Annabelle Grace Lankford

After many prayers Cameron and I finally have the perfect baby that we have wanted for quite a while now. I am so thrilled to introduce Miss Annabelle Grace Lankford! On Thursday, January 19th, Cameron and I headed to the hospital to get the ball rolling. (Get ready for lots of pictures....)

I had not realized just how big I was until I saw this picture!

After a really long day on Friday, January 20th, we finally got to meet our perfectly healthy baby girl! These are Annabelle's very first pictures. She was 5 lbs and 18 1/2 in long. Cameron was taking pictures and videoing at the same time! He was so excited!!!

Annabelle's first picture with Daddy and Mommy

The hospital gave us a birthday cake and white grape juice to celebrate the birth of our little girl. It was pretty yummy!

 

We had lots of visitors at the hospital. I did not get a picture of everyone, but here are a few shots....

Cousin Henry was really excited to meet Annabelle......

Our first family photo

Cousin Alex came to the house to visit.....

It has definitely been an interesting week. We have been trying to get adjusted to this new life. Luckily, Ronnie was able to come spend a week with us and help us get settled in at home. Things would surely be a mess without her assistance. If you can believe it Annabelle got lots more cloths from the shower my mother and aunt gave me on Sunday, January 22nd. I was not able to attend and neither was Cameron so my mother stepped in and took care of all of the gifts we received. Rhonda had her hands full washing all of the baby cloths and blankets that we got at that shower. This child will not be needing any cloths for a while. She is still wearing preemie cloths for now, but she is growing like a weed. When we left the hospital Annabelle weighed 4 lbs 4 oz and in less than a week she was at 5 lbs 8 oz! I guess I am doing my job and feeding her well. Annabelle had jaundice and had to stay under a light at the hospital. It was a really long night and Cameron and I were exhausted. Poor baby cried and was upset the whole night. The only way we found to calm her was to keep a hand on her at all times. She was just pitiful! It broke my heart to see her in this machine with blinders on. It was for her own good though.

 She still had jaundice after we got home so the pediatrician gave us a Billi Blanket light to wrap her up with so that she can get treatment at home. Thankfully, today she is all better! Here is a picture of her with her Billi light.

We gave Annabelle her first bath and she did so well. It is quite scary to handle this tiny baby. She seems so fragile!

 

I took a few photos of this precious girl. It is really hard to pose a squirmy baby! She kept waking up and was not happy that we were bothering her during nap time. LOL! Here are a few shots.

I think this one might be my favorite!

 I tried to take one with Cameron in his uniform. Annabelle was not cooperating so this is the best I could do for now.

This is the first picture of her monthly growth. She is soooo tiny!

 

Well, I guess that is all for now. I will do my best to keep everyone updated on our adventures as they come. Until next time! XOXO

An Early Arrival

As many of you may already know we are going to be having our sweet Annabelle sooner than planned. For almost three weeks now I have been itching like crazy! The doctor did blood work and I found out this past Wednesday that I have Cholostasis. Basically, this means that my liver is not doing it's job! After weighing the risk of the cholostasis and the medication I am having to take it was decided that the best course of action is to remove the baby from the situation. I pray that we have made the right decision and that she is healthy. My heart says that she will be fine, but the new mom in me is so very scared! We are doing an amniocentesis on Monday to determine if her lungs are mature. This is scary in itself, but the doctor seems comfortable with the procedure and it is better to know for sure. If her lungs are mature we will be admitted to Columbus Regional Healthcare on Thursday afternoon. On Friday morning I will be induced and we should have a baby sometime on January 20th.

Lucky, I am OCD so I have the nursery ready and I have Annabelle's bag packed. Now I just have to get together the things I need. Here is a sneak peek inside the nursery.

I did a garden theme.......

She already has lots of cloths! She is good up to 6 months at least.

Annabelle's packed bag. This is the outfit I planned for her if she can wear it.

