It's good to be loved

So I can't get a moment's peace..... Ana wants to be with me 24-7. It gets annoying, but I'm trying to slow down and enjoy it before I turn around and she is 13 years old and locking herself in her room, or walking 3 steps behind me so as to avoid the shame of being seen in public with me!!

Anyway, here's my attempt at taking a shower alone this morning!

Top tooth

Ana's top right tooth finally popped through it's gum. Looks like the other is about to pop too. I hope this makes her feel better. She's had 2 white bulges up there for a while now!

Happy Birthday Auntie Mel!!

Hi, Ana here. Just dropping in to wish my Auntie Mel a

Happy Birthday!

I knew she was a pretty cool Aunt to have from the first day I met her...


Sleeping on people is usually my way of letting them know I am ok with them!

This last time I got a bit extra padding by lying on Mia. Mwahaha!
And just look how I have grown!



Anyway, I will be visiting Mel and the rest of the family later this week when I go to England. Mum is a bit worried about flying to England with me on her own, but I've promised to be well behaved. We went shopping tonight and she stocked up on millions of snacks for me. I know her game - she is going to try to stuff me with food until I pass out. Nice try! When we get to England Mum and Auntie Mel will be going to Greece and leaving me with Nana and Grumpa. Well, mum is really freaked out about this! I keep hearing her tell dad how much she is going to hate it. I think it will be fun though. I am hoping Nana will take me to the park - since it is too hot to go anywhere here at the moment!

James' poopy weekend

I had to work all weekend so James and Ana got to spend some time together. On Saturday he was giving her a bath and she pooped in the water....



Then on Sunday he was lying on the floor letting her crawl on his chest, and he got hit with another turd!

Favourite foods!

Ana's favourite food is banana. This is funny since everybody calls her Ana Banana. She eats it so fast she stuff as much into her mouth as she can, and it is a big mushy mess. Banana is the one food we can guarantee she will eat even when being fussy.

Other foods she likes:

- prunes
- blueberries
- chicken
- buttered toast
- cereal (esp. Cheerios)
- strawberries
- cherries
- any of the Gerber foods - puffs, crunchers, wagon wheels, etc. (I refer to these foods as baby crack)
........and of couse she LOVES chocolate and ice cream!!

Fun day

Yesterday we went to Abigail's birthday party. The party was at a park so afterwards we took Ana swimming, then we went shopping and then for a curry in Athens. It was a really fun day!

Birthday video!

Birthday Girl!

Well, Sat was Ana's birthday. I can't believe she has been in our lives for a whole year. She is such a joy, I cannot put it into words!

On Friday we kicked off the celebrations with a BBQ. We had a few friends over, and also a bit of a leaving bash for Mel and Woz. There were 3 babies over - Lucas, Sara, and Sofia - so Ana had a great time. She is the only walker in the group so far, but she was very well behaved and didn't beat anybody up!
Mel getting some practice in with Sara!


On Saturday we all woke up early (Ana time) and gave Ana her prezzies. She got some nice clothes and a doll from her Nana and Grumpa, some books and money from her Grandma Madeline, money from her Great-Grandma and her Aunt Skin, and a build-a-bear from Mel and Warren. The build-a-bear is so cute. Basically you choose his skin, stuff him yourself and stitch him up, then he gets a blow dry and you name him. Ana's bear is called Phillip!! We got Ana her very own toy laptop - since she is always trying to play with ours :) Of course she took to it like a pro!

We went for breakfast at IHOP where Ana was treated to a funny face pancake! After that we were all stuffed and tired and come home for a nap! Before heading for their flight Mel and Woz baked Ana a birthday cake. It went over very well!!



Sadly it was time to say goodbye to Mel and Warren (and baby Mia) but we'll be seeing them again in a couple of weeks so it's ok! Ana seemed to be missing them though!



On Sunday we had a party for Ana with all her little buddies - Sara, Sofia, Lucas, Miles, Davina, Sophia, Kendall, Charli, Kyli and Evan! Getting ready for the party was a lot of work - but it was fun too. We decorated and put on a spread of food. We also had some games (for the adults - the kids entertained themselves). Ana got loads of gifts! She got so many lovely things.

Opening the gifts was hillarious - I was surrounded by kids....sort of like when you start feeding seagulls at the beach! See if you can spot Ana in this hoard of youngsters!


Monica very kindly made Ana a beautiful cake! She even got her own little mini cake all to herself. Clearly she was in no mood to share with Lucas!


Finally here's Monica and I looking a damn sight happier than we did this time last year!



And here's a few more party pics!

