A year in the life of Annaka

So I saw this posting on Nicki's blog (http://hipsterhomesteading.wordpress.com/) and I thought that it would be a great way to keep track of all of Annaka's sweet little details this year. I believe you can sign up on this blog (http://cheandfidel.blogspot.com/) but I was too late to be a part of her collection. So I am just going to make my own collection. I meed to catch up, they are week 3 so here is 1,2 and 3.

This is week one, holding her handmade doll by her auntie Shalisa with her matching crown. She has been playing so much more with her toys. Figuring out how they work putting the shapes back into the box not just throwing them to the side, but placing them nicely in their box. 

( I know this is dated for December but it was the first week.)

Week 2: This is my sweet baby girl helping me bake cookies for my Grandmother's funeral. Even though she has begun to hit me when she is frustrated she is still my sunshine on a dark day.

Week 3: Enjoying her 1st peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Annaka also LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba, that show turns her frown upside down! She also loves, and has for awhile now, to push all of the chairs around the house. She also does not seem to like naps much anymore and is eating much less then she use to. She also hates milk. :/

So these are some things that I do not want to forget. Thank Nicki for inspiring this!

1 Year, 12 Months. 52 Weeks, 365 Days

Last year I did not make any resolutions. I had 3 goals, nurse my baby for at least 1 year, stick with cloth diapers and keep my baby alive. I think that this is the first year that I accomplished all of my goals! At one point I did give myself a few other goals, I have been working on my business with my sister, I sewed napkins but no quilt and I only managed to blog once a month. I guess I'll try again this year!

As we now have this fast little toddler no longer a helpless infant you start to think about the rest of her life. I guess I feel like if I can keep her alive for a year I can figure all the rest out now. (yeah right!)  SO i can't help but think about my hopes for my sweetie pie. Thinking of the kind of little lady I hope she will be, the kind of people I want in her life the things that I want to shield her from (of course all things bad and awful) the experiences I want her to have. It's hard to be realistic. Knowing that there will be pain, disappointment and lots of mistakes. So what can I hope for Annaka?

So after much thought and consideration here is my as realistic as possible hopes for my sweet little sugar bear.

On the "Polar Express" In Portland Maine. 

Dear Annaka,

You are now a fiesty, talkative, curious little toddler. No longer a tiny little helpless baby, I am thankful for that. I am thankful that you made it through your first year with minor bumps and bruises. I wish that I could shield you from all things "bad" and harmful as you continue to grow and walk through life, getting you through with minor bumps and bruises. Bad experiences as well as good ones shape us to be as we grow, so instead of hoping and wishing for something that is not only impossible but also not ultimately helpful to you here are my hopes and dreams for you my dear sweet girl.

I hope that you grow to have the support of not only your parents but also of other adults in your life. Adults that you can go to when your parents are uncool or would never understand, maybe forgotten what it is like to be your age. Adults that love you and have your best interest at heart, ones that will help you walk through hard choices and big heartaches when your parents just don't make the cut.

I pray that you have a strong foundation in Jesus and your faith. So when you do have to make choices on your own you remember you are never really alone and that you will hear the still small voice of the Lord.

I pray that your father and I always turn to the Lord when it comes to guiding you as you become you. I pray that we are sensitive as well to that still small voice to help you reconize your strengths and help you foster your weaknesses.

I hope that even when you make big, big mistakes you will feel loved and supported and know that there is nothing that you could do that will shock your father and I. Remember there is absoluty nothing you can do to make us love you any less. It is only possible for us to love you more.

I pray that you understand forgiveness. Both in giving and receiving because there will be a lot of it as you grow. Including dear old mom and dad.

I hope for the kind of life experiences that do not break you but only make you stronger and wiser.

I pray for you to have confidence in who you are and who you are becoming. The kind of confidence needed to play alone, eat linch by yourself and make new friends. The kind of confidence that is only found in Jesus.

I pray that you will be blessed with friends, life long, loyal, kind friends. Friends that will love you no matter what, support you and gently correct you. You will gain these kinds of friends by being this kind of friend.

Most of all I pray that you enjoy all that Jesus has in store for you. That even now when you are still so small He will begin to work in your life and plant seeds in your sweet little heart.

I am really crazy about you Annaka. I never understood the blessing children were until I was blessed with my own. Happy Happy Birthday sweet girl.

With all the love I have to give,

Mama

We have reach double digits 10 months

Today as I peeled back the 10 month sticker from the paper I began to get a little teary eyed. It caught me off guard since I am not the emotional type so it was short lived but none the less it happened. Only two more stickers (the ones that I have used in the onesies) until the first year is over, where did the time go, they say it goes by fast but no amount of warning can really prepare you for the speed of light the year as felt so far. Now not only is Annaka's first birthday coming up but the holidays as well. I know at the end of the next two months I'll wish I hadn't blinked.

As always our sweet little lady filled our month with more joy, laughter, frustration, exhaustion, concern and love than the month before. Our once tiny little infant is now not only crawling but walking with assistance. I can't believe it, I was not wishing for this day to come SO soon. I was fine with the fact that the only way she could get around was crawling and pulling herself up. Of course I couldn't be more proud of our smart daughter. I am sure I have said it often but watching someone grow is truely one of the most amazing gifts from God. Besides my husband, Annaka is the most wonderful earthly gift I could have ever been blessed with.

