The Baby Book, abbreviated.

In the traditional sense of being a good mother, I suck. Okay, maybe I don't suck so much as throw traditional first year of motherhood passages out the window. Case in point: Annelee is 13 months old, and I have never had a portrait done, never sent birth announcements, and I never bought a baby book to fill with all of the memories. I realize now that all of those memories are already fading, so I thought that I would take a few moments to jot down some of the milestones we have reached so that when Annelee is 14 and wants to see her baby book, I can rush to the store to purchase one and fill it up with all of my notes.

Alrighty, so let's start at the beginning. Annelee Heather Beasley was born on January 13, 2006 at 1:26 in the afternoon. I might add that it was Friday the 13th, and that this was indeed her due date. We fall into that lucky 5% that actually deliver on the projected due date. If it would have happened naturally and without intervention, who knows what the date may have been, but that OB/GYN was probably ready to go ice fishing on a Friday afternoon so he opted to slice me open rather than let my body do it's job. But, I digress. I had a very natural and intervention-free birth plan, and nothing that occurred was in my plan. The moment that that baby girl landed in my arms, I could not have possibly cared less. She was stunningly perfect and wonderous in all ways that I never even imagined. Here are some pictures to prove my point.

Happy Birthday, baby girl! Nobody even knew your name at this point, because I kept it a secret from everyone. They were all mad at me, but I managed to keep it a secret until you arrived.


Day two:


I will admit that the first few months are a total blur, so there are not too many details that I have to share here. I just remember being in awe of this little girl and being in a lot of pain from the C-section the first few weeks. Annelee always had a hearty (LOUD) cry and would voice her opinions about just about everything. But generally she was pretty content and lovely, and even more so when she could nurse for hours on end. I did take pictures of her nursing but I will spare everyone from seeing pictures of my boobs. Because I am so modest like that.

I guess I would have liked to record her first smiles, her first coos, and her first everythings, but I did not. I was just wrapped up in all of the mommy things to notice that these milestones were being reached and surpassed without a documentation procedure in place. Annelee did smile, I remember noting it and then bursting into tears, and the first time she cooed I tried for an hour to get her to do it again. Now she crawls around the house chattering away and I cannot ever get her to stop. Not that I would want to, because the sound of her happy voice makes my heart swell to the point where I think it may just explode if I am not careful.

Here's a picture, about 8 weeks old, I think. Give or take. Everything is approximated here in Bloggy-baby-book Land.

See her little pointed finger? She has always held her hand like that, and points at everything now wanting to know the words and names of things.

I think her first tooth came in around 6 or 7 months. She crawled about 8 months, and she is starting to walk further and further on her own now. She took her very first two steps on Christmas Eve, walking giddily into Grandpa Jeff's arms.

In the last few weeks I have heard a few words develop: Ball, Hot, What's That, and Sal(short for Sally-kitty). Anything with a "B" sound she is quick to repeat.

Here she is these days:









Annelee, you are the light of my life, little girl. I am so lucky to have you in my life and to see you grow and change every day.

There is more to come in Bloggy-baby-book Land. This is a good start.