Three Months: Annabelle

Well, another month (and then some - I'm late posting this) has passed us quickly by, and we are still loving being this tiny girl's parents.

Annabelle is as happy as ever, and she's *almost* always in a great mood. She cries when she's hungry or wet, but I would too if I couldn't use my words and needed help. She did have one pretty fussy day recently when we seemed unable to calm her down much, and unfortunately we were out in public (and with friends!) then, so it was a pretty great parenting test. We don't get too many of those, so I suppose it was time.

Annabelle loves standing with our assistance, and she MUCH prefers to be upright so she can see what's going on all the time. She's gonna be a nosy one. ;-) 

We're still calling her many nicknames, but the ones that are sticking around the most are: Anna Banana, A-Belle, Hungry Hungry Hippo, Annabellina, Stinkerbelle, Smellybelle, and Waaannabelle. I've also started calling her Cheeky lately... which stemmed from Chickadee, and then Chickie... and somehow morphed into Cheeky, which is appropriate, I'd say... have you seen her little cheeks? Totes adorbs. 

Annabelle is now wearing her size 0-3 month clothing and has been wearing some 3 month outfits too because we bought Christmas themed clothes for her in that size before we knew how teeny she'd be. She fills them out enough to not look ridiculous, though, so that's good. Her disposable diapers are still size one, but she's in cloth now full time except when sleeping. Her little fluff butt is so cute!

Seeing Annabelle grow, develop, and change every single day is amazing. She is quirky and has definitely started showing us her spunky little personality. She smiles on command and when she wants our attention. She coos loudly if we're looking at our computer screen but wants us to focus on her (smart girl!), and she poses for pictures... sometimes. 

For size reference, here she is at one day old, one month old, two months old, and three in the same newborn size sleeper. We had to officially retire this sleeper after the photo, but I tucked this one away for safe keeping. ;-)

    

My Life Five Years From Now (52 Weeks of Blogging With a Purpose)

I am continuing to participate in the 52 Weeks of Blogging With a Purpose, a link up that From Mrs. to Mama is hosting in the blog-world. Like I've previously mentioned, I won't be able to write about each week's topic because some simply do not pertain to me, but this week's does! I will tell all about how I picture my life to be five years from now.

If you'd like to check out my first two posts from this link up, you can see them HERE (Who I Am) and HERE (Ten Things I Live For).

My Life Five Years From Now

Age: In five years, I will be *gasp* 30, and Dan will be 29.

Where We'll Be: We could be living anywhere in the world by then. Dan will be graduated from USAFA, finished with pilot training, and flying an airplane (who knows which one?) by then. He will be a Captain in the US Air Force by then, and we will have lived in a few different places at that point. It's hard to predict where we'll be, but let's keep our fingers crossed for Germany. ;)

Family Life: We'll have our two cats, Gilligan and Stormy (though they will be aging by then, which breaks my heart to think about) and at least one dog that we plan on adopting next summer after our wedding. Hopefully by then we won't have just four legged children, as we'll be getting old as well. Hopefully we'll have a Baby Cookie or two by then! (Last name Cook... funny? No? I like it.)

Relationship: Dan and I will be celebrating FOUR years of marriage at that point and NINE years of being a couple! That is SO crazy to think about, but it makes me happy.

Career: If we are living somewhere for a long time, I may be teaching. However, if we have those Baby Cookies by then, I likely will not be working outside the home any longer. We'll see, though. This is something I go back and forth on ALL THE TIME. I think we'll just have to see what is best for our family at the time. I do love my job, though, so we'll just see.

Health: I hope to still be running and eating well at 30! That's a goal for the longterm, actually. I want to be that old lady you see running 5Ks! I will have completed a full marathon by then (hopefully while I'm 26, actually), and I hope we will live somewhere that has fun races all the time like Colorado Springs does. Dan and I love being active together, and I don't see that changing.

Travel: As a military spouse (not yet but next May!), I hope I will have the opportunity to see much of the world. I can't wait for our honeymoon next year, though part of that is top secret information (aka Dan is surprising me) because I'm sure I'll get to see a lot of things I have never experienced living in the USA my whole life. Our goal is to travel abroad every even year, and we have a savings plan to make that happen!

One Year Older

Today is a very special day. Someone I love very much turns another year older today. Any guesses?

That's right -- my incredible, wonderful, supportive, amazing, super-handsome fiancé turns 24 today!

Happy birthday, Cadet Lovemuffin! 

But in all seriousness, he is my rock, and I am SO happy to have spent his 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and now 24th birthday with him! 

I didn't make something for Dan for once... it's surprising to even me! I actually bought him a gift. At a store. A real store. Isn't that crazy?! He's going to be shocked only because he has received nothing but homemade things for a long while. Oops. 

I will be meeting him for a marriage class at our church and then taking him out for a birthday dinner tonight... but we both have really big days ahead of us tomorrow, so that'll have to do! :)

Also, one of my students has a strange infatuation with Dan. She loves writing letters to him, and she gets SO excited when he writes back to her. I told her this morning that it was his birthday. She asked how old he would be, so I told her 24. At the end of the day, she brought me a giant card she had made for him. I blurred out her last name and some of the personal part! 

Earlier, I wrote this post before I met up with Dan... here's a picture of the birthday boy with his celebratory ice cream at Texas Roadhouse!