First Christmas

Ana was fairly oblivious to her mum and dad's misery and seemed to thoroughly enjoy her first Christmas. She got lots of presents, including some cool clothes, books and toys! So far she seems to really like the incy wincy spider she got from Auntie Pheo. She also had a song composed for her on the piano by her great uncle Chiz - how cool!

Since she has been over in England Ana has mastered reaching and grabbing for things and now plays really well with her toys. She has almost mastered rolling over too, but tends to get stuck half way.

Salmonella!!

2 return tickets from Atlanta to Manchester $1450
1 baby return ticket from Atlanta to Manchester $350 (she doesn't even have a seat!)
Passport for Ana $180
2 last minute replacement passports $380 (don't ask!!)
Overnight mail both ways for 2 passports $46
1 replacement greencard $280

Spending your entire holiday doubled over with salmonella food poisoning....priceless!

Ughhh

This has not been a fun Christmas. James and I both have food poisoning! We have barely been able to get out of bed for 2 days and I missed one of my best friend's wedding on Saturday. Bummer!!

We made it!

Ana, James and I are in England at the moment. Ana was unbelievably good on the flight. She didn't cry once from leaving our house in Oxford to arriving at my mum and dad's house in Runcorn! This included being dragged around London's Gatwick airport at high speed after we missed our connection to Manchester! They checked our buggy right through to Manchester so we had to carry her and our arms were about to drop off! Ana was definately faring better than her parents at this point. Poor James was weighed down like a pack mule with all our luggage and the baby! He had his traditional travel-stress induced meltdown at this point, threatening to go back the the US! Oh, and Judgey if you are reading this Sharon and Will can go through the UK passport line with you! I wish they had told us this BEFORE Ana and James stood in the foreigner line for 40 minutes causing us to miss our connection! Ughh! Anyway, Ana got this basinette on the airplane so was by far the most comfortable person on the flight, thus all was well.

Since being home Ana has, of course, been the center of attention. She met her great-grandparents and various cousins, second cousins, etc. last night. She got to hang out with Adam who is 10 months old and so cute. Adam is my cousin but I think he has more in common with Ana, you know crying, sleeping, drooling, etc. I've already got that stuff down! So they'll probably play together a lot while growing up.

Hectic, hectic, hectic

James and I are so incredibly busy this week it is ridiculous! We haven't had a moment to breathe. We leave for England tomorrow and nothing is packed and the house is in total disaray!

Here are a couple of pics I have meant to post but not had the time!

Ana and her buddy Lucas eyeing each other up!


Ana being grown up in her big girl pram!


Ana discovering that her feet are fun to play with!!

4 month check-up

Today Ana went for her 4 month well-baby visit. She weighs 15lb 10oz and is 26" long (around the 97th percentile). She STILL has an ear infection. This bugger has survived a round of Amoxicillin and a round of Omnicef (which is supposed to kill anything). Now she is trying a third antibiotic. Oh and the antibiotics give her an awful nappy rash....poor thing. James suffered from horrible ear infections as a child so I suppose she is looking at the same fate. Her torticollis is slowly improving but she needs physical therapy every day to stretch her neck, and may need a helmet to round her head out :( Bless. Other that that she's ok! She had her second round of shots but was very well behaved and only cried a little bit. I've had her with me at work all week and she's been charming everone. She is so happy and smily.

Last night we went to a party and met up with Richard and Adriana whose twin girls are 5 weeks old and never stop crying. I have no idea how they cope! The girls are adorable though. One is much smaller than the other and currently weighs about 7lb (the bigger one is 9 1/2lb) I held her and she was tiny! James likened it to holding a pen! Since Ana was big at birth I've never held such a little thing....so cute! One day I'm sure the three girls will play together which will be nice, but at the moment Ana looks like she could eat them for breakfast!

Waking up

We are really lucky because Ana is happy to chill out and entertain herself when she wakes up..... for a little while at least! Her latest trick is to wiggle herself around in the crib. She usually wakes up at a 90 degree angle to how she was put down. Not quite sure how she manages that! She also grabs her blanket and plays with it, or holds the bars of the crib....she plays with pretty much anything that comes within reach.

Hair falling out!!

Ana's hair is falling out big time. If I run my fingers through her hair it comes out in clumps, I also find stray hairs all over her clothes. I actually thought it was dog fur at first! I feel bad because now she has patchy hair - which looks silly. She'd look better with no hair at all. Ahh well, she's still unbelievably adorable with or without hair! My hair is falling out too, but that is just more post-partum fun.

Ana has started laughing more consistently now. Uncle Anthony is the best at making her laugh, and of course daddy too, but not me.....I can't get so much as a chuckle out of her yet. I guess I'm just not that funny :(

Lastly, just tonight she has started pursing her lips and smacking them together. Not sure what that is about but she seems to enjoy it!

Sundays

Sundays are best spent watching football with daddy!

Finally!!

I've been dying to get Ana to like this carrier thing, but she hated it. She used to scream and headbutt me in the chest whenever I tried to put her in it, but now she is able to hold her head up she can face outward and see the world, so she loves it! This makes life a lot easier!

p.s. I look a bit red and sweaty in this pic because I'd just got back from running...... I didn't run with her attached though :)

Christmas is coming

Ana is very surprised to hear about all the gifts she'll be getting for Christmas. She can't wait!

Look at me lifting my head...

Ana is still a little behind on the whole head lifting thing...I think her hair weighs her down! She absolutely hates being on her tummy, but we make her do just a few minutes at a time and she is making some progress.

BOO

Woody Woodpecker

Here is what happens to Ana's hair when James is left in charge of it

Little Bear

Here's Ana wrapped up warm in her little bear suit. Actually, it's not such a little suit it is size 6-12 months. We think Ana will be tall because she is super long. As you can see she's already longer than James' torso......and that's pretty long.

1 year ago today!

It's been one year to the day since I found out I was pregnant. Wow - time flies (although not in the 9th month of pregnancy it doesn't) I can't believe how much my life has changed. It is crazy to think Ana was just a blob of cells a year ago and now she is a little baby who lights up the room with her smile. It truly is a miracle.

Thinking back to this time last year one thing sticks in my mind.....morning sickness! It started on Dec 18th and didn't let up for even a minute until February. Ughh! I will never, never, NEVER forget that as long as I live. You may think I'm exaggerating but I would rather go through labour a million times over than go through morning sickness again. Sometimes just thinking about it turns my stomach and makes me gag.....like my body can remember the exact feeling. I even get flashbacks when I'm brushing my teeth or if I see ginger ale, it's very odd!