10.5 Month Update

Much has happened since the last update. She was sick right around when she turned 10 months and that took about a week to cure up. She had a runny nose, cough, and wasn't sleeping well. She is now feeling like her normal, happy self - I'm happy to say!

She has taken 9 unassisted steps several times but she still prefers to crawl at the moment. She gets lots of praise & hugs whenever she does walk by herself. And she finally waved bye-bye to me! She doesn't wave consistently yet but at least she has started.

She says do for dog, ca for cat, and of course da-da. Still no ma-ma. Little stinkpot.

She went to Martinsville with us last weekend and she did very well. She, of course, did not go to the actual race but stayed behind with nana. She did get to watch the fly-over and also the blimp up above. And everyone there at the campsite fell in love with her but what else would I expect? Gots lots of cute pics which are posted on facebook.

I don't have alot of time to catch up but wanted to update as much as I could in the few minutes that I have. Annabelle is doing great, though, and I'm so very thankful for her. I love that little girl so much!

Almost 10 Months

I've been a slacker this month with posting new stuff about Miss Annabelle. She'll be 10 months old in less than a week and I haven't posted since she turned 9 months. Geesh!

Her crawling is at warp speed nowadays. She still uses her right foot but her left knee for crawling, too. It still cracks me up but I don't notice it as much since it's normal for her. I did have a friend at church crack up after she watched her crawl, though, and I just told her that Annabelle does her own thing. She stands all the time without any assistance, too. She is very confidant in her standing but not-so-much when she's walking. She has taken a few unassisted steps but never more than 1 in an row. I think she gets a little wobbly & chooses to crawl instead. Now, if she has ahold of my finger for balance, then she'll walk beside of me. And she just thinks she's big stuff. The first day I tried that, I wanted to show Jason. She, of course, took 2 steps & then froze to smile at him. After he got on the floor with her, she walked from the kitchen to the hallway holding just 1 of my fingers so she could reach her da-da. And then proceeded to give him a big hug & a slobbery kiss on the face. Too, too cute!

She is obsessed with saying da-da. Even this morning heading into town, it was da-da-da-da-da-da. Last night, right after her bath, she said Ma twice. But that was it. She then started with da-da-da again & never said Ma again. She's such a stinkpot! But, it'll come in time.

I've started planning a small 1st birthday party for her. 2 more months is all we have left before she turns ONE!! I'm hoping to have a small party in December for her but have a pool-party on June 13th with more people there. Her nana bought her a Princess Crown to wear - I'm pretty sure that she's going to take it off immediately but it's worth a shot to try it.

Her grandpa played guitar & sang at church on Saturday. He did a really good job, especially since he was put on the spot & wasn't prepared! Annabelle seemed to like the music but got super tired from not having a good nap.

She had her 9 month doctor appt on Friday. She weighed 18lb 9oz and was 27.5" long. Her nuggin' head is in the 90 percentile still and her weight/length are still 50. I'm surprised she doesn't topple over more often than what she already does. Of course, she topples alot. In a one week span, she got a bruise on her shin, above her right eye, on her left temple, above her left eye at her hairline, a bruise on her cheek,and busted her top lip. I was afraid to take her in public for fear of people thinking that I beat her! She's done better recently & has no bruises currently.

I think that catches everyone up for right now. She'll be turning 10 months on Tuesday. Maybe I'll be talking about her walking skills next month!

9 Months

Annabelle turned 9 months old on Sunday. She's doing really well with everything still. No new teeth (thank God) and I hope there is a little break for the next one. She got her first tooth on Memorial Day & by Labor Day had a total of 6 teeth. I haven't weighed or measured Annabelle recently so I don't know those stats. I'd guess she's probably about 18lbs, 28" long or close to it.

