Anna's nine month birthday and other goings-on!

Another month has flown by, and it's once again time for a baby blog! :) Anna's three-quarter of a year mark is upon us. She's officially nine months old, so she's been in the world longer than she was in my womb. It's such a surreal feeling, because it feels like I was pregnant forever! My little baby girl is growing up so incredibly fast, right before my eyes.




She is so. big. I can't stand how fast she is growing! She is getting two top teeth, so soon enough she'll be eating table food with us. Right now she snacks on plenty of baby puffs and yogurt melts. She also loves squeezy pouches of puréed fruits and veggies every night at dinner time! Luckily, I found some refillable pouches at the store so I can make my own! The cost of baby food adds up fast! :P She also crawls all over the place now, and gets into everything! Her favorite thing to do is try to climb up my legs when I'm cooking, which obviously does not often end well :P She can clap, wave bye-bye, and say kitty! I love her so unbelievably much, and I can not believe she'll be double digits next month!

As far as the rest of the family goes, there's not much new t report. My New Year's Resolution to eat healthier has resulted in some rather inventive cooking! I've started making a lot of meals on the paleo diet, which has been really healthy and super yummy! I've taken to cut carbs by using cauliflower in place if things; cauliflower purée instead of mashed potatoes, and rice made out of cauliflower have been some surprising successes. Tonight we had chicken and veggie curry over cauli rice, and it was sooo good! No pictures, unfortunately, but just take my word for it. :P
Other than that, nothing much is happening! Andrew and I are currently obsessed with Downton Abbey (which is absolutely wonderful; if you haven't seen it I highly recommend it) and its become our Monday evening ritual. Being ever the graceful one, I stabbed myself in the leg on accident on Sunday, so I'm in the process of healing and hopefully learning a lesson. :P And now, as always, life goes on. Until the next time! :)

Proverbs 3:5-7Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

New Year's Blog!

I wanted to do a review of 2012 and a look forward into 2013! I realize it's now January 8, but I've been really sick the last few days and haven't felt up to doing much at all, much less any form of thinking. :P So without further ado, here is a look back at 366 days of 2012, and the 357 days to come.

Our family began 2012 as a family of two. Anna was still tucked away safe in my belly. It seems like so long ago that she wasn't here with us yet! I remember how much I wanted to hold her in my arms, and see her sweet little face. Four months of waiting passed, and then our lives changed forever. Anna was born at 4:31 on April 25, and since then, nothing has ever been the same. We became parents that day, and learned the true meaning of love. <3 The next few months were filled with sleepless nights, lots of new experiences, and some of the best days of my life! I was more exhausted than I'd ever been, and a colicky baby made for many tears and headaches, but they were truly life-changing. As the months passed, Anna grew. June came, and brought my 19th birthday. It's hard to believe that at only 19 I've been so richly blessed! The summer flew by with both Andrew and I working hard every day, and before we knew it our first anniversary was fast approaching. We decided to take a vacation and drive up to Pennsylvania so that Anna could meet her great-grandparents. That trip was so much fun, and I'm so glad we had the opportunity to spend that time together. The weeks continued to fly by, and Thanksgiving was upon us. It was another chance to spend time together, and with our family. The whole fall and winter season flew right by us, until now we find ourselves here, in a whole new year!

So, that was a very shortened version of our year. I thought about doing a month-by-month summary, but some months wouldn't have had much to report, and some would have gone on forever! 2012 brought us a new baby, birthdays, holidays, a celebration of one year of marriage, and so much more. It's so incredible how much one year can change you.

 This is our little family in the start of 2012...

T

 ...and at the end! We look so wonderful with a little person between us. :)

 So now we look forward to 2013. I have a few New Year's Resolutions: I want to read with Anna a lot more than I do (we've already started reading The Chronicles of Narnia!) and I want to eat healthier when I can. 2013 has already brought us Anna's first word (mama!!), and will bring us birthdays, and holidays, and so many surprises that have yet to unfold. I am so excited to see what God has in store for us in the future! 2013, bring it on! :)

Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Christmas season!

