Too Big!!!

Annabelle is growing up so much! I can't believe that she will be 6 months old Thursday (Thanksgiving) and start real food. And then she will be closer to a year old than a newborn! What? That is crazy! This is a picture of her bottom teeth and just this week she cut her top two teeth!!! I thought she wasn't going to get teeth until like a year old and she has four before 6 months! What in the world??? Oh yea, at 4 months she weighed 17 pounds, 2.5 ounces and was 26 inches long. We go on Dec 2 for her 6 months appt and I can't wait to see what she weighs now. I am guessing in the 20s...she's a big girl! Also, Ben will be sworn in as a licensed attorney one week from tomorrow!!!! Woohoo!!!!! We've been looking at more houses and we are excited!!!

P.S. I cannot believe it is already Thanksgiving and then it will be Christmas and then a new year! Crazy how time flies!

Update!

The past few weeks have been good. Annabelle is 24 weeks old (I get emails from thebump.com to tell me) today. She is so funny these days! She found her feet and started grabbing them during priesthood session of genenral conference and now grabs her feet frequently. She rolled over from her back to her stomach on October 21. I put her down on her blanket so I could get ready and when I came back she was on her stomach. I thought to myself, "Wait, did I put her down on her stomach? NO! I put her down on her back!" So I flipped her over to her back again and went to grab my bag. Sure enough...there she was on her stomach! She didn't start rolling multiple times until about a week later. And now she is all over the place if we put her down. I'm going to have to get a cage to keep her in! She also broke her two bottom front teeth on October 27. She hasn't bitten me yet, but my Dad said it is inevitable. I'm not too worried about the bottom teeth (even though they are very sharp!) because her tongue is btwn her teeth and my boob. It's the top teeth I'm pretty worried about! I say this now until she bites me with her bottom teeth! Yikes! She is also soooo vocal! It's hilarious! Her main noise right now actually reminds me of "the most annoying sound in the world" from dumb and dumber. It's just a constant "Aahhhhh!" Thankfully, it's not annoying! I think it's adorable! She still has a pretty low, raspy voice. Janis Joplin has nothing on Annabelle! Right now she has a cold. She woke up last Wednesday with a stuffy nose and a cough. Her cough wasn't too bad, but then it got worse on Saturday and now she still has it. I hope it goes away! I HATE having a sick baby. I just can't handle it! I think I slept about an hour total last night. Even when she was sleeping peacefully, I couldn't sleep! It is miserable. So, if you know anyone who is thinking about having a child who also LOVES sleep...tell them it will be a huge sacrifice! Oh, I miss sleeping for hours and hours! Oh, well!!!!!

In other news...BEN PASSED THE BAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This means he can actually start making a little bit of money and we can LOOK FOR A HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!! I am so ready to move. I am extremely grateful to my in-laws for letting us stay here, but I am so tired of living in boxes! And I want Annabelle to have a room and for us to have a real kitchen! Oh, the things to look forward to!

Also, I'm now 25. How did that happen? It's crazy!

Anyways, I should go change a diaper because it really stinks!!!

I have a 5 month old baby!

Today is Annabelle's 5 month birthday! I seriously cannot believe it. And how does she know to wake up from her nap just when I start writing on our blog??? She is such a stinker! Maybe I'll try again later today...

"Those cheeks are dripping in sugar!"

That is what my Dad told Annabelle yesterday before giving her lots and lots of kisses on her cheeks! It's so cute to see my Dad interact with Annabelle. He's not the sappiest or most affectionate old man, but he is a gem and loves Annabelle! There is no doubt she is one loved little girl!

At 4 months, she is now rolling from her tummy to her back and working on back to tummy, her legs are strong enough to hold her weight for a little bit, and she "talks" to everything. Last Wednesday, she woke up from one of her naps and decided she was going to talk. She now likes to lay in bed with Daddy and tell him all about our days. I love her little voice. It is so cute!!! She also loves fabric. She is constanly grabbing her blankets and clothes, or my clothes. She likes to pull my bra when she is nursing! Ha, she's a little crazy! She also tries to sit up every chance she gets. She's not a fan of leaning backwards, and we see her doing crunches all the time in her car seat. Annabelle also drools like crazy! Her mouth is like a faucet with drool streaming out of it. Only recently has she started grasping her rattles and putting them in her mouth. It's so crazy to watch her learn new things. I thank Heavenly Father everyday for such a happy and sweet baby! I just love this little girl! I told Ben the other day that I don't think I could love a boy as much. His response, "Why do you say things like that? Our little boy spirit up in Heaven can hear you!" Ha, sorry little boy if you are up there!

