Pictures of Annabel

I tried to take some pretty pictures of Annabel yesterday :) Of course she is a beautiful model, but it is so hard to get a good picture of a toddler! She is busy, busy, busy :)

WARNING- Lots of Pictures Ahead!

Last weekend was Easter weekend, and we spent the weekend camping in the Washington area. We went with my parents and my aunt and uncle and two cousins, Bonnie and Boyd. It was a lot of fun! Friday night was really nice and we all slept pretty well. Then Saturday morning, it began to pour on us around breakfast-time. It wasn't too bad, as we were all prepared for the rain, both clothing and shelter-wise, but it was super-chilly and windy. Around mid-morning, the rain began to let up, so us girls went into town to see what we could find to do :) Being Easter weekend, there were some options. We found an Amish place that had an Easter egg hunt (which ended up being cancelled due to the muddy weather) and pictures with the Easter bunny. We also found lots of antique stores and flea markets! I was very excited to find an antique baby doll high chair, which I've been looking for forever and some antique seed packet prints to hang in the kitchen. 

Afterwards, we headed back to camp. By that time it was pretty nice out, so while Annabel napped, my mom and I filled Easter eggs while Bonnie hid them :) She had a lot of fun running through the woods searching for eggs! Obviously, the candy was the main attraction :) I tried to get by with filling some of them with raisins, like I did last year, but uh... not so successful. I think she threw all the raisins on the ground in disgust! 

That night was not quite as warm as the night before. In fact, we pretty much froze our butts off. Derek and I were on the air mattress, which tends to be cold anyway, and Annabel was in her pack 'n play. By the middle of the night, the three of us were as huddled as could be in the middle of the mattress to stay warm! 

For your viewing pleasure- 30 weeks down, 10 to go!

It was a very fun weekend but I was certainly happy to be back in my own bed after a hot shower Sunday night! We are very much looking forward to doing some more camping this summer and fall, and have been talking about looking for a pop-up camper... We'll see ;)

This week has been a busy one. After a play date at the park on Monday, Annabel fell into the coffee table pretty hard and bruised up her cheek. I was certain she had knocked out some teeth but luckily not! It is pretty sad looking, though.

Tuesday I worked, and Wednesday we spent all day at the camp while I attempted to make a huge batch of pasta to freeze. It was a complete disaster and I ended up throwing it all out :( What a waste of ingredients (like, a dozen eggs and a whole bottle of olive oil! Bah!)

Thursday we went up to Fort Wayne to do some shopping and visit with a friend of mine from grad school. They have a new little baby they adopted from Ethiopia, and it was very exciting to get to meet him! We have been praying for him for a long time! Annabel keeps talking about 'Baby Wevi' and how cuuuuute he is! When we got home, I had to drop Annabel off with daddy and go immediately to work (my parenting groups). I had only been there about 15 minutes when Derek called me to ask if we had any butterfly band-aids. *sigh....*  Annabel had been riding her tricycle inside and fell off into a (different) table (with sharper edges) and cut her cheek right under her eye. The same side as the huge bruise she already had. The poor kid looks so banged up! I took her to the ER the next day (only b/c our regular doc is out of town) to see if she needed stitches but thankfully she did not. It was nice because we were able to consult with the facial surgeon and he seemed to think it would heal nicely without much of a scar. I think my little girl must have a wonderful guardian angel, because these were two close calls in one week (closely missing both her teeth and her eye). 

At the mall Thursday. 

One of my big projects over the past couple of weeks has been redoing the kids' playroom. Our house has been a complete disaster for several weeks, but it's been worth it. I love the results! First we painted it a light blue (over the previous orange), then I painted large polka dots... I'm wishing I had done a few more but that's okay. Then I 'sectioned' it into four areas - an art corner, a reading/relaxing nook, dramatic play and then just free play. I modeled it after the way a preschool room is set up, and it really is amazing how much better/smoother she seems to play in there. She spends most of her time in the "kitchen" or on the reading cushion. She loves to cook just like her daddy! She isn't too much into the dress up clothes, but I'm sure that will come in time. 

Prepping the walls- What a great idea to put double-sided tape all over the wall... (don't ask)

The painting is complete!  I love the way it turned out!

The finished art corner. I found this Melissa and Doug easel on sale at Amazon! Love it! Under the easel is room to store extra markers, stickers, paints, coloring books, stamps, scissors, glue, etc. And play-dough. The frame on the wall is a chalkboard (chalkboard paint), with an old match holder to hold chalk. 

The reading nook. I still would like to bring a few more pillows and blankets down, as well as some stuffed animals, maybe. 

This giant stuffed turtle was another Amazon deal... I like it but it's not quite the "bean bag" I had hoped it would be. He's pretty firm. (but cute!)

The kitchen and dress up clothes. I found this corner cabinet at an antique store for $18! It makes a great "refrigerator!"

Above the kitchen is a place to hang artwork. I also have a peg rack to hang over the dress up clothes, but I'm kind of at a loss since it's over a vent (the only vent in the room). Hmmm. 

 

And just a close-up of my husband's amazing handywork! (Don't you love how there's cookies cooling on the stove? A girl after my own heart!)

And here, nothing fancy, just all the other random toys that don't really have a home. We'll call it "free play" :)

We've been spending so much time at the park the last couple of weeks! It's wonderful!

Hope you all are enjoying your spring as much as we are!