Anniston's 5 months

• Anniston now weighs 16 lb 8 oz.
• Usually sleeps through the night.
• Is now eating oatmeal cereal and it's one of the funniest things to watch. She acts like she absolutely hates it at first and then gets supper aggressive toward the end. 
• Still isn't rolling over, but rolls from side to side all over the place.  She refuses to roll to her tummy. Stubborn little thing.
• Loves dark-skinned people.  Most strangers have a hard time getting a smile out of Anni, but if you have a dark complexion, she will smile at you all day. I attribute this to her Aunt Ari being so sweet to her. :) 
• Loves the chilly weather we've been having.  On our nippy morning walks, she always has a huge smile on her face. 
• Is really enjoying all of the Christmas lights everywhere.  She is always in awe of them.
• Her love for my parents dog, Jake, grows stronger and stronger everyday.  It's so sad that he doesn't reciprocate the feeling. Oh, unrequited love.
• Is starting to get rather clingy to her father and I. I guess it's a good thing. At least I know she is securely attached to us.  But it sure does breaks a lot of people's hearts. 
• Christmas music has been her rhythm lately.  We rock out and dance to holiday music all day. 

Anniston's 4 months

Anniston's fourth month has been a good one.  She has been a very happy girl and has been growing so fast. I swear she is almost too big for her carseat. 

• Anniston, at 4 months, weighs 15 lb 10 oz, and she is in the 85th percentile in weight, 90th in height and 65th in head circumference.  Basically, the only thing average about Anni is her head size. ha 
• Has traded in her love for books for a love for music. We still get her to sit still for a story every day, but they have to be relatively short ones. 
• Absolutely loves dogs, especially my parents dog, Jake. However, I'm not sure the feeling is mutual.  Anniston kicked him once and he still hasn't forgiven her.
• Has decided that singing and babbling to herself is the most fun at 4 am. 
• Likes to chew on other peoples hands when she gets the opportunity.
• Is a big fan of hanging out in the kitchen and watching me cook. She's already obsessed with food and she has never even tried it. ha 
• No longer likes to hang out in her stroller.  This princess likes to be carried everywhere. 
• Outside is her favorite place to be, other than being held in someone's arms. 
• No longer likes taking naps.  That's been fun! 
• Still has a tint of red in her hair, which i'm hoping stays. Her pediatrician even called her a redhead this week. 
• Is not a fan of relief society, but really, I can't blame her. ha 

A Birthday In Julian With Wolves

Anniston with the wolf stuffed animal we got her. She really liked it. 

Tuesday was my wonderful mother's birthday.  And when I say wonderful, I absolutely mean it.  My mom is the kindest, most easy going, and loving person I know.  She has always been an extremely good example to me and I've really started to appreciate the things she has done for me now that I am also a mother. I really hope that when Anniston grows up, she will think as highly of me, and have as much respect for me, that I do for my mother. 

Anyways, to celebrate this wonderful woman's birthday, we went up to the California Wolf Center.  We are a family full of animal lovers so we really like places that have wildlife involved.  The preserve was really informative and I was surprised at how close the wolves actually got to us.  Sadly, most of the pictures turned out blurry and the fence was in the way.  But I definitely recommend paying the California Wolf Center a visit so you can see these shy, beautiful animals and also gain a little knowledge about them.  

After the wolf preserve, we headed to the little town of Julian to get some apple pie. And seriously, the boysenberry apple pie is the best pie I have ever tasted.  Gabe and I highly recommend it, if you ever just so happen to be in Julian.  All in all, I think my mom had a pretty good birthday. Honestly, I think her favorite part of the whole trip was having her whole family with her on her special day.  

That Itty BItty Smile

There are a lot of things I believe people make out to be better than they really are, pizza and graduating from high school are some things that come to mind. Gabe would not agree with pizza being made out to be better than it really is, but I think it is. However, motherhood…. motherhood is one hundred times better than anyone made it out to be! Now, it is also just as trying as everyone said, especially when Anniston decides to cry for an hour straight, because she refuses to take a nap, like she's doing now. Gabe is singing her to sleep as I type this. All of the crying and trying times are made up for by one itty bitty smile. It's just so amazing to me how fast she is learning and growing.  I was the youngest of three and didn't really have any younger relatives, so honestly, Anniston is the first baby I've ever spent a lot of time around.  Everything she learns and does completely amazes me.  The fact that she already has opinions on things dumbfounds me everyday.  One thing that I am particularly happy about is in the past three weeks, Anniston has shown a love for animals. She loves dogs, and today, when we took her to the duck pond at Mast Park, she was mesmerized by the ducks swimming around.  She sat in her stroller and laughed and squealed with excitement as she watched the ducks eat the pieces of bread we were feeding them.  It was one of the most adorable things I have ever witnessed, but I am kind of bias. 

