Once again, I find myself apologizing for my extended absence on Blogspot. I was the fortunate, yet unexpected, recipient of a free ticket to Germany for the winter (i.e. Christmas, my anniversary, New Year's & my birthday!) holidays....an offer that I found myself eagerly and greetily accepting. Soooooo, Annabelle and I boarded a plane and spent a large portion of the winter freezing our butts off in the snowy and icy region of Munich. Hubby couldn't request time off on such short notice (I doubt his request would have been approved anyway) so it was just Annabelle and me. It was an interesting trip and, like all vacations, had its ups and downs. One of the major drawbacks was Christmas itself. Without my family nearby, it almost felt like I skipped Christmas altogether. That was the most upsetting aspect of the trip. Other than that, though, it was a good way to meet up with an old friend and experience Germany at Christmastime. I have over 1000 photos (7 or 8 CDs full) that I need to sort through and when I do, I will post some (I will, by no means, post them all!)
Annabelle handled the plane ride like a champ (on the way over there) and I was so proud of her. On the way back, though, she flew back with a double ear infection so she was understandably cranky on the way home. Our flight was delayed a couple of times, making me a little bit cranky as well. All in all, it was a fantastic trip, but there's really no place like home!
I will post more within the next coupld of days. :-)
Monday, February 2, 2009
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Annabelle's 15 Month Portraits
I had Annabelle's 15 month portraits taken last month. She was scared and crying in the beginning (you'd think she'd be used to this by now!) but warmed up towards the middle part of the session. The photographer shot 78 different poses, of which the following are my favorites.
Oklahoma City (My Rant!)
Well, obviously I didn't make it back on here last night, but I guess this is the next best thing...early the next morning! :-) Of course, I'm starting this entry early in the morning......there's no guarantee that I'll be able to actually post it this morning, though. Those of you with litthe kids will totally understand what I mean!
Hubby and I took Annabelle to Oklahoma City this past Monday to introduce her to a couple of relatives who haven't met her yet and let me tell you......we will not be doing *THAT* again anytime soon! Actually, let me rephrase that....we *ARE* planning a trip back out to OKC in January, but some of the relatives will be crossed off our "To Visit" list. I know there are relatives in OKC reading this blog, and I know there are relatives in Guthrie who are also reading this blog, so that means I can effectively use this blog as a means of communication since nobody up there bothers talking to each other.
Here's what happened: Hubby and I got up extra early for this trip. We got the baby fed, got the dog fed, packed a large bag of toys and snacks for Annabelle, gassed up the car and headed out. We stopped for breakfast shortly after we left and let Annabelle get out and run off some excess energy. Then we hit the highway and began the 4 hour trek to Oklahoma City. Our first stop was Grandma Margene's house. She seemed happy and excited about Annabelle and made a concentrated effort to find playthings for her great granddaughter, including a bottle of aspirin and plastic Wal-Mart bag. OK, that aside, she really did seem happy about Annabelle. Margene took us out to lunch (Thank you very much for that Margene, it was delicious!) and we had a nice conversation. Until we announced we had to leave to go visit Grandma Mercedes who, by the way, only lives about 3 miles away from Grandma Margene. Why couldn't we get both grandmothers together and spend one long visit with both of them together instead of two short cisits with each of them individually? Well, that's not possible because Margene and Mercedes HATE each other with a passion and refuse to even be in the same room with each other. So, for that reason, we have to cut our visit with Margene short and leave to go see Mercedes. I could tell that MArgene didn't want us to leave but, since she refuses to associate with Mercedes, there is no other way for us to do this. So, Margene stalls.....takes her sweet time getting out of the car.....tries to make last minute conversation....invites us in for "a little while".....offers her bed so that the increasingly tired and cranky Annabelle can take a nap before we go to see Mercedes, etc. We tell Margene that we really do need to head on out, so she reluctantly gets out of the car and goes into the house. We head over to Mercedes and along the way, Annabelle falls asleep. So we drive around for about 45 minutes, hoping she'll be a little bit refreshed when we get there.
We get to Mercedes' house and are greeted with open arms by a very sweet lady. I have never met this woman and Chris has only recently been back in touch with her. This is Chris's maternal grandmother (Margene is his paternal grandmother...I claim no relation to these people other than by marriage!) There is a rift between Chris's mother and *her* mother, Mercedes, that has been going on for 27 years. Nobody knows exactly what started this rift because everybody's version of the story is different and the story has changed several times over the course of time. I'm not even sure anybody remembers what the original argument was about. Anyhoo....
