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!

- - - -

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

my list

another nice evening listening to daddy read

a visit with mason - 'hey anabelle, i'm over here'

a little homecoming shopping done for daddy

ready for bed

- - - - -

as the days go by, my homecoming 'to do' list gets shorter & shorter. not because i'm actually checking things off of it but because i realize that when chris gets home he is going to be the last person concerned with whether the ceiling fans have been dusted of if i have freshly done highlights. as it stands now, my list is:


*get truck washed
*get dog washed
*buy beer (done - see pic #3)
* . . . who am i kidding, that's probably it


i figured today was a good day for another chris inspired itsy bitsy verse.

the itsy bitsy spider's dad is on his way
we can't wait to see him on the special day
that he comes back home to us & holds us really tight
we want to hold him too & not let him out of sight!


i'm definitely feeling the thanksgiving-ness kicking in. all the food shopping is done (making red snapper this year) and i find myself being so thankful for all sort of little things, tiny things. the crazy part about it all - it's only going to get better! i was chatting with my neighbor this morning and mentioned that there is a chance chris could get home next week. i was sort of surprised when i heard that come out of my mouth. next week? really?! he's never made it home 'on time' from deployment but getting to have him back next week would be mighty awesome!


tomorrow we're taking it easy. anabelle has her 4 month dr appt. i'm excited to see how big she is. not excited that she has to get more shots (boo!). she & i had a little chat about it earlier today. well, she's sleeping and i probably should be too.

slideshow - done

ok, i finally got anabelle's 4 month slideshow together. enjoy!

(i love that i can see chris and his little side smirk in this picture)

mahalo!

all of my fall travels seemed so far off earlier this summer. now they're done & we're home! next on the list . . . my handsome husband comes home to join us & to meet our anabelle. it's starting to feel a bit more real now. he is all packed and at an air force base in qatar. his last email said he'd been sitting by the pool and enjoying his 3 daily rations of ice cold beer.

our trip to hawaii was a lot of fun. it wasn't the trip it would have been 5 years ok & that's fine. laura and i had a great time with our little girls and catching up with each other. i'd like to give a shout out to hawaiian airlines. they are amazing! now if only they could fly me to florida. anabelle did great on the plane. other passengers even said she should get the 'great baby' award & were impressed when i told them this was her third trip.

tennessee - check. florida - check. hawaii - check.

thanks laura for all of the mommy tips and sweet company. those red velvet pancakes were pretty awesome too!

we're taking it pretty easy now trying to put the house back together, readjust to the time, and making several lists . . . questions to ask at anabelle's dr appt next week, my low key thanksgiving menu (we're baking a fish this year), a few chores around the house, and things to stock the fridge with for chris' homecoming (#1 - sam smith beer!).

anabelle continues to fill my days, my heart, my world with joy! i can't wait to share that with chris & for him to experience her 'power'. i joke that she's baby kryptonite . . . or at least i think she will be with him. i just hope i don't get too jealous of either one of them. i know they both have some serious catching up to do. seeing chris as daddy and the three of us being together is going to be the best christmas gift ever.

- - - - -

waking up in hawaii. are we really here?!

first time to the beach

love the sun hat

babies at the beach can be quite the production. this was definitely a learning experience.

mommies & their pretty girls

anabelle rolled over for the first time in hawaii . . once she figured it out there was no stopping her!

she even does it in her sleep

it sure was beautiful!

my trip to hawaii - by anabelle reece

when we got back from the airport last night anabelle decided she wanted to tell me what she thought about our trip.

wait, were we really just in hawaii for a week?!

anabelle is 4 months old!

here we are, 4 months old. the days are just flying by. i've seen tons of changes in anabelle these last couple weeks. her eyes lock in, she can chat up a storm, there are tears when she cries (i don't like that one), she can hold her head, and she'll be sitting up by herself in no time.

