She's the smallest thing in the house and she has everyone jumping to her every demand! As I scrolled down through the pictures, I realized that Grant and Dasha haven't made the headlines since Annie was born. That's because Annie is the All Star in our house right now despite our efforts to keep everyone equally happy! Annie officially has colic. I have to admit that I never really believed in colic and thought unhappy babies were simply a product of bad parenting. HA! See what I get for being judgmental? Anyway, Annie sleeps when she wants to sleep and then only eats when she wants to eat. Believe me, if she doesn't want to eat, you'll wear the contents of the bottle in accordance with her defiance! Have you ever seen the sweet little dresses called pillow case dresses which are carefully and lovingly made from pillow cases and embroidered with enchanting little doodles? Well, I'm going to start making the same type of dresses from garbage bags! This way, when baby decides to spew forth her contents at will, her clothing can be quickly wiped clean and the day can continue without the drama of a wardrobe change. While I'm at it, I think I'll fashion the same type of garments for adults, too. However, I've become accustomed to walking around with white blobs on my shirt looking as if I just taunted a flock of pigeons and lost the battle! Seriously, Annie has her moments of blissfulness but right now, she's very fussy, and it takes quite a bit of patience to get through the nights (and some days). It's a blessing that I'm not going back to work until August (minus a few days of post planning in June) so that I can recoup my sleep during whatever napping hour Annie chooses, though! As I rock her through the night (not like Amadeus), I hear my lullabies becoming alarmingly more hostile. I usually start out with something sweet like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but by the end of the night, I'm singing about the farmer's wife chopping off their tails with a carving knife! Oh well. I can definitely see where the composer of Three Blind Mice might have gotten his inspiration if he, too, had a colicky baby! From Three Blind Mice, I usually begin chanting, "Annie Bananie doesn't wear any panties..." Who knows! Someone remind me of this when I have a 3 year old who runs around commando! I just keep remembering that this is only a Season in our lives and it will quickly pass and in some demented way, I'll miss it.As for the rest of the family, Eric is traveling quite a bit these days. (Hmmm... they say timing is everything). Grant is the backup mama when Annie is having a melt down. It brings tears to my eyes (if I wasn't already crying) to watch him carry Annie around like a sack of potatoes and sing songs to her and shush her crying while patting her bum. Last night, I found him cuddled up in my bed with Annie tucked carefully in the crook of his arm and she was peacefully asleep. Every single breath within me said to leave them there and ignore the late hour. Common sense prevailed and I woke both of the them up and spent the remainder of the evening with a screaming banshee! :) So much for common sense. -Did I mention that Eric is out of town so he'd have never know if our bed became a sort of napping area for Romper Room victims? And then there's Dasha... Dasha still isn't too interested in Annie. At first, she was mildly amused but her amusement has turned to disdain since her bedroom is next door to Annie's! Physcially, Dasha can't lug Annie around like Grant does but she will sing to her or read to her if Annie is calm. Dasha is still a firm believer in only having one drama queen per house and she just doesn't care to vie for that spot with Annie so she keeps her distance when there's much ado! And then there's Eric. His job is keeping him very busy and on the go. While it's nice to have him working out of the house, there are definite draw backs - like knowing when work is over and he's open for family time. Nonetheless, we're thankful that he has a job!!! For those of you who've been curious about the animals' response to Annie, the cat thinks Annie's swing is great and loves to pull the blanket off mid-swing which usually sends Annie into hysteria. Kovy thinks she's Annies guard dog and follows anyone around who is holding her. Beware if you come into our house and want to hold the baby! The dog has to 'ok' you first!
Despite all of the nuttiness, I know that we truely are blessed to have Annie and we'll do whatever necessary to make sure we're bringing her up as He would have us do. In the meantime, however, we'll be taking collections for family counseling if you're interested in helping out! We've already diverted the kids' college funds to James Dobson's cause and he quit on us saying that he'd have to write another book to cover all of our issues! (Just kidding)! Really, thanks for all of your prayers. I'm looking forward to hearing those first babbles and coos and getting through a night without screaming (I guess that goes for Eric and the baby)! :) If you've looked around at your family, you know that God obviously has a sense of humor (if you can't laugh at your family - laugh at mine) so I just need to laugh at this and move on!