We spend a very lovely afternoon with a very sweet woman. She immediately presents Annabelle with a cute little pony purse that Annabelle loves. How very sweet of her to go out that morning and purchase it for our little girl! Thank you so much Mercedes! And, of course, I had to take a picture of the cute little pony purse, so here it is:
Mercedes invited us to dinner, but we already had dinner plans with George & Laura (Chris's brother and sister-in-law) and Grandma Margene. Mercedes didn't know that we were spending the evening with Margene and, for some reason, Chris didn't want to tell her. OK, whatever. Upon leaving, Mercedes also stalled and very clearly didn't want us to go. I can understand this, though, since this was her first time meeting Annabelle & me and we really didn't get to spend a lot of time there with her. She watched out the window until we were completely out of sight and I have to admit that I felt so sorry for her. She is so lonely and is ostracized from the family for who-knows-what reason. So we leave her house and head on back over to Margene's house, as were are to pick her up for dinner and then head on over to Red Robin to meet up with George and Laura and their 3 year-old son, Sam. Well, we are driving and shortly before we arrive at Margene's house we get a phone call from George. Let the stupidity begin.......
George informs us that he just received a phone call from Margene. Margene evidently does *NOT* want to join us for dinner because we had the gall to go over and visit Mercedes. Ummmmm......WHAT?!? She doesn't want to join us because...WHAT?!? I couldn't believe what I was hearing! *THIS* is the degree to which the pettiness and childish behavior run. People in this family stop associating with you if you have the nerve to speak with someone they themselves don't like. Well, long story short, George talked Margene into going to dinner with us anyway. Margene made it a point to sit next to me and get all snuggly and sweet with me. I just found out that this woman's animosity towards Mercedes is stronger than her desire to be with my daughter, and now I'm supposed to accept her snuggles and make nice-nice with her? That was irritating. However, the evening wasn't totally shot. George and Laura are the sweetest people in this family and their son is absolutely adorable. We had a wonderful time with them and would love to go back and visit them in more depth. They are fantastic parents and just overall good people. They gave Annabelle a nice gift bag filled with books (Annabelle's favorite!) and a cute little pink giraffe:
So, with everything that happened on this trip, Chris and I have decided that things will be much different the next time we go to Oklahoma City. This blog entry is to inform those relatives in Oklahoma that we don't appreciate some of this immature behavior and we aren't going to waste our time getting stuck in the middle of these ridiculous decades-long feuds. Chris & I spent a lot of time planning this trip out there, having to rearrange our schedules several times, only to be disappointed by the attitudes of those who are supposed to be our elders and, in essence, wise. So, here's what's going to happen the next time we go out to OKC. Margene...we will *NOT* be coming out to visit you anymore. If you ever want to see Annabelle again, you will have to make the 4 hour trek to Arkansas to see her. If you are going to get *THAT* upset that we are visiting Mercedes, then we will simply not inform you of any of our upcoming visits to OKC. We will visit Mercedes and George, Laura & Sam. You are no longer on our "To Visit" list.
To Dan & Linda (Chris's parents for those who don't know): I know you're reading this blog. Keep in mind, this is *MY* blog and I have every right to say what I want. I realize you both have a problem with me speaking my mind. You'd prefer that I sugarcoat everything and make it sweeter to swallow, but that's not gonna happen. You voluntarily chose to walk out of our lives several years ago for reasons that are still unclear. When you did this, you also walked away from any future grandbabies that might come your way through us. We don't know if you realized this when you disowned us, but it appears now that maybe you might be realizing that this was not the wisest decision you could have made. You are missing out on a lot. Annabelle is the sweetest and most loving baby alive...and you are missing it. I feel sorry for you. You missed her entry into this world. You missed everything in the first year of her life. You missed the first half of her second year of life. You missed her first smile. You missed her first giggle. You missed her first steps. I hope it was worth it. You both need to realize a few things...you will never get to Annabelle without going through me first. This means that calling Chris in the middle of the day while he's at work, i.e. when I'm not around, isn't going to get you any closer to meeting her. Your little trick of deciding to "stop by" one day when I just happen to be out of town....well, that's not going to work either. Seriously guys, think about what you're doing. Is your animosity towards me really so strong that you'd sacrifice a relationship with your granddaughter just so you can stay angry at me? If that's how you want it to be, then so be it! Annabelle has a set of grandparents who moved all the way out here from Florida just so they could be near her. She has grandparents here who love and adore her, and whom she loves and adores. So, that being said, we are awaiting a package from you. I suppose that's a first step but keep in mind....you backed yourselves into this corner, we never forced you in. In fact, we begged you not to go down this path but you refused to listen to us. You owe us an apology. You will get NOWHERE without one. So now you have to decide how important your granddaughter is to you. If you refuse to apologize, then you are also refusing a relationship with Annabelle. If that is the case, then you have no need to continue reading my blog......this blog is my gift to her and if you don't want to be a part of her life then I don't want you stalking her through my blog. At that point, it will only be a matter of time before I privatize it and lock you out. Think about that before you make your decision.
