not what I had in mind

Annie, darling, please ... FOCUS!!!

Christmas pics take two

well, these pictures are either too sleazy for a little girl or the pictures of a little boy, but they sure are cute!

imagine this

Imagine you had a beautiful baby girl you absolutely adored. You really planned on keeping a flexible part-time schedule so you could stay home with her quite a bit. Things happened, and you needed a full-time job, so you imagine what the perfect full-time, work-out-of-the-home job would look like ... and that is what I have!!! I will post more details later. I am happy.

I know some of you (cough ... Meg-O ... cough) only read for the pictures, so here are a few new ones:

This one cracks me up. We got her an exersaucer because she is such a super sleeper now. She isn't quite going all the way through the night, but she is going 7+ hours and one time slept 10!!!! She did not understand that she could bring her hands up to play with the toy. She has definitely reached the "puts everything in her mouth" developmental milestone.

I know some of you are thinking, those fools are getting in the bad habit of letting their baby sleep in the bed. They are going to regret that! Thanks for your opinion and keep it to yourself. - Mommy gets up early to go to work and her friends are still sleepy! :)

Then, it's the world's most adorable Gator butt! Yes, she is wearing tights under her onesie. It's the layered look.

sneak preview

We started trying to capture the perfect Christmas picture today. We need some work but she was a fairly cooperative model; Toby, not so much.

Thanksgiving

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. Annie was great in the car, everyone was super fun in Naples, the weather was beautiful, and it was just a relaxing time overall. We stopped in Miami on the way home and it was great seeing Jason and the rest of Chris's family too.



Annie and her #1 fan, Grammie:



Annie with her first cousins once removed (maybe that is what they're called??):




I got up with Annie, fed her, left her in the hands of whoever else was up, and went back to bed. Now this is a vacation:



Four generations:
Relaxing on the beach:

Annie with Great-Aunt Rhonda (I call this Annie's linebacker look):

month 4 pictures are up

http://prevattfamilyfun.shutterfly.com/
Annie is going bald! She is losing a lot of hair in the front and some in the back. I am slowly giving up hope that she is going to be a redhead.

I didn't know...

How long that would be!!! If you don't want to read, that's OK, and I promise I am not a basket case!

hi ho, hi ho

...It's back to work I go...

I got a job and I am excited, though not EXCITED!!! I will be working for the United Way as the coordinator for one of their Full Service School sites. My commute will be a grand total of 2 minutes, but it is going to be a busy full-time job.

As many of you know, since I have been pregnant, I had planned on going back to work part-time. I thought I had a great part-time position, but that fell through, and since then, I have been trying to figure out what to do, the big dilemma being to struggle as a family with me working part-time or go back full-time. The truth is that we (we meaning the Prevatts but also, I guess, we as a country) are in a very different situation now than we were six months ago. I have a husband who works (VERY HARD) in sales with a commission-based salary, and the economy is not good. I was scared that we weren't going to be able to pay the bills in the coming months, and now I know we can. So, that's good.

Yet, when I got offered the job, I hung up the phone and cried! I have enjoyed being home with Anne more than I can possibly say. It truly has been the happiest, simplest, most joyful time in my life. I didn't know how motherhood was going to feel; I didn't know how hard it was going to be to go back to work.

Do you know the feeling when you really, really want your husband/boyfriend/parent/whoever to say just the right thing and then they say completely the opposite? (You know this feeling). Well, Chris did the opposite and said just the right thing today. I told him I got the job, he asked me why I was crying and I told him, and he told me that we will figure it out, that if this doesn't work out in the best way for our family, I can do something else, that this isn't a lifetime commitment; this is what works now.

Annie will be going to Bea's (Chris's mom) 4 days a week and to the tag team of Nana and my mom 1 day a week. The saying, "it takes a village...," comes to mind. My hope is that Annie will have several strong relationships and will always feel loved, but these are my fears:

• That Annie won't know I'm her mom.
• That I'll feel sad for missing all the big milestones (her first STEP, her first WORD!)
• That she'll refuse to nurse and/or my milk supply will diminish while pumping and we'll have to give her some formula.

One fear that I don't have is whether or not Annie will thrive. She is doing so well. She really is a wonderful baby, and I know she'll do well wherever she is. I do hope she misses me a little but I really know she'll be fine.

I will report on my new job, but I'm going to try hard not to complain beyond this post. This is life and you do what you gotta do. It actually is a job that I am going to enjoy and that I am going to rock, and Annie is going to know that she has two parents who love each other and love her. The rest will fall into place.

