happy new year!

what an incredible year 2010 has been for us!

we can only imagine what this next year will bring. we are enjoying the last couple days of our visit in florida and looking forward to getting home & starting our own family routine.

anabelle has really grown . . again. she is becoming quite aware, getting a lot more purposeful with her hands, and is starting to be able to put herself to sleep for naptime. score! we've been cutting back on the bouncing (we use an excercise ball instead of a rocking chair) and so far so good. we surely have been blessed with a chill and easy-going baby. she is incredible.

she's is fitting into her new babylegs (legwarmers) just right and i love how they look. i'm thinking her 6-12 month wardrobe might end up being long-sleeved onesies and babylegs . . not that she doesn't already have a ton of cute things in her closet. she has been gnawing away on whatever she can get in her mouth so we're keeping an eye out for that first tooth - knowing that it could still be several months before it shows up.

we are wishing all of our friends & family a wonderful new years. cheers!!

sparkle

i keep forgetting to post that anabelle got her ears pierced. i went back and forth about it but i'm definitely glad we did it. they are so cute and she doesn't mess with them at all. we went to collins' family jewelers on mira mesa blvd and they were great. the owner came out to chat with us for a while and did the piercing himself. he has 5 daughters of his own. if you are looking for a place or know someone who is, i definitely recommend them!

heading out for a christmas lunch. i love my family!

travels and celebrations

chris, anabelle, & i flew home to florida on the 18th. we spent the first 4 days at his mom's. suzie was in town too with alex and little mia. we then drove to southern louisiana to visit chris' grandparents, aunts, uncles, and oodles cousins. anabelle did even better than we expected and we really enjoyed getting to catch up with the allains. now we're back in florida and staying with my parents for a few days. we've had a great christmas morning with my grandma and are resting before meeting up with more family for a delicious holiday lunch out in destin. it's pouring outside, anabelle is sleeping, and we're all snuggling and warm watching mr. magoo's christmas carol (one of my mom's favorites!). we are sending out love and cheer to all of our friends and family. what an incredible holiday and an amazingly joyful year!

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chris & alex planned an outing for all of us to the naval aviation museum in pensacola. it was chris & anabelle's first time using the bjorn and she loved it (thanks laura!). it was fun to go back. chris and i went to the museum on our 3rd date when we first met back in december 1999.

mia & her parents

a vintage red devil from the 50's

we decided it was a good day for family beanie day

showing anabelle an F-14

chris & suzie picked out matching outfits for our girls when they were out shopping the day before

having a great time with aunt suzie & cousin mia on our allain christmas morning (on the 21st)

i used to wear bows on my head when i was little, figured anabelle might enjoy it too

stockings at my parents' house

(great grandma, my dad, my mom, chris, me, and belle)

great grandma helping with anabelle's bath

love this baby!!

one of chris & anabelle's christmas gifts

snuggling with great grandma

merry christmas!

catching up

just catching up on pics & videos i've been wanting to post. we are gearing up for our trip home to florida this weekend to spend the holidays with our families. lucky for us, our parents live only 20 minutes apart so we only have to travel to one place. chris is shining as daddy (& husband too!) . . definitely on his way to 'daddy of the year 2010' in our house even though he'll have only spent four weeks with little anabelle in 2010.

we're all soaking up each other as much as we can!

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anabelle seems to be moving around in her sleep

story time with daddy

welcome home from work, daddy

it's nice having a photographer in the house so i can get pics of me & anabelle

love!

deployment #4's cards (green) are bundled up and ready to put away with the others

chris pulled this out of his flightsuit the day he got home . . he said he'd carried it around in his chest pocket ever since i sent it to him.

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why, good morning little one!

watching charley enjoy a snack

rolling over

upside down

)

daddy sundays

before anabelle was born a friend told us about daddy sunday's. in their family, daddy is the dominant parent that day. he gets baby up, dresses baby, plans baby's day, etc. well, yesterday was daddy sunday #1 in our house and it went great! we decided that i would go out with a girlfriend while chris & anabelle had some alone time together. i knew the two of them would be just fine. i wasn't quite sure how i was going to do without them. we all really enjoyed ourselves, though. i had a delicious lunch with amy followed by relaxing mani/pedi's. we just chatted & laughed - it was a really fun afternoon. chris and anabelle went to the mall to do a little christmas shopping and then to the small flying leatherneck museum just outside of miramar. yes, he's an overachiever when it comes to being a daddy too . . going out & about with anabelle on his first date with her. nice work, muggy! here is a pic he sent me while they were at the museum.

just finished anabelle's 5 month slideshow. enjoy!

signs

just thought it would be funny to see my signs from chris' last 3 homecomings.

stick with what works, right?!

anabelle is 5 months old!

our big girl - 5 months old and amazing!