Hubby and I took Annabelle to Oklahoma City this past Monday to introduce her to a couple of relatives who haven't met her yet and let me tell you......we will not be doing *THAT* again anytime soon! Actually, let me rephrase that....we *ARE* planning a trip back out to OKC in January, but some of the relatives will be crossed off our "To Visit" list. I know there are relatives in OKC reading this blog, and I know there are relatives in Guthrie who are also reading this blog, so that means I can effectively use this blog as a means of communication since nobody up there bothers talking to each other.
Here's what happened: Hubby and I got up extra early for this trip. We got the baby fed, got the dog fed, packed a large bag of toys and snacks for Annabelle, gassed up the car and headed out. We stopped for breakfast shortly after we left and let Annabelle get out and run off some excess energy. Then we hit the highway and began the 4 hour trek to Oklahoma City. Our first stop was Grandma Margene's house. She seemed happy and excited about Annabelle and made a concentrated effort to find playthings for her great granddaughter, including a bottle of aspirin and plastic Wal-Mart bag. OK, that aside, she really did seem happy about Annabelle. Margene took us out to lunch (Thank you very much for that Margene, it was delicious!) and we had a nice conversation. Until we announced we had to leave to go visit Grandma Mercedes who, by the way, only lives about 3 miles away from Grandma Margene. Why couldn't we get both grandmothers together and spend one long visit with both of them together instead of two short cisits with each of them individually? Well, that's not possible because Margene and Mercedes HATE each other with a passion and refuse to even be in the same room with each other. So, for that reason, we have to cut our visit with Margene short and leave to go see Mercedes. I could tell that MArgene didn't want us to leave but, since she refuses to associate with Mercedes, there is no other way for us to do this. So, Margene stalls.....takes her sweet time getting out of the car.....tries to make last minute conversation....invites us in for "a little while".....offers her bed so that the increasingly tired and cranky Annabelle can take a nap before we go to see Mercedes, etc. We tell Margene that we really do need to head on out, so she reluctantly gets out of the car and goes into the house. We head over to Mercedes and along the way, Annabelle falls asleep. So we drive around for about 45 minutes, hoping she'll be a little bit refreshed when we get there.
We get to Mercedes' house and are greeted with open arms by a very sweet lady. I have never met this woman and Chris has only recently been back in touch with her. This is Chris's maternal grandmother (Margene is his paternal grandmother...I claim no relation to these people other than by marriage!) There is a rift between Chris's mother and *her* mother, Mercedes, that has been going on for 27 years. Nobody knows exactly what started this rift because everybody's version of the story is different and the story has changed several times over the course of time. I'm not even sure anybody remembers what the original argument was about. Anyhoo....
We spend a very lovely afternoon with a very sweet woman. She immediately presents Annabelle with a cute little pony purse that Annabelle loves. How very sweet of her to go out that morning and purchase it for our little girl! Thank you so much Mercedes! And, of course, I had to take a picture of the cute little pony purse, so here it is:
Mercedes invited us to dinner, but we already had dinner plans with George & Laura (Chris's brother and sister-in-law) and Grandma Margene. Mercedes didn't know that we were spending the evening with Margene and, for some reason, Chris didn't want to tell her. OK, whatever. Upon leaving, Mercedes also stalled and very clearly didn't want us to go. I can understand this, though, since this was her first time meeting Annabelle & me and we really didn't get to spend a lot of time there with her. She watched out the window until we were completely out of sight and I have to admit that I felt so sorry for her. She is so lonely and is ostracized from the family for who-knows-what reason. So we leave her house and head on back over to Margene's house, as were are to pick her up for dinner and then head on over to Red Robin to meet up with George and Laura and their 3 year-old son, Sam. Well, we are driving and shortly before we arrive at Margene's house we get a phone call from George. Let the stupidity begin.......
