i am baby . . .

. . . here me roar!

anabelle sure has been testing out her voice. every now & then we can chat back and forth. (sorry i'm sort of loud on one of the videos. didn't realize how well the mic would pick me up)







just finished her 6 month slideshow too.

i've been overhearing chris refer to me as 'the baby whisperer' when he's talking to some of his friends. sort of funny.

anabelle is 6 months old!

it has been a quick and incredible six months since anabelle was born. i have lots to write about and oodles of pics to select from for this month's slideshow . . but all of that will have to wait until tomorrow. it's time for this mommy to get to bed.

great work, anabelle! you continue to rock this "i'm an awesome little baby" thing and are a special blessing to us every single day. we love you!

my everyday christmas

catching up on pics & videos. our little anabelle continues to be my everyday christmas!

we are getting used to 'real life' here in cali with chris back to work. i just started crossfit yesterday (a core strength and conditioning workout program). it was hard work but felt great. bonus - they let me bring anabelle with me.

we are off to a wedding up in redondo beach tomorrow and working on plans for a trip up to sugarloaf (maine) with a bunch of chris' buddies from the naval academy. it's going to be so great to catch up with them & anabelle with finally get to meet her uncle bubba (her godfather). i'm still undecided if i'm going to board this trip. it has been quite a while . . and i'll be honest, i'm still getting used to leaving belle behind. i am excited though that i got dibs on chef duties for the trip. time to put together our vacation menu, yummy!

anabelle is working on sitting up by herself, has almost found her feet, enjoys kicking & splashing in the bath, and just loves anytime you help her to stand up. she's still figuring out her johnny jump up but i don't think that will take long. every now and then i catch her trying to push up on her feet & head when she's laying on her belly. i suppose it's her baby version of downward dog like in yoga class.

- - - - - - - - - - -

our little fam

snuggling with papa

rockin' the babylegs

hey mom, nap time is done . . let's play!

out & about

the bottom left is anabelle zonked out after a shopping trip to target.

anabelle no longer needs her infant insert for her carseat - such a big girl.

i love this video! one night while we were in louisiana over christmas break, anabelle & i had a little case of the giggles.

on tuesday i was showing anabelle the spot on her mat that has a squeaker in it. she watched for a bit and then rolled over. well, the next day i was in our bedroom brushing my teeth when i heard a little noise coming from the living room. this is what i found . . . she had figured out how to make it squeak with her foot. what a little smarty pants!

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!

- - - - - -

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!

- - - - - - -

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.

- - - - - - -

why, good morning little one!

watching charley enjoy a snack

rolling over

upside down

)