Very Big News

Annie slept from 7:30 - 3:15 last night, woke up to (ravenously) feed for 40 minutes or so and then slept until 7:30!!!!!! WE FEEL GREAT TODAY!!!! I slept for 5 straight hours for the first time since B.A. (before Annie, in case you couldn't figure it out), and it has made such a difference in how I feel. Thanks, Anne! I needed that.

random fun get-together

Two of my AmeriCorps friends were randomly in town (separately) and we got together and had lunch. It was so nice seeing them. It is funny how after you have lived with someone and known them and then not talked to them in awhile, it can still feel like you saw them yesterday. It was so, so great to see them. How cute are we?

happy smiles and big milestones

Annie is stoked about Obama's election, so much so that she rolled over in excitement twice on election night (11/4)! She was crying in bed, and I reached over to pat her before picking her up. I started patting and then I was patting all up and down her, thinking, wait a sec ... that isn't a face ... that's the back of her head! What a proud moment for a new mom!

She also laughed out loud last Thursday, 11/20. The old "pretend to eat the hands" trick gets them every time. It was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard.

It's getting kind of cold in Florida. Here she was on our walk today with bonnet and sweater knit by Gram:

best weekend of the year (or at least the fall)

FL/GA was a blast as always, with lots of fun out-of-town guests. It was so nice seeing everyone.

Harper Christmas picture?

I am so lucky to have such great friends:

happy halloween

If you know me at all, you probably know how I feel about Halloween - I don't like it. I must say, though, having Annie around makes me like it so much more. I carved a pumpkin, roasted the seeds, gave candy out to trick-or-treaters, and just generally had a great day. No, you probably won't see me dressing up anytime soon or decorating our front yard like a graveyard, (seriously, what is WITH the Halloween decorations? what will these people do at Christmas??) but I might just learn to enjoy Halloween yet.


She was a cute ladybug, but also a sleepy and confused one:

I promise Annie is cute

When I was pregnant, Annie was wild in my belly, but she would stop wiggling the second someone touched my stomach to feel. This is the new version of that: she is seriously so cute all day, but I can only capture her looking like a weirdo! Other people tell me she's cute too, so I don't think it is just "mom tells me I'm cute." Here are a few cute ones:

Give peas a chance:

Cuddling with Jaxon de Ville:

The closest to a smile I can capture:

And, all of a sudden she is huge! Month 3 pictures are up on shutterfly.

happy birthdays

Chris turns 32 today and Nana's birthday is Wednesday.

Here are the birthday boy and girl:

And, just what every new homeowner needs (thanks Mom and Dad!):

getting ready for this weekend

We went to the Jaguar game yesterday. They sucked, but look at the Florida-Georgia stands. Can't wait for this weekend!

late night at the bar

We went down to the art walk in Atlantic Beach today and had one beer at Ragtime on our way back to the car. Annie couldn't quite hang at the bar (it was really only 7:30!):

bonjour to brighten your day

Nice beret, Annie!

annie's two favorite things

Talking and standing! Please excuse my highly annoying voice but be sure to listen to Annie's cute one.

what a wedding!

We had a blast during Greg and Heather's wedding weekend. The groom cried, the bride was beautiful ... everything went perfectly. Annie was a hit at the wedding and enjoyed her first sleepover with my parents on Saturday night. Ever since our wedding, I have felt such a letdown when the wedding is over. There is so much preparation and looking forward to the event, then it's over and I can't help but feeling slightly bummed. I felt this way after our wedding and every other wedding brings me back to the feeling. I am still slightly out of sorts today, but most of that is probably lack of sleep!

A few pictures:

The bride and her friend Anne:

Hanging out with the groom late night:

tummy time

I just love this picture because it shows how interested Annie is in the world.

sleep is key

I am a little irritated with my mom and Nana, who didn't share with me the secret of a happy baby and instead made me figure it out myself! (KIDDING!) In BIG BABY NEWS: Annie was crying because she was tired! Apparently babies don't fall asleep just because they're tired. Sometimes they don't fall asleep after being rocked for 30 minutes, driven around in the car, sung too, etc. Thanks to a book from the library and mother's intuition, we are now under a "forced nap regimen" in the Prevatt household. This means naps for Annie, no matter what it takes. Naps in the crib are best, naps in the cosleeper are almost as good; but we'll take naps in the swing, naps in the carseat, or naps while being held. The end result is a happy baby, and we'll work on the where's and the how's later. She's happy and we're happy; I may have things I want to get done, but certainly nothing can be more important than holding Anne if that is where she'll sleep. How long is she going to fit on our chests to nap?

Not ideal, but it works:

Better:

Best:

And yes, I'm holding her in her sling right now while she snoozes! Have a nice day, everyone!

this isn't annie-sunnysideoflife.com

This is my blog and I am capable of doing other things than obsessing over my baby (rarely, but it has been known to happen). I do not want to be that mom with no other interests or activities!

I went out boozing for Heather's bachelorette party. Yes, I now remember what a hangover feels like:

We also threw Heather and Greg a couples shower that was our first party at our new house. The bride and groom were adorable:

And Chris and I went to the Jaguar game on Sunday. It was HOT but an exciting finish: