This was a big week for us.  Two firsts for our beautiful little girl.  Annabelle has officially gotten her first virus and has a full-fledge cold.  On our flight back from Florida I heard a few extra coughs and I had a feeling she might be getting something.  By Sunday night she had a legitimate cough and runny noise.  Annabelle’s cold did make it a little harder to get anything done.  Because she was so congested at the beginning of the week she didn’t like lying down for vary long and wanted to be held a lot.  I feel so bad for our bean but she was still in good spirits and this hasn’t slowed her down a bit.  I guess these little viruses last 7-10 days so I’m crossing my fingers and hope it’ll be gone by Christmas.

And, drumroll please, she officially rolled over (and hasn’t stopped since).  She can only roll over from her back to front so when she rolls over, after a few minutes, she gets tired and then gets upset.  We turn her over to her back and after a few seconds she rolls over again and the whole process starts over.

Annabelle went to visit Santa this week.  Her first time meeting the big guy was a success but we’ll see how future visits go (picture coming soon).  Seeing Santa was also a big moment for Dusty and I.  It’s at times like these that we realize we’ve joined this whole new group of people.  We’re parents! Yes, I understand that this shouldn’t be a surprise but it’s as though we’re so busy with the nitty-gritty little parts of life that sometimes we forget what the bigger picture looks like.  We’ve been just a couple for so long and then this week we were standing in line to see Santa with all of these other parents, these people that we now have something in common with!

Annabelle has been amazed by her hands for a while now and really enjoys gnawing on them.  This week she’s found another limb, her feet.  If she’s not eating her hands, she’s trying to grab her feet.  It’s so adorable to watch her grab her feet as she examines them so very seriously (as you can see from above).  Then all of a sudden she’ll see her hands and let go of her feet.  Then it’s time to examine her hands, moving them slowly in front of her face like they’re a foreign object and checking them out before stuffing them into her mouth.

Sleep.  It’s not so good this week or it’s not as good as it has been.  I’m not sure if it’s a growth spurt or the cold or a combination of both or something else but Annabelle’s waking up an extra time or two each night.  She’ll go to be at 7:30pm and then wake up between 10pm and midnight, again at 3am and then at 5am.  Most of the time she’s smacking her lips, wanting to nurse.  It’s exhausting and I’m hoping it’s not something that won’t continue for much longer because it makes for an extra tired mommy and daddy.

I know Annabelle will want to be hundreds of different things as she’s growing up.  I’m sure she’ll want to be a princess, a doctor, a teacher, a mom and so many other ridiculous and not so ridiculous things but it’s fun start thinking now.  One day I asked Dusty what he thought she should do when she grows up.  After a fun little discussion we’ve decided, until she can tell us what she’s wants to be, that she’s going to be the top scientist in her field.  We’ll leave it up to her to decide what kind of scientist she wants to be!

It’s the week before Christmas and I haven’t gotten a darn thing done.  Life before a baby, being a teacher (and this being finals week and the start of my vacation), I would have the house completely ready for the holidays, laundry and housework caught up, gifts bought and wrapped, happy hours with girlfriends I haven’t seen in a while and sewing projects started.  I’ve only slightly started on all of these things and instead of happy hours I’m meeting my friends at their house or mine!  I haven’t checked the mail in two weeks (and I love checking the mail)!  One of these days I’ll get used to being a mother and be able to manage more than one thing at a time again.  Thank goodness for family.  Both grandmas babysat this week so I could get some laundry done and go to a doctor’s appointment.