I know, I've been slacking on my posts. It's just hard to find time to sit down and write so much out, and sometimes it's even harder to find stuff to write about! :P But with Christmas and New Year's behind us, I now have plenty to say and time to say it! :) Since a lot happened, I'll just type out the (very) abridged version. :P

I guess I'll start with the Christmas week! My dad and Saskia came to see us on Saturday to bring gifts, since we weren't sure of our Christmas day schedule. Anna got her first set of stacking cups, clothes, and a book! Andrew unfortunately was sick that day, so he didn't get to hang out with us, but it was still lots of fun!
Christmas Eve, we had a special service at church that Anna didn't sit quietly through (shocker!), but after that we went to John and Rena's house for supper! Rena made a roast out of our own farm pork, and it was super duper yummy! :) After Anna went to bed we set up all of her presents and got ready for Christmas breakfast the next morning!
Christmas morning we all got up bright and early since we were having the whole family over for breakfast! We ended up with us, William and Hannah, and Rena and her two sisters all gathered in front of the fire! We had quite the feast, too! Ham, bacon, sausage, biscuits, croissants, pancakes, eggs, bananas, gravy, and a homemade quiche! Amazingly enough, we didn't have that much left over! After that we all opened presents (in other words, we watched Anna open her presents :P). Anna decided that tissue paper and boxes was much more fun than any new toy, so I'm sure some wads of chewed-up paper found their way into her belly. She got more stuff than I can even remember! It was a wonderful morning though :)

Anna buried under all her toys, and proving that the package is a lot more fun than the toy it contains!

After all of the family headed home, we left to go to Goldsboro to see my family there! My dad, Saskia, mom, and Dave were all there. We all opened our presents there, and Anna once again proved that the cuter you are, the more stuff you get! :P We stayed there for a few hours to hang out, and then headed back home, since we had to leave early the next morning.

The next day, we were all headed to Charleston. After some piddling around in the morning, we got underway and arrived a little after lunch. We took a horse-drawn carriage ride around the city to see all of the historic sites. It was a lot of fun, but very windy and chilly!

We were all cold, but I love this picture of our family! I also love how long Andrew's hair and beard have gotten! :)

That night we had supper at a place called Hyman's, which marks which celebrity sat at your table. We had Oprah, John McCain, Kevin Costner, Sarah Jessica Parker, and a few I can't remember. It was really yummy!

The next few days were full of plantation visits, walks around the town, and lots of time spent together! John was feeling terrible the whole time we were there, so he didn't get to enjoy it as much, but it was still a wonderful few days as a family! :)

Anna turned eight months old on Christmas Day! It is so hard to believe that she is so big already. She's been through her first stomach bug already, which was very un-fun. :( She also has been standing by herself for just a few seconds, when she lets go of whatever she's holding! It doesn't last long, but it's definitely worth celebrating. Her dexterity is amazing, as she recently developed her pincer grasp and watching her use her little fingers with such skill just fills me with so much joy. She's been eating more solids; in her Christmas stocking she got a container of rice puffs and a few pouches of organic pureed fruit (her favorite is mango!). She is still not crawling, but she is so so so close! She's also started having separation anxiety, which is frustrating for everybody, but I know it's just her telling me that she misses me when I leave. :) I love her so very much, and I can't wait to see what new thing she learns next! Here is her 8-month birthday picture:

She is just so beautiful. I can't believe how blessed I am to be her mother. <3

This post ended up taking a lot longer than I thought, and I am exhausted, so I will make a post for New Year's tomorrow. I just can't stay awake much longer! Good night. :)

Philippians 2:8-10 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

Thanksgiving Week!

I haven't posted in almost a month, and I apologize! I haven't had much exciting news to report, but now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I wanted to document our wonderful week! :)

Our Thanksgiving plans were really tentative for the last few weeks, because Rena had shingles and couldn't be around Anna. Thankfully, she was feeling better by the beginning of the week, so the plans we had made were still a go. I had also planned on going to see my mom and her boyfriend Dave at the beach house they were renting. So with much excitement we entered Thanksgiving week.

