Sesame Street Live

I was a little skeptical that Annabelle would sit through a 90 minute production. But, if anything was going to hold her attention that long, the best bet was Elmo and the Sesame Street gang. Turns out she loved every second of the live production and even danced to the Elmo slide at intermission. We had a blast and I am so glad that I got to have this "Mommy, daughter date" pre Ethan arrival.

Side note- she seemed to be much more interested in what Abby and Grover were doing on the stage. Also, the big elephant that came out at the end of the play was very exciting. A loves elephants.

Here are some pics.

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Who doesn't like pink, red, hearts and sweets? Annabelle had an especially fun day complete with special treats, a party and even heart shaped pizza. Here are some pics from the day. 

Valentine's Day Princess!

Party time at school with her friends

Pic time at school

Donuts with Daddy

Robot

A loves to pretend she is a robot!

Just like Ms Elaina.... Daniel Tiger reference y'all!

Frontiers of Flight Museum

We took A to the Frontiers of Flight museum over at Lovefield this weekend. I had been wanting to take her there for a while. I knew that she would love seeing and climbing on the planes. The museum overall was nice but small. It wasn't crowded so we were able to let A run around and move freely through the exhibits. She seemed to like the kids area the most since it had a play plane with a slide. She loved pretending to drive the plane.

This could be a future birthday party venue.... we will see.

Here are the pics.

19 Days

Hello baby Ethan! We are beyond excited to meet you... 19 days! EEK! Everyone is working hard to prepare for your arrival. Daddy has been "nesting" the most; painting your room, organizing your new closet and making amazing upgrades to our house. Annabelle has selflessly donated some of her toys to you and your room. Mimi made your curtains, pillows and boppy covers. It is all coming together perfectly! I will do a separate entry on the room later so you can see pics.

Last week I got a sneak peek at you via sonogram at the Dr.'s office. Looks like you are doing really well all snuggled in my belly. You were weighing in at approximately 6 lbs. They think you will be around 7 lbs when you come into this world. It was a bit hard to see your face (I guess you don't like paparazzi) but it looks like you have a Magers nose and chubby cheeks. It also seems that you have a good head of hair!

We love you already- see you soon!

A's First Sleepover!

Annabelle had her first sleepover at Mimi and Gramps house last weekend. She had so much fun watching Curious George and playing with toys! Gramps sent the following photo of A cuddling with Nemo- her fav fish! We are so lucky to have Mimi and Gramps nearby. I know that A has so much fun with them.

 

Annabelle's World

Here are a couple photos of A from over the last couple weeks. Annabelle is a huge fan of dress up- tutu's, trains, airplanes and going for walks. I love watching her play pretend and having conversations with her. She is so smart!

 

Post Paci Update

Annabelle has been paci free for a couple weeks now. It has been a bumpy ride to say the least but *successful. The good side is that Annabelle has not asked for her paci (or even mentioned it) in a while. She is totally broken of the habit. "Paci's are for babies, Mom." Good girl!

The interesting/ bumpy part of this process is that the letting go of the paci has triggered her independence. She has realized that she can make decisions on her own- ie when she wants to go to bed. Post paci has been the most difficult time in respect to getting Annabelle to go to sleep. No afternoon naps start in her room (usually we have to lull her to sleep via carseat) and it has become child vs parent every night. Whoever has the most stamina and best strategy wins the race!

EXAMPLE: We continue to do the same bedtime routine as before.... dinner, bath, read books, lights out. Nothing has changed there. When the lights go out, the volley begins:

Start time - 7:30pm

Annabelle: refuses to lay in bed. wants to lay on the floor.
Parent: allows A to lay on pillow on the floor.
Annabelle: sings and talks to parent/stuffed animals.
Parent: reminds A that this is quiet time.
Annabelle: squirms around and waves her hands from side to side.
Parent: reminds A to keep her hands to herself.

This continues on repeat till around 8:30pm... on a good night she will finally settle down and go to sleep but 60% of the time if she isn't asleep yet, we tag team and switch parents. (Prego Mom can only sit uncomfortably on the floor for so long!!) Usually she will tucker out by 9:30.

I pray that this phase will be ending soon. We are going to be zombies when Ethan comes home! Ha!

Nap time on the go.