30 for 30!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest boy I ever knew!!!!!!  

I cannot believe that you are 30 years old today, and that I have known you since you were 18!!   I am so thankful to have met you so many years ago, and I thank God for you every day and for bringing us together.!!!  What a blessing you have been in my life!! 

Incredible - my most favorite picture of you ever!

In no particular order, here are 30 things that I love about you in honor of your 30th birthday! 

1. First and foremost, I respect you.  I am working hard on showing you better and telling you every day that I respect you, but please know that I do!  I am so proud and humbled to be your wife, and I don't think that there could possibly be a better husband!!  

2. I love when your hair is long and flippy and when you have scruff!

3. I love how tall and big you are and how small and girly it makes me feel!

4. You are one of the least selfish people that I have ever met in my life.  Putting Annie and me first above yourself or others above yourself seems to happen so naturally for you, and I am amazed!

5. I love that you are so committed to our marriage and that you are always willing and interested to work on it to make it the best that it can be!

6. You are an incredibly hard worker and take such pride in your work and providing for your family.

7. When you make a commitment, you stick to it!  

8. You are the most loyal person to both your family and your close friends that I have ever known.  

9. I trust you.  Completely.  And always have.  

10. You have a servants heart and truly love to take wonderful care of others!

11. You have a sweet faith and are becoming such a spiritual leader for our family!

12. I love that you pray for me and our family!

13. I love watching you love Annie! You are a wonderful, fun, and loving Daddy!  Annie adores you and has a so much to learn from you!

14. You have the best memory of anyone I have ever known!

15. You are quick to forgive, and I am trying to learn from you on this one!

16. You are slow to anger and never yell - also something that I am trying to learn from you!

17. You are incredibly generous towards me and everyone in your life!  

18. You are a wonderful and intentional listener!  

19. You are intuitive, conscientious, and so attentive to how you can be helpful and meet my needs!

20. Over the years and after all that you have been through, I have seen you become incredibly compassionate towards others.  

21. I love that you love my family and friends and have always supported my relationships!

22. I really love that you do your own laundry including washing it, folding it, and putting it away!
I also love that you pack for yourself for any trips you take!

24. I love that you don't mind "scrounging" for dinner if I don't feel like cooking or haven't been to the grocery store!

25. I love that you have become such a good sport about trying all sorts of healthy foods even including green smoothies most recently!  

26. I love that you willingly wanted to be in our Small Group Bible study and that God has called us to it together!

27. You are a rock for me and for our family because you are 100% dependable! 

28. Although I didn't always appreciate your commitment to timeliness, I have come to really count on it, and I think and hope its slowly rubbing off on me!

29. I love that you are so clean and so organized and like to help me keep the house clean and organized!  I love that your new self-rap is "All I do is clean, clean, clean!"

30. I love that you love to vacuum and that you do the dishes after almost every dinner!

31. I love that you love the outdoors and have such a passion for hiking and backpacking!

I am thankful and humbled to share life with you!!  You are an incredible husband and daddy, and we are blessed by you!  Happy, happy birthday! I hope that this is your best year yet!

13 Months

Annie is now 13 months old!  She seems like such a big girl these days as she is catching on to everything we do so quickly, and she is also a fast and stable toddler!  Although Annie doesn't say more specific words than "dog," "Dah" or "Dada, " she babbles all the time and has become excellent at communicating her strong opinions and understanding almost every single thing that we say!  This is such a fun age!  She is sleeping well, eating well, and full of love and affection all the time!

I am not going to do the monthly sticker and onesie pictures anymore, but I still hope to do monthly updates with current pictures.   These updates really help me stay on top of all of my pictures, plus I have already loved going back and reading my old blog posts about Annie so I want to continue!

So, at 13 months, Annie had her second little cold ever, and we made our first trip to the doctor for a sick baby check-up.   For about a week, Annie had a clear, runny nose and sneezed a lot.  Nothing more than that.  Then, one day, she had a temperature of 99 (I think!  Taking baby temperatures is so hard!).  I would not have gone to the doctor except that it was Friday before Labor Day weekend, and I didn't want to have to end up needing a doctor or prescription over the long weekend.  Thankfully, everything looked good (ears, lungs) and the doctor sent us home with a prescription just in case.  We never filled it and Annie got well within a few days!