I was told by Michelle (she watches her while I'm at work) that Annabelle is changing looks. I agreed with her because I think so too. I should've asked for details on what she meant. I think she's looking more like a toddler, less like a baby but still exactly like her daddy. She might've meant that she was starting to look like me -- but I doubt that. lol I posted a picture recently of Annabelle's eyes to get opinions on what color they are. Most answers included GREEN. I got one where she said they are greenish-gray, one saying hazel, but the others classified her eyes as green. I don't feel like they are green but I have high hopes! Their comments just made me happy that at least something of mine will show in my child. lol

Annbelle sounds hoarse now. She woke up yesterday sounding like she has a frog in her throat. Not really sure why or how or anything. She is otherwise fine. She's playing hard & is a happy baby. I hope that her raspiness doesn't lead to something else. Her next doctor appointment is October 2nd for a checkup. I'm going to discuss the flu shots with him to see what he says about it. I'm sure he'll recommend the regular flu shot but I'm curious about the H1N1 shot. It scares me.

I was sitting on the floor last night with her. She climbed up on my knee, stood up, and then let go. She stood by herself for probably close to a minute before getting tired & sitting back down. I was telling her how big of a girl she was for standing by herself & she just smiled from ear to ear. I could tell she was proud of her accomplishment. Just thinking about it makes me want to squeeze her & give her butterfly kisses. (which she hates, btw)

I took her to Pond Creek Baptist on Sunday morning for their Homecoming. I hadn't been there for nearly a decade. There were a few new faces but I recognized most of them. The guy who bought the home I grew up in was there with his family. He & his wife has a little boy 1 day older than Annabelle, and also a 3 year old little girl. It's kinda odd to think that there are children growing up in my old home. They're seeing it like I did (or at least similar) with a child's point of view. One may even have my old room! Anyway, nobody probably understands what I'm talking about so I'll just drop it. lol

I have a wonderful praise for a dear friend! I just heard news about it today that something that I've been praying for has indeed happened. Without going into details about it, I just wanted to express my thankfulness over the whole situation.

For those of you who don't know, I've been attending New Life Baptist Church lately since it's so close to my home. It is more convenient with time schedules & being a mile from the house. Anyway, it is a wonderful small church that has a fire in it. It is really helping me & I'm thankful that I finally started attending there. I think I'm even going to join...if they'll have me. :)

My FIL (Jeff) won our NASCAR game last week - or at least the first part of it - and is getting enough money from it to buy Annabelle a swingset. I was just teasing when I said that anyone who wins money has to buy a swingset for her but I believe he's taking me seriously. (Right, Jeff?) She will be tickled with it as she ages. That's just a great toy that will last for a long time. Plus, she's finally loving swinging on the swingset where she hated it when she was younger. I used to love swingsets when I was a child. But, I always had the cheap metal ones that would come off the ground when I swung too high. LOL I think it was my objective to see how far I could make it jump off the ground.

Well, I think I wrote enough of a novel so I I'll stop. :)

8.5 Months

Annabelle is 8.5 months this week. She's still working on that 6th toofer - it's a stubborn little booger. She got to see her grandpa on Tuesday for the first time since mid-July and had a nice visit with her Nana & Papaw last weekend.

Crawling is a breeze, so isn't standing up so long as she holds onto something. Her toofie smile lights up a room whenever daddy comes in, too. They're pretty cute together. We're experimenting a little more with solid foods but she is still pretty picky and prefers purees. Unless its on momma's plate. The only complaint I have with the solid foods is that her poo is so nasty now! Phew - she's such a stinky girl.

Jason got his out building put up over the weekend. I have to admit it looks pretty good out there. Jeff (Jas' dad) did alot of the work & really helped Jason. Of course, it was probably the other way around...Jason probably helped Jeff out. lol

Not much has happened in the past week but I still wanted to do a little updating on here. I'm starting to print out this blog so I can put it with Annabelle's baby book and want to keep it active for her.

Only like 3.5 months until she's one year old!