On Wednesday, we went to the beach. The drive was supposed to be about 2 hours, but we missed a few turns, and the GPS took us down some strange dirt roads. I was really skeptical, but they ended up getting us where we needed to go, with a little extra adventure. :P We met Dave's son, Dalton, and chatted for a while before lunch. Some of Dave's family members were going to eat lunch at a local seafood restaurant, so we gladly joined them. We thought that Anna was going to be good and play, but she ended up nursing the whole time. I only spilled a little bit of ketchup on her! :P

The rest of the day, we hung out around the town. We went and looked at a Christmas tree vendor, but decided to stick with our plan of getting one from the mountains on Friday. Dave showed us his favorite place to sit and paint, and we watched the sunset over the marshes. That night, we went to Dave's family reunion. It was an oyster roast at another beach house just down the road. I had never tried oysters before, and it took quite a bit of convincing, but after a while I was an oyster-shucking (and eating) pro! They were great with cocktail sauce! We stayed for a long time, and Andrew found two different ways in which our family is connected to Dave's! We were welcomed very graciously, and it was an excellent time.

Somewhere in the course of the day, we decided to spend the night at the beach house. We were totally unprepared to stay the night, so we had to go and buy a pack of sposies and a sleepy outfit for Anna. We also had nowhere for her to sleep, so she slept in our bed. We're not regular co-sleepers, but I wasn't expecting it to be all that hard to keep her sleeping all night like she usually does. I nursed her to sleep like I always do and went to hang out for a while. When I came to bed, she stayed asleep, but as soon as I moved next to her she woke up. Needless to say, I was awake for most of the night, either dangling off the edge of the bed or trying not to breathe too loudly. Who knew such a small person could take up half of a king bed all by herself?!

The next day we had to leave early, so we got up and left around 7:30. The drive home was really uneventful, and we got home to prepare for lunch/dinner at John and Rena's. Around 12, we went over to help her cook and get ready. We both puttered around and did little busy tasks, and we were ready to eat around 3. Rena's sister Kim and her daughter Randi joined us, so we had 6 people and about enough food for 20. Anna had a ton of sweet potato all by herself! It was a wonderful lunch, and left us all feeling quite stuffed. :)

On Black Friday, we ventured to the mountains to get a Christmas tree. We planned on leaving very early so as not to be home too late that night, but we were so tired from the night before that we slept in. We took a few pit stops, like the baby store in town to get some legwarmers for Anna. We got on our way, and were making great time until we got near Pleasant Garden. Pleasant Garden is where a very sweet old friend of Andrew's lives; her name is Mama Chachi (at least I think that's how you spell it). She had been asking to meet me and Anna for quite some time, so we made an impromptu stop to see her. She was thrilled that we were there, so we stuck around for a bit and let her enjoy some baby time. :) After that we went on our way again.

We got to the mountains around 3, had to stop for a poopy diaper emergency, and then found a roadside tree farm. It was very chilly, so I wrapped Anna on my back, put her warm hat on, and put my jacket on over her so that she was just a pair of eyes poking out. It was quite adorable and I wish I had a picture of it! We hiked around amongst the trees until we found one tall enough, and had ti cut and dragged down for us. After a 5 hour trip, the whole tree-getting process took about half an hour, but it was still quite fun. :) We drove home quite uneventfully and were very ready when bedtime came.

The day after, we planned on having John and Rena over to help us decorate. William and Hannah were on their way back from Georgia, so I made a spur of the moment decision to have everyone over for dinner and decorating. A few hours later, after I had the spare key retrieved because mine was locked in the truck, I had a pork roast in the crockpot and all the Christmas dragged out of the attic and dusted off. After the husbands finally finished cutting soybeans, we all gathered to eat. The roast was just barely enough, but from the reviews it was well-enjoyed. After coffee and dessert, Hannah and I got started on the tree, Andrew put up the decorations around the house, and John and Rena got some baby time. :) It was a wonderful evening spent with wonderful people, and reminded me how truly blessed I am.

