11 Month Update! {July 23}

Wait, what?! ELEVEN MONTHS!  Our baby is so close to being considered a “toddler” and not a “baby” anymore! Excuse me while I wipe a tear away…..thanks.

Really, it’s such an exciting and sad time all at once.  It’s really only sad because who doesn’t love the baby version of their baby?! But in reality, I love the current version of Annabelle Grace just as much as the infant version, if not more, because I’ve had this much more time with her now!  It’s such an exciting time because holy cow, she changes ON THE DAILY.  Like all day, every day, and my emotions follow suit.

We have one more month to soak up the “actual baby” she is, and then truly embrace having a TODDLER!  I’m actually kind of pumped about that too.  I know it’s going to have its challenging days, but I’m also watching our awesome baby turn in to an awesome kid, and that’s pretty well, awesome.  (Yes, I just used that word way too many times.)

So, while we’re soaking up this time, let’s recap this past month so we never have to forget it!

Annabelle Grace is loving Daddy this month!

She has discovered the fun of riding toys!

 

She decided to pack herself up for our trip to Michigan this month!

Then we went!  This was Annabelle Grace’s first trip to Michigan and she had a ball!

Annabelle Grace got to try ice cream for the second time (she had a few bites on our NC beach trip.)  This time Will wanted her to try his childhood favorite flavor, Blue Moon!  She wasn’t the biggest fan at first, but quickly changed her mind!  The rest of the week, she always had to have a bite of whatever ice cream we had gotten ourselves!

We had plenty of afternoons on the beach.  In North Carolina, we were able to walk her and have her nap on the beach.  In Michigan, she was not having nap time on the beach! She was clllllll over the place!

Annabelle Grace tried Bortell’s for the first time, and she was a fan.

She had lots of family time!  She enjoyed getting to know her “Tia” and “Tio” better, hanging out with her great grandparents, grandparents, and even meeting a few other family members over the week, like Aunt Lucille!  Annabelle Grace did so well, and really showed off her sweet side for everyone.

We made it to church on Sunday, and Annabelle Grace did well there, too!

We played on a playground, so she could obviously swing….

Overall, it was a great first trip to Michigan!  Oh- and the biggest news of all- Annabelle Grace took her first couple of steps while in Michigan!  July 7, 2018 at 10.5 months old!

Our girl is still not a snuggler, but she is super sweet.  She’ll give hugs and kisses all day long!  She also loves hugging any and all of her toys!

We spent a majority of this month working on trying to get Annabelle Grace a passport!  The first time, we had a lot of fun waiting in the car for Daddy!  (It took us SEVERAL trips to the post office to finally and officially get everything done and sent off!  Glad to have it checked off of our to-do list!)

She’s cute and she’s stylish, and thankfully still loves bows and accessories!  She has four teeth, and still sleeps through the night like a dream!

She is so very mobile and taking “monthly pictures” is most certainly a challenge!

This phase of Annabelle Grace’s life has been so much fun.  One year old, here we come!!!!

As for me, and the biggest reason this post is so incredibly late (three days before her actual 12 month birthday!) is because I always update how I also am doing, mentally, physically and as a first time mother…

and well, it’s because we got pregnant again!  We found out July 9th, and were incredibly surprised and excited!  I could tell my milk supply was dropping a lot, and knew I had only had once cycle since getting pregnant with Annabelle Grace.  Turns out, we were pregnant!  We wanted to get through our first appointment with my doctor before we posted anything, so I also couldn’t truthfully post my own update on here!

We’re pumped to think they will be 1.5 years old, and are very excited for the months to come!  Because my supply has dropped a good bit (which isn’t the end of the world, because we were getting ready to start the weaning process anyhow) we finished off my freezer supply of milk.  At about 10.5 months we did start introducing cow’s milk and she has taken to it pretty well.  I still nursed, but we added that in, to compensate for any supply loss I was having.  (Yes, we realize it is recommended that babies have breastmilk or formula only for the full first year of life.  We attempted different formulas, in different cups, at different temps MULTIPLE times.  We mixed it with my milk.  She just will not drink it!)   So, cows milk it was- and guess what, she’s thriving and doing just fine!