Where does the time go?

It's nearly Thanksgiving! How does that happen?

AJ is good...spoiled rotten,but very good. Here are the latest...

Happy Birthday AnnaJo!

AnnaJo turned one year old today! She was so happy when she woke up this morning! I started snapping pictures and she was quite a little drama queen. Papa Rod came to visit last night, so I had to give up my bathroom for him to get ready. I was putting my makeup on in the bedroom and she decided to play too. It was too cute!

We headed out to Nana's for lunch and her birthday party. She loves to put on her apron like Nana, but i think Nana likes it even more. I baked her birthday cake on Friday night and Jodi helped me ice it yesterday before AJ's party. AnnaJo enjoyed it...

I only cried once!

I did it! I successfully left AnnaJo with her Daddy overnight. And not just 1 night....3 nights!! And I only cried once! Go me!!!

Missy and I went to New Orleans on Sept 18 for a girls weekend. We left Jeff City on Thursday night and stayed overnight in KC before our early morning flight on Friday. When we left, Cliff was taking AJ on a walk and she was a waving little fool. For a few days before I left, she became a Daddy's girl. I think she knew that I was leaving and she was just trying to make it easier. :-) Smart little girl!!Before I went to sleep on Thursday night, I set the alarm on my cell phone. Big mistake - AnnaJo's picture is my wallpaper on the phone. I just couldn't help it...i broke down. I texted Cliff to make sure she went to sleep okay without me, and of course she did. The tears finally stopped about 5 minutes later and I was able to go to sleep. I felt so silly...it was only my very first night away from her in a year and nine months (oh yes, I totally count the pregnancy too). No more tears though after that....probably out of sheer exhaustion.

Funny story though...Cliff had a first while I was gone too.... He was giving AnnaJo a bath on thursday night before bed. She has about 4 teeth coming through right now, so she is eating everything in sight or at least chewing on everything for a bit. So her little digestive system is really getting a workout. anyway, he was giving her a bath on thursday night and she pooped in the bathtub! Please note that she has not really done that to me, so it was totally a new experience for Daddy. :-) And not only did she do it once, she did it twice! He had to fill the bathtub 3 times!! (mwah, ha, ha - in your most evil mommy laugh voice).

Bye Mommy! Have a great time!

Megan and I in the elevator of the resort - Club La Pension

Bourbon Street!!!

Mine Mine Mine!!!

It's official.... September 6 was the last day that AnnaJo nursed! I weaned her by the sign of the moon from the farmer's almanac. Not sure what sign the moon was in that week, but it said Aug 29 - Sept 6 was the time to do it, so we did it! So after a year, they are mine again! They didn't feel like mine for the first week, but it was nothing that a head of cabbage couldn't fix! Another tidbit of info...Cabbage leaves stuffed in your bra really do take the engorged feeling away. Makes you small like a Karney for awhile, but it was worth it! She is doing very well with everything - hasn't even asked for it at all. And she's been going to sleep in her bed like a big girl! We've been putting her in her crib and she doesn't make a sound.

We also took her 1 year photos last Saturday. She was a little turd! I'm not taking her by myself ever again. In fact, I'm not sure I will take her at all. She was very clingy. I think she'd do better with her Daddy or one of her g-ma's. Actually, that might be a good Tia project. Jodi is pretty good with photographic stuff, so she'd be sure to get all the good pictures taken. She was whiny and clingy through the whole thing. And once we left, she was all smiles. The photographer assured me that it was TOTALLY normal. I'll post as soon as I see the proofs.

We took this photo on Sunday... wish she would have done this the day before!

11 months old...big girl!

11 months old and quite a handful! Here are some pics....some are from our recent trip to STL for some friends' wedding. Not much new to update except that she is throwing tantrums and I'm trying to regain control of my boobs! She is starting to pull my shirt up in public and that means its time to be finished with breastfeeding! She's not too keen on the idea yet.

She's a Climber!!

My daughter is .... a handfull, among other things! We had a great weekend playing in the floor and reading books. She also proved to be quite a problem solver! She likes to pull up on the laundry basket and push it around, walking behind it. She pushed it over to the coffee table at one point. Well, you can see the rest of what happened!