I have felt like Annie was working on her 12 month molars for a while now and wondered if that was what caused her runny nose and slight fever, but I have yet to see them so maybe I am just wrong! 

Annie did gain 1 whole pound between her 12 month visit and 13 month visit.  She is now at 21 lbs 14 ounces.

Developmentally, the biggest change I noticed this month was Annie's dramatic increased interest in reading!  Previously, she did not stay interested in a book for any amount of time and hardly noticed them in her room.  Now, she LOVES to read and asks me to read her books all through out the day!  She has a few favorites and enjoys pulling books off of her bookshelf, bringing them to me, and sitting in my lap to read! I love the cuddle and reading time so much!

Annie continues to soak up everything that we do these days so quickly!  After watching us do it, she has now started cleaning and likes to wipe up her place after eating!  Below, she was wiping down her slide and Layla!  

She has also started giving the BEST hugs ever!!  I taught her how to hug her baby so then she started hugging us!  I absolutely love it and cannot get enough!  She initiates hugs and kisses at the dinner table,  all throughout the day, and over and over again before bedtime!  She even hugged me while sitting in the grocery cart and also while sitting in the Ergo carrier.  It is the sweetest and best feeling to feel her little arms wrap around my neck and pat my back with her little hands and "hmmm!" for emphasis!  Below, she is hugging Layla!

Annie also now likes to come hug or hold my legs when I am working in the kitchen!  I love it when she does this because it feels so quintessential to being a Mom with a sweet toddler!

Annie also observed me calling Layla while on our walks by clapping my hands together and calling her name.  Now, Annie claps her hands the same way whenever I call for Layla!  She has also called for birds this way as well as her Daddy :)  She also learned how to tell Layla to "stay."  She holds up her hand like we do and makes a very emphatic sound / grunt but doesn't yet say "stay."  

One day, she noticed me shooing a fly away and started doing it herself.  Now, whenever we see a fly or a bug she shoos it away also!  I love how she is paying so much attention and is so observant these days! I love watching her learn!

Below is Annie with her baby doll that we gave her for her 1st birthday!  She continues to love her baby! 

You can also see Annie's first ever boo boo on her forehead.  :(  She tumped out of her little red car while trying to put on her shoes and scraped up her forehead pretty badly.  Thankfully, she cried hard but recovered quickly.  I tried to put some neosporin and a band-aid on it, but the band aid caused a major meltdown.  I think it felt so strange on her head and she just didn't know what to think!  

Annie continues to be a great eater and is so happy at meal times!  She also does great whenever we go out to eat because she enjoys the new food and the new scenery!  Here she is chowing down on her very own, giant piece of pizza!  She couldn't get enough!  She loves anything that she can hold herself these days like toast, my sandwiches, pizza, etc!

Annie also learned to blow on her food if it is too hot!  I taught her how and it is the cutest thing to see!

She continues to love our green smoothies!  Here she is drinking mine!  One day she even hugged the glass with my green smoothie!  Funny girl!

At Starbucks one morning for a breakfast date!  She was sitting in the chair just like a big girl and being so funny this morning!  

And now for some random pictures from this past month...

I feel like I always mention Annie's hair, but it really is so beautiful!  Beautiful blond with lots of body and curl especially in the humidity!  She looks so gorgeous these days with her blond hair, bright blue eyes, red cheeks and lips, and sweet summer tan!  I love that she has a tan :)

Mom made Annie the "Annie" pattern by Primrose Lane and it is so adorable on her with an abundance of ruffles on her bottom!  

Here is Annie after her 12 month well baby visit showing me she is sooo big!

Wearin Daddy's hat!  

Sweet babies saying the blessing over lunch one day!

And finally, my latest sewing project is this reversible, game day dress for Annie!  I will have to get a picture of her in it cheering on the Tide!  We are so excited that its football season again and that Fall weather is on its way!

Annie you are so much fun these days and we cannot get enough!!