Out with the old in with the new

We have been packing up all of Anna Riley's baby things to put away over the past couple of weeks.  It is bittersweet because even though I miss that tiny baby and cant believe how fast it is all going by, I am so excited about all the new and fun things to come.   Since she finally was sitting very well on her own, we put away the hard baby tub.  But we, especially Daddy (he's a little more over protective than myself), wasn't ready for the real bathtub yet so we decided to get the $10 blowup duck.  Anna Riley loves it because she can still "relax" but she sit up and play if she wants to and we dont have to worry about her hitting her head.  She is so brave that I dont know how she will do when she is just in the real tub because as you can see in some of the pics, she is constantly trying to lay as far down in the water as she can and the other day she was wanting to roll over. 
Here are a few pics in her new ducky:

Family weekend in Fairhope

We decided to all go down to Fairhope together this past weekend. It was bittersweet...it was nice all being together as a family and of course we always love going to Fairhope but it was the first time going as a family without Mrs. Cindy. It rained the majority of the weekend but we still had a great time.  Anna Riley enjoyed the little beach we have at the house this time.  She liked having the water come up to her feet.  Her Daddy took her in the bay and she loved it.   We also went to the pool on Saturday but we were only there for an hour and it started coming a thunderstorm.  She is such a water baby though.  I just hope she stays that way! The pictures arent the best because my lens kept fogging up. 

Papa Doug and his 3 grandchildren:  Brilyn, Ainslee and Anna Riley

All 3 looking at the camera?!  No way!  :)

*new posts below

6 month pictures

Wednesday we went to Kim Lawson for Anna Riley's 6 month pictures. Anna Riley was not in the best of moods and I found out why the next day...her tooth had finally popped through.  But as always, Kim did a fabulous job!  I just love how she really takes her time and gives them and Mom as many breaks as needed!  If you are ever looking for a photographer and your in the Tuscaloosa/Northport area you should check her out! As much as I wanted outside pics, I was not about to even attempt with this Alabama heat index of 110!  So we settled for studio pics and I was very pleased.  We will do outside pics for her 9 month when is cooler. Here are a few she posted for me to see.  If you want to see the rest click on her name above and enter site.  Click clients on the bottom right and my password is hollyhand. 

Her hair looks SO red in this picture! I guess its the pink?! 

6 month checkup and the day after

Monday was Anna Riley's 6 month check up.  Poor baby had to get shots again and I had already hurt her! Yes, I know bad Mom!  We were in a hurry and I clipped her paci clip on and everything was fine we were on our way...no tears until we get to the doctor and I start taking her outfit off.  Oh yes...I clipped it to her!  But what a tough girl because she didnt cry until I started pulling it! Wow...mom of the year award right there! haha!!   So anyways...  Dr. Roberts was very pleased with everything.  She weighed 18 lbs and was 28 inches long.  If she keeps her length up, she is going to be tall.  I told her I had started on some solids but I didnt elaborate on how much AR was already eating.   I knew she had one tooth that had popped through but I did not know that she had 2 teeth!  This was the first time I noticed her being real fussy after shots and had a slight fever.  But it could have also been from teething.

Sitting like a big girl waiting on Dr. Roberts...you can see whre I pinched her with the paci clip. :(

As soon as I got in the car a friend of mine that we often do play dates with called and said she thought one of her girls had chicken pox.  She was very nice to keep AR during my Mother-in-laws Memorial so my parents could go, so she was concerned that she might have been exposed to it.   I went ahead and went home and then of course the next day I see bumps!  I call the doctor and they said to bring her on in.  Dr. Pettit (the other dr. in the practice) looked at her and said it was not chicken pox and that actually chicken pox was very rare these days and often times misdiagnosed (not to say hers was)  but he definitely didnt think AR had it.  He thought it was a viral rash.   He said if they got bigger and blistery and if she was scratching them to come back but so far they havent.   YAY!  What a relief!  However, she has been so winey and clingy since Monday.  And she is waking up a couple of times during the night...I am sure this is because of teething.  