First Cold

Annabelle got her first cold the day before she turned 8 months. Bummer "birthday." I stayed home with her on Thursday and had already scheduled Friday off so she was with her momma from Thursday to Sunday. She was starting to feel a bit better by Friday, too. She started sleeping through the night again Friday night which was wonderful. Now, if I could've only blocked out the snoring & the dog. lol

She is doing wonderful, outside of her cold, and enjoyed her trip to the Cincy area. She was able to go to the aquarium there & she really enjoyed looking at the fishes. She was way ready to go by the end of it though since she really hadn't had a good nap that afternoon. She did good in the hibachi restaurant. I was a bit scared that she'd freak out but she just slept and then ate during dinner. A couple of times she looked at me with a freaked-out look to see if things were 'ok.' I just smiled at her & cooed with her and she was fine. She's such a big girl.

We both had a good time at Shelly's baby shower on Saturday. She had her first true temper tantrum while we were there (once again, she was tired from not napping well that afternoon) and she knocked my cup right out of my hands. She just REALLY wanted my cup!

I think we're all exhausted today and will take this whole week to catch up on some rest. lol

Almost 8 Months Old

Miss A will be 8 whole months on Thursday! Can you believe that? Me neither. She's been a busy girl since last week, too.

On 8/5, I noticed her 3rd tooth on the top was peeping through the gum. And on 8/8, I saw that the 4th toofer was making its appearance, too. She's just not wasting any time with these teeth!

She has mastered the art of crawling. Sometimes she likes to use her feet, too, which kinda reminds me of a crab crawl or something. It's quite funny to see her do. And she's fast! She loves to crawl to momma, too, which I just find too endearing. lol And once she gets to me then she has to climb on me.

She can stand on her own, too, by using "stuff" to help her get to her feet. That "stuff" might be me, the couch, or her crib. Just whatever she gets ahold of. She also tries to climb other stuff like boxes but she ends up just scooting them across the floor instead.

Yesterday, she had been up playing with Nana all morning. When she saw me on the couch, she made a bee-line for me. But she didn't crawl. Nana was holding her by the sides for stabilization and Annabelle just started walking toward me. It was such a great moment. Makes me realize (again) that all those days & nights that I had no sleep, was attached to her 24-7 in one form or another, and pretty much looked like a zombie were all worth it. Papaw says that she'll be walking on her own in a month...I guess time will tell.

She hasn't been one for taking her naps the last 3 days neither. I think she was just too busy learning new skills to want to sleep. But, after she got in the pool for a while & got her belly full last night, she was down for the count at 7:45pm. Slept until 6:30am, too. She was a tired bird!

And now, because of all of this, I must baby-proof my home. Like, yesterday!

Quick Update

Not alot has happened this past week so this should be fairly short.

Annabelle, as alot of you already know, got her first sting on Sunday. It was from a wasp that had a nest on our back deck. She swelled a little on her ankle from it, but we rubbed Benadryl on the skin and it was looking great by Monday. She's such a tough cookie! She did cry but not as violently as she could've. She got extra cuddles that evening from momma.

Her crawling and 2 top teeth are coming along quite well. Daddy watched her all day on Friday. He put her on the floor in the living room, went into the kitchen, and found her rounding the corner as he returned to her. lol She just wasn't patient enough to wait on him. I think she gets her impatience from her father.

She'll be 8 months old next Thursday...now its my turn to cry violently. Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future. :) (Made you hum that in your head, didn't I?) She's starting to look less like a baby and more like a toddler now. *Sigh*

Thank you for all the prayers last week. I did some good news concerning one person. The situation improved but is not completely gone yet, so he still needs prayer.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

7.5 Months Old

Just remembered that I need to update a few things on here - I'm trying to be better at remembering.

We returned from the beach this past Saturday. We all had a blast while vegging out on the sand & listening to the ocean. The ocean makes Annabelle a sleepy girl! She did pretty well while we were there, especially since she was out of her normal routine & environment.

