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5 1/2 months old!

Yes, I'm late in posting the monthly blog on Miss Annie Grace. We've been a little busy with potty training, ear infections and not sleeping. Mommy is tired. 

However, who can't resist this sweetie's smile?! I mean, I can't get enough of her smiles, snuggles, all-around sweetness! I'm truly savoring all of the cuddles and cuteness she gives me, because I feel like this time around, I know how quickly time flies before they don't want to be snuggled and cuddled and they are "big girls!"

All right- so, here's the 5 month monkey picture!

Lucy is still as sweet as ever to Annie- she loves to hold "Amy Grace" in her lap on the chair, while Mommy attempts to take pictures. It's difficult to get both of them to smile at the same time these days.

Before she had a name, Elena named her "Babs Frizzell" (actually, she jokingly named whichever child we would have next before I was actually pregnant, "Babs," while we were on our girls' trip to Mexico last summer!). She gave us this cute onsie at Annie's baby shower last Christmas and she's now finally big enough to wear it. 

And Annie still has a mohawk. It's pretty awesome. 

Annie loves to roll from her back to her tummy and practices getting up on all-fours and rocking back and forth. I predict that she will be crawling right at 6 months old, just like her sister.

Unlike her sister, though, she has masted sitting up on her own, just this past week. She can sit up on her own for a good 2-4 minutes before sometimes toppling over. She tripod-sat for a couple of weeks prior.

I still can't get over the fact that I have a blue-eyed child. Crazy. 

 I started rice cereal this week because I want to be good at eating solids by 6 months (in the hopes that she will sleep through the night on her own instead of us having to do cry-it-out!). She did fairly well with the first bites (and she's only really eating 1-2 spoonfuls at each session). But, practice makes perfect!

There have been so many sweet moments with my two girls lately- Lucy will sit down and read to Annie. She will also pat her back while Annie is on her tummy. Lucy likes to play doctor with Annie and I'll often hear her saying, "I know,  I know, it's okay. I know this is hard. It's almost over." I silently laugh in my head because this is what Lucy hears when we go to the doctor and something that's not fun is happening (like shots, looking in ears, etc). It's amazing what they soak up!!

Lucy is still so sweet and gentle to Annie- she loves to run into Annie's room when she hears that she's awake from her nap or needs a pacifier. She still calls her "Amy" or "Amy Grace,"  but primarily calls her "sister." 

Eating: She's still exclusively nursing, usually every 3 hours during the day, then usually once at night. We did just start rice cereal this week, once a day.

Naps: She takes 3-4 naps a day, usually taking her first nap 1.5-2 hours after she wakes up from the morning, then the next nap is 1.5-2 hours from when she last woke up, and so forth.

Sleeping: she goes to sleep around 7:00- 7:30 pm and wakes up around 6:45-7:00 am- she likes her paci, but I can put her down awake/drowsy, and she typically falls asleep on her own. She's been waking up 1-2 times a night, usually around midnight, then around 5:00 am to eat. I'm really wondering if she needs the midnight feed. She didn't need it for a long time, but then, just in the past month has she been waking up to eat then. She seems like she's hungry and eats a good amount, so maybe she does, but Mommy's getting tired. Hence starting some solids, in the hopes of her eating more during the day to hopefully sleep better at night.

Other: she got her second ear infection right at 5 months old and this time we started Augmentin (which gave her some diarrhea and a really bad diaper rash). We just finished the antibiotic today and go back for an ear recheck on Thursday. When we went to the doctor, she was 14 pounds 7 ounces. (gained a pound in one month). 

We've still been taking Prevacid for reflux, however, I haven't given it to her for the past two nights now, just to see if I think she's ready to wean off of the med....so far, so good.

Personality- she is still the sweetest thing. She's so content and happy most of the time. Very easy-going and laid back. She usually only fusses when she is tired or hungry. She still does great with going to school when I work or childcare at church. 

Picture dump...

The past two weeks have been filled with lots of wonderful family in town!

Here's a quick photo-dump of all that we've been up to lately...

Sister-bonding time in the chair

Lucy and Jack playing with the iPad- Jack was showing her some new "buttons" (apps)

Lucy, Alyssa and Cameron playing in the fountains after dinner one evening

We told them they could only get their feet wet and not their clothes....that lasted about 5 minutes.
Needless to say, I stripped her down to her diaper for the car ride home.

Pool time with Popsicles!

I loved having all my siblings and their spouses over most nights of the week last week!
So good to see Alex and Lane!

