Bad, Bad Blogger.... But I Have (Some) Excuses and a Million Pictures

Well, as the title of this post declares:  I am a bad, bad blogger.  For a while I did a really good job of keeping up at least monthly with photos of Ann Maxwell and a few blurbs about what was going on with our family.  Then in November I hit a bit of a wall.  Once I got behind it seemed like an insurmountable task to catch back up, and I've been a bit busy.  Why, you may ask?!  Well, in late November I started feeling not so good - ok, I started feeling really sick!  We were trying to buy a new house, Ann Maxwell was in full-blown toddler mode and running me ragged, and I was finishing up marching season and preparing for the holiday traveling bonanza - so I chalked it up to stress and fatigue.  When things went from bad to worse I knew something more was up... It turns out I didn't have too much stress or a little bug.  Instead we got the most wonderful news - we're having another baby!  I waited to blog because I wanted to get past those first few months before sharing our latest news.  Then the holidays hit and along with Christmas came the flu.  Yes, our whole house was confined to the bed on Christmas!  It was terrible!  When we finally recovered and I was considering rejoining the blogosphere we suddenly sold our house and were able to purchase another one.  The only catch was we had three weeks to pack and move.  The blog would have to wait.  In late February we packed up two large moving trucks in a frenzy and moved one whole mile to our new home.  That same week we found out Ann Maxwell will be joined by a new baby SISTER!  It was a crazy time for us, but we were so happy!  It took quite a while to get settled in our new home.  By this point I was pregnant enough to constantly be told to put down boxes and not to lift this or that.  Chasing Ann Maxwell around kept me busy enough though, I assure you.  After we settled in, we hosted Ann Maxwell's 2nd birthday party in our new backyard.  It was such a joyful day for us.  After that we had a very busy Spring full of family weddings, graduations, and lots of unpacking and baby prep.  Then we all came down with (not the flu this time) bronchial colds.  A bad cold in the heat in the third trimester is no fun, so again the blog got shelved.  After recovering we've been preparing for our new baby, and exploring the wonderful world of having a two-year-old, complete with potty training (which has been successful I might add!), new interests, even more energy, and new activities.  So now, with just a few days to go before our second c-section (scheduled for July 22nd), I'm finally getting back to the blog.  All of you who have been chastising me can relax.  Those of you who forgot we exist, welcome back!  There is no way I could possibly tell you all the changes Ann Maxwell has gone through in the past eight months, although I'd love to explain them all.  It's been a fascinating and wonderful time full of transition from babyhood to a little girl's world.  Like I mentioned we've potty trained, and Ann Maxwell has just blossomed into an energetic, sweet, very verbal, sensitive, independent girlie girl, who loves to swim in her new pool, sing, dance, play with friends, pick out her own clothes, and master the toughest puzzles she can find.  She knows all her letters, phonics sounds, shapes, colors, verses to an endless list of songs, all the instruments in the band, and a vocabulary that seems to astound people wherever she goes.  She's extremely polite, never failing to thank everyone around her, even the check-out clerk at Target.  She counts everyone she meets as her friend, but her heart really belongs to her family, whom she adores.  She constantly tells us she loves us or gives impromptu hugs and kisses.  She talks to her baby sister all the time and tells her all the things she's been doing.  Yes, life has been busy the past eight months or so.  We never seem to slow down, but we seem to thrive on chaos.  I suppose that's why I'm such a bad blogger, but I promise to do better as we'll have photos of a new family member to share shortly.  Please pray for an easy delivery and recovery and for a smooth transition as we expand our family and adjust to being a party of four!  In the meantime, here are several photos from the time I was away from the blog.  Please excuse the number.  Some were just too good to leave out!  Also, the uploading got a little messed up, so they're not all in chronological order.  I'm working on getting it re-organzied though.  Thanks for sticking with us and being a part of our lives!