Normally, I would make sure to take a better pic with her eyes open, but she dove off the coffee table head first. I barely got my hand under her head before it hit the floor. You can see that she also likes to play postman. We put our mail on the table there and she redistributes it...all over the floor. The picture of her and Vegas is how we spent the rest of our Sunday. She loves that darn dog and thank God he puts up with her!

Mama...finally!

AnnaJo finally said Mama on Friday, August 7!! (10 months old) I was at Pizza Hut at a Jordan Essentials (Country Bunny) party with Amy. I was looking at the catalog and AnnaJo crawled over to get one of her cheese puffs. She came over saying 'ma ma ma' like she's been doing it forever! I was so excited! She didn't say it again for another day, but now it's been added to her regular vocabulary, including her crying it out time in the middle of the night. It's a heart breaker, but I haven't given in to it yet. I know...my time is coming!

She is also standing up in the middle of the floor by herself. Her balance is really coming along and I anticipate some steps in the next few weeks. She loves to stand up, but not nearly as much as she loves falling on her butt. She is so funny!

too cute not to share!

You can barely see it now, but AnnaJo took her first big tumble down a step this weekend. She had quite a scratch on her nose Saturday, but it looked much better on Sunday. Cliff had her out on the front porch and turned his back for a moment. Down the front step she went....face first. It was her second or third time down the step and she did it right the first 2 times. She took it like a champ though and tried to do it again yesterday. She is a little ham...a perfect mix of Hammond and Hill.

10 months old!

I have really got to get better about updating this blog! Let's see...I can't even remember where I left off.

AnnaJo is 10 months old today! I can't believe she is only 2 months away from the one year mark! It has absolutely flown by! She is such a funny little girl. She is always happy, well, usually happy (see below!). She finally has a tooth that I noticed on July 18 (bottom right) and she took her first steps on July 21 at Nana's house. That being said, i have not witnessed it myself, by Mom swears that it happened.

She is still an excellent eater! Can you imagine a Hammond-Hill being any different? :-) She loves to feed herself from the high chair. she's a finger food kind of girl though. I haven't been brave enough to give her control of the spoon. I'm sure that's next. I think she wanted it tonight. Cliff and I were eating dinner about an hour after she ate. She wanted some too and I wasn't operating fast enough. She leaned forward and bit my big toe! I was too startled to be mad. I told her that it's not nice to bite Mama and gave her a mean look. She ended up getting her potato soup!

She is still just saying "da-da-da" and she added something else too, but I"m not sure what it is. I do know that it is NOT ma-ma. I need to be reading to her more - i'm sure she'd be saying a bit more if I'd get on the ball and read every night. It seems like there isn't enough time in the day though! I can't imagine having another one right now!

Pet update: Jersey is living in New Orleans now with Megan and AJ. They are loving her and spoiling her rotten. Monet has gone to live with another family in town too. I'm sure he is being loved as well. So we are down to a 2 pet family and things are a little easier to deal with. We're still willing to part with Mocha, but only to a super loving home. I'm not as concerned about him because he doesn't let AJ too close to him.

Here are some of the latest pics to enjoy...

AnnaJo's first trip to the river over July 4th! Down past Uncle Homer's property in West Plains.

AnnaJo with Aylia and Rogun!

Little Miss Chef!

Did I say that she was happy ALL the time?

AnnaJo with her buddy Monet! (sob, sob)

Update from the Hills

#1 - Jersey has a new home with Megan and AJ (not my AJ, but AJ Armstrong). She is living in Springfield with them and will relocate to New Orleans when they move. They picked her up on Sunday morning and it was a very sad day for Cliff and I.

#2 - AnnaJo is allergic to the cats. We need to find a super loving home for them. I'd love to be able to take Monet back one day, but it will all depend on AJ's reaction to them.

#3 - Cliff and I went to the Cardinals-Royals game in KC on Saturday. AnnaJo stayed with Cliff's cousin, Jo Jo and played with Brenner and the rest of the Hillbrenner crew on Saturday evening. Here are a few pics... Now that we know how close they live to us, we'll be visiting more often!

Crazy day for us! Allergy dr results!