And I have been trying to upload pictures from her first 3 months of life, but blogger takes forever and we have pretty slow internet. It's a miracle these two pictures loaded! I'll try to remember one time when I go to my Dad's house. It's so crazy to see how much she has changed in just 4 months. She used to be such a tiny, little baby and now she is a big girl! A guy at church the other day said, "Kristin, you don't have a little baby anymore!" And it's so true! I mean...look at those thighs and cheeks! She definitely has some meat on those bones! She is such a doll! Tomorrow is her 4 month appt. I'm saying she weighs around 18 pounds, but Ben says 20. He might be right...she is pretty dang chubby! Just the way I like her! :)

3 months!!!!!!!!

Today, Annabelle is 3 months old! It seems like she has been here longer than that though. I'm definitely grateful that we are past the first 6-8 weeks. Those were not fun at all! Now, life is sweet! She is so adorable and happy, especially in the morning. She doesn't cry much (knock on wood!!!). She loves to kick her legs and gets so excited while doing this. She can follow a rattle or toy with her eyes if I move it above her face. She smiles at herself in the mirror. She talks to us and it's so precious! She is starting to squeal just a little bit. She is good with tummy time and she is getting really strong! She likes to push against our body with her legs like she is trying to stand up. She sits in her bumbo but I'm not sure that she likes it a lot. It's pretty difficult to get her thighs in and out of the seat. Speaking of thighs, she is pretty chubby! It's good to see the fruits of my milk! Nursing has been good. It's convenient and free...two very important things! Annabelle still has red hair and blue eyes. In my totally unbias opinion, I think she is the prettiest baby ever! :) And she just woke up (early!) from her nap, so that's all we have for now. I'll post pictures later! :)

The past few weeks...whoa!

Ha, this was a post (or just the title) I started almost a month ago...obviously I didn't get much written.

Then...and Now

Then = before baby
Now = after baby

Then: I would sleep 9-10 hours (sometimes 12) at a time without any interruption.

Now: I count myself a lucky lady when I get 3 hours

Then: I didn't change diapers or deal with another person's pee or poop.

Now: I change diapers frequently and have had pee and poop on my hand.

Then: My morning routine would be to wake up, take a shower, get dressed, put on make up, and go to work.

Now: My morning routine is to feed a baby and go back to sleep as soon as possible.

Then: I would actually get dressed for the day.

Now: My daily outfit includes nursing bras and pajama pants.

Then: I used to shower daily.

Now: Every other day is good.

Then: My stomach was pretty flat with some muscle definition.

Now: I feel like the pillsbury dough girl... :(

Then: I never prayed for my nipples.

Now: I'm tempted to include something about my nipples in every prayer.

Then: I didn't know what a cow felt like.

Now: I feel like a prized hefer.

Then: My favorite thing in the world was sleeping or working out.

Now: My favorite thing in the world is a sleeping baby on my chest.

Then: I didn't have a fabulous, cute, sweet baby.

Now: I do and she is funny and I love her to pieces!

Annabelle has arrived!

Annabelle was born Tuesday. May 25, 2010 at 1:03 a.m. She was delivered by Dr. Michelle Quinn with help from Annabelle's daddy! We are a slightly (or A LOT) obsessed! I have like three posts started so I'll try to finish those for documentation sake. We LOVE her!

Full-term

Today, I am 37 weeks pregnant. 3 more weeks until my due date, but I am really hoping she comes in 2 weeks. I've been going through her clothes today...holy moly! This little girl has more clothes than I do and she isn't even here yet! I'm slightly jealous! It's fun. I'm getting excited but also very nervous about the whole delivery part. Oh, well, no turning back now! Bring it on...I'm ready to meet this little lady!

Graduation/Mother's Day weekend!

