Happy Grandparent's Day!

I just wanted to say Happy Grandparent's Day to our wonderful Grandparents and to Annistyn's great-grandparents and grandparents. Annistyn is SO blessed because she has 4 grandparents:

My Daddy/ Her Grandaddy:


My Mom/ Her Granmommy:


Note: My mom and dad have not "officially" picked out what they want Annistyn to call them. They want to let her decide. I told my mom if she didn't pick out a name I was going to start calling her Big Mamma. So..maybe that will inspire her to pick one out!

Michael's Mom and Dad (Who also do not have "official" names):



Annistyn ALSO has ALL 8 of her great-grandparents!

My Mom's Parents- Nana and Papa:



My Dad's Parents- Memaw and G-Daddy:



Michael's Mom's Parents- Nomie Norris and Granddaddy:



Michael's Dad's Parents- Nomie Page and PawPaw:



She EVEN has a great-great grandmother- my dad's grandmother. Unfortunately, we have not been able to get a picture with her yet. I would LOVE to have one with 5 generations- since I have a picture of me as a little girl with 5 generations. My great-great grandmother, Maw, lived until I was 8. Her first name was Annie and I loved her very much. So when we came up with Annistyn as a name, I thought it was great that it had part of Maw's name in it.

We love our family so much and know that we are very blessed to have so many grandparents to spoil Annistyn! She is the first grandchild for both our parents and the first great-grandchild for 3 out of the 4 sets. So...she is a very rotten little girl! We wouldn't have it any other way!!!!

To our grandparents- we love all of you SO much! Thank you for being such a special part of our lives! Happy Grandparent's Day!!!


Since I can't post without a picture of our precious baby- here she is wearing the outfit her Daddy bought her yesterday when he went to Troy. He picked it out all by himself. He is actually really good at that! Doesn't she look adorable? (As always!)






When I quit taking her picture she just plopped backwards into her stuffed animal pile and started giggling. So I had to take another picture...



Such a silly girl! Hope everyone has a great week!

Sleeping Beauties

Michael worked outside some today and wanted to play with Annistyn when he came back in. I left them in the living room and went to clean her closet and room. It's amazing how messy it can get considering she cannot even walk yet! I ended up cleaning out her drawers. I think I pulled out about 50 sleepers and onesies that were too small. I pulled one preemie sleeper out and held it up. I COULD NOT believe that she actually wore those when she came home. Anyway- back to the original story. I thought it had gotten a little quiet in the living room. When I walked through to take some things to the kitchen, this is what I found...



I thought it was precious. They didn't even notice me taking pictures of them!

Annistyn is crazy about Michael! When she is tired, hungry, or not feeling good, she only wants me. And if he's not around- I'm her #1 friend! But as soon as her Daddy walks in, he has her full attention. I couldn't even feed her sweet potatoes tonight because he was at the sink washing dishes and she kept trying to get his attention. She kept looking at him and making her spitting noise. Everytime she would do it, potatoes would fly everywhere. She is definitely a Daddy's girl!

Last night she got to wear her mermaid dress to dinner. I bought this dress when I was about 6 or 7 months pregnant. I stayed up until about 1:00 in the morning to bid on it on Ebay. Someone else had done the same thing. We were throwing bids left and right and as the time ticked down and the auction closed, I wasn't sure if she had outbid me in the last second or not. But I won! So you can imagine how disappointed I've been that it is a 3-month size dress and Annistyn has not been able to wear it until now. The shoulders were too big for her. She is really narrow. So I was excited to see her in it last night.




In this picture she is practicing for school by raising her hand. Way to go, Annistyn! Some of my Kindergarteners STILL cannot do that after 5 weeks of school!!!



Guess who she is reaching for in this one....



You're right! Daddy wins again! He walked into the room and it was like, "Mommy, who?" That's okay though. My mom was and still is my best friend, but you can bet your britches that I'm STILL Daddy's princess.