Dressed for the season (pumpkins!) at Grayson Moody's christening brunch

Wearing her Ole Miss Rebels dress at the LSU game watch party at the Travillos'.  She thought coloring with Jackson was the best time ever!

At the zoo with daddy... We took one last trip before the cold weather really hit.

Elephants at the zoo, although hippos are her ultimate favorite

  

We took Ann Maxwell to the Barney Show at the Canon Center in January.  She LOVED it.  In fact, she's still talking about going back.

Clapping along with Barney and Friends

Mesmerized by the show

Doing all the motions along with the music

Dancing in the aisles with Barney

Walker's birthday party in March had a petting zoo!  Ann Maxwell was a little shy with the animals, but we had to drag her off the swings!

Walker enjoying his cake via dinosaur

Sometimes you just have to put on your tutu and dance!

After the Barney Show was such a hit we went to the Sesame Street Show at the Fedex Forum

Dancing Queen dancing with Daddy in pajamas

The first (and only) time she let me put a ponytail in her hair

It stayed in just long enough to change shirts.  She then told me I couldn't put in ponytails anymore and removed the rubber band.  She's gotten so much more hair lately that I can't resist playing with it.  She, however, is not remotely interested.

Birthday Girl at her party on April 2nd!  Her actual birthday is April 3rd.

Decorating for the party. .. We had a Wiggles theme, per the birthday girl's request.

Using the "noculars" on her swingset, Ann Maxwell often spies all kinds of imaginary things.  Her favorite creature to find is the pink dragon, or dragons, depending on the day.

Playing with Harrison at the party

Sliding

We got a bouncy house for the party.  At first Ann Maxwell was scared, but once Daddy got in it was all she was interested in.

She wanted us to sing Happy Birthday to her more than once so she could blow out the candles multiple times!

Showing everyone all the Wiggles characters on her cake

One of her gifts (per the Wiggles theme) was a set of plush toys from the Wiggles Family: Dorothy the Dinosaur and Henry the Octopus.  She was so excited to get them, she took them bouncing with her.

Delighted with Henry

Grandmama and Grandaddy got her an easel.  The budding artist at work...

Sweet Birthday Girl with her new golden curls... It may have taken us a long while to get some hair, but it sure was worth the wait!  So cute!

Those trademark dimples aren't going anywhere!

Teaching Ava about putting up her colors after the party had died down

Celebrating clean-up success!

At the end of the day she fell asleep sitting up in my mom's arms.  This has NEVER EVER happened in her whole life.  The child does not sleep!  This was evidence of how hard we all partied!

Pointing out which balloon she wanted.  She always has an opinion and is not afraid to tell you exactly what she wants!

Happy to be bouncing

Catching some air in the bouncy house

Thanksgiving 2010 in Magee

Thanksgiving visit with Ava 2010

April 2011 - Elise graduated from MSU!  Brian and Savannah came to visit.  Ann Maxwell was enamored with "Fanannah" and is still talking about when we can go see her in Florida and take her to Sea World.

I promise Elise is in there somewhere!

May - My good friends, Ellen and Julie, were so sweet to throw Baby Coats #2 an intimate shower for close friends and family.  It was so nice to get together and celebrate this baby since things have been so hectic!

June 2011 - One of Ann Maxwell's favorite foods - black beans!  She loves Mexican food, and we always bring home leftovers from the restaurant for a day after treat.

June 2011 - Tea party at our house with Helen Grace!

July 2011 - Playing catch with Daddy, the new favorite game in our house.  You should see how excited Ann Maxwell gets when she plays.  She celebrates a good catch by jumping up and down and screaming - sometimes so hard she falls over.  Chris says she would definitely get an excessive celebration penalty!

The one time I got pigtails in her hair - I wish she would let me do it more often!

Christmas 2010 - Visiting Santa.  This was about two minutes before a meltdown of nuclear proportions took place.  I had to hold her down in Santa's lap.  I am, therefore, in the photo with her screaming and crying.  Santa, though, looks unfazed!