Halloween

Halloween was a rough one for little Miss Anniston.  She was grumpy pretty much the whole day.  Maybe it was the whole watching everyone else happily eating candy and she couldn't have any. Who knows?  Gabe and I, however, had lots of fun with our bestest friends, Heather, Kevin, and Heather's parents.  Much to my mothers dismay, we don't really get any trick or treaters at my parents house.  So Gabe and I trekked over to Heather's parents, because masses of children come down their street.  It was lots of fun eating chili and nachos, while watching Logan and Anniston somewhat paying together. Their playing mostly consists of one of them accidentally hitting the other in the face with a flailing limb or Anniston chewing on Logan's hand. Nonetheless, because they are babies, it is adorable. Ha. I hope next year Anniston is a happier camper and I hope everyone else had a safe and happy Halloween!

Anniston's 3 Months

Every month with this little one truly just keeps getting better and better.  We love watching her grow and change so much each day. 

• At 3 months, Anniston is now 14 lb 4 oz and 24 in long and is in the 85th percentile for height and weight. 
• Went on her very first vacation to Utah. 
• Her colic seems to be almost completely gone but now she is teething.  Oh joy! 
• Never wants to stay home.  Always wants to be out and about.  So little time and so much to see is her motto.
• Has turned into quite the creeper.  She enjoys just staring at people for like 20 min without blinking.  This particularly creeps out my friend Heather.  Gabe and I however find it hilarious.
• Fridays have become her favorite day, because it's library day.  Our trips go like this; I show Anniston a book. If she smiles, then it's a keeper. If she gets upset or seems uninterested, then it goes back on the shelf.  
• She is amazed by the little animals on the feet of her pajamas.  She will laugh and stare at them for like 30 min.  So cute!!
• Is holding her head up so well.  Seeing the world is much easier when you are sitting upright. :)
• Can completely roll over with the help of gravity.  I'm not sure if that counts or not. ha 
• Is always chewing on her hands or a blanket.  She has started to develop calluses on her fingers.  Freaking teething!! 
• We also found out that she has an intolerance to cows milk, which we believe she got from me, because I also have a hard time with dairy.  Since Anniston was born, I have had to supplement with formula, because I don't produce enough milk. She is now on a hypoallergenic formula that makes her a much happier camper. :) 

The Attempted Apple Picking Trip

My friend, Heather and I, had been planning a trip to Julian to pick apples for about two months now.  We both were super excited about it!  I'm really not sure why, because if you think about it, it's kind of ridiculous to pay two times what you would pay in a store to go and pick apples yourself.  People back in the day would basically laugh in our faces if they knew. I digress. Anyways, we were so excited that we called ahead of time to make sure we were prepared. We knew what time the orchard opened and closed and all those other important details, or so we thought.  The day of, I was running super late (still getting used to packing the whole house everywhere we go to make sure Anni stays clean and happy), so we left a little over an hour later than we wanted. We figured it would be no big deal, because we would still have plenty of apple picking hours left in the day.  After an hour of windy roads on our way to Julian where the orchard was, we were all starving, so we ate outside the orchard and fed the little ones. Then we started to venture to the orchard, where a lady promptly told us we could not enter, because they had just closed.  Now we were very upset to say the least, because it was only three o' clock and we were told 4:30 PM over the phone.  However, after pleading with the orchard worker, she allowed us to walk around the orchard until everyone left.  What a kind soul.  Unfortunately, we were unable to pick any apples, but Anniston was perfectly happy just staring at the trees (which are her absolute favorite by the way).  Gabe ate a few apples off of the ground and Heather's dad, Butch, managed to sneak in and pick enough to fill up a bag for all of us. All in all, even though we weren't able to actually pick the apples, it was a fun experience and it was nice to go up to the mountains to see all of the beautiful trees.  It reminded Gabe and I of Boise, which was nice, because I have been having some serious Boise withdrawals lately.  The moral of this story is, if you want to go apple picking, get your butts up there super early so A; All the good apples aren't gone and B; You don't get locked out of the orchard.   Oh well, better luck next year, right? I'm sure the little ones will enjoy it more when they can walk anyway.