It's official...Ben walked across the stage and has graduated from UNC Law School! Yay! It was the moment we waited and worked for for the past seven years! The school chapter of our lives has finally come to a close! We started the graduation celebration on Saturday with dinner at the Weathervane. My Dad, brother and both sisters were able to be there and Ben's parents and two of his younger brothers came up. This is us before he opened his presents...cuff links with the UNC seal engraved upon them from his parents and a watch with the UNC seal on it from me.

Messing with the watch. He has talked about getting a ring with the UNC seal on it and having both of his degrees engraved on either side, but I decided on the watch because it seems a little more practical. He can get the ring later if he wants.

This is me with my older brother, David, and little sister, Laurin. We are the "three little ones" in the family.

This is us with Ben's family. His little brother, Will, is in front of me, and Taylor is in front of Ben. We're missing two brothers, a sister, a nephew, and two nieces for a complete family picture.

And then with my family: David, Laurin, Ben, me, my Daddy, and Erin. We're missing three brothers, three sisters-in-law, 5 nephews and 4 nieces. We shoud all be together for July 4th and Annabelle's blessing.

After dinner, the girls all went to see Wicked at the DPAC. Having never seen the Wizard of Oz, I don't think I got everything in the play, but I was still blown away by the talent. Those people can sing!!!! The set was really cool too! I would see it again, but I would watch the Wizard of Oz first. I've heard that helps.

On Sunday, we all got together for breakfast before church and then went to church together. Sadly, Laurin had to leave because she had to work that day. Originally, another lady was scheduled to work, but she is a single mom and asked Laurin to cover for her since it was Mother's Day. So, here is everyone who was there for Sunday.

The Connells like to do "funny" pictures.

Ben with his Mom.

Ha, Will decided he wanted to do pull ups in the tree while I was taking pictures and he told my Dad, "I'll do 10 for every 1 you do" and then did 20 pull ups. I guess he only thought my Dad could do two. So, my Dad (who is 67 yrs old) jumps up in the tree and does 3 pull ups. Will thought it was great and happily did 10 more. I love my Daddy!

And of course Ben couldn't see his brother and my Dad do pull ups without joining in on the fun.

Me and my husBen! :)

After we ate lunch, we headed to the Dean Dome for the Law School ceremony. Here are all of the graduates for the 2010 class. There were about 225 of them.

Walking across the stage!!! He received a piece of paper that had a picture of the law school and "Congratulations Class of 2010" on it. Really??? Is that the best thing they could come up with? Pretty lame in my opinion! Oh well, his real diploma will come in the mail sometime in the next couple of months!

He did it!!!

With his family after the ceremony. My family left as soon as he walked across the stage. They had a four hour drive, so they wanted to get on the road as soon as possible since the ceremony started at 5pm. They got home pretty late, but they said it was worth it!

My boss saw this picture and said that Ben and I look the same size in width...rude!!!!!! Yes, I know, I am a large lady these days. Luckily, I really like my boss so I didn't smack him across the face immediately!

Walking with his Dad to the car. They are super excited to work together. It's something they have talked about since Ben was in high school. It's like a dream come true for both of them!My graduate!!! I'm so proud of him! I got a little emotional after the ceremony was over and we were clapping for all of the graduates! He's worked so hard and this is seriously something we have been working towards for the past 7 years! It's been a long time coming and I can't believe it is over. Too bad the serious studying has just begun. Next up...the Bar Exam!

Sooooo close

Ben is taking his LAST LAW SCHOOL EXAM RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! 9 days until GRADUATION!

Pregnancy Dream...

Last night I had my first dream about pregnancy. I had a dream that I was in labor with two of my other friends who are currently pregnant but due 2 months after me. Let's hope they don't deliver 2 months early b/c there is no way I am going to be 2 months late! We were each in hospital gowns but we weren't at the hospital...we were at the mall! That's about all I can remember. Oh, except there were tables all around the mall of cookies and cakes! haha! Sooooo random! Too bad I didn't dream something sweet like meeting my baby for the first time after having a smooth delivery...just me with some friends walking around the mall in a hospital gown eating cake!