George informs us that he just received a phone call from Margene. Margene evidently does *NOT* want to join us for dinner because we had the gall to go over and visit Mercedes. Ummmmm......WHAT?!? She doesn't want to join us because...WHAT?!? I couldn't believe what I was hearing! *THIS* is the degree to which the pettiness and childish behavior run. People in this family stop associating with you if you have the nerve to speak with someone they themselves don't like. Well, long story short, George talked Margene into going to dinner with us anyway. Margene made it a point to sit next to me and get all snuggly and sweet with me. I just found out that this woman's animosity towards Mercedes is stronger than her desire to be with my daughter, and now I'm supposed to accept her snuggles and make nice-nice with her? That was irritating. However, the evening wasn't totally shot. George and Laura are the sweetest people in this family and their son is absolutely adorable. We had a wonderful time with them and would love to go back and visit them in more depth. They are fantastic parents and just overall good people. They gave Annabelle a nice gift bag filled with books (Annabelle's favorite!) and a cute little pink giraffe:
So, with everything that happened on this trip, Chris and I have decided that things will be much different the next time we go to Oklahoma City. This blog entry is to inform those relatives in Oklahoma that we don't appreciate some of this immature behavior and we aren't going to waste our time getting stuck in the middle of these ridiculous decades-long feuds. Chris & I spent a lot of time planning this trip out there, having to rearrange our schedules several times, only to be disappointed by the attitudes of those who are supposed to be our elders and, in essence, wise. So, here's what's going to happen the next time we go out to OKC. Margene...we will *NOT* be coming out to visit you anymore. If you ever want to see Annabelle again, you will have to make the 4 hour trek to Arkansas to see her. If you are going to get *THAT* upset that we are visiting Mercedes, then we will simply not inform you of any of our upcoming visits to OKC. We will visit Mercedes and George, Laura & Sam. You are no longer on our "To Visit" list.
To Dan & Linda (Chris's parents for those who don't know): I know you're reading this blog. Keep in mind, this is *MY* blog and I have every right to say what I want. I realize you both have a problem with me speaking my mind. You'd prefer that I sugarcoat everything and make it sweeter to swallow, but that's not gonna happen. You voluntarily chose to walk out of our lives several years ago for reasons that are still unclear. When you did this, you also walked away from any future grandbabies that might come your way through us. We don't know if you realized this when you disowned us, but it appears now that maybe you might be realizing that this was not the wisest decision you could have made. You are missing out on a lot. Annabelle is the sweetest and most loving baby alive...and you are missing it. I feel sorry for you. You missed her entry into this world. You missed everything in the first year of her life. You missed the first half of her second year of life. You missed her first smile. You missed her first giggle. You missed her first steps. I hope it was worth it. You both need to realize a few things...you will never get to Annabelle without going through me first. This means that calling Chris in the middle of the day while he's at work, i.e. when I'm not around, isn't going to get you any closer to meeting her. Your little trick of deciding to "stop by" one day when I just happen to be out of town....well, that's not going to work either. Seriously guys, think about what you're doing. Is your animosity towards me really so strong that you'd sacrifice a relationship with your granddaughter just so you can stay angry at me? If that's how you want it to be, then so be it! Annabelle has a set of grandparents who moved all the way out here from Florida just so they could be near her. She has grandparents here who love and adore her, and whom she loves and adores. So, that being said, we are awaiting a package from you. I suppose that's a first step but keep in mind....you backed yourselves into this corner, we never forced you in. In fact, we begged you not to go down this path but you refused to listen to us. You owe us an apology. You will get NOWHERE without one. So now you have to decide how important your granddaughter is to you. If you refuse to apologize, then you are also refusing a relationship with Annabelle. If that is the case, then you have no need to continue reading my blog......this blog is my gift to her and if you don't want to be a part of her life then I don't want you stalking her through my blog. At that point, it will only be a matter of time before I privatize it and lock you out. Think about that before you make your decision.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
A Very Belated Halloween
Wow, am I behind on my blogging! I finally got my computer back - again - and it is working....for now. I sure hope it doesn't break anymore since the warranty has now run out. I will have to pay for any repairs from here on out, which could add up to some serious money since my computer likes to break often. I brought it in to have the motherboard replaced - for the fourth time! - and while it was in the shop, the repair guy burnt it out again. So, the motherboard was replaced twice while it was in, as was the wireless card. UGH! There is not one original part left on this computer! Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, has been replaced at least once on this wicked machine! Gotta love technology!
Some interesting events have either taken place these past few weeks, or will be taking place in the next few weeks, including a trip to Oklahoma to introduce Annabelle to family members who have never met her, as well as a trip to Germany (for the same reason.) But before I get into all of that.....I just GOTTA post Annabelle's Halloween pics. This year, for her second Halloween, Annabelle played the part of a ladybug fairy...and she played it pretty well if I do say so myself! She was a bit unsure of what to do and on more than one occasion we watched her pull candy out of her bag and put it into the bowl that she was supposed to be taking it out of! It was really cute! Since we don't go door-to-door, we went to Hubby's workplace (i.e. cubicle-to-cubicle) where they had decorated the place to the nines and we also went to our church for the Fall Festival. The weather was gorgeous (unlike last year when it was so cold we had to leave early) and we all had a lot of fun.
These are the pictures taken in front of the house before we left:
And some pictures taken at Hubby's workplace and the Fall Festival at church:
We had such a hard time pulling Annabelle away from this duckie pond! She threw a fit when we left! She absolutely LOVES to play in water!
I will make every effort to get back on here tonight and get this blog caught up, but I really wanted to get these Halloween pics posted, as I know there are people reading this blog who haven't seen them yet.