She is officially crawling now! She still has to master that skill but she does get where she wants to go. She's just slow at it. Her 2 top front teeth are slowly growing in. I can see the entire bottom part of both of them but they are taking their time at growing. She likes to grind them which just sends shivers up my spine. Even just thinking about it gives me the creeps. She gets a funny look on her face when she's playing with her teeth, too, which is a dead give away that she's grinding.

I was in the kitchen the other evening while Jason had Annabelle in the living room. He was repeating "Can you say daddy? Da-ddy" to her. Sure enough, the girl repeated him and said daddy. I heard it from the kitchen & he yells "did you hear that, Carrie?!" Yes, I heard it. She's such a stinker. Of course she would say daddy first. I haven't heard her say it again since then. The closest she says to Momma is "Mmmm-mmm." lol (Did I mention that she is a stinker?!)

She had her Dr appt on Monday evening. She is up to 16.14lb, 26" long, and has an 18" head size. Doctor says that she's growing perfectly. She doesn't have to go back until the first of October. She did not like that appointment whatsoever. She got fussy just from the stethoscope! Then the dreaded shots came....she stared at me with tear filled eyes pleading with me to help her make this man stop hurting her. Shots are so hard on us both!

On a lighter note, we will be traveling to the Cincinnati area on August 14th to visit. Plan on taking Annabelle to the Aquarium while we're there and I'll be going to a baby shower for a dear friend due in November. (She's having a baby girl though she doesn't "officially" know it yet. I'm just pulling a Miss Cleo on her & proclaiming PINK. lol) I'm really looking forward to seeing some old friends from up there. Even the most recent visit was almost a year ago! That's just too long of a timespan.

Anyway, if you are friends with me on Facebook, then I'm sure you've already seen the pictures from the beach. If you are not on FB, then register & look me up at http://facebook.com/carriemccloyward to take a look-see.

Finally, I ask for prayers for a a couple of friends and family members who are going through some trying times. I don't know alot of details but I do know that they need guidance, protection, and reassurance. I hate it when bad things happen to good people.

7 Months Old

Well, it's been forever since I've updated this blog. I need to get in the habit of doing it so that you know what Miss Annabelle is up to nowadays.

First off, she turned 7 months old yesterday. Growing up is such sweet sorrow. I love to watch her grow and learn to do more but it hurts to see her growing up so quick. Everybody warned me but I think I underestimated how fast time flies.

Lets start by saying what she's doing now. She is moving herself around. I can't say she's crawling yet but she's almost got it down. She moves from one area to another by log rolling and inch worming across the floor. She has figured out to get up on her knees and hands but hasn't quite moved them all at the right time. She has figured out how to move backwards, though.

She has 2 bottom toofers that cut through on Memorial Day. Her top 2 toofers are almost through. I can see ridges through her gum so it's close. I tell you, I was sad to see the "gummy smile" go but that "toofy smile" is so endearing. I just want to gobble her up sometimes! Overall, I have to say that I hate teething. It's hard on Annabelle and it's hard on moma, too!

She is Little Miss Grabby. Anything that you have, she wants to have....so she can put it in her mouth. She loves paper. I have to really watch her around my newspapers or I find her chewing on them. And I let her have a hard cardboard book to play with while I cooked dinner one evening. I looked down and the edges had been chewed all the way around. It truly looked like a puppy had gotten to it! She is a chewing machine!

She is eating alot of different solids now. She really likes sweet potatoes, squash, and green beans. And she does really well when daddy watches her now. She always has big smiles for him AND he swears that she put her arms out & said "da" to him the other day. I think he's hooked!

She has been sleeping in her own crib and in her own room for a month and a half. And sleeping through the night, too. She sleeps from 9pm to about 6am. I can't complain nowadays about her sleep schedule. Whenever she gets bored after waking up, she just pushes a button on one of her music boxes attached to her crib & that entertains her until I get her up. She moves all around in that crib, too. And she likes to sleep on her belly, knees under her belly, and her head against a corner. I know...weird. But, just like her daddy used to do. (She is definetly a mini-Jason)

She loves the pool. She gets in her floatie and kicks like crazy. She likes it when momma swims with her around the edges and when I play peek-a-boo around her.