While the grown-ups were chatting, Lucy and Alyssa were busy playing with their babies. I went into Lucy's room a little later to find diapers, wipes and diaper cream all over her bedspread, carpet and the babies. She told me, "Mommy, the baby needed cream!"

Annie was captivated with Uncle Alex's beard and kept grabbing it

Cam playing doctor- Lucy was the patient in the Bumbo

I took the girls to an indoor safari play place- we rode the indoor train- Annie was strapped to me and Lucy was sitting in my lap. We were a little close :) 

Lucy could have spent hours in this car- she said it was her favorite thing about the indoor safari place

Oh my- Lucy now has to wear a uniform to school. PRECIOUS!!
(but seriously, a uniform for 2.5 year olds??) 

Four months old!

Four months old! It's going by so fast- I cannot believe she's 1/3 of the way to a year old. I get a little sentimental when I think that the cuddly, sweet baby phase is pretty much over. She's still sweet, but just not as cuddly. She's moving, kicking her legs, trying to roll- not a still, tiny baby anymore. 

She's finally becoming more smiley and more expressive. This photo shoot was quite a bit easier trying to get her to smile! :) Yay!

We have some unfortunate hair going on- parts of the back and side of her hair are falling out and she's got this mullet of sorts on the top. What do we do? Put a bow around her head. :) 

This is not chocolate. 

This is poop that was left behind after sitting in the Bumbo chair and doing a little grunting.

 "I can neither confirm nor deny that I left that poop squirt"

 This month, she learned how to roll from her back to her tummy! She's only done it 2 times, but it counts, right? Around 2 months old, she rolled quite a bit from tummy to back, but hasn't done it much since. She does like to roll on her sides...I'm sure the next month will hold more rolling.

Lucy loves to sit next to and "hold" Annie. She automatically thinks that if she asks to hold Annie in the chair, Mommy will go and get her phone and take pictures. 

She's actually quite right. They are so sweet together!

 I love this one!!

 Be still, my heart! I love my girls!

More on the past month:

- she got a cold right around 3.5 months and was up 2-3 times a night for about a week. Not cool when you add in that Lucy was also going through some sort of mental growth spurt or something and was kind of crazy, not napping, also getting up 1-2 times a night. Needless to say, I was VERY tired for about two weeks.

- Her right eye tear duct is still blocked, so with the cold came lots of goopy eye drainage (and is still continuing to drain). I've already had to get a refill on our Tobramycin eye drops! 

- Sleeping: once she got over her cold, she went back to waking up once a night again. I'm ready for the sleeping-through-the-night to come back (she did this for about two weeks when she was two months old). She goes to bed between 7:30-8:00 pm and wakes up around 7:00 am for the day. 

Naps:- she takes about 3-4 naps a day, usually an hour in length. I'm able to put her down in her bassinet (still using the Fisher Price Rock and Play to sleep in) awake with her paci and blanket and she will usually fall asleep on her own.  Most days, I'm able to have them both down at the same time napping for about an hour or so. SANITY. 

- Eating: she's exclusively nursing, usually eating every 2-3 hours during the day. 

- Motor skills: she's recently started to reach for the toys hanging on her bouncy seat. She's also started to hold onto a single toy when laying on her back. Today, I had a little mirror for her to look into that propped up next to her while she was doing tummy time and she thought that was so much fun!

- Personality: I really think she's going to be a laid-back girl. She's rarely fussy or crying. She usually blows raspberries as her cry when she's upset. She pretty much goes with the flow. 

- Miscellaneous- she has started to kind of laugh/chuckle when you act silly/ play peek-a-boo with her. She's also become a lot more expressive and acts engaged. 

- Sizes: we are wearing size 1 diapers and size 3 month clothing, although I just got a box of size 2 diapers  to be used soon and I'm thinking we will need to switch out her 3 month clothes for 6 month clothes pretty quickly (especially her jammies). 

We go later this week for her check-up, so I'll edit the post once I get her height/weight. My guess is that she's about 13 pounds. She's not quite a chunky as she was a month ago- she's been more active this month, with kicking her legs, rolling, so I think she's burned more calories and slimmed up a tad. 

Liz is getting married!

As usual, I'm so behind in blogging. I'm trying to catch up. Sigh...

At the end of June, Liz and Billy got engaged!! Yay!!

He had all of the family and close friends line the sides of the Watermark chapel (we all held little candles), and he walked her down the isle of the chapel and proposed while we all watched with tears in our eyes (at least the women were crying). :) 

We hosted the after-par-tay at our house! So fun!!