Damn dentist

So yesterday I went to the dentist for a cleaning. I HATE having my teeth cleaned for several reasons

1. They give me crap about not flossing
2. My gums always bleed (probably due to above) and I end up swallowing blood which makes me ill
3. I hate the taste of the crap they put in my mouth (I don't like mint)

So imagine my surprise when a cleaning visit turned into a 2 1/2 hour ordeal! A couple of years ago I had a root canal on one of my front teeth. That tooth is now dead (obviously) and has slowly become discolored. The nazi cleaning my teeth basically informed me it looked like crap and needed to go - so before I could take a breath I was being fitted for a crown. They shaved the dead tooth down (which freeked me out beyond words) and inserted a post, then shoved a load of gunk in my mouth for an impression for the new tooth. Some of the impression gunk got on my tongue and started to mold to it. I was lying there with my mouth full of stuff looking all wide eyed and terrified because I was feeling like I couldn't breathe!! I looked around and they had left me alone in the chair....so I got up and started walking around the office like a crazy woman looking for the dentist...motioning (with the choke sign) to any nurse I came across that I was NOT happy and felt like I couldn't breathe!

Finally I got fitted with a temporary cap that looks like ass. It doesn't even reach my gum! The temp is plastic so it is fragile and I can't bite on it. They said it will be 3 weeks until my actual crown arrives. I said "erm...I'll be in Greece then". They looked at me all shocked like you cannot possibly leave the counrty with a plastic tooth. I though how about you ask me if I'll be around before you start shaving my damn tooth off assholes! I really hope I get the crown before I leave. I don't wanna go to Greece with a plastic tooth!! I have a hen party, a trip to a professional conference, and a friend's wedding to attend. Can you imagine if the bugger snaps off and I have to go to all these events missing my front tooth?? Grrrrr!

Upon leaving I was in serious pain and then they hit me up for $700 for the pleasure- what the hell??? Why have dental insurance at all??

Role reversal!!

Remember these pics of me and Mel at 20 weeks??




Here we are with Mel at 23 weeks!! Mia meets Auntie Jazz and cousin Ana! :)

Bad night!!

Mel was really sick yesterday afternoon and evening. She felt nauseous then started throwing up around 9pm and was sick probably 7 or 8 times in the next 2 hours. We were really worried about her. Fortunately she managed to go to sleep around 11pm and seemed to be over the worst of it.

Well , at around the same time Ana woke up and something was WRONG. She was twisting and writhing in pain and screaming. Here eyes were open really wide with this terrifying look on her face. She was covered from head to toe in a red prickly rash (that we had previously thought was roseola). Our gut was just that this crying is NOT normal, so we jumped in the car and drove straight to the ER. We were freaking out. I honestly thought she had meningitis and was going to die :(

Well they rushed us straight back and the Dr examined her and said he thought the rash was just a virus (?) and that the pain was colic - some kind of trapped gas or constipation. He gave her codeine and Tylenol to settle her down, but she screamed in pain for a solid hour and a half. She wouldn't let us hold her so we just had to put her on the hospital bed and try to stroke her head to sooth her. Eventually she fell asleep and the Dr discharged us. I wasn't totally convinced that was it, but I had to trust the Dr's judgment. We got home and I went to bed holding her tight. I was so scared.

We have to take her to our pediatrician this morning but she seems fine. She is sitting here munching on her breakfast as if nothing happened!

What a night!!!

Oh, and I almost forgot - she got bitten in the face by a kid at daycare yesterday too! Poor Ana!

Update

Well Mel and Warren are here and we are having a great time. We went to Tallahassee for the weekend. Unfortunately Ana had a virus that was quickly spread around the rest of us. James got hit pretty hard (he claims because Ana sneezed directly in his mouth - I claim he is a wuss). She has since developed Roseola, but seems to be fine now.

We really enjoyed the pool - Ana loves swimming and had a great time!


The highlight of the trip was a night spent in the hotel bar chatting with Ben.


This night soon got out of hand and ended with us doing "the worm" in the hotel lobby. Ben and Warren were pretty good (other than Woz smacking into a table) and got their double worm on.


I like to call mine The worst worm ever!!!


Woz showed us his Micheal Jackson moves....we are singing Billy Jean although he was actually dancing to Beat It!!

New hair

I splurged on a new hair cut and colour today. I never spend money on myself, but I got my summer teaching money this week and decided it was time!


I just took it down from a ponytail here so it's not totally styled, but you get the idea!


Mel and Woz get here tomorrow. I can't wait!!! We are heading down to Tally for the weekend. Yay!!!
It will be my first time seeing Mel's bump, and their first time seeing Ana since she looked like this.........


They will be amazed at what a grown up little girl she has become.