AnnaJo's allergy test today was very insightful. Poor baby had a reaction to quite a bit. We will not know if she has a true allergy to these things until we eliminate them from her diet and/or eliminate her exposure to them and then reintroduce them.

Very intense Reaction to: Oranges, Soybean, Green Peas, Alternaria (mold)

Intense Reaction to: Tomatoes, Codfish, Chicken, Eggs (whole/white/yolk), Banana, Sweet Corn, Dust Mites and Cats.

Mild reaction to: Carrots, Peanuts, Apples, House Dust

No reaction to: wheat, oats, yeast, pork, beef, dairy, goats milk, dogs, and cockroaches.

Plan of action....
1 - Food allergies - avoid these foods for 2 weeks, then reintroduce one at a time to see if allergy symptoms increase. (tomatoes, oranges, codfish, chicken, eggs, peanuts, soybeans, green peas, sweet corn, banana) This means that i avoid them since I'm nursing still and she cannot have them either. This includes food that is made with those items too. No tomato sauce, and no cookies and cakes made with eggs! Eggs and Chicken will be the first thing that is reintroduced to our diets in two weeks. Eggs will be first - that way I can have cake on my birthday! :-)

2 - Environmental allergies -
cats will be finding a new home temporarily until we get her food allergies under control. They might be reintroduced later if their new owner isn't super duper attached.

Mold (the kind that is everywhere) and Dust Mites are a little harder to avoid. We'll be buying new matress covers and pillow cases and having our ducts cleaned for sure!

We are following up in 6 weeks to do another round of environmental allergen testing and to discuss the food elimination results.

3 - medication
We will be giving her nasal spray - Nasalcrom once daily in each nostril. That should be fun!

if her reaction the the environmental allergens is severe in 6 weeks, the dr may recommend allergy shots. I'll be reading up and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I'm hoping we don't have to!

What a day! I have a long list of food label ingredients to avoid. We'll be keeping a food diary (for both of us). And we'll all need to be very aware of her symptoms. Might be a long summer! Our follow up appt is scheduled for July 30!

So...we need to find a new owner for Jersey, Monet and Mocha. Any takers? they need loving homes where they will be spoiled.

Sad day for the Hill's

Anyone who knows us knows that we LOVE our animals just like members of the family. Priorities have changed a bit though since we brought AnnaJo home. The four-pawed members of the family have all adjusted pretty well to her, but as she becomes more mobile, things are changing a bit. She loves to watch all four of them - both the cats and both dogs. And usually things are fine. She chases them in her walker and squeals as she gets close to them. And if she hits them - watch out! She nearly comes out of the walker, just to claim her prize! Remind me of this around carnival time...she is going to LOVE bumper boats and bumper cars! Anyway, we have decided that Jersey needs to be in a home without babies. She has always done great with my nephews - they are older and a little more deliberate in their actions. She has let them wrestle her all over and just lays their and takes the abuse. However, she is very leary when AnnaJo is around and it makes me nervous to have her in the floor with Jersey at face level. For anyone who hasn't been around her...Jersey is a very loving, devoted friend. She stays off the bed, unless invited up and she likes to sleep at the foot of our bed, on the floor. She loves being around people and will follow Cliff to the end of the earth. She is a great swimmer too...she is a lot of fun to take camping! She is a house dog though...doesn't like being outside without a human being to watch. She prefers to hang out and nap most of the day...watching what happens outside, from the comfort of her own pallet. If you know of anyone who would take extra good care of her, let us know. She is a great dog and we'll want to visit her occasionally, so keep it close, please.

8 months old...big girl!

My little princess is getting big! This picture is from Dad's house on Sunday, May 25...just a few days before her 8 month mark. She woke up in such a great mood! She is such a cutie, but I am certainly biased.

Still no teeth....

She is eating up a storm...anything i put in front of her. She had her first taste of pork chops on Friday night at TJ's. We went to dinner for Terry's graduation from the 8th grade. I took my food mill along and she had pork chops, sweet potato and green beans. Makes me hungry to think about.

On Monday we took her to Donna and Gary's so Cliff and I could get some housework done. She started doing the army crawl there... and then on Tuesday at nana's went from a seated position to her tummy, did the army crawl and sat back up like a big girl! Nana said that she did it twice, but I have yet to witness it.