6 months- Aug. 4

Anna Riley turned 1/2 a year old this past Wednesday!  Oh my I am sure the other half is going to fly just like this half did and we will be having her party before we know it!  We just love her more and more each day!Here is what AR is doing at 6 months:

*She weighs about 18lbs I think.    (we will know for sure on her appointment on the 16th---we have a late appointment this time)
*She is LONG...not for sure how long but she is long! haha  We are definitely going to run into some issues when she has to start wearing pants.
*She wears mostly 9 month clothes but can still wear some 6 months and 12 month in most pjs because of her length.  She wears a size 3 diaper.
*She has a little round belly that she lies to stick out especially when she first wakes up and her legs are getting so chunky! :)

*She eats 8 oz. every 4-5 hours.  And has tried many foods.  I named several in an earlier post but we have been giving her a lot now.  And she even had cake this week! haha...we will just say it was to celebrate her 1/2 bday.  I did not give it to her but her Daddy did give the ok to his Aunt.  But under the circumstances I was not going to say no...she actually had banana pudding the next night!   But we arent making a habit out of it.  She likes everything you put in her mouth so I knew she would love the sweets too!  I dont know that she has a favorite because she responds the same to all of them...

*She has big, brown eyes and still not a lot of hair but what she does have is a light brown/blonde color (sorry still no red).

*She can sit up on her own now!  She still gets a little wobbly sometimes when she goes to reach for another toy but she has gotten much better at balancing herself!

*She passes toys from one hand to another.

*She has found her index finger...it looks as if she is counting but yet only gets to one!

*She rolls all over the place! 

*She gives kisses pretty much to everyone even if you dont ask...we will really have to watch this during cold/flu season!  She is just so loving though! :)

*She can now wave byebye!  She actually did this the day she turned 6months.  Our preacher waved bye to her and she waved back.  We had been working on that one for a while but she had never did it so I was a proud Mama!

*She still loves her pacie and can finally put it in her mouth by herself but we have caught her sucking her thumb a few times.

*If you ask her where her belly is she will grab it (usually only in the tub though).  And then she just smiles!  :)

*Bathtime is still her favorite time.

*She loves the water!  She has been in the pool several times this summer and just loves it.  And loves her ears to be underwater...strange I know!

*She is quite the talker, squealer!  Sometimes its hard to carry a conversation over her.

*She is a people person.  She will go to anyone and sometimes reaches for people she doesnt know.

*So far she has been laid back and easy going like her Daddy.  I really hope that she stays that way. 

*She laughs and smiles all the time!  She is a very happy baby!

*She is almost impossible to rock anymore...she is all over the place!  We never rocked her all the way to sleep but we always rocked her for a few minutes (I think it was really more for us that for her because she could care less).  So now we usually just lay her straight down after a quick prayer and book.  She kicks around and seems so active and then in a second she will be a sleep.  It is so funny to watch! 

*We have a pretty good schedule that she developed and we try our best to stay close to it but I am not as "schedule crazy"as I thought I would be (because I definitely was when I taught school!)  But it does help to be consistent.
*She takes a morning nap (usually about 1- 1/2 hours sometimes longer) and an afternoon nap (usually close to 3 hours) and sometimes a short catnap in the early evening. Her bedtime is between 7-8 (it used to be right at 8 but she has been cutting the last nap a lot so she is ready for bed earlier) and then she usually wakes up around 8 each day but sometimes, like Saturday, she will sleep until 9:30! But honestly it just throws us all out of whack so its not even worth it!

*She is very attached to her Bunny and it really calms her. 
*When she sleeps she is all over the place! But her new favorite position is to sleep on her knees with her bottom in the air! 

*She wakes up extremely happy...if she isnt, then I know something is wrong.  She usually doesnt cry when she wakes up...she will be in her crib playing until I go in. 

*She can finally get those toes in her mouth...she has been trying for a really long time!

*It is hard to eat in front of Anna Riley because she is so interested in your food and drink and thinks she should have whatever your having. 
*She can drink very good out of a straw.

*EVERYTHING goes in her mouth!  I think a tooth is in the near future!

*She is definitely a Daddy's girl!  But he does treat her like his little princess so I guess I would be too!  I already know who she will be going to when she wants something!

