Six months (give or take a week or two)

Darla took some sweet shots of Annie this month...one thing that we did not take into account when we started this year long pledge of photos was that Annie was going to become WAY more wiggly and interested in all the objects we wanted in the picture. All that to say that from here on out Annie's pictures are going to be action shots!





There are supposed to be six snowflakes...again our curious daughter...rolled over top of them and began to make "more" snow flakes!


Annie loves paper (mostly because it is something crackly that can end up in her mouth) so the snowflakes were a hit. It is a bit of a misrepresentation for us to use snowflakes in Portland in January...but go with it.

We continue with the letter blocks but trust us her name is Annie...don't trust her spelling, yet!

You can just see her trying to figure out what these things are...and how do I get them in my mouth!



Well the blogger police have decided that that's all the photos I get to download tonight. There may be a few more that show up soon. Hope this helps all of you get your Annie fix for the week. I know I can't get enough of her! I show her off weekly at work and my co-workers coo and squawk with me over the photos...I'm pretty sure they think I'm crazy. They might be right, sanity is boring. Until next post...get some rest and be kind to yourself this weekend...sleep an extra 30 minutes...eat that extra piece of bacon...walk outside during the sunset...hug someone you love!

A few pictures from yesterday...

Warning: Too much cuteness!

At this very moment Annie is chuckling as Darla dangles the camera case over her...she has been in a funny mood tonight. Half an hour ago she couldn't stop laughing when I was pretending to hiccup. Do you know how hard it is to pretend to hiccup for ten minutes? Try it, I dare you. In the mean time I need a cough drop.
First up to bat is the classic Baby in the Bathtub picture...this one is worth ample amounts of bribery at age 16 and certainly will be viewed hundreds of times by grandparents, not that there is anything wrong with that. We all have one of these photos but the glory of the Internet now means Annie won't be able to "forget" where it is. Sorry honey, ok not really.



I intended to publish a bunch of photos from Annie's six month photo shoot (way to go Darla!) but our Internet connection is channeling molasses at the moment and creating me more frustration then should be experienced when trying to upload photos. I'm sure the problem will be solved tomorrow. Some how this can be blamed on global wa...excuse me, climate change. I'm going to put on a sweatshirt and get some sleep.

WOW I've Got Feet! and Teeth!

Annie has been making all kinds of new discoveries and on the changing table. The other day she realized she has feet...yup, two of her very own. She's pretty excited about them and can be seen checking them out from time to time. We already knew that she had feet (and nice ones at that), but we didn't want to ruin the surprise for her.


Ahh to be that flexible and content.


Darla got Annie a cutie vintage hat/pants set. Annie was modeling the hat today and checking out her top two teeth that popped through this weekend. She's going to hate the fact that we took this picture when she is about 13.

Sledding and Other Snow Adventures

It was a given that we were going to go sledding since there was snow on the ground for Christmas. The three brothers all posing for a picture before the big pile on and subsequent wrestling match down the hill and at the bottom. Good times, good times.



Annie had never been out in the snow and she was most underwhelmed by the whole experience but she was a good sport and let me take her down for one good run in the snow tube...Darla reminded me "no jumps Steve!"





Deb made a sweet snow angel when we went over to our childhood sledding local, affectionately called "the Big Hill" Not quite as big as we remembered but we still managed to nearly zoom into sheds and sticker bushes. No relatives were harmed in the making of these great memories.

Near to my parent's house a huge playground has been constructed and conveniently called "Annie's Playground." It was necessary to check it out for future trips back East and for a cursory slip down the not so slippery sliding board/tube contraption.



On an adjactent property was a beautiful old green barn that simply glowed in the setting sunlight. We were fortunate to catch a few of the fading rays...stunning against the snow.



Here I am with Annie and the new scarf that Darla made for me and my new Christmas hat...thanks Love!

Catching Up, Christmas 2009

Annie's first plane ride was smooth sailing! She enjoyed looking outside as much as she does on good old terra firma. We were grateful for not becoming the bane of the plane.

Christmas in Maryland started off with about 18" of snow and by the time we left on the 28th, it was all gone.

Thought you'd like the before and after pictures.

Uncle Mike and Aunt Heather enjoyed some good cozy couch time with Annie.

Annie was excited to meet Uncle Chris and his girlfriend Deb.

Grandma couldn't get enough of hanging out with Annie and was plotting on how to get Annie to stay longer...including bribing her with promises of ponies and puppies.

PopPop and Annie took some time to look out the window and watch the winter snow melt away.

Annie's in her Christmas Eve dress...she slept most of the service but woke up for the candlelighting and was captivated by all the flickering lights.

Annie had the biggest stocking by FAR!

And Chris had the SMALLEST hat.

Annie got to meet her four footed cousins Kit and Simien...she wasn't quite sure what to make of them at first, but by the end of the week she was riding them all around the house (just kiddin')!

And this was perhaps the most common sight this Christmas...Annie being photographed.

It was a wonderful vacation home in Maryland! Thanks to everyone who made it such a restful and sweet time together!

A few more Christmas pictures...

Here are a few more pictures from Christmas - some from our Christmas in Portland, some from our time with Nikki, Aaron, & Georgie. We will do another post of our time with Steve's family in Maryland.