The Serna women with their rings.
So glad Lane got to fly down, even if it was for less than 24 hours to be here!

Liz gets things done, y'all. She has essentially planned the entire wedding in about two weeks. 

I had the fun pleasure of going with her, my mom and Billy's mom to Lulu's bridal boutique where she tried on 6 dresses and picked "the one." 

And it's truly beautiful- she looks stunning!! 

(obviously won't post a pic of it on here yet)

But apparently if you buy a dress from Lulu's, you get to leave the shop walking through bubbles while they play, "Here comes the bride." 

Annie came with us for the wedding dress and bridesmaids dress sessions. She was a trooper and did awesome!

Hard to imagine that I might be a mother-of-the-bride in about 25 years! Crazy!

3 months old!

Annie Grace is 3 months old!! (about 10 days late....that's how we roll around here)

Let's see...what's new....

- Annie is much more alert, smiley, will follow Lucy all around the room with her eyes

- She found her feet and hands and likes to clasp her hands together as well as try to bend forward to reach her toes

- I went back to work at the end of June (I work two days a week)- she got to go to "school" for the first time and did pretty well. Taking a bottle has taken some getting-used-to, but she's transitioned well. It was a lot easier dropping her off at school on my first day back than it was with Lucy- the same sweet lady who took care of Lucy is now taking care of Annie. 

- Annie made her first trip to Waco for Frizzell family birthday day. She slept the entire way there and most of the way back home.

-She also attended Aunt Liz's engagement!! More to come on that momentous evening!

- She's been swimming a couple of times! She loves the water and does great in the pool.

Sleeping:

- she blessed me with a two week stretch of sleeping through the night (down around 8:30 pm, up at 6:00 or 6:30 am). This lovely trend stopped right at 3 months due to a growth spurt, and is slowly going back. Right now, she's getting up once a night, most nights, anywhere between 2:30-5:30 am for a quick feed. On a rare night, she will sleep through the night. She's going to bed between 8:00-8:45 pm most nights. No dream feeding for this girl.

Naps- she takes about 4-5 short naps (30-60 minute naps) a day, about half the days, she'll take a longer afternoon nap (sometimes lasting as long as 3 hours!)

Feeding:

- still nursing every 2-3 hours, sometimes every 1.5 hours

- reflux is tons better on Prevacid!! I will pay the $70 a month for peace and quiet

Other:

- loves her paci when falling asleep or fussy

- does really well with being placed awake in her bassinet and falling asleep on her own most of the time

- we are still sleeping semi-upright in the Fisher Price bassinet. I'm too afraid to start sleeping her in her crib because she sleeps SO WELL in this lovely bassinet!! 

- Lucy LOVES her little sister- she will come up to Annie and give her kisses. The other morning she told Annie, "I wub you." So, so sweet! I kind of have to watch Lucy, though, because she doesn't quite get personal space and can be a little over-whelming to little Annie. Sweet girl doesn't know what's coming sometimes with her big sister. 

Okay, okay, here's the pics!

Obligatory monkey picture....

My little snuggle bunny!

Reaching for her toes...look at those rolls on her thighs!

Still has gorgeous blue eyes!

We made it through our first day of Mommy back at work (Mommy's looking a little rough in this pic)

Does well with tummy time- holding her head up all the time!

The past two weeks...

It's summer and it's HOT outside. 

We like to play with play-doh. and build towers...

"I tink it fall ober," she said. 

 She was right. It did "fall ober."

Mike's 8 night/9 day international trip went well, minus missing his connecting flight in Chicago on the way (due to weather), so he had to spend the night in Chicago, fly to NYC the next day to get the only flight out to the country that evening...thus, the airline lost his luggage and it didn't return to him until the evening before he left to come back to the states. He got to do a little international shopping while he was there for some extra clothes....

Here he is with the hotel employee who diligently called the airlines/airport every day to check on the status of his bag. Bless his heart. 

Little Miss Blue Eyes is just as sweet as she can be. She started sleeping through the night the night Mike left to go on his big trip. About 5 days later, she went through a growth-spurt for a couple of days, but then has gone right back to sleeping 9-10 hours a night (either sleeping completely through the night, or waking up at 5:30 am to eat, then going right back to sleep). I'll take it. 

And we both made it through my first day back at work earlier this week. I was a little nervous that she wouldn't do well with taking a bottle, but she did fine! It was much easier dropping her off that morning with Lucy because the same sweet women who took care of Lucy when she was a baby are now taking care of Annie.