Few days in the city...

Aunt Shannon's house, Navy Pier, & the Chicago Children's Museum:

Messy meal time fun!

On 2010, staying home, and the comforts of family...

…so many people might look back on the year we’ve just had, and feel a little sorry for us. From the outside, it looks pretty bad. We lost our main source of income, we’re just about a month away from being uninsured, we suffered a miscarriage and the loss of a great grandmother. Often people I run into say “how are things going?” , but they don’t say it casually. They say it in that “how-are-things-going-it’s-ok-to-burst-into-tears-I’m-here-for-you” way, and I have to remind myself why they seem so concerned.

In our little world, nothing really seems wrong. It is amazing to feel so safe and secure, so blessed and happy, and so totally unaware of what should be worrying me. I start each day with Annie and the Hubs, most mornings start the same: Annie wakes us up with some babbling and we bring her into bed, where she lavishes us with kisses while saying “Mom, Dad, Mom, Dad…” reconfirming that we’re right where we should be, and just as she likes us. She reminds me each and every day, that we’re a snug little threesome, and that’s about as comforting as it gets.

It’s been a year and a half now that I’ve had the title of “stay at home mom”. I don’t know life any other way since Annie has been with us. My last day at work, turned out to be the same night that I went into labor…it’s like Annie knew I was going to need something to do. So many people ask me, “aren’t you bored?” “how do you just stay home all day”? -- I would have asked the same questions before I lived it. Now, I can’t imagine not having that time. The time to have the patience in the morning with a slow and sloppy breakfast, the chance to really know when my baby naps, and what she eats, how she spent her day and what experiences she had. It won’t be long before she’s off to school and we’ll join the rest of the world in rushing off to somewhere each day. But for right now, I can soak up this short time. We can’t “afford” for me to stay home (that’s my favorite comment, “oh, I only wish we could afford to do such a thing”). We live pretty simply, and I’d say we make sacrifices, but I hardly feel giving up things like cable and a gym membership are “sacrifices” when given the honor of tending to ones own flesh and blood? As for not feeling important or whole without a “real job” -- seriously? What’s more important than making a person? Sure there are days where I long for my old quiet office, hot coffee and unlimited adult conversation. But not one project at work will ever stick in my mind, much less my heart, like Annie’s first smile, first trip to the store, first little coo, first solid meal, first words, first steps, first kisses, the way she lights up and yells "Daddy!" when she hears the back door open… What defined my life before motherhood, no longer defines me at all.

I know that 2011 will be full of surprises for us - and that’s ok, maybe down right exciting. :)

OMG this is snow much fun!

Snow: from Tom Skilling

Sled & Gloves: from Grandma

Sweater: from Auntie

Snowsuit: from Grant

Baggies on shoes idea: from Great Auntie Bonnie

Annie's first real fun in the Snow

12.21.10

Annie 17 Months - December 14th, 2010

Holiday Time 2010

Having a good time! Annie has been decorating for the season.....

...the tree...
....the windows with lights...

AND! this weeks big excitement! Annie's first PIZZA all her own. Safe dough, with roasted red pepper sauce, spinach and sausage (and it was darn good, even to a pizza connoisseur) :) Mommy shed a little tear as Annie devoured her triangle of yummyness.

$

Another successful bake sale! Annie & friends raised $400 for galactosemia research the other night! We had a great time, and a lot of support from friends and family - thank you so much.


Annie had her photo with Santa while wearing her Cubs get-up...in honor of Ron Santo, who just passed. She was a little unsure of Santa, she gave him a few tentative high fives, and when I went to set her on his lap, I couldn't pry her off of me (she's never held on so tight) - so I ended up hoisting her up and hiding behind her, so it *looked* like she was sitting with Santa. Not a tear was shed...but it was a close one. ;)

Much to be thankful for --

...where did Thanksgiving go? And Christmas is just a few weeks away, it's unbelievable! We spent some time with family, stuffed ourselves silly and are still caught up in all of the holiday chaos.

Annie was especially thankful to find out that Aunt Shannon is getting her a proper Uncle. Oooohing over the fabulous diamond:

Family Photo Shoot

Wow...is that fun? We had a great photo shoot with our favorite photographer! (http://www.cherylmetzkaphoto.com/) It was impossible to narrow down the photos (in fact, we're still in the process!) I absolutely love pictures -- what an amazing way to relive a moment over and over.

We've enjoyed the fall, it's so hard to imagine that the Holidays are RIGHT around the corner. Time is flying by. Annie just had a great check up with the eye doctor today - STILL no glasses needed. We were thrilled with the news, and won't need to go back for another six months.

Annabelle's vocabulary is growing a bit, along with "her own little way" of getting her point across. She's often heard saying "up high mom" (pick me up, put me up on that chair/couch/counter/etc), her favorite word is "cup" she says that more clearly than any other word as she is very fond of her sippy cup, she likes to say "fish" (which sounds more like fesh), she regularly says "no no no" as she points to something she's not supposed to mess with (as she continues to mess with it, be it cat food, the toilet, buttons on anything...) She blows kisses, skips naps, launches food, and otherwise keeps us on our toes all day long.

What a great Halloween! Thanks to Grandma, Aunt Shannon and Scott for sharing the evening with us :) Annie carved her first pumpkin this year, ate some pumpkin bread, tasted some apple cider, dressed as a ducky (along with Daddy the duck hunter) and made her first effort to trick-or-treat!