The Uphoffs

Best. Weekend. Ever.

2011-05-31T17:46:00.000-07:00

We honestly had the best weekend. Everything went seamlessly. We did all our normal chores, had lots of fun, watched movies and went to the zoo.

It all started with a yummy dinner with great friends on Friday night. Saturday we got up early and went to the farmers market and loaded up with yumm-o's for the family. Then we went to Gymboree, lunch and frozen yogurt. When we got home we played a little more (little lady is officially army crawling) ate dinner and then after our shower we watched Tangled. Annabelle was like a big kid watching the movie in my lap. We all loved it.

Sunday we grocery shopped, toy shopped and then spent the rainy day watching Beauty and the Beast snuggled up.

Monday was the best! We got up early and went to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Annabelle slept for the first half, but Daddy took pictures of all the animals she missed:

Then Annabelle woke up:

This gorilla was funny, he was playing with people, turned his back on them and then turned back around.

This is one of Annabelle's new favorite faces to make. Mom still loves her!

Clearly I am a terrible blogger

2011-05-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

So what, I told myself I would keep this up, and I have totally dropped the ball. Living life each day is much more important. But now I do promise that I will work harder at keeping this blog up.

Few random thoughts on this cold, rainy, awful Thursday (that I keep thinking is Friday):
1. Starbucks is like cocaine to me, I just cannot get enough. I think about it all.the.freaking.time. It does not help that the one down the street from my office is AMAZING and the baristas are the best around. Also, it does not help that my 7 month old (holy cow, where has the time gone?!) has decided that sleep is stupid and is now refusing to sleep at night.
2. Bed Sharing was fun, but I am so ready for my child to sleep the entire night in her crib. Please make this happen soon.
3. I am so tired of breastfeeding it is unreal. Well, less tired of the actual feeding my child (when she isn't too distracted to eat), and more tired of the constant pumping required. Plus the fact that my supply keeps tanking for no apparent reason.
4. can the weather just decide what it will be and stay that way for a while? I am tired of hot, cold, hot, cold, hot cold.

I promise to post some pictures and updates on Miss Annabelle very soon.

* I do realize I am making a promise to no one since I am sure no one reads this. :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-23T07:42:00.001-08:00

(this is a post loads of bloggers do, I figured I would join the fun since Wednesday I ALWAYS have a new picture)

4 Months

2011-02-22T07:34:00.000-08:00

I am a little late to the game this month.

Here are the stats:
15 lbs 2 oz (yes, I won the bet -- I guessed 15 lbs 6 oz)
24 3/4 inches
All stats are in the 75-90%

The doctor also commented on how she is holding her body up and bearing her weight like the average 6 month-er. He also said she was remarkably alert and aware for only being 4 months. I am proud of my over achieving daughter!

Things my little lady is doing:

rolling from tummy to back
this.close to rolling from back to tummy
talking constantly
blowing spit bubbles
pulling herself up when she is sitting/leaning against something --- so.close to actually sitting unassisted
loving ALL toys
grabbing at nearly everything that is near her (especially if it is blue or shiny silver -- those two colors catch her attention most)
bringing everything to her mouth for a good taste
feels like she has a tooth just ready to pop through, though it could still be weeks or months away
and my personal favorite: GIGGLING!!! (I keep trying to get a video of this, but every time I have her going and I pull out the camera, she just stops and stares!)

Growing too fast!

2011-02-21T16:48:00.001-08:00

So before Ms Annabelle was born, I bought her a couple adorable Tea Collection onesies. The other day I was going through her clothes, washing and organizing her 9 month stuff -- YES, I said NINE months, this child is growing like a weed -- I realized I had these cute onesies in 6-12 months. I also realized that they will definitely NOT fit her this summer, when they should be worn. SO -- what does a mama do? I figure out an outfit, no matter how goofy it may look, to have my daughter rock the cuteness off these onesies before she grows out of them.

I already plan to buy this and this to replace the two that won't fit this summer. Lesson learned.

New Adventure

2011-02-17T06:38:00.001-08:00

I just bought a sampling of cloth diapers for us to try out. I am VERY excited to give this a try -- this is something I wanted to do since the day I found out I was pregnant.

Hopefully 6 diapers ~half a days worth is enough to give us an idea. Maybe I should order enough for 1 full day? What do you think?

Stay tuned for updates!

Happy Valentines Day

2011-02-14T17:51:00.000-08:00

So the last few days Annabelle has been tugging at her ears, staying up all night eating (or using mom as a pacifier), fighting naps and then she actually used a pacifier for the first time. All of these things are totally out of character for my babe, so I called the doctor just to see if I should be worried. They had us come in. Luckily, it was nothing, they said its one of those "blame it on teething" situations. I felt stupid, but I am so happy she is a healthy girl!