We will do our best to keep everyone updated as we find out more. I do have a shower planned for Sunday, January 22nd in Kellyton given by my mother and aunt. We are still planning to have that shower. If I cannot be there then we are going to send Cameron in my place. Cameron is a social butterfly and will be the perfect stand-in. Hope to see you all soon! Wish us luck and please keep Annabelle in your prayers! XOXO



Christmas 2011

Christmas is always filled with family, friends, gifts, food and, if we're lucky, lots of love and laughter. This Christmas for me was filled with all of the above. I feel so very lucky to have great family and friends to share the holiday. Cameron and I have been so blessed to live the life that we do and have as much love around us as we do. Christmas is about coming together and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. I hope that each year we can all remember what Christmas is about as we enjoy the festivities that come along with the holiday. So many people forget the true meaning and get lost in gift, gifts, gifts. I hope that I can show our children that, though it is wonderful to be given gifts, Christmas is about so much more than that. My favorite part of it all is spending time with my family. There are so many that I do not get to see often enough throughout the year. I love to visit, catch up, laugh and eat lots of yummy food!!!! We always eat so well during the holidays....... I think we should get together in the middle of the year and enjoy this kind of food instead of just at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Just an idea! ;-) 

This year we had many stops to make in just two days. Cameron and I decided to open our gift to each other on Friday. Cameron is always too good to me and gets me great gifts. He actually gave me a few of my gifts early because he couldn't wait and so I go more than what I actually opened. I hope that he was happy with everything he got from me. Our greatest gift has not yet arrived. I suppose Annabelle will be more of an anniversary gift rather than a Christmas gift. :-)

On Christmas Eve we visited Donald and Betty's house for lunch and a little game of Dirty Santa. Hank stole Cameron's nifty gift and that Kasi stole mine! LOL! All in good fun!

If only you could have seen Kasi's chicken dance that made us laugh!!!!

Don't they look so sweet.......

Then we made our way to my mother's house where the entire family (minus a few) was in attendance. Our family is big! Like over thirty bodies in one house. I love it! We had a special visitor this year. Santa! Almost everyone got a pic with Santa. The men where not so interested. Go figure. I love that my mother looks as giddy as a kid and my grandmother looks like she could be Mrs. Claus.

Me and my sister, Christy. We look nothing alike!

Later that night we hustled to Larry and Joyce's house. Of course, there was more yummy food and another game of Dirty Santa. We always get Santa sacks at Joyce's house. To my surprise Annabelle got her very own Santa sack this year. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the great gifts in both bags!!! Sadly, we did not get any great pictures, but Cameron managed to snap a few before we left.

On Christmas Day, Cameron and I headed to Jerry and Rhonda's for brunch. Rhonda always does such a fabulous job cooking for us on Christmas morning. This year Cameron requested tomato gravy and biscuits with country ham. Rhonda also made grits that were very good! The best grits I have had in a while anyway. After stuffing ourselves we opened gifts. I hope everyone liked their gifts from us. Cameron and I really appreciate our gifts. Annabelle even racked up and she's still baking! Henry was so adorable. He was napping while we opened gifts and then he came downstairs to join us. Rhonda got Henry a block set for Christmas. As he was playing with the blocks he turned around and gave one to Cameron. Cameron told him thank you and apparently Henry liked that response. Henry kept giving one block at a time to Cameron and smiling every time he said thank you. Too darn cute! Henry is such a good baby. I hope Annabelle is as sweet and cute!

After gifts and visiting for a while we headed to Calvin and Ann's house where we found Santa's abundance of gifts left for Zach, Tyler and Alex. It is always fun to see the boys excitement as they open their gifts. My mother got Zach and Alex drum sets and Tyler a guitar. Just imagine the joyful music coming from the living room after my dad put it all together! LOL!

Needless to say, we had a wonderful, blessed Christmas! I am looking forward to the New Year and everything it has to offer. One last event of 2011 was Rhonda's birthday. We cooked dinner at our house to celebrate. Cameron and I even baked the cake. Yes, we did it together. If only Joyce had not hidden behind me this would have been a great picture!

Now we look forward to 2012 and the new addition to the family. I am so excited to share my life with this little girl. I know she will be loved more than life and I pray that Cameron and I are the parents she deserves. I am anxious to meet her and watch her grow throughout this next year. Until next time.....XOXO