Some interesting events have either taken place these past few weeks, or will be taking place in the next few weeks, including a trip to Oklahoma to introduce Annabelle to family members who have never met her, as well as a trip to Germany (for the same reason.) But before I get into all of that.....I just GOTTA post Annabelle's Halloween pics. This year, for her second Halloween, Annabelle played the part of a ladybug fairy...and she played it pretty well if I do say so myself! She was a bit unsure of what to do and on more than one occasion we watched her pull candy out of her bag and put it into the bowl that she was supposed to be taking it out of! It was really cute! Since we don't go door-to-door, we went to Hubby's workplace (i.e. cubicle-to-cubicle) where they had decorated the place to the nines and we also went to our church for the Fall Festival. The weather was gorgeous (unlike last year when it was so cold we had to leave early) and we all had a lot of fun.
These are the pictures taken in front of the house before we left:
And some pictures taken at Hubby's workplace and the Fall Festival at church:
We had such a hard time pulling Annabelle away from this duckie pond! She threw a fit when we left! She absolutely LOVES to play in water!
I will make every effort to get back on here tonight and get this blog caught up, but I really wanted to get these Halloween pics posted, as I know there are people reading this blog who haven't seen them yet.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
My Apologies
Once again, I apologize for such a long gap in my blog entries. My computer is, yet again, in the shop for repairs. This will be the 4th time in 2 years that my motherboard has to be replaced. I've already had the fan, the battery and the motor replaced once. The power cord and the motherboard have been replaced four times already. What is going on with my computer? UGH!!
I will be back on here soon, with tons of updates and corresponding photos. YEAH! :-)
Hope everyone is enjoying the changing of the seasons.
I will be back on here soon, with tons of updates and corresponding photos. YEAH! :-)
Hope everyone is enjoying the changing of the seasons.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
That's Life I Guess....
I apologize for my 2 month long hiatus from Blogspot. A lot has been happening over here and it just never seems to end. Some of it good, some of it bad, but I guess that's just how life goes sometimes.
My computer is broken again. This means that I can only blog on days that I can borrow Hubby's computer or get up to the library to use theirs. I can't upload any photos right now, but when I get my computer back, that will be the first thing I do. I have tons of adorable ones that I want to post! Boy am I glad we purchased the extended warranty on my computer! We've had about (if I had to guess) over $1000 worth of repairs including a new motherboard, a new fan and a new moniter. Perhaps that's more than $1000, I don't know. I've also had to have the power cord replaced 4 times already, which I know is $130 a pop. Oh yeah, and I've had the battery replaced once. Whew! All of this, and my computer is only 3 years old! Hubby has the exact same computer I do, and he's never had any of these kinds of problems, which makes me think I got a lemon. Everytime I turn around, something is breaking on my computer. The Geek Squad over at Best Buy can greet us by name now, since we're in there so often for repairs. My extended warranty runs out at the end of this month but, since I have gotten my money's worth 10 times over, I am going to go ahead and renew it. That'll get me to the next $1000 worth of repairs, which I fully anticipate. Maybe then I'll be able to purchase a new laptop to replace my current piece of...um....pie. Lemon pie. Yeah, that's it. :-)
My older daughter Gabby will be going up north to Ohio to stay with an uncle up there for awhile. She isn't doing very well in school here and she is hanging out with a less-than-desirable crowd, so after much deliberation and discussion, we've decided that she will go up there for a bit and we'll see what happens. So, I've been working with a lawyer and the court system to try to make that happen. I'm expecting to hear something this week about when she'll be leaving.
Hubby's grandfather died last week and he made the trip to Oklahoma to go to the funeral. This turned out to be a good trip. Hubby was able to get back in touch with relatives he hasn't seen in many years, which was really good for him. His family is divided...many of family members aren't speaking to many of the other family members. His parents don't speak to us anymore and, up until this funeral, none of them even knew about Annabelle. Hubby wasn't sure where we stood with a lot of these people, so he thought it would be best if we kept the news of Annabelle to ourselves for awhile. Hubby really wanted his parents to come back to us because they love and missed their son, not because of the new baby. However, at the funeral Hubby found out that his parents are actually ENJOYING this fight and are "gleeful" about not being on speaking terms with us. "Gleeful"?? Yes, "gleeful". I guess it's like a power trip for them, I don't know. I can't understand the concept of being happy that I'm no longer speaking to my child. I just don't get it and I don't think I ever will, which is good......because I don't want to get it. I can't even FATHOM the idea of disowning Annabelle! There is absolutely NOTHING she could ever do to make me stop loving her and there is absolutely NOTHING that she could ever do that would make me want to disown her. It breaks my heart to think that they are missing out on their granddaughter's life but then it occurred to me...they wouldn't care anyway. If they don't care enough about their own son to stay in his life, they certainly aren't going to care about their son's daughter. But the rest of the family cares and wants to be involved in Annabelle's life and that makes us very happy. Yes, Hubby went ahead and told his family (with the exception of his parents, whom he didn't see at all while he was over there since they didn't bother showing up for the funeral) about Annabelle and the news of her birth was received with love and acceptance, so all is good. Annabelle's family circle is growing and for that we are grateful. I can't wait to introduce all of them to her. They re going to love her, I just know it!