Here are some lovey pics of my babe:

Weekend in Review -- Mommy's Little Girl

2011-02-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

On Saturday morning Annabelle and Mommy spent a few hours playing and putting together the jumparoo (see post below). Then in the afternoon we all went out to the local outdoor mall to walk around. It was actually nice outside (if you can consider 40 degrees "nice"). Annabelle loved all the attention she got from the ladies at Macy's.

Then we came home, played, napped and Boomer and I got ready to go out to dinner alone for the first time since Annabelle's arrival. It was a great night, even if we only talked about our sweet girl.

Sunday morning I was hunting around in a laundry basket (yeah, yeah, I have been a bit lazy) for a onesie that I had been dying to put Annabelle in. Annabelle was sitting next to me on the couch and grabbed a pair of leggings with a skirt attached out of the pile. She hugged them, slobbed on them, smiled and cooed. I told her that she was wearing the jeans and took the leggings from her, she SCREAMED at me. I handed her the jeans and said, look, you are going to be so cute today! She screamed. I handed her the leggings back and she was happy. The babe already has opinions on what she wears -- Just like mommy (though you wouldn't know that looking at me lately). Here is a picture of her proudly modeling her leggings (please ignore the exhausted woman in the background):

Hailey, Annabelle and I went out to the mall to look for more cute Annabelle clothes. This girl keeps growing so fast, I can't keep up. After we got home, we had some awesome tummy time.

All in all, it was an awesome weekend.

Look who found her feet!

2011-02-13T18:07:00.000-08:00

The Jumparoo

2011-02-12T08:02:00.001-08:00

I am a sucker for baby toys, what can I say? Not only do we have an exersaucer - which Annabelle LOVES but I also went and bought her the jumparoo. It was super easy to put together this morning and after a few minutes of "WTF" looks, she got it and had a blast!

I also got a new camera lens, so these pictures are of Annabelle playing with her new toy, while mom played with hers!

New to this

2011-02-11T06:22:00.000-08:00

I am new to this blog business, but I wanted a place where I could quickly write down my thoughts about my life and my family. Especially since I am a terrible "baby book keeper" -- this can be my electronic baby book.

A little background:
Last year, right around now, Boomer and I found out we were pregnant! I knew I was pregnant despite having taken a home pregnancy test a week earlier that said "not pregnant" -- I waited patiently for the day Boomer and I agreed I would retest. My patience ran out at about 3 am that morning when I woke up, took the test, then danced around the bathroom with our puppy waiting for Boomer to finally wake up so I could tell him the news. I was so excited I couldn't believe it.
The pregnancy was long, and pretty uneventful. I didn't gain too much weight (about 15 lbs), my blood pressure was stable the whole time and Annabelle only gave me one scare: At about 27 weeks I had a day of no movement from my normally active baby, I thought nothing of it. I offhandedly mentioned it to my mother who told me to call the DR immediately -- I did and they told me to come in immediately. I freaked. But as soon as the U/S tech put the wand on my belly, Miss A decided to start dancing. I was embarrassed, but also relieved.
At 39 weeks, 4 days - October 20, 2010 at 7:42PM our beautiful little Annabelle was born weighing 8 lbs 8 oz, 20 inches long. Her delivery was a little rough and really long, but once she was here, none of that mattered.
Once we got home, we were able to get into a routine pretty quickly and have been doing very well since.

EDIT: Boomer wants me to go back and "back-fill" this, so I will be adding stories as I remember and back dating.

First Cold

2011-01-23T18:15:00.000-08:00

My babe is miserable:

3 Months

2011-01-20T17:39:00.000-08:00

Time is just flying by! 3 Months OLD!

We do not have stats because we don't go to the doctors until 4 months. She has mastered tummy time and is actually starting to enjoy it. She can bear weight on her legs and has pretty much total control over her neck.

2 Months Old

2010-12-20T17:30:00.000-08:00

Holy Cow! 2 Months old already!!!!

On my two month birthday, Ms Annabelle rolled from tummy to back for the very first time! It was very exciting! She is obviously extraordinarily advanced.

Here are the stats from our Drs visit (and our first shots):

12 lbs 5 oz (75-90%)

23 1/2 inches (75-90%)

The shots were a little rough. She cried after they were over, but was in good spirits getting home. It was after she woke up from her nap, when her legs were good and stiff that the sadness started. It took tons and tons of cuddles from mom and dad to make it all better. :)

1 Month Old!

2010-11-20T05:47:00.000-08:00

Annabelle is 1 month old! She is (if I remember correctly) starting to track people and has definitely gained even more control over her neck.

Stats from the Drs visit:

10 lbs 8 oz (75-90%)

22 1/4 inches (90%)