Her favorite outfit from the winter

After celebrating Daddy's birthday at Como July 4, 2011, Ann Maxwell found Daddy's old He-Man set at Papaw and Cici's house.  The green man was her favorite.

She also found his old play football helmet.

July 2011 - Riding on Daddy's shoulders

Summer 2011 - Swimming in the new pool

November 2011 - Playing in her kitchen

Scattering books everywhere was a favorite pastime in November...

The following several photos are from Thanksgiving and Christmas. We spent Thanksgiving in Magee and (because of the aforementioned flu) Christmas at home. Despite the sickness Ann Maxwell managed to have a great time with all her gifts from Santa. Among her favorites were a princess tent, a play farm with animals, and Toy Story characters. Her ultimate favorite was an instrument set, complete with all kinds of percussion instruments.  We form a band together all the time, and Ann Maxwell is always the drummer.  She's already telling me she's going to be a drummer in the band!  Heaven help us!  Santa also brought a tricycle (not pictured). After Christmas we were blessed with snow, which Ann Maxwell thoroughly enjoyed! She's still asking when the snow is coming back.

Football in Magee with Brayden

iPhone junkie!  She truly has mastered it!

The child is almost never without an accessory - hats, sunglasses and necklaces all must be found before we leave the house.  Most of the time she wears them around the house too!

Moving past Christmas... I know these are terribly out of order.  Please forgive me.  I'm having blog issues...

 March 2011 - Riding her pony in her "cowgirl" hat in her new room.  She's still excited about her new room in the new house!

 Tea party time again.

 Hunting eggs at Davis Trout's Easter Egg Hunt

 The same day as Davis' egg hunt the Moodys had their annual crawfish boil.  Although Ann Maxwell wasn't interested in the crawfish she loved Harrison's water toy.

 Easter Morning - the Easter Bunny brought her many treats, but her favorite was her baby sheep.

 Baby Sheep needed a bottle - her idea, so cute!

 Instead of posing for Easter photos (did not happen), Ann Maxwell decided to "fly like a birdie" around the yard.

Then she decided to play in Grandmama's bird bath.  She splashed us all!

Sleeping princess... This was right before we moved her to her new "big girl bed."  She loves the new bed, but she also likes for one of us to sleep in there with her - baby steps, I suppose!

Blowing bubbles with Grandmama

Happy Birthday Daddy!

A new favorite activity is building "guy-gos" or legos with Daddy.  The taller the tower, the better!

The big girl bed

 Back in January we took a trip to the Children's Museum in Memphis where they have a miniature river, complete with boats and fishing poles.

 They also have a child-sized grocery store where Ann Maxwell shopped 'til she dropped.

 On another trip to the zoo, Ann Maxwell teased the seal, who kept trying to "bite" her hand.

 June 2011 - Fingerpainting is a favorite!

 Into everything and accessorizing, as usual.

 June 2011 - Bouncing at Helen Grace's birthday party!

 In her favorite cover-up after pool time.

 Bubbles on the porch.

 Happy Birthday Mommy! As usual we had to sing and blow out the candles several times, per the princess' request.

 

 Pool fun... riding her turtle and shark, drawing with chalk, swimming with Water Baby.  Ann Maxwell loves the water and is utterly fearless, much to my constant horror.  She is a ball of energy in the water!  Many thanks to Daddy, who mainly keeps up with her this summer in the pool while I'm big and slow.  Next summer there will be two girls to splash in the pool!

Ok!  That's finally the end.  Thanks to anyone who stuck with the blog this far down!  In case my tech-savvy friends are wondering why in the world I didn't just make slide shows of all these photos or include videos, it's because I have some family who just view our blog via phones or other people's devices.  The slide shows and videos make it almost impossible for them.  I PROMISE to keep up better in the future.  No more marathon photo reels!  Our best to all out there!