What a sweet little baby she is! Since it has been 2 months since I've been on here, so much has changed. She is walking like a champ now and into EVERYTHING! She gets into the cabinets and drawers, pulls everything out and just makes an enormous mess! I can't keep her from climbing into the dog's water bowl! Oh but what a joy she is! I simply can't imagine my life without her. I am currently working on "habit training" with her. When she throws things on the floor, I want her to pick them up when she's done. I have no problem with her making a huge mess, but I want her to learn to clean up after herself as well. Part of this is because I am using Charlotte Mason's methods of teaching and training children and she strongly advocates "habit training" at an early age and part of this is because I am just tired of constantly picking up all of Annabelle's huge messes! She makes sooooo many of them and they are soooooo big....ugh! I just really need her help on this one! And she's slowly "getting it". She doesn't pick up everyhting all the time, but she picks up some stuff on a regular basis. She's learning, and that's a start. I am encouraged, especially when she starts clapping when she sees me pick something up and then put it away! That is what I do when she picks something up and puts it away, and I find it absolutely adorable (and encouraging!) when she does it to me. That shows me she understands what is supposed to be done, even if she doesn't always do it.
My little Princess will be turning 15 months old this week and I am planning on taking her out to get her portraits done. I am going to have some Halloween portraits done and am really excited about it. She is going to be a Ladybug Fairy this year and she looks sooooo cute in her little costume! I'm excited! We don't do the whole trick-or-treat thing, but we will be going to the fall Festival at church where Annabelle can participate in little kiddie games and activities, as well as just hang out and play with other children. We will also be taking her to Hubby's workplace, where they do a cubicle-to-cubicle trick-or-treat. I don't let her have candy yet, but it wil be fun to see her going around collecting it.
I found out that my sister and her family will be coming for Thanksgiving this year. That'll be fun! It's really nice to have company over. We don't get many visitors now that we live so far away from the rest of my family. Of course, we didn't get many visitors before either, when we all lived in the same town! Thanksgiving was always a big holiday growing up, though. Relatives from far and wide would show up at our house. Even back then, when I was a child, I knew they were only showing up for the free food. I still enjoyed it, though, because it was the one time of year when I knew I'd get to see everybody. I love family get-togethers, I always have. Life is so short.....why not spend it with those we love the most?!
My computer is broken again. This means that I can only blog on days that I can borrow Hubby's computer or get up to the library to use theirs. I can't upload any photos right now, but when I get my computer back, that will be the first thing I do. I have tons of adorable ones that I want to post! Boy am I glad we purchased the extended warranty on my computer! We've had about (if I had to guess) over $1000 worth of repairs including a new motherboard, a new fan and a new moniter. Perhaps that's more than $1000, I don't know. I've also had to have the power cord replaced 4 times already, which I know is $130 a pop. Oh yeah, and I've had the battery replaced once. Whew! All of this, and my computer is only 3 years old! Hubby has the exact same computer I do, and he's never had any of these kinds of problems, which makes me think I got a lemon. Everytime I turn around, something is breaking on my computer. The Geek Squad over at Best Buy can greet us by name now, since we're in there so often for repairs. My extended warranty runs out at the end of this month but, since I have gotten my money's worth 10 times over, I am going to go ahead and renew it. That'll get me to the next $1000 worth of repairs, which I fully anticipate. Maybe then I'll be able to purchase a new laptop to replace my current piece of...um....pie. Lemon pie. Yeah, that's it. :-)
My older daughter Gabby will be going up north to Ohio to stay with an uncle up there for awhile. She isn't doing very well in school here and she is hanging out with a less-than-desirable crowd, so after much deliberation and discussion, we've decided that she will go up there for a bit and we'll see what happens. So, I've been working with a lawyer and the court system to try to make that happen. I'm expecting to hear something this week about when she'll be leaving.