Atlanta

A few weekends ago, Anna Riley and I had a little girls road trip to Atlanta.  It was Carson's 1st birthday party so I thought it would be a good time to go visit.  I love when I go to Atlanta because I get to see 3 of my best friends when I am there!   We were busy the whole weekend and I felt like I drove all over Georgia but we had the best time!  Friday, we got on the road soon after getting up and getting ready.  Anna Riley did great until we were about 20 minutes away and getting into the city and then she decided to get fussy...perfect timing! ha  Gone are the days that she sleeps the whole time!  She slept maybe 30-45 minutes the whole way and mabe an hour on the way home.  But she did really good.  I had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ready to go in the DVD player.  We stayed with Cyndee and Dan Friday night and we ordered Mexican and ate at home.  It was so nice catching up with her!  Saturday, we all headed to the birthday party and Cory and Kimberly's house in Cumming.  The party was a dinosaur theme and it was all so cute.  We stayed for a while after everyone left so that we could visit.  We headed to Becca and Zach's house about an hour away only in time to get back on the road for dinner! haha.  We ate at one of their favorite Italian resaurants, Domincks.  It was so good!  Anna Riley and Zoe were absoultely give out from our long day and both fell asleep at dinner.  Saturday night, we spent the night at Becca and Zach's.  We had such a great time and cant wait to go back again!

Kimberly and the Carson, the birthday boy

'Aunt' Cyn and AR

I have never seen a baby dig into their smash cake like Carson did! He loved it!

Kimberly, Becca and Me with our babies

After Dinner at Domicks

SO funny!  And Zoe doesnt even like her own pacie! :)

Slumber Party!  I love these PJs and her long legs are about to outgrow them! :(

Anna Riley,

       This has been a hard week for your Daddy and me.  We had to say goodbye to your Nana this week. I think it is important that one day you know what happened to your Nana but more importantly who your Nana was and what she stood for.  I knew her for 3 1/2 years and when I met her she was sick but I didn't even know it at the time.  She had been sick for about 12 years.  First with colon cancer and the treatments and chemo treated that but it also damaged her bile ducts which eventually destroyed her liver.  A month after your Daddy and I got married, your Nana received her first liver translant but she was still sick so she had to have another one close to a year later.  Your Nana was sick the whole time I knew her but I wouldn't have always known it just by looking at her.  You could ask her how she was feeling and somehow she would always turn it around on how your day was going instead.  She was always "doing great"  though.  Your Nana was the type of person that could bright up any room.  She had a smile that was as big as the moon.  She made everyone feel so special and blessed.   She had such great morals and you can see that when you look at your Daddy because she instilled them in him as well.   She loved her family and that is the first thing I noticed and quickly fell in love with was how close your Daddy's family was. 
      When I was pregnant with you, she was in the hospital.  Everytime we would go to see her she would ask about you.  She used you as a motivation to get out of the hospital because she said she WOULD see you born.  Well, guess what Anna Riley?  Your Nana was such a strong person and when she set her mind to something she would do everything in her power to do it...your Nana got out of the hospital and made it to see you when you were born!   She was very strong!  You can probably mention her name at UAB hospital and the doctors will tell you that.  There were several times she shocked the doctors because they just didnt see how her body could make it...but your Nana was a fighter!   She fought as long as she could and then her body just coudlnt take it any longer and she went to be in a better place with Jesus where she wont have to suffer anymore or be in hospitals anymore.
       Yesterday we celebrated your Nana's life at her memorial and do you know almost 700 people were there?!  She was one special lady!  It was so wonderful to hear all the wonderful things that everyone said about your Nana as they came and spoke to us afterwards.  She really had touched so many lives.  She was such an inspiration to so many people.  One day when your old enough to understand you will be proud to know that you had a Nana like that! 
       I can't tell you that I wish Nana could be here to watch you grow up, because your Nana will be watching you and smiling down at you.  You will always have a very special guardian angel to watch over you!  But I do wish you would have known your Nana because she is one of the best people you could ever know she would have did so many fun things with you!  So if anyone ever tells you that you look or act like your Nana, take it as one of the highest compliments you will ever receive because she was a beautiful lady on the inside and out!  She loved you so much just the few months that she knew you!