First Trip to the Phoenix Zoo

Today AnnaBeth and I joined Julie, Emma, Hailey, Emily, Nathan, Caroline and Danielle at the zoo. Our first stop was a table between the carousel and the giraffes. All of the older kids wanted a snack and AnnaBeth needed to eat again. Thankfully Julie had some granola bars so I had my breakfast during our snack time. After that we stopped at the giraffes.

This guy was right up next to the fence. Emma and I went over to get a better look at him and right after I snapped his picture he headed off to hang out with his friends. These are his friends. I guess it was their snack time too. After the giraffes we made our way up and around the hill to the cats. The tiger must have already had his morning snack and was enjoying a nap. The lioness was proudly lounging for all zoo goers to admire her. Over by the rhinos a ground squirrel found a tasty human treat. The kids decided at this point that they wanted to eat again so we stopped at another table so Nathan, Caroline and Danielle could have some lunch. We then headed over to see the baboons. Spring is in the air and they gave us a little show of nature. Nathan however thought that the big baboon was stepping on the baby baboon. By now the kids were nearing meltdowns as nap time was quickly approaching so we headed towards the exit. On our way out we saw the zebras. They were all having their morning snacks just like the giraffes. As we left the zoo, the turtles were out swimming and sunning on the logs.AnnaBeth slept through her first zoo trip but that's ok because we'll have many more outings to the zoo and someday she'll actually remember our trips to see the animals.

Little Monster

The last few days, AnnaBeth has been extra fussy in the evenings and on into the wee hours of the morning. She'll harbor burps during feedings, get really mad because it makes her belly hurt and as a result, wails continuously about it. And she gets so worked up that she can't truly calm down enough to go to sleep. She'll doze if we're holding her (some of the time) and walking around but only for a few minutes before she wails again. She generally refuses to let us sit down with her and her daddy has been a champ with standing with her for 2 hours at a time. I can't do it for that long and have resorted to playing baby praise and lullaby songs from my ipod for her while either walking her room or rocking in the glider. Bath time is hit or miss with the "there's nothing you can do to console me" crying. Fortunately tonight was one of the good times (for the most part) and the towel we use that she got from Kristy pretty much sums up how she's been acting lately =)

It's hard to see but the hood has a little face and little spiky things on the head.

Her sweet little face doesn't reflect at all what the back of the towel says.

This lovingly says it all....

Got Ink?

Before AnnaBeth was born, Kent decided that he wanted to get a tattoo of her footprints that would be taken at the hospital. So last Friday he was forever marked with her teeny tiny feet and I absolutely LOVE it!! He wants to do the same with the next baby on his other arm so hopefully the artist who did this work will still be working at the tattoo place in a couple of years.

Quality Time with Tabby the Turtle

Practicing for Splash Mountain

One week old

AnnaBeth is one week old today. She's had a lot happen this week and wanted to share her favorite moments.
On Saturday, she got to meet her Aunt Geli. Geli had never seen such a small baby before so this day was just as exciting for her as it was for AnnaBeth.

On Tuesday, her Nana and Papa got back from Mexico and came to see her on their way home from the airport. Here she's telling her Nana just how much she loves her.

Not only did she get to meet her Nana and Papa on Tuesday, she also got to meet her cousins Emma and Hailey. For a good portion of my pregnancy, if you asked Emma where AnnaBeth was, she would come over, lift my shirt and point to my belly. So you can imagine how thrilled she was to finally see AnnaBeth in person. She immediately came over to lovingly touch her face and give her kisses.

And today she tested out the driver's seat in her daddy's Boxster Spec race car. Daddy almost has it finished and we're going to see him drive it for the first time on the track this coming Saturday. She wanted to make sure it was all good to go before the first track event.

And last but not least, she got to hear her very own song that Nana and Papa wrote for her. You see, her Papa has called her Turtle (or TAB...Turtle AnnaBeth) since my 8 week ultrasound. Tia YaYa had someone at work make two little turtles, one for her and one to keep at Nana and Papa's house. So on Tuesday, Nana and Papa sang her the Tabby the Turtle song. Even Emma knows many of the words and will soon be singing it to AnnaBeth herself.

A good little sleeper

I know that babies don't smile because they find something amusing for a few months and that early smilings are just a coincidence. However, I still love it when AnnaBeth smiles at us! The first time she did it was right after we got home from the hospital and I was getting ready to change her diaper. I gave her a little kiss by her mouth and she smiled! This picture was taken on Sunday while she was hanging out in her bassinet. AnnaBeth not only sleeps well but she enjoys a good snuggle session. And one of her favorite ways to snuggle is on her daddy's chest (she will soon learn that her Papa's chest is also a really good place for this). You can see how much she enjoys snuggling in this picture =)