The whole week was such a beautiful one! I spent so much time with my husband and sweet baby girl, and with so many other people as well. Time with family is so precious, and even though I didn't get to see all the people I love this week, I hold this time near and dear to my heart and I always will. How blessed am I!

I apologize for the lack of pictures, but in the busy-ness, nobody thought to take any! I also apologize for the long stretch without a post. I promise I'll try to find things to write about more often! Good night readers. :)

Psalm 107:1: Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

Life's happenings!

I haven't written in a while, but October wasn't really a very eventful month. A couple of things have happened as of late that I wanted to document, though.

The first two are Anna-related (as is all of life nowadays). The first is that my sweet girl turned six months this past week!

Oh how I love her. Watching her learn something new every day is so amazing. She is already learning to pull herself up, and can get all the way to her knees! Before we know it she will be all over the place, and it will be all I can do to keep her out of anything and everything. Even though I love watching her grow, I know these days of being able to cuddle her and call her my sweet little baby won't last forever, and I will miss them so much when they are over. :(

Anna is also getting her first tooth! We were sitting in church the other day and I noticed something sharp on her bottom gum, so I tried for about half an hour to see past her tongue and lip, which is always very difficult. Sure enough, there is a little white point about to break through her gum! It explains why she's been so fussy the past few days, too. I'm still waiting for it to break through the gum, but I'm so excited to see how cute she looks with one little tooth! :)

Finally, the ice cream shop closed for the season! Last Saturday was our last day, and we got to close at 4:00 because we sold out of ice cream early! We've been excited for this day to come, and now we have five months of freedom ahead of us. :) I don't hate work by any means, but it will be very nice to be able to stay home and spend some time with my sweet baby. I definitely don't want to have a mobile baby in the office either, at least until I have time to babyproof it. ;) I'm ready for my winter, especially my baby's first Christmas. :)

Such are the goings-on in the Gillis family. Here is my amazingly cute picture of Anna:

She wants so hard to climb out of her playpen. Thankfully, I think she has a little while to go. :) Till the next time!


  1Thessalonians 5:16-18: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Our spontaneous family beach trip!

On Sunday, Andrew and I woke up thinking we were going to go to church. As I was getting dressed, we were discussing the idea of perhaps taking a day trip to the beach. By the time I had all of my church clothes on, we had decided to go to Wilmington for the day. I changed clothes, we packed Anna a diaper bag for the day, and off we went.

Our first stop was the Oceanic Restaurant. This is our go-to place in Wilmington. We've eaten there twice before and this time we had lunch. It was a gorgeous day; not too windy, nice and warm, and clear skies. It was a terrific meal, view, and time together.

We love the panorama feature on Andrew's new phone, by the way! :) While we were at lunch, I checked my Facebook and saw a picture my mom had posted of the battleship in Wilmington. I called her and we discovered that she was only 20 minutes away! We met in the parking lot for a few minutes, since we were in a hurry to get home (which will be explained momentarily).

Andrew's parents had gone to North Myrtle Beach for the weekend, so we called them on the way to see how they were doing. Rena mentioned that they had their room for one night longer than they could stay, and offered it to us. This would mean going home, packing a bag for two nights, sleeping one night on the sleeper sofa in the room, and then having the room to ourselves the next night. While we were at lunch, we decided to go for it. We drove home after meeting my mom and packed in a hurry, and then made off for Myrtle Beach.

We stayed that night on the pull out couch in John and Rena's hotel room. Anna, for some reason, did not want to sleep by herself. She woke up at 11:30 and after about three hours, I gave up trying to get her to sleep in her bed and snuggled up with her between Andrew and I. Not very comfortable for me, but I do love snuggling my sweet pea. :)

On Monday, we spent time in the hotel room in the morning before we headed out for lunch. We drove down Ocean Blvd. for a little while until we found a little restaurant on the pier. We ate lunch, which was simple but very good!

