83/365

Poor, tired Papa.


Today's thanks is HUGE!!! Annie put some food in her mouth on her own today!!!!!!!!!!!! Our OT has encouraged us to let her play with food while we try and get her to understand that food is not scary. So, she told us to let her hold, squish, etc. whatever we are eating so she sees us eating it and realizes that it is not something that should cause great amounts of anxiety to her. So I have been doing this. Annie and I were eating lunch with some friends today and I was letting Annie hold a chip. She has NEVER even considered putting any sort of food item in her mouth, so a chip is perfectly safe for her and something she kind of likes because she can crunch it on the table and smash it in her hand. However, today she was holding the chip and she licked it!!! I think she realized that she liked the salt and she continued to taste the chip. No bites or anything, just touching it to her lips and licking. I was so shocked and trying to stay calm but really praising her. I didn't want to scare her! Then, my friend Kate gave her a bread stick to hold and she sat and chewed on that bread stick for about 5 minutes. I just couldn't believe it. COULDN'T believe it!!!!!!! I am so proud of her and this is such a huge deal. Huge, huge deal. Remember, before today, she has never put any sort of food in her mouth that did not come out of a bottle. We have worked on spoon feeding her, but it is very difficult and we are mostly just trying to get her used to a spoon. If we tried to touch any sort of food to her mouth, she would avoid it at any cost.

Annie and I are visiting some of our very best friends today. Lucy is with Lee Lee and trust me, she is more than pleased about that. Annie has been so cute and really happy to meet everyone. I am also thankful for all of the precious babies that my friends have. They are all so cute and it has been so much fun to see them all. Annie and Lucy have lots of friends!

I had to snap a few pics of Lucy this morning before Annie and I left and they are not good at all. She was not interested in having her picture taken.

I ♥ Faces - No Flash

This category is really hard for me to make a choice on what picture to use. Pretty much every picture I take (with the exception of bathtub pics where I use an external flash) is natural light. I decided on a bluebonnet picture because I love this pic so very much. Annie was so happy in that field of flowers. I chose the picture of Annie and Justin for the adult category because I love the picture and because it has taken me a lot of practice and playing around with the settings on my camera to get indoor pictures with no flash that I actually like. I thought this one turned out great. We are at the rodeo and I love the blurred cowboys and horses in the background and all of the shimmering lights. Be sure and check out the other awesome entries for this week's competition at I ♥ Faces.





Be sure and check out the other awesome entries for this week's competition at I ♥ Faces.

82/365

Today I am thankful that Annie has improved drastically when it comes to riding in the car. She used to cry the second we put her in the car, but now she has been on several road trips and done so well. It is really hard to concentrate when your child is screaming bloody murder in the back seat and she can't see you. l am so pleased that she is getting to a point of feeling safe in the car. Life is much more pleasant.

I have had another long day, so that is all for today.

81/365

Today I am thankful that our sweet baby girl is baptized and that she is growing up in a Christian home where she will always be surrounded by love and support. I am thankful that we have the awesome church that we do and for the friends that I have made through our church. I can't say enough wonderful things about our church. I love it. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated every single time I walk out of there. Annie did AMAZING for her baptism. She allowed our pastor to hold her and bless her and hold her up and show her off. There was a moment of hesitation when I handed her over, but I quickly told her that she was okay and that was that. She was totally fine. We were all so proud of her. I had hoped she would be able to wear Lucy's white Ao Dai that Lucy was baptized in, but it just didn't fit her at all. It was so big on her, so we didn't use it.

I think that Annie is ready for things to settle down a little. She has really struggled with nap and now bedtime today. I think she has probably been really overstimulated with all that has been going on the past several days. We need a few calm days to get her back on track. I am really just hoping she isn't getting sick. She threw up tonight after she went to bed but I think she gagged on some medicine. Fingers crossed we all stay healthy.

Lucy's only pictures today are group photos. We are all exhausted. It has been so busy since Thursday. Thanks to all of our family for making this weekend so wonderful!

80/365

Today I am thankful for family dinners. Growing up, we ate dinner together as a family every night. I make it a priority that we sit down as a family now, as well. Tonight, we had a huge family dinner of spaghetti and I just love that. We had another great day with all of our family in town. Tomorrow is Annie's baptism and tonight we did cupcakes for her. I let her have her own cupcake and she ripped the thing to shreds and managed to refuse even a taste touching her lips. I had really hoped she would at least touch a finger to her lips, but she just won't do it. She was so cute trying to figure out what was all over her.

Lucy had a birthday party this morning and then we just played around the house. After naps, we took the big kids to feed the ducks, ate dinner, ate cupcakes, and did group kid baths. The kids have had such a great time today. We had beautiful weather again today.

I hope that Annie does well at the baptism. The pastor always holds up the babies and shows them off and I am not sure that Annie is going to go for that, but I want everyone to see how precious she is!

79/365

Today I am thankful for having a house full of family. My parents, Justin's parents, and my older sister and her two boys are all in town for Annie's baptism and birthday celebration this weekend. Tomorrow my baby sister, Katy (Seashy) will be here. Amy, Cayce, Austen, Jaksen, and both Adams, we miss you!! But it is so wonderful to me to have a house full of family. I love it. And another HUGE thanks for me is that Lucy and John have played SO well together the entire time. This could not make me any happier. In the past, Lucy has always had a really hard time playing nicely with her cousin, John. But today they have ran together, rode bikes together, and just played happily with one another. They are even sleeping in the same room tonight! YEAH!

Annie's birthday is not until April 1st, but since she is getting baptized on Sunday, we figured we would just do a family celebration this weekend. We aren't doing much except for opening presents and eating cupcakes, but she will love to be the center of attention.

I hope you all have an awesome weekend. Here are pictures from our blue bonnet experience on the drive back home today. Annie was such a ham. She loved the flowers. I am lucky I got any of Lucy because she woke up from a nap in the car when we pulled over and she was not pleased.





















So sad at first!