I had my 34 week appt today and they say all is well. The heartbeat is good and strong, I'm measuring right on target, and it's just a waiting game from now on. Ben says Annabelle is very active. The other morning while I was still asleep, he put his hand on my belly and she was going crazy! He said she got a good 30-45 minute workout, and I slept through all of it! I love sleep!!! I hope Annabelle loves sleep too!
And here are just a few pictures my friend, Ashley, took of us! There are lots more but I haven't loaded the cd on to my computer (I'm at work...only for one more week though!!!!!!). I LOVE the first one. It was totally worth having mulch all over my back! :) My husben is the BEST! We are so excited to meet this little lady!

Chapel Hill Baby Shower!

Annabelle and I had another shower this past weekend. This one was put together by my fabulous friend, Ashley, with the help of some other friends. It was so fun! And this delicious beauty below was my cake! Oh...my...goodness....this cake! It's to die for!
This is my friend, Allison...the lovely and talented lady responsible for making and decorating this delicious piece of heaven. We serve together in YW and she is expecting a little boy in August! And there is no doubt that baby boy is going to be soooo cute because she already has a little girl who will make your heart melt! Do you see how excited I am about this cake? YUM!!!
Allison also made this adorable creation! Yes, it's MY CAKE FROM THE SHOWER!!!! Amazing! Not only can she bake delicious cakes, she can crochet! And there are jingle bells in the strawberries. She said this is a toy for Annabelle...but I don't think so. My little baby will just try to eat it, and I can't imagine it would stay this cute for very long!
Allison's creations side by side. Seriously, this cake is so good! Thankfully, after the shower, there was some cake leftover that I was able to take home to Ben. He looked at it for about five seconds and said, "That isn't going to last long!" Ha! I only had one piece of the portion I took home and that was the last piece on Tuesday night. As I was eating, Ben said, "Oh, isn't it so good? It's been hard, but I've been saving that piece for you." What a sweetheart to save me a piece of MY cake!

And this is me and Ashley!!!!!!! :) I'm not really sure why I took a picture with her because she is so freaking skinny and it just makes me feel bad about myself! haha, oh well! But this definitely gives you a good idea of what I look like 33 weeks pregnant! I guess this is the first "belly picture" I've posted. So, here you go...

Thannk you soooo much to everyone who came and brought gifts for Annabelle! And a huge thank you to Ashley for organizing it! Don't worry, this isn't your formal "thank you." My Mother would roll over in her grave and haunt me if I did that! :) Thank you cards will be in the mail shortly!

Life...

The next 3-4 months of our life is going to be pretty crazy! We are now 3 weeks away from Ben's graduation (holy cow, I cannot believe it!), 7 weeks away from Annabelle's due date (can't really believe this is so close either!), 9 weeks away from moving, and 14 weeks away from Ben taking the bar exam. I really hope this little lady decides to come a few days early so she isn't only a couple of days old when we move. If she's a week late, that could be bad! I had a baby shower this past weekend, and I got our pack and play. Thank goodness! Now she'll have some place to sleep for the first few months of her life. It's all set up in her corner of our bedroom...her nursery is complete! ha! Ben should be grateful I'm not one of those ladies that planned to have an elaborately decorated nursery for our first child. If so, I would be freaking out right now! Once we get a car seat and stroller, we should be good with all of the major stuff. Then she'll have a way to get home from the hospital...kind of an important thing because I think we'll definitely want to take her home with us! We're going to have a baby soon...a real life baby! I'm getting really excited! I'm getting some maternity pictures taken tonight. If I don't look like a huge cow, maybe I'll post some.

Puppy Love!

This is Cuma (I think that's how you spell her name). She's an English Mastiff, and one of the coolest dogs ever! She might look big, but she is actually still a puppy. She still has some growing and filling out to do. We had the pleasure of dog sitting her for about two weeks while some friends were out of town. I had previously met Cuma, but this was Ben's first interaction with her...and he fell in love! They became buddies fast!

She is such a pretty dog!

Look at that sweet face!

He even loved her after we came home from church and found this...his favorite flip flops.

We have no idea what happened to the other strap. We are guessing she really likes leather and ate it! haha! The hilarious thing about this is that she was sooooooo pitiful after Ben disciplined her. She knew she did something wrong! She was hanging her head so low and even put herself in her kennel on the back porch (the only time she went in there in the 2 weeks we were there). It was sooo cute! But within about 15 minutes of Ben being mad, he was then playing with her again and she was hanging out with him on the back porch while he grilled chicken. It was so funny, but she is just that cool! One day we will have a cool dog like her!

