than one block, feeding a baby, recognizing a picture and feeding herself with a utensil (These were also 15-mo old tasks). 

My favorite thing about Annabel right now is that she is silly. She does funny things like put a diaper on her head and walk into the wall (then laughs!), or steals something from your hand and runs away with it, laughing. And she is such a ham for the camera. What a goofball! One of the things that made Derek laugh this week was that he finally caught her picking her nose. I had been telling him for weeks that she's been doing it, but he didn't actually see her till now. 

The best part about right now is that I only have one week of classes left. After this week, its Thanksgiving Break, then Derek and I are going on vacation the next week (missing classes) and then its finals! Woohoo! It's almost over! Although I'll still be seeing my clients, I'll have a whole month off before the next semester starts. Praise the Lord. 

This morning Derek had to get up early to drive the school bus, so I got up too to enjoy a few hours before Annabel woke up. (Me, get up before dawn? I know, right!?) I really should do that more often! I had my shower, coffee and breakfast, and payed all our bills before she even woke up! It was really nice, because then I had way more time to spend with her, because I wasn't busy getting up and about myself. Its just hard to get up early when you don't have to, you know?

So anyway, even though I don't want to brave the blustery weather, we've got some errands to run so I don't think we've got any choice. I've also got some homework I need to catch up on, boo. Better go - more posts to come soon! Maybe I'll get better at taking pictures during the week!

We got to enjoy bathtime this morning:

  

 First we throw all our toys in the tub...

 Then we get in. Don't like it too much....then....seconds later....

 

 Love it!!

 All done!!

 Ready for the day.

She's been chasing this silly ladybug around all morning! Oh, the entertainment...

Nothing too eventful this week, no pictures, even. Sorry! Derek worked all day Saturday and 1/2 day Sunday, so we've been kind of bored at home. Saturday I even made up errands to run just to get out of the house! It's been so cold and chilly here, I don't really like getting out, but when you're going crazy, sometimes thats all you can do! 

Wow! I know this is probably old news to most of you- but gas prices are way cheaper! It just really hit me today when I filled up for $22!!! Isn't that crazy. I think it is $1.91 here, and I have a card that our grocery store does for so many cents off per gallon, and I think I was up to $0.15 off, thus $1.76/gal - whoa! I nice relief since it has been costing like $50 to fill up!

Yesterday I rented a "Rug Doctor" from Lowe's and cleaned all our carpets. Ugh - way more work than I wanted to do. Our carpets desperately needed it, especially since we don't bathe Bailey as much since Annabel came along! This was my first time to ever clean the carpets! I have no experience with carpet care, since we never had it growing up and this is our first house with it. Bleh - never again will I have carpet in a house. I just think it is really gross - weird, I know. 

Since Derek worked all weekend he stayed with us today. He vacuumed and bagged leaves, and put in storm windows - exciting! For one my classes, we are learning how to administer psychological tests, so I gave Derek an IQ test today! I don't know if any of you have ever taken a real IQ test (not the Reader's Digest version!) but it is quite an ordeal! It took us about two hours (annabel was napping). I'm sure none of you are surprised, but I married a pretty smart guy! I won't tell you his composite score, but I will say overall he is one standard deviation above the mean (70th %), with his "processing speed" being two standard deviations (87th %)!  It was a fun experience for me as well. 

Tonight Derek took me out for Mexican and now we are settling in to watch 'Chuck' and call it a night! I'll leave you with the only pictures I've taken of Annabel all week:

 

New Diapers!

Yay! I got two new diapers in the mail today! So cute! For those of you who are interested in cloth diapering, the Swaddlebees outlet store (<--link) has their discontinued prints on sale for $11. Thats a great price for good quality diapers!! Also, their located in Knoxville, so you Ktown mamas (Laura? Betsy?) could probably negotiate a pick-up and bypass shipping fees!

By the way - I'm sure you noticed I changed up the layout of my blog. If anyone has trouble with it (i.e. not being able to see the print, or taking too long to load) let me know and I'll change it back to boring black. I don't mind! I just thought I would do something a little different.  

Annabel's pictures

Hey everyone - check out Jen's blog for a sneak preview of Annabel's pictures! They are soooo cute! (I'm not biased at all:)

Thursday night we went to Bloomington to visit with old friends. We hung out downtown and ate at a funky Thai restaurant... Annabel didn't like it!

 

Last Friday our daycare had a walk-a-thon to raise money for a new 6-seat stroller. We walked 10 laps, or 2.5 miles - tiring. I even walked a whole lap backwards with some of the kids! We talked about doing a lap hopping on one foot, but I'm glad that didn't happen! Here are some pics from that morning.

  

It was a little chilly that morning, but it quickly warmed up!

it actually turned out to be a really pretty day! Annabel slept most of the laps! :)

This little girl is Allie, Annabel's "best friend" at daycare. They're always hugging, and playing with each other. They're so cute together!

That night we did a little trick-or-treating at the neighbors then headed to our church for a Halloween festival - free hot dogs, cotton candy, popcorn, nachos, candy, etc! Annabel was so cute in her little bumblebee costume!

 

 Getting ready for the big night...

 "Mommy, I'm not sure I like this..."

 

 

 CANDY!!!

Check out Holly's blog for cute pictures of Annabel and Morganne together!!

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to Me

Yes it's true - I'm 27 today! (I think...2008-1981....yep, 27). And I am gloriously, blessedly ALONE all day! At first when I realized I was going to be spending my birthday by myself, I got a little bummed, but then I changed my perception of the situation (like that? Counseling term) and realized I would have the whole day to myself, doing whatever I wanted, no one tugging on me, sucking on me, biting me, crying....all those things Derek does that really annoy me:)

Let me rewind a little. Yesterday I had that conference all day in northern Indiana, and Derek had to take Annabel to her photo shoot in Indy. And on Sunday (today) there's this gun/shooting thing that Derek goes to with my dad every year in Terre Haute. So, our original plan was for me to meet them in Indy Sat. evening when I got done with my conference and we would drive down to my parents together, but that would mean Derek would have to wait around in Indy until 6:30 or 7, when the photo shoot was at 11:30. So I said, "why don't you and Annabel just go on to my parents after the shoot and I'll just stay home," thus saving me the trip when I knew I would be tired after the conference. Then I realized it was my birthday weekend...which just turns out to be an extra bonus!

Don't get me wrong, I love my family and love spending time with them....but a girl also needs a day to herself every once in a while! So last night I made myself my all-time favorite high-calorie meal (spaghetti noodles tossed with butter, garlic salt and shredded cheese), curled up on the couch and read my favorite online chat forum for hours, while catching up on my DVR shows...BLISS! And today I plan to spend cleaning....all. day. Sounds like the perfect birthday to me! :)

p.s. Derek has the camera this weekend so I'll post pics from Halloween tomorrow.