I just washed up all of her 6-9 and 9mo old clothes this past weekend. She's grown out of her 6 month clothes for the most part now. Luckily, she is staying in each group like she should - not too big or too small. She's just a healthy, happy little baby and a true blessing to the Ward-McCloy family!

On a side note about her parents - we're doing well. Still gainfully employed which is a blessing in itself. Jas is working at our Kyger Creek jobsite until October-ish (who knows after that) and I'm still at the office. We're heading for vacation in a few days for some much need R&R at the beach. It'll be Annabelle's first long trip so I pray she does well. Aunt Tammy will be going as well. I'm already thanking God for the great weather that he will be providing for us - I just have faith that He will provide us wonderful weather.

I hope all is well and take care!

Picture of Daddy & Annabelle

Aren't they cute?!

Daddy & Annabelle

Another "upsidedown" face. I promise that the child smiles! I'll have to find a picture of her smile....

Picture of Me & Annabelle

Doesn't she look happy?! LOL

4 Months Old

Annabelle is now 4 months old. She's gotten so big! She had her very first Easter this past weekend, and we (the grandparents & I) took her for her first Easter Egg Hunt. It was quite chilly outside with strong winds so we both had to have jackets on. She enjoyed watching the other children play around and she found 7 eggs. Grandpa & Papaw wanted her to find more after they found out that there was candy in them. I told them that there were younger children there and we had better let them have the eggs instead. LOL Here we are sporting our ears with the Easter Bunny. (Which didn't freak her out at all)

Annabelle is doing all the normal baby stuff at her age. She's drooling constantly! She either has her thumb, her fingers, or her entire fist in her mouth - they must taste mighty good. She holds her head up really well when she's on her belly and rolls from her belly to her back. She "stands" up alot (we just have to hold her stable.) She "talks" alot and has started giggling which is soooo cute. She's sleeping through the night pretty well nowadays and on a good routine. And she supports herself when she's being held and of course has to chew & taste everything she touches.

On another note, Jason is still working uber-hours down at Gavin and driving to/from everyday. He'll be doing that until early June. I'm not very confidant about my job. Some of our jobsites are closing up & we're no longer needed there so I just might be standing in that unemployment line like alot of others. But regardless of what happens, everything will be just fine. I just have faith.

Polls

I forgot to mention about how bad we all are at predicting what babies will look like! She has dark strawberry blonde hair with blue eyes! LOL The polls predicted either dark hair or no hair with brown eyes. I just thought that was funny.

1 Year Anniversary

Jason & I will have our 1 year wedding anniversary on Sunday! The time has just flown by, but it will do that when you try to fit way too much stuff into a year. We got married, found out about Annabelle, I (finally!) graduated with my BSBA, we sold our home, bought a new one, moved, and had Annabelle all within 2008. Busy, busy, busy.

This year? I'm not doing anything! lol Well, other than working which seems to be wearing me out in itself nowadays. Annabelle is eating every 4 hours, including 11:30p and 3:30a, so getting up at 6am for work is just hard. Working and caring for a baby is harder than what I thought it would be!

We're planning a night out on Saturday to celebrate our anny. We're staying at the Blennerhasset on Saturday and eating at Spats. We're staying in the Blennerhassett Suite...here is a link to a picture of it. /http://www.theblennerhassett.com/content/content.aspx?department_id=35 Nana & Papaw will be staying with Annabelle while we are gone and probably will love every minute of it!

Annabelle has her own website now that I am slowly updating. I try to do too much online at times & seem to forget to update her site. It is http://www.totsites.com/tot/annabelle2008
It is a site in progress but hope to get it up & running full force soon.

