October Bliss - Annie

October 2010 was just such a great month for me. I'm still in denial that it is over... maybe that is why it has taken me so long to sit down and write. We had a really great time getting to know Shannon. Usually I have that "how-is-my-baby-already-a-month-old?!"-feeling after that first month, but I didn't feel that this time. Really! Time seemed to slow down for me during that month. Heaven.

One thing we knew we needed to do during Tyler's month off was go to So Cal for Tyler to visit his uncle. I went back and forth probably a dozen times trying to decide if I should go. One morning when the baby was about a week old, I woke up feeling so tired that it hurt. That's when I rolled over in bed and told Tyler that I had my answer--I would not be joining Tyler, Whitney & Cole on their adventure south with a 2 week old baby. End of story. 

So I got to enjoy a week with just Annie and Shannon. Since Shannon was still so teeny and new, all she did was eat and sleep while Annie and I got to enjoy some wonderful one-on-one time. I thought there would be some angst on her part that Cole & Whitney were going to Legoland without her, but each day when we would pray together she would say, "Please bless Cole & Whitney to have SOOOOOOO much fun at Legoland!" without a word of complaint that she wasn't there too. 

We enjoyed going to the park together:

We took some pictures with her cousin one morning:

She was so out of control; this was the only decent shot I got:

The bedtime routine each night was smooth and unrushed. Annie got to choose all her books herself without any older siblings getting bugged by her stopping to ask questions or reading the same books night after night. Like lots of kids her age, she LOVES books and can't get enough of them. She loves to sleep with a pile; one night we discovered her up on the top bunk like this:

Not even bothered by the book on her head!

I'm really grateful for my sweet Annie. She is definitely a pistol, but at the same time brings us so much joy. I even love the politically incorrect things she says. The other day I took the 4 kids to a nearby park where there are usually not too many people. As we drove up, I wondered if we were crashing the local Asian Mother's Group. There were about 4-5 moms with about one kid each, so just showing up with my clan practically doubled the number of kids in attendance.

One little boy toddled over with his mother to check out baby Shannon. Annie studied his little face for a few minutes and then said, "Mom... does he have circle eyes or line eyes?" I'm still hoping that the little Asian boy's mom didn't understand what Annie said. Ay caramba. Where do these kids get these ideas?!