 

After lunch, John and Rena had to go back to the hotel room and pack up to go home. Andrew and I hung out in the hotel room for most of the afternoon. We went for a drive around supper time, and ended up going to a restaurant called Damon's for dinner. Last time we visited Damon's, Anna refused to let me stop walking and it was not a very enjoyable time. Thankfully she was good this time, especially because it was pouring and it would not have been fun to walk her around outside. We went back to our hotel and went to bed; Anna was good, mostly. She woke up once around 12:00 but (miraculously) went back to sleep in her own bed. She woke up at 6:30, but I suppose I can't complain too much. ;)

Today (Tuesday) was our last day.We had planned on going to play mini golf, but it was cold and drizzling, so we passed on that plan. Instead, Andrew decided it would be fun to take the Southport Ferry to Ft. Fisher and go to the NC Aquarium. 

Anna really liked the ferry! She loved watching the water go by, and the people in the car next to us loved watching her. ;)

The aquarium was (for me, anyway) the highlight of the whole few days. I always love going, and I loved watching Anna look at the fish! She's starting to get the age where she's interested in the things around her more, and she liked watching the big fish swimming by!

We also took a wonderful family picture:

I love that so much <3 I remembered that Andrew and I took a day trip to the aquarium last summer, and we took a picture in the window of one of the tanks. I saw that same window today and just knew that we had to have another picture! It is so amazing to see how much we can grow in such a short time.

That was our vacation! I enjoyed having some time to spend with my wonderful family, and I am so thankful that the Lord gave us this opportunity! I know I'm posting late, but I am now nursing Miss Fussy-baby-that-doesn't-want-to-stay-asleep for the first time tonight, so we'll see how much longer I'm awake tonight. :P Heh heh, I love her so much.

I'll post this last picture: I loved this fish! I didn't see him the first time I walked by his tank, but I did a double take and noticed him blending in to the rock! He is such a good hider! I marvel at the expertise and perfection with which God created all of His creatures. :)

So thankful for all of the opportunities and blessings the Lord sends my way. :)

Psalm 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

The happenings of life!

Life in the Gillis household has been going on much as usual the past week or so. Bruno is adjusting well to his new home, apart from his insatiable urge to chase the poor cat all around the house. Andrew and the other farm men are in a bit of a lull at the moment; they just finished harvesting corn and now they're waiting for the next busy period in which they will plant wheat and cut soybeans.

I had a major farm milestone yesterday:

I finally rode a horse! I had been wanting to ride for a long time, but I my midwife forbade me from riding while I was pregnant, and I haven't had time since Anna was born. Yesterday, the family who cares for the animals on the farm threw a birthday party for their daughter, Katerina. Katerina LOVES horses and goes riding here pretty much every Sunday, so today I asked if I could go along. I fed Anna and left her in Daddy's supervision, and then off we went. We had a bit of a scare when Colonel David (that's the horse's name) got his bridle stuck around his leg and I had to jump off, but after that it was smooth sailing. Well, maybe smooth isn't the word for it. It was so much fun, but it does make your tailbone sore after a while! :)

Anna has been sitting up all by herself lately, and she is so proud of herself! After I dismounted yesterday, I sat her in the grass and let her play. She enjoyed herself a lot!

I still can't get over how beautiful she is. :)

For the past few months, I've been working on trying to get her to drink from a bottle so that Mommy and Daddy could go out for a night. We've tried this before, but it led to much crying, a very frustrated Granddaddy and Grandma, and Mommy and Daddy having to leave the movie right when it was getting to the good part. :P Anna doesn't quite get the concept of a bottle. She loves it, but not for the right reasons. She liked to throw it around, get milk in her hair, and do everything except drink out of it.

Oh, well. Maybe we'll go out after she weans. ;)

That's all for now. In the blink of an eye she'll be crawling and I'll be chasing her all over the place! See you then!

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.