I am constantly downloading photos online, too, onto Photobucket so if you want to be copied on those - just let me know! I also have a Facebook account - just search me and request to be a friend if you haven't already! I try to post a good bit of photos on there, too. I have almost 250 photos on my RAZR phone that I bought a cord for so now I can download all my photos onto the computer from it. Yay!!! I have some really good ones stored on it, too.

Michelle Fullerton in Belpre, OH has taken snapshots of her both at 3 weeks and 3 months. I FINALLY received the disc from my sister from her 3 week old pictures so I plan to download them shortly. Michelle has taken some really cute photos of Annabelle!

Annabelle & I went to the church's revival last night. Lasted from 7-9p! She did surprisingly good but it was hard on both of us...I'm super tired today. Dad & his friend played their guitars and sang. Dad sang "Some call it Heaven, I call it Home." He did a good job though he says that he didn't. Yesterday was 1 month after mom died, though, and I believe that was on his mind. Keep him in your prayers.

I think that's about it for an update. Not alot is new or interesting! I have a ton of videos that I need to upload but don't know how yet - she is just too cute in them. Still learning!

Finally catching up on here

Aren't they cute together?! Miss Annabelle is a Mini-Jason, as you can tell. Everyone tells me how much she looks like him. She does have my eye coloring and my ears though! She acts like him, too. Her temper is DEFINETLY from the Ward side of the family since the McCloys are so even tempered. She also gets a bit grumpy and only wants to eat, sleep, or be left alone. Sounds just like her daddy, right?!

She is now 2.5mo, almost 3 months old! She'll be 3 months next Friday. Time has just flown by and she's grown so much. She sleeps through the night now...waking up sometimes at 2 or 3am to eat but then she falls right back to sleep. She just catnaps throughout the daytime.

She loves lights...which is why we took the photo above where she & I are staring at the lights. Of course, she's much cuter than I am in the picture but it's still comical. Her smiles are so contagious. It just makes me so happy to see her happy. But, I have to admit that I have to smile when she's mad, too. She's just so darn cute when she gets mad because she straightens herself out, her face gets dark red, and she just screams her lungs out. And then she has kick...alot. And the more she kicks, the louder she screams. It's quite a performance.

I saw my nephew, Joel, a couple of weeks ago and he's SO big & such a cutie-patootie! He just looked humongous compared to my Annabelle. I want her to grow up but I don't think I want her to grow up THAT fast! He's only 5.5months older than she. That's just too fast!

I have returned to work after a long maternity leave so I should be able to keep things updated now. Our Internet at home is terrible and I just hate being on it. Annabelle is currently staying with Miss Michelle from the church and seems to be doing well at adjusting without her momma. I feel better knowing she's in really good hands, too, so the adjustment is a bit easier for me as well. Of course, it still isn't fun being away from her all day long! I miss her alot

3 Weeks 4 Days Old

So much has happened in the last 3 weeks that I just don't even know where to start. I've been without any type of Internet since December 11th so I am trying to catch up with everything today.

Annabelle was born on December 13th at 1:58pm. She weighed only 6lb 15oz and was 20" long - smaller than what I expected but I'm not complaining. I feel so much better now and just am so happy to have her here with us. She has been very healthy other than getting jaundice 2 days after she was born. She had to stay an additional day in the hospital and spent 24 hours under the UV lights but that was short lived and she's doing very well now.

She is absolutely beautiful - even when she is having a temper tantrum. I think everyone has just fallen completely in love with her in these short 3 weeks, especially her momma. We're not on any type of schedule right now except for Annabelle's schedule. LOL She is a very happy baby and only gets really upset when she has a pee-pee diaper or is hungry. She loves stretching and swinging and eating. She eats all the time which is why I say we're on Annabelle's schedule.

Speaking of Annabelle's schedule - she's waking up & typing with one hand is challenging. Update & pics later!