i have so many pics but haven't gotten to her slideshow this month quite yet. that one will have to wait until we get back from hawaii. aloha!

off we go!

tomorrow anabelle & i are off to hawaii for a week. she has been quite the trooper with all of this traveling. i know i'll have oodles to blog about when we get back home. in the meantime here are a few more pics from the florida trip.

just relaxing & talking about the day

full belly!

my grandma & anabelle were the only ones who got the memo to wear pink

more sitting up

chillin' on the couch. she fell asleep in my arms & i wasn't about to move.

she's close to rolling over, just gets that one arm stuck in the way

back in san diego & still taking lots of pictues

new things everyday

here is a video from yesterday, trying out the bumbo seat

she has been doing great with tummy time . . . especially when i put the computer in front of her with daddy's recording playing.

bumbo

decided to give the bumbo seat a try today . . . great success!

back in san diego

anabelle and i are back in san diego now. we had such a great trip to florida and loved spending so much time with family. we're working on resting up, unpacking, getting organized and starting to repack for our trip to hawaii on friday. we figure there's no need to stay at home counting the days until chris is back . . why not just keep playing & checking days off the calendar? not much longer now. once thanksgiving is here chris' homecoming will be right around the corner and we can't wait!

i'm also working on catching up on all of the videos and pictures i took while we were home. here are a few of the videos:

fun with grandpa

anabelle decided to give sitting up a try. here she is practicing and giving her zebra hat a test run before halloween.

more grandpa time

mommy-daughter chatting. i'm in love with all of her noises!

lots & lots of pics

i laugh sometimes thinking about how many pics i've taken of anabelle these last four months. i'm going to have to really make an effort to keep up for baby #2 when that time comes. i've managed to set the bar sort of high for myself.

i just downloaded the pics on my blackberry from our trip so far and figured i'd make a collage of our florida adventures - it include everything from a pic of anabelle relaxing on the airplane on the way here (during out delay to dallas via san antonio), through a pic today of anabelle after she fell asleep listening to chris reading to her on the computer. it has been a full day celebrating my mom's birthday, yah mom!

my brother, ben, & my neice, sophie, are currently delayed leaving west palm - they are supposed to get in this evening. i know it's going to be a great weekend, plus saturday is my daddy's birthday!

i can't believe how much anabelle has changed this past week. she's definitely not the baby i flew here with at the end of last month. she's almost a 'hip' baby (just a bit more control of that head and i'll be able to carry her on my hip), will likely be chillin' in her bumbo seat not long after we get home to san diego, and has a 'johnny jump up' ordered and on its way to our house!

man, i love that baby!!

november is here!

chris called a couple of days ago so i put him on speaker so anabelle could listen too.

looking cute in a new outfit from great grandma.

oh cute clean baby!


4 generations!

taking a little break after nursing out by the beach.

our sweet little zebra on her first halloween.

playing with grandma.

she has grown so much this week and looks like such a big girl sitting up.

our anabelle is getting bigger & bigger, it's amazing! she's definitely not the same little baby i flew here with last week. this week my brother is coming up from west palm with his oldest, sophie (almost 9), and we will all get to celebrate my parents' 53rd birthdays together!

traveling in the carseat has been a little challenging for anabelle on a few outings since we got here. i hate hearing her cry like that, boo. she's fine once i get her out. i'm wondering if it has been making a difference since she can see me sitting next to her instead of her riding in the back by herself like we do at home. we did have a successful trip to target this morning, yah! thankfully she continues to sleep like a champ - sometimes 8 or 9 hours at night.

i just started taking my birth control again this week. it seems like i've been off forever and feels weird to be back on thinking about how hard we tried to get pregnant. no worries though. i know it's right, for now.

looking at our anabelle, which i tend to do as much as possible, seems to make me miss chris even more, but somehow at the same time she makes it a tiny bit easier. we've reached november now which means we're even closer to homecoming. just 1 more month-ish!