She went to her first softball game last night too...loved it. She enjoyed the company - Evan was there and Missy brought Rogun too. We'll have to take pictures next week!

What a difference a year makes!

A year ago, at 17 weeks of pregnancy, I was giving you the great news of AnnaJo being "AnnaJo" instead of "Wyatt". I was also sharing the news of being sentenced to bed for what I imagined would only be a few weeks. Boy, was I wrong! Or should I say, Girl, was I wrong! (LOL) Can you believe a year has passed already? Here's a recap of my year's lessons and thoughts:

1. Bedrest doesn't mean "do less", it means keep your ass in bed unless you have to pee

2. Sudoku can pass the time away....lots and lots of time!

3. There is a reason that God made high thread count sheets - they ARE worth the money

4. Wimbeldon and other huge sporting events need their own channel. There is no need to disrupt normal TV programming.

5. Matt Lauer is pretty good looking

6. Young and the Restless and Days of Our Lives can be watched once a year and it's not hard to get caught up.

7. Waking up without an alarm clock is fabulous

8. Heartburn sucks and it's worse when you're horizontal.

9. Pepcid AC is also fabulous.

10. A weekly outing to the dr's office can be a wonderful excursion to someone who is bedridden.

11. Friends are a God-send during bedrest

12. Operating a shop-vac sucks for someone who is 35 weeks pregnant.

13. Five months of bedrest is totally worth it when you can have a blue-eyed little angel as wonderful as I have.

14. As AnnaJo gets older, those 5 months seem to fade away little by little and now I'd love to be told to stay in bed for a day.

enough lessons...i'm tired and i can't think of anymore. :-) Here are some of the latest pics and news. She is just getting over her first ear infection - it was a nasty one. We ended up going to Urgent Care in Springfield last weekend on a trip to a wedding in Eureka Springs, AR. Needless to say, we missed the wedding. Her picture is purple was taken that day...pretty good for a sick baby, huh? She started saying "da-da-da-da" on April 19. I don't think she realizes that it's Cliff yet, but that's okay. She also said "cat" the other day. She is very aware of what that is! She is still a great eater - added peaches, squash, green beans and peas to the mix. She loves it all. That's my girl!

AnnaJo - 6 months old

OK....she is 6 months old. We had a big week last week. She had a cold, she had her first professional pics taken and she had a half birthday. AND we had a 6 month check up. She is such a big girl. She weighs 17 1/2 pounds now and is 26 inches long...wearing 9 month clothes already. She is a marvelous baby. She is eating solid food and is loving it. As always, please remember that this is my baby tracker, so you will see some info that really only matters to her mama. I will need this info in a few years when I make her first baby book! :-) I'll keep that info at the end though, in case you decide to stop reading.

Check out a teaser of her pictures at http://twoviewsphotography.blogspot.com/ If you decide to have Jill take your pictures (i totally recommend!), let her know that I referred you. I'll get a discount on my orders. Thanks Lauren for recommending her to me! My favorite so far is the one of her asleep on my shoulder. She was such a happy baby when we got there and then she got hungry. She didn't nap most of the day either, so she was tired too. She is her mother's daughter...she is a bear when she is hungry and sleepy. Once the rest of the pics are edited, I'll give you the website to check out. If they are all that good, I'll have to order them all. I could just surround myself with her pictures! Not sure if I'd be laughing or crying...she is just so adorable! Here is my fave...

Friday was her half birthday. Papa Rod came for a visit with the nephews while Jodi and Doug were in STL. She is going to love playing with them soon...she just likes to watch them right now. Harrison was very sweet with her...loves to touch her face. I worry about them being rough with her, but I have a feeling that she'll be knocking them down and bruising them just as much, if not more!

****** Here is the record keeping stuff ******

Started Rice cereal - 4 months old (to the day). Transitioned to Oat cereal at 5 months. Started veggies and fruits on March 15...Mommy is making them herself!

Sweet Potatoes - loves them!

Avocado - not sure about it, but with cereal and banana it's good stuff!

Bananas - LOVES them. Nana gave her the first taste of banana 3/24.

Sweet Peas - yummy

At 6 months - crying when Mommy leaves the room. She is very whiny if I'm in the room while someone else has her.

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