Our little world traveler was on the road again this month. We finally were able to visit the sunny land of California. It was so great to be able to see family and friends. Of course I think that they were all more excited to see Annaka understandably. :) We were there for a week and we stayed with Lydia my best friend from college. It was so great to be someplace that even though we had never been to was so warm and familiar. Lydia wrote a great post and posted some GREAT photos on her blog. http://syniahsmama.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-baby-in-our-home-smith-visit.html I was so glad she took so may pictures, I tend to slack on taking pictures when I know someone else is, then when I get home and have no pictures I am always upset with myself (hopefully my dear friend will send them all to me ;) One day I may learn. We were also able to see my dad's family, my dad goes out every year for his mother's birthday and this year we joined him. We also say my very dear friends Haiza and Christine and her family. All in all it was a fantastic trip.

While we were in California we also visited the world famous San Diego Zoo. Annaka did pretty good she lasted a whole 5 hours! She enjoyed seeing monkeys and birds. She did also enjoy watching the elephant relieve himself we did not photograph that event.

This month on the way home from California Annaka had A LOT to say and has not stopped talking since. She was very friendly with the people that we meet at the airport, mixed feelings about that one. She also had her 9 month visit and she is doing great! She got her last round of shots for a while, and is in the 50th percentile for height and weight. Her head is in the 75th percentile. Annaka is also getting her top 4 teeth, yes at once, poor baby and poor mommy and daddy a little bit. Like I said ealier she is walking with the assistance or whatever and whoever is around and mobile. She moves FAST!

The biggest event I think of the whole month is that she spent the first FULL night away from her mommy. It was a success and only a few tears were shed. I had a girls weekend with two of my best friends from high school Auntie Miss and Auntie Kris. It was nice to get away to know that she is fine with out me. :(  But it was also nice to see her smile when I got back. Sometimes I really go nuts being home all the time and I miss working but it does make a mommy feel all warm and fuzzy inside when their baby is so happy to see them!

Kyle and I are going to try and really soak up these last two months of Annaka's first year. Soak up all the baby goodness that we can get.

Happy 10 months Annaka! We love you and are so glad that you have many more wonderful milestones ahead of you. We plan to enjoy them all as we get to witness you grow into a beautiful little lady.

Your adoring fans,
Mom and Dad

Nurturing Nature

I think that until you have the opportunity to watch someone grow right in front of your eyes you aren't lucky enough to really be able to understand how it all happens. I am watching someone everyday all day long and I still don't really understand. My point of view does come with the belief that there is one Creator, God and I believe the Bible to be truth. That being said.....

I think that when you become a parent the verse "Train up a child in the way he should go" begins to become more relevant, for obvious reasons. What does it mean, does it mean that you are suppose to tell your children about Jesus well yes, but what else? Does it mean you are suppose to be this over protective, over bearing mother, cause I'll do it! Or does it mean that my little one that the Lord has entrusted to me has been created by God right down to the her tiny, sweet giggles. That I am to help grow and nurture  all that God has already created her to be? I think that it means just that. I believe that we are who we are that we have been knit together in our mother's womb by the Creator and that nothing went unnoticed.  I think that my daughter likes to be held and cuddle 95% of the time not because I held her so much as an infant but because that was where she was happy and if it made her happy I obliged when I could. I think that Annaka cries out when Kyle and I exclude her from what we are doing because she likes to feel included. I believe that her sweet, easygoing disposition is not because we let people hold her or because we cart her around with us so she has learned to go with the flow. I think that she was just made this way! So I believe that all that we are good and bad the Lord knows and He created us this way with our strengths and our weakness.

So really I don't think that Annaka is a people person like her mom or quiet like her dad. Maybe she is, I do think that genetics plays a part. But really I think that she is her own little person that God created and that he for whatever reason has picked us to be her parents. I think that no matter who her parents would have been she would have been the same wonderful little girl.

I am of course am not an expert on parenting by any means, I just want my daughter to be all that God has created her to be and I want to make all the right choices by her, of course I know I will not but I can try! So for that reason I look to the word of God, the Bible, for all my answers. Some of them are easy to understand some take time, some I still don't understand. I guess though I don't need to know it all now, I just need to know it when the situation arises.

Thank you Jesus for my sweet little girl and for her wonderful personality that I have yet to unfold. Please give me the wisdom to help her be all that she is meant to be. Give me patients and understanding.

Hello Old Friend

Dear Sleep,
It has been so long since we had our usual rendezvous, I miss you dearly. I think about you all day and wish for our reunion. When that will be I do not know. I am wondering if now that I have a baby our relationship is forever changed, I hope not. When I lay my head down on my pillow to meet you for our date I can't help but think of my day. I think of my little girl, my husband, what we did, how I could have done better, what I will do tomorrow, how I can do it better. My thoughts are consumed thus I become distracted and our time together is cut short. I have been talking to Annaka about you how wonderful you are hoping that your relationship will grow. I am hoping that as your relationship grows ours will grow stronger as well. Sometimes when I lay down at night and all seems perfect for our meeting I just can't find you, maybe it is the excitement that has built up and I am so anxious to find you.

I hope you are well and even as time passes and our paths seem to grow farther and farther apart you will know that I think of you always and look forward to our 7-8 hour visits and lazy weekends laying in bed together. Till then be well old friend and if I can't enjoy you like I use to please don't forget about my dear sweet Annaka.

Sincerely,
Beth

Below I have added a photo of my little one in case you need a reminder.