My nephew is funnier than your nephew

This is the conversation between my 5 year old nephew, Andrew, and my sister-in-law, Victoria, on April 1st, 2010.

Andrew: Mom, you know last night when I moved to your bed?

Victoria: Yes....

Andrew: Well, I peed on your bed...

Victoria: Andrew!!! Why ??? NOOooooo

Andrew: April fools!!!

Haha! I love him! He is seriously one of the funniest kids I have ever met in my life! I don't even want to imagine the mischief he will cause as he gets older.

Goodbye Wardrobe

On Sunday evening, I had a little heart-to-heart with myself. I came to accept the fact that I can no longer wear over 3/4 of the shirts in my previous wardrobe, so I cleaned out the closet and put those shirts in a box with the title of "non-preg shirts." I did this because on Saturday night, I was getting ready to go somewhere and just thought I would wear a button up shirt...ha, that was a joke! That shirt was an inch or two away from even being close to buttoned. Hello, boobs, did you really have to get that much bigger? I now have about 10 shirts hanging in my closet. I went from 10 black shirts to 10 shirts total. Sad! Don't be surprised if you see me wearing the same shirts every other week!
Since being pregnant I've tried to only buy clothes that I can wear when I am not pregnant too. I'm trying to keep the strictly maternity clothes to a minimum, but I might have to breakdown and buy some maternity pants. The be bands are really great and have saved me so much, but sometimes they bunch up and I feel like I have to keep pulling them up or down. If I do get some maternity pants, I think I'll only get one or two pairs.
Oh man, I saw a picture of me from last summer/early fall...I almost cried. I used to have a pretty flat stomach. I've never been a toothpick by any means, but it was really flat compared to now! Oh, the joys of being pregnant! I'm 30 weeks pregnant today...10 more weeks until our baby comes!

Ben Folds!!!

Last night, Ben and I headed down to the Progress Energy Center to see Ben Folds! This was our first time seeing him live, and we liked it. It was really, really cool because we also got to see the NC Symphony Orchestra perform. They played with Ben Folds for about an hour and a half. It was our first time seeing them as well, and we liked them too. It was really funny to see these olds guys in tuxedos playing Ben Folds' music. They did a great job though!

Ben Folds is AMAZING on the piano! Seriously, he was tearing that thing up. It was so awesome. It was also really neat to hear the stories behind his songs and inspirations for the lyrics. He is originally from Winston-Salem, and lived in Chapel Hill and Raleigh for a while. His song "Brick" was actually written and recorded while he lived in Chapel Hill...pretty cool! He used to play at small, local music venues in this area too. And now he's performing at large auditoriums with the NC Symphony Orchestra...pretty cool! It also surprised me that he is so goofy! I said to Ben during the concert, "He really is just a goofy dude!" And he is!!! But he can play the piano, write songs and sing pretty well! I'm goofy and I can't do any of those things! He also seemed really chill and down to earth. It was great! I would love to see him again live!

After the orchestra left, he played for about 30 minutes by himself. It was really cool! I totally did not want the concert to end! I kept screaming "Come Back!" but he didn't listen to me. At one point after his song "Not the Same," a girl yelled out "I love you!!!" and the whole crowd cheered.

My favorite song from the night was "Gracie," which is about his daughter. He has twins...a boy and a girl, but they were actually born on two different days. The boy (can't remember his name) came at 11:30pm and Gracie came at 3:30am the next day...kind of crazy! That poor woman! I've always liked this song, but it seriously teared me up last night listening to him play it and thinking of our upcoming arrival. I actually want to name one of our daughters Gracie...not because of this song but because I really, really like the name, and one of my best friends calls me "Grace" as a nickname! I've had the name "Gracie Lynn" picked out for years for our second daughter! Here is the link from youtube if you want to listen to it. I highly recommend it!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dcOK7G1o5o

Ben may look really happy to be in this picture, but it actually took me pulling teeth to get it! He was ready to leave because he didn't want to be stuck in traffic! Even with the picture, we got out of there with no problem! Thank you very much! :)