Speaking of my Dad- tomorrow is Grandparent's Day and I will have a special message for all of Annistyn's grandparents then- but I'd like to share what I made for my Dad for Grandparent's Day:



You may remember seeing those Harley pictures a couple of months ago. He already has a HUGE picture of me and my sister in leather jackets beside his Harley. I made a collage of pictures of his motercycle also for Christmas one year. So I think this will look great with those. They were just simple snapshots, but I blurred the background and turned them black and white. I know you get tired of seeing that same quote on everything- but I just love it!

Well, since Annistyn thought it was a work day and started her day at 6:45- I'm pooped. I got A LOT done today- but I'm still pooped. So I'm off to bed! Don't forget to wish your grandparents a HAPPY GRANDPARENTS DAY tomorrow!

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

I was sitting in 10th grade history class.

I was old enough to think that I really understood what had happened, but too young to realize what our country had really lost.

Today is September 11 and it is a day our generation will never forget. It is a day that a lot of families will never forget because they lost someone close to them.

There were people who woke up, drank a cup of coffe, and went to work like any other day. There were people who were just visiting the popular towers. Some people were getting on a plane to go on a vacation. I remember hearing about a family taking their little girl to Disney World that was on one of the flights.

I hope that everyone will take a few moments to pray for the families that lost loved ones, our country, and yes, even our enemies. They need the prayers more than anyone.

God Bless the USA!

I Blinked....

Everyone told me... but I didn't believe them.

And then it happened.

I blinked.

And this...



Became this...





This...




Is now this...




And this...



Grew into this....



My little tiny 5 lb. 4 ounce baby that I brought home from the hospital has turned into a babbling, crawling, laughing 6-month old who thinks she is a lot older than 6 months.

I did not know that 6 months could fly by so fast or that my baby would turn into a big girl right before my eyes.

These are the announcements I made that are going in the mail tomorrow.
Here's the front:




Here's the back:




So, Annistyn, what have you been doing over the last 6 months?

I was born! March 10, 2009



Me, Mommy, and Daddy survived me being in ICU!





I...

...came home- March 14


...met my brother



...took my first bath- March 17



...made my first glamour shots- 3 weeks old


...went to my first birthday party- May




...went on my first vacation- June 2009




...swam for the first time- June 2009



...started trying to stand up- June



...rolled over- June



...ate cereal- July



...played in my Exersaucer for the first time- July



...started trying to crawl- July



...ate babyfood- August 3



...sat up- August 5



...started trying to feed myself- August



...went to my first football game- August




At 6 months old-

Annistyn still fits into some 0-3 month clothing and pretty much all 3-6 month clothing. She wears size 2 diapers and weighs around 15 lbs. (We will go for her check-up next Wednesday) She looks pretty small everywhere but her legs. Her hair is filling in quickly. The big bows will stay in it now. It gets frizzy on humid days. There are definitely going to be some curls. Her eyes have a blue tint when she wears blue, but they have changed a lot this past month. We are beginning to see a lot more green.

She sleeps WONDERFULLY- sometimes 12 hrs. or more through the night. She takes 2 main naps- late morning and afternoon. Her favorite food is pears. Her favorite toys are any kind of books, her Exersaucer(s), and Finley Dog.

She scoots on the floor and has pretty much figured out the crawling- but doesn't show much interest in it. She wants to walk and is constantly trying to stand up. She has figured out how to push on things to stand up.

She can grab ANYTHING within reach and some things that you think are not within reach. It all goes strait to her mouth. When she chews on something she likes, she is VERY noisy. She is pretty noisy anyway. She talks ALL the time. It sounds a lot more like words than it did last month! She also likes to drop things on the floor and lean over and look for them.

She loves Mommy- but is very interested in Daddy when he comes home from work!

She is a good baby. She loves to play and is a great sleeper. She only cries when she is very sleepy or hungry. She is just a happy little girl! I guess if all babies were like her (and I could afford it!) I would want 5!!!

Every day it seems like she is doing something new. It's amazing how much she has learned in just 6 months.

What's even more amazing is that the last 6 months of my life have been filled with more happiness than the last 23 years. I cannot put into words what Annistyn means to me. She is the light of my life and has definitely stole my heart as well as her Daddy's.

She is a daily reminder that God answers prayers and that He blesses us with WAY more than we deserve.

Happy 6-Month Birthday to my precious angel!!!!