Hubby's grandfather died last week and he made the trip to Oklahoma to go to the funeral. This turned out to be a good trip. Hubby was able to get back in touch with relatives he hasn't seen in many years, which was really good for him. His family is divided...many of family members aren't speaking to many of the other family members. His parents don't speak to us anymore and, up until this funeral, none of them even knew about Annabelle. Hubby wasn't sure where we stood with a lot of these people, so he thought it would be best if we kept the news of Annabelle to ourselves for awhile. Hubby really wanted his parents to come back to us because they love and missed their son, not because of the new baby. However, at the funeral Hubby found out that his parents are actually ENJOYING this fight and are "gleeful" about not being on speaking terms with us. "Gleeful"?? Yes, "gleeful". I guess it's like a power trip for them, I don't know. I can't understand the concept of being happy that I'm no longer speaking to my child. I just don't get it and I don't think I ever will, which is good......because I don't want to get it. I can't even FATHOM the idea of disowning Annabelle! There is absolutely NOTHING she could ever do to make me stop loving her and there is absolutely NOTHING that she could ever do that would make me want to disown her. It breaks my heart to think that they are missing out on their granddaughter's life but then it occurred to me...they wouldn't care anyway. If they don't care enough about their own son to stay in his life, they certainly aren't going to care about their son's daughter. But the rest of the family cares and wants to be involved in Annabelle's life and that makes us very happy. Yes, Hubby went ahead and told his family (with the exception of his parents, whom he didn't see at all while he was over there since they didn't bother showing up for the funeral) about Annabelle and the news of her birth was received with love and acceptance, so all is good. Annabelle's family circle is growing and for that we are grateful. I can't wait to introduce all of them to her. They re going to love her, I just know it!
What a sweet little baby she is! Since it has been 2 months since I've been on here, so much has changed. She is walking like a champ now and into EVERYTHING! She gets into the cabinets and drawers, pulls everything out and just makes an enormous mess! I can't keep her from climbing into the dog's water bowl! Oh but what a joy she is! I simply can't imagine my life without her. I am currently working on "habit training" with her. When she throws things on the floor, I want her to pick them up when she's done. I have no problem with her making a huge mess, but I want her to learn to clean up after herself as well. Part of this is because I am using Charlotte Mason's methods of teaching and training children and she strongly advocates "habit training" at an early age and part of this is because I am just tired of constantly picking up all of Annabelle's huge messes! She makes sooooo many of them and they are soooooo big....ugh! I just really need her help on this one! And she's slowly "getting it". She doesn't pick up everyhting all the time, but she picks up some stuff on a regular basis. She's learning, and that's a start. I am encouraged, especially when she starts clapping when she sees me pick something up and then put it away! That is what I do when she picks something up and puts it away, and I find it absolutely adorable (and encouraging!) when she does it to me. That shows me she understands what is supposed to be done, even if she doesn't always do it.
My little Princess will be turning 15 months old this week and I am planning on taking her out to get her portraits done. I am going to have some Halloween portraits done and am really excited about it. She is going to be a Ladybug Fairy this year and she looks sooooo cute in her little costume! I'm excited! We don't do the whole trick-or-treat thing, but we will be going to the fall Festival at church where Annabelle can participate in little kiddie games and activities, as well as just hang out and play with other children. We will also be taking her to Hubby's workplace, where they do a cubicle-to-cubicle trick-or-treat. I don't let her have candy yet, but it wil be fun to see her going around collecting it.
I found out that my sister and her family will be coming for Thanksgiving this year. That'll be fun! It's really nice to have company over. We don't get many visitors now that we live so far away from the rest of my family. Of course, we didn't get many visitors before either, when we all lived in the same town! Thanksgiving was always a big holiday growing up, though. Relatives from far and wide would show up at our house. Even back then, when I was a child, I knew they were only showing up for the free food. I still enjoyed it, though, because it was the one time of year when I knew I'd get to see everybody. I love family get-togethers, I always have. Life is so short.....why not spend it with those we love the most?!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
There's Boy George!
Annabelle is such a happy baby.
Sometimes.
She loves to talk (I think that goes with the gender!) and will carry on conversations with herself, as well as anybody else in the room. She babbles and babbles endlessly about things that only *she* understands. She will pick up an object, hold it up in my general direction and ask, "da bi no pi no do?" Of course, I have absolutely no clue what she is saying but the important thing is....she does. She knows exactly what she is saying and that's all that matters because she really had no intention of giving me whatever object it is that she was holding up towards me anyway. I just think it's really cute.
And she has a sense of humor. She will babble something like, "ri ca mi in ap ba no ti." And then laugh. I'm convinced she just told herself a joke. She understands what she just said, even if nobody else did. And what she said was funny.
Sometimes Hubby & Gabby will swear up and down that Annabelle actually said something "real", something intelligible. Something like, "could you please pass the potatoes?" OK, I just made that last one up, but what Hubby "heard" Annabelle say the other day was not too far from that.
"There's Boy George!"
Yes, this is what Hubby is *so sure* Annabelle said. "There's Boy George!" Hmmm, I wonder where or how she could have picked that sentence up. Normally, children will repeat what they hear but I can't for the life of me, imagine where or how Annabelle could have heard this sentence (in order to repeat it.) No Hubby, I'm sorry....that is probably NOT what Annabelle said, as much as you'd like to think it was. I don't think he believes me and I think, deep down, he is convinced she really did say it. Next thing you know, Hubby will swear he hears Annabelle singing, "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?"
Annabelle is starting to walk for longer periods of time, on steadier feet. She has realized that if she proceeds slowly, instead of trying to speed walk across the living room like she normally does, that she can stay upright longer. It is so neat to see her steady herself, then take slow and deliberate steps towards her goal (usually my cell phone or the remote control.) She is trying soooooooo hard and I just know that she will be sprinting around the house in no time, terrorizing the animals and wreaking all kinds of havoc...but that's just one more adventure that I am truly looking forward to.
Annabelle is getting so good at walking now:
And she loves to play with Mommy's cell phone:
Annabelle is getting pretty good at understanding some of my simple commands like "close it" (she is allowed to play with my cell phone as long as she keeps it closed...I don't want any accidental '911' calls!) and, of course, "no" (when she sticks her fingers in the fireplace.) The other day, however, she seemed to understand me better than I thought she did. I gave her an ice cube to suck on. It was inside a little mesh bag so that there was no way she could choke on it, yet I still wanted her to sit down with it anyway, instead of crawling all around, dragging this ice cube all over the carpet and then sticking it back in her mouth. I sat her down on the floor several times and she kept getting up each time. I would tell her, "sit down please" over and over again and she kept getting up. Finally, I just let her crawl around since that's what she obviously wanted to do and I was tired of fighting her on this one. Then I looked over and saw what it was she was trying to do. It appears that Annabelle *was* indeed willing to sit down, just not on the floor. Now, how creative is that?!?
Sometimes.
She loves to talk (I think that goes with the gender!) and will carry on conversations with herself, as well as anybody else in the room. She babbles and babbles endlessly about things that only *she* understands. She will pick up an object, hold it up in my general direction and ask, "da bi no pi no do?" Of course, I have absolutely no clue what she is saying but the important thing is....she does. She knows exactly what she is saying and that's all that matters because she really had no intention of giving me whatever object it is that she was holding up towards me anyway. I just think it's really cute.
And she has a sense of humor. She will babble something like, "ri ca mi in ap ba no ti." And then laugh. I'm convinced she just told herself a joke. She understands what she just said, even if nobody else did. And what she said was funny.
Sometimes Hubby & Gabby will swear up and down that Annabelle actually said something "real", something intelligible. Something like, "could you please pass the potatoes?" OK, I just made that last one up, but what Hubby "heard" Annabelle say the other day was not too far from that.
"There's Boy George!"
Yes, this is what Hubby is *so sure* Annabelle said. "There's Boy George!" Hmmm, I wonder where or how she could have picked that sentence up. Normally, children will repeat what they hear but I can't for the life of me, imagine where or how Annabelle could have heard this sentence (in order to repeat it.) No Hubby, I'm sorry....that is probably NOT what Annabelle said, as much as you'd like to think it was. I don't think he believes me and I think, deep down, he is convinced she really did say it. Next thing you know, Hubby will swear he hears Annabelle singing, "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?"
Annabelle is starting to walk for longer periods of time, on steadier feet. She has realized that if she proceeds slowly, instead of trying to speed walk across the living room like she normally does, that she can stay upright longer. It is so neat to see her steady herself, then take slow and deliberate steps towards her goal (usually my cell phone or the remote control.) She is trying soooooooo hard and I just know that she will be sprinting around the house in no time, terrorizing the animals and wreaking all kinds of havoc...but that's just one more adventure that I am truly looking forward to.
Annabelle is getting so good at walking now:
And she loves to play with Mommy's cell phone:
Annabelle is getting pretty good at understanding some of my simple commands like "close it" (she is allowed to play with my cell phone as long as she keeps it closed...I don't want any accidental '911' calls!) and, of course, "no" (when she sticks her fingers in the fireplace.) The other day, however, she seemed to understand me better than I thought she did. I gave her an ice cube to suck on. It was inside a little mesh bag so that there was no way she could choke on it, yet I still wanted her to sit down with it anyway, instead of crawling all around, dragging this ice cube all over the carpet and then sticking it back in her mouth. I sat her down on the floor several times and she kept getting up each time. I would tell her, "sit down please" over and over again and she kept getting up. Finally, I just let her crawl around since that's what she obviously wanted to do and I was tired of fighting her on this one. Then I looked over and saw what it was she was trying to do. It appears that Annabelle *was* indeed willing to sit down, just not on the floor. Now, how creative is that?!?
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