*will get the slideshow up this weekend

happy homecoming

here is how it all went down . . .

chris was dash 5 coming in. here is his jet landing.



taxiing in.



walking out to his jet. crazy how 7 months can seem to fly by but that walk felt like it took so long!



chris climbing out of his jet. oh my goodness, i can really see him!



hi muggy, i have someone i want you to meet!
*a tissue might come in handy here



welcome home, daddy!



chris getting welcomed home by the base commanding general and his squadron commanding officer. anabelle wasn't so sure about everything going on . . and i'm not sure chris was either.



as you can see by this next one, anabelle & chris have adjusted quite well & are having a blast together. i love watching them.



today is chris' first day back at work so anabelle & i are hanging out at the house, doing a few chores, planning dinner, and running a couple errands. having chris home has been amazing (as expected) and we are soaking up every minute. thanks 'red devils' for bringing him back to us!

thanks megan & patrick for taking all of the pics and video. i SO appreciate it!

where does family start? it starts with a young man falling in love with a girl - no superior alternative has yet been found. - winston churchill

sneak peak

singing

have you seen this clip from the movie 'elf'? love it!

click here to see video

here is anabelle's version from this morning:

"daddy, i love you . . cause you're my dad . . and i love you!!"

good morning, world . . . thank you!

right now anabelle is sitting in my lap as we listen to chris' recording one more time before we leave to pick him up in a little over an hour. i figured it could be a sort of 'refresher' before she meets him for the first time!

i can't believe today is today. i never imagined i'd be one of those girls having a baby with their husband gone. i sure missed him (missed him like crazy!) but it has been an incredible, life changing, and empowering 7 months. thanks again to everyone who supported me/us and loved on me/us from all parts of the globe. we are so blessed and grateful!

there will be oodles of pictures. i'll post them when i can. in the meantime . . . hallelujah!!

dress rehearsal

today anabelle and i went to miramar to welcome in a few of the squadron's jets. it was sort of our dress rehearsal. homecoming is a crazy thing - you are indescribably excited, with a dash of anxious, mixed in with a bit of 'i think i might barf', and then a handful of 'phew, we did it!'

i can't believe deployment #4 is almost done. i can't believe all that has happened since chris left. i can't believe how blessed my little life has been and continues to be. i just can't believe the magic i'm about to see of my husband falling madly in love with our tiny daughter right before my eyes as i fall completely head over heels for him once again.

hold on . . need to grab a tissue.

ok, i'm back.

chris is officially in the united states now and will actually be home in less than 48 hours!

anabelle did great over at the squadron. she met lots of new people, shined her cheeky little smile, and then managed to fall asleep and stay asleep as the jets taxied over to the hanger.

here she is back in the truck, pleased with herself and how this test run went.

"alright daddy, i've got this figured out. i'm ready!"

rise & shine

i giggled to myself this morning when i noticed anabelle & i were almost matching in our pj's. me in chris' t-shirt and my yellow robe, anabelle in her white & black onesie and yellow sleep sack. ha!

now this is how to do tummy time.

ok, so anabelle has some boy clothes . . but i think she can pull them off .

busy girl!

trying to cheer on the gators this past weekend.

seems we both like to get up early. but who wouldn't with this one? it's so much fun!

no teeth yet but she's sure likes to chew on almost anything she can get.

this one is a few minutes later, just chatting about our homecoming plans. anabelle was thinking hard about her plans for the week.

i got to talk to chris today for nearly an hour. it was so great to hear his voice. we ended up rambling on about so many random things just so we could stay on the phone. not much longer now and we'll be chatting it up face to face & getting to enjoying the 'anabelle show' together!

i can see it, can you?

i think it's a match! oh that little smirk.

chris just sent this picture today. they had a chance to do some sightseeing in italy. there is one more stop before they make it stateside but as of now they're still on schedule for this week!

thank you & merci

we started our thanksgiving day bright and early. miss amy came over at 5:30am and we headed downtown for the 'race for the hungry' 10K. it was a chilly morning but a beautiful one. we didn't run the entire thing - my knee started acting up after the first 5K loop so we walked a couple miles and then ran the very last bit. anabelle slept all snuggled in her stroller until the last 1/4 mile. other than my knee, it felt great and was an awesome way to start the day. hopefully amy & i can run it again, bonus if our husbands are in town then and can run too.

thanks for the help & motivation, amy!

i think i found a ticklish spot on anabelle

yep, that's an empty bottle!

i had a few ounces ready when anabelle woke up from a nap this afternoon. she almost chugged it and even made a couple yummy sounds in the process. guess she's getting ready for daddy.

latest update - he might be home next friday!!

thanks doc - see you in january

today was anabelle's 4 month check up and she (actually we) did great. a few tears from belle and none from me this time. i really like her pediatrician, dr park, and she was more than pleased with how anabelle is doing. at 19 1/2 weeks, anabelle is 13lb 4oz and 25 1/2 inches!

we got to chat about starting solids at 6 months (something her daddy will get to be involved in), her teething, and her next check up . . . not until january, yah!

ok, time for bed. we have an early (and probably very chilly) morning tomorrow for the turkey trot. thank goodness auntie amy is doing it with us!

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here we are relaxing this morning & saying a little prayer for a good dr visit

undressed and waiting for the dr. if only we all got to wait with a cozy blanket instead of a thin gown.

all done (tough girl) and ready to go home. it's so nice that the dr's office is only 1/4 mile from the house.

at lunch with a girlfriend yesterday