Our little prisoner

Anna shares her chicken with Rye

Due to Anna's recent pickiness with food, we've been trying different finger foods out. The cats like it when we feed her chicken because they get to sample some, too!

We have a new closet organizer!! Courtesy of John, the wonderful woodworker! Look at the fine detail- it looks great and I can't wait to get our clothes into it!

Anna can now pull up to her knees!

Time to lower the mattress again! When we put her in the crib seated, she can move over to the side and pull up on the rail to chew on it and look like a pitiful little prisoner.

Today was a very exciting day- I got to play dress up with Anna, and she made her first sign! When I was home this past weekend I found some old baby clothes of mine that I used to dress my cabbage patch doll in. This was a homemade cabbage patch doll, so she was a little bigger than the average one. Anyway, here are the overalls that my real babydoll fits into!

The next picture I thought turned out pretty amusing...it looks like Anna has just killed the cat. In reality, Whiskey was like that before Anna got there, and exited quickly after the murder attempt.

What does this face say to you?

Anna also got another hand-me-down, a puppet monkey I used on mission trips to Ecuador and Honduras. It's a fun toy for both parents and baby!

At dinner tonight, with 3 witnesses, Anna made the "milk" sign!! Earlier today I noticed her little fist opening and closing but she refused to nurse/take a bottle so I didn't think she understood what it meant, and then tonight she made the sign without prompting and she drank the bottle I made in a hurry!! Yay!! She also is attempting the "more" sign but has her own version where she puts her hands together instead of just her fingertips. I'm impressed that she's learning so quickly and can't wait to introduce some more signs!!

Look what we brought home from daycare!!!!

Joy- Anna's got hand foot mouth disease. Yuck. A virus that you can't do anything for and lasts for 7-10 days. She has a low grade fever that peaks at night and is irritable at mealtimes and when she's sleepy. She also has a heinous rash on her legs and bottom, with a few spots on her torso, arms, and hands. I called daycare today to ask if there had been any cases and the woman said, "Oh yeah, we had a case last week. We've got everything going on now- bronchitis, ear infections, runny noses, it's really bad." So does this mean the kids AT SCHOOL have all this crud or are they all at home (like Anna) since they're sick? And I never saw a sign about it, maybe due to the fact that Anna didn't go to school on Thursday or Friday, but still- I would've kept her home if I had known it was going around! SO now I can't take her to school until her temperature is less than 100 for 24 hours...Tonight it was 100.1...geez. I can't say I mind staying home with her, though. Let's just hope tonight she sleeps better than last night- up at 10:30 for an hour of screaming and then again at 6:30 for breakfast. We also think she might be teething so that doesn't help. Poor baby.

On a positive note, she looks like she'll be crawling any minute! Today she started moving backwards, which I heard they do first sometimes! So now we really need to babyproof the house!!! We need to get the house safe for when the nephews come up at Christmas, anyway! Sean is a moving machine! I can't wait to see the little guys!!

So we're home safe and sound from our 2 states in 2 days trip! We covered a lot of ground, Anna got to meet Emily and Ellis and their spitzi cat Mitzi (I know she's sweet to you, Em, seriously), and we were able to meet up with Kevin, Meighan, and Sean for dinner in Chapel Hill. We also got to spend some quality time with Mimi and little bit with Pops! It was a great weekend- long enough to visit with everyone but not too long to miss Daddy!
The road trips (we travelled 3-4 hours everyday) went well. Friday afternoon had some rough parts, as Anna freaked out at the gas station when I had to use the men's room *yes* men's room. The ladies' room was out of service...and there were no other options...so anyway, after a few minutes of sobbing uncontrollably, we were able to get back in the car and scoot. Luckily my car is just the right size so that I could reach back, grab a toy out of her bag, and give it to her while driving. Every time I opened her door, a couple of toys would fall out, but oh well! A little dirt never hurt anyone, right?

We are glad to be home now, and having a few adjustment issues with naptimes, but I honestly expected a lot more, so I can't complain...what I will complain about I have to post in the next entrance....

Anna says Mama! I didn't believe it the first time we heard her say it, but now she says it a lot!! I love it! We first heard her kinda whisper it this past weekend when Aunt Lori and Uncle Chris were visiting, and now she says it in the middle of babbling. It is adorable, but at the same time frustrating because she says it mostly when she's tired and fussy, or when she doesn't think she needs a nap and I put her in her crib. So when's she's crying "mamamamamma", do I go back and get her because she's calling my name?? Maybe I should have taught her "dada" first....Hahaha!! We're working on that now.
Both of us are feeling a lot better so I'm really looking forward to our road trip starting tomorrow!

Halloween pictures from Anna's cousinsSean the Frankenbaby (who also was a lobster)

Braxton the tiger (who also was a lobster!)

I just had to share these adorable pictures of these handsome little men!!

Before the game....Go Steelers!!



During the first 4 minutes, Denver scores 14 points...

After the 5th turnover...where's the channel changer???

Oh the poor Steelers...it's hard being a fan this season!! I can't say we've enjoyed watching many games so far, and with Ben almost always being questionable about playing, most of the time we think he should be pulled out to regroup. Geez. What a bummer.

On a positive note, Anna's cold seems to be getting better. The humidifier is helping, and her appetite is better. Her cough isn't as bad today, either. I'm still debating whether to take her to get her 2nd flu shot tomorrow. I think I'd like for her to be feeling better before she gets it. I've got the crud as well, and I hope we're both much better before next weekend!! Anna and I are headed to NC on the way to SC for Emily's baby shower. We're planning on staying over in Greensboro with Mimi and Pops on Friday evening and then heading to Columbia on Saturday morning for the shower. Emily's never met Anna, and I can't wait to see her beautiful baby bump!! I'm also looking forward to seeing her new house!! I'm a little nervous about traveling alone with Anna, as the last time we did so she was only 6 weeks old. I'll try to schedule the driving times during her nap times, so we'll see!!