Growing SO Fast

On Valentines day Annabel will be four months. Where has the time gone. We have enjoyed every minute of every day and night we have spent with her. On occasion we talk about how we can't believe she is here after several years of waiting, and now we see her grow and change right before our eyes. We are so grateful that we have been chosen to be her parents...

So tomorrow marks our fourth Anniversary from our first date, and two days after that marks the 4th Anniversary of our engagement. It doesn't seem as though four years has already passed. Each year has been filled with so many adventures. We went from two people just starting our careers, to owning a business and becoming quite skilled in what we do. We bought a home that we plan to spend the rest of our lives in. We've traveled, A LOT. We have had many new and exciting experiences, and we also said goodbye to people very dear to us. Life is such an adventure, and every day holds something new. So much to learn, so much to do. I'm so grateful I have the man I do, to go through life together with. We are grateful each and every day to our Heavenly Father for every thing we have been blessed with. How can we ever express fully our gratitude.

In other news, we will be flying to Hawaii in less than three months. We are so excited. My sister, Amy and her hubby will accompany us to Maui. They came with us to Kauai as well, so it will be nice to know how to make traveling together a little smoother this time. We will all have a blast, no question about that. This will probably be the last trip to Hawaii for several years now. We plan on doing more travel by car and experiencing the beauty and fun of surrounding states and Canada.

Well, I will post some new pics of Annabel. She now has lost nearly all her newborn hair except her great mullet. Her new hair is growing in and it is so shiny and appears to be blond so far. She also has very blue eyes, and the doc states they will probably remain blue. Crazy, she won't look like me much. She has started using her hands a lot to hold toys or what ever crosses her path. Of course everything goes straight to the mouth. She will roll over from her tummy to her back, but I think she only does so because she gets so mad. She really shows no interest in rolling from her back to her tummy... SMART girl. She knows where she'll end up if she does. She loves to stand up and gets the most confident and proud look as she holds our fingers with her hands and looks around at every thing on a different level. She will sit up for several seconds on her own, but those muscles aren't quite strong enough yet. She is really turning into a talker. When she is tired she has moments of whining/crying interrupted with cooing and talking until she falls asleep, it is so funny and cute. We love that she is so aware who her parents are, and when others hold her it takes a bit of studying them before she opens up, but she rarely cries. Okay so here are some pics...

This top pick is most recent. She's having a fun time splashing and kicking. I thought that comparing this to a previous bath photo would make it easier for others to see just how much she is growing, it is hard to tell by pics, and many family members don't get to see her in person often. The below photo was from when she was 4 weeks old. She was 7lbs 4 oz at 4 weeks, and 11 lbs in the above photo.




I love this pic. She is so sweet. There is nothing more precious and beautiful than a sleeping baby, especially when it is Annabel!! She is holding a little plush elephant that was given to her by some family friends.



We moved Annabel to her own room in her crib about 3 or 4 weeks ago. Here we are letting her get the hang of it. It really wasn't a hard adjustment, I'm not sure she even noticed, and we all started sleeping better at night. Good thing we made the change early. She loves the mobile, and talks to it when she wakes up in the morning. It definitely does not help her fall asleep though, she just talks and talks to it.

Three Months!!!

Annabel is 3 months old, I can't believe how much she has grown. She is now about 10 1/2 pounds. That may sound small still, but keep in mind that is 5 pounds since she was born, and she is much bigger to us. I've already forgotten just how small she was when she was born, and pictures just don't do justice.

Annabel is definitely starting to sport her personality. For the most part she is very laid back, and knows her mom and dad very well. She smiles a ton now, and her new found love is her hands.

We had a great Christmas this year. I got Wii Fit Plus, which is so fun. I'm not sure that it is the best workout, but if it's fun it doesn't matter. We spent Christmas in Reno, then flew to Dallas for New Years. Annabel did well with the plane, but napping while in Dallas was horrible, and she was a bit crabby. It was a good experience and one we probably wouldn't try again with such a young baby.

John just PASSED the contractors license test for plumbing, I found out while typing this. We are so excited for him.

Congrats Babe/Daddy!!!
We love you

John and I started the New Year with sharing how grateful we are for our little family, our home, and the great situation we are in. We want for nothing, and feel abundantly blessed. We love being able to take walks in the cool fresh air and view the beauty around us. There are times that we both just stare at Annabel in great amazement, she is such an angel. Life is GREAT

So, next month we celebrate 4 years from our first date. It's hard to believe it has been that long. I think this is the most excited I've ever been about that day and Valentines day.

The next exciting thing after Valentines is another trip to Hawaii the first week of May. We are so excited to travel as a family, and just have a relaxing time. We are going to Maui this time, and we invited John's sister, Katie and her husband, Ethan. Hopefully they will be able to join us.

Well here are some more pics of our growing girl. Notice she has lost most of the hair on top of her head. She also has a bald spot on the back, and a great mullet.

Time with Grandpa and Grandma Gonda. We love you guys!

Annabel's head looks so tiny when she wears baggy or big outfits. Love the overalls.

Thanks to Great Uncle Craig and Aunt Lark, Annabel has a favorite toy, the bee in front of her.

We love this smile

Oh yeah, daddy passed his test!

Great Grandma and Grandpa Gonda getting a taste of the full family.

Annabel's first time seeing snow white. This was our Christmas dinner, all the girls dressed up like princesses.

Tama in all his glory. The kitchen, his favorite place.

2 months

Annabel is 2 months. Time is flying by. It has been so much fun watching her grow and develop. In the last month she has gained nearly 2 pounds, she is 9 pounds, and she grew 2 inches. Newborn clothes are finally too small. I'll trade the cute tiny clothes for her cute smiles any day.

Last week we had quite the winter weather. John woke up one morning at 7 AM and found the temperature to be minus 10 degrees. Yikes! So the rest of the week was pretty chilly, and the snow kept falling. We got a total of nearly 2 feet of snow from all 3 storms. And yes we went sledding down our hill. Sorry no pics of actual sledding because it was too cold for the camera. We were also able to use our snowmobile since they don't plow many streets around here. John missed much of the snow while he was in Kentucky for his brother's wedding. Hopefully we'll enjoy a nice winter with lots of snow, so we have another chance to enjoy it.

Here are some more pics:

It is so hard to get good pics of Annabel smiling because she's on the move, or she's too focused on the camera and won't smile.


I love seeing how strong she is. She loves tummy time because her hands are right near her face, and she loves to suck on them.


Annabel is wearing a snowsuit for a one year old, so she looks tiny in it. It was fun to let her experience some of the weather, although it was only for a couple minutes.

This is the side of the hill we sled on. This was after the last of the three storms, there was so much heavy heavy snow. Great for sledding, to bad I was sledding by myself while Annabel slept. John was still in Kentucky.


Tama surprised everyone with how much he loved the snow. He doesn't have a very thick coat, but he loved it so much, and would stay out for hours.


I like how you can really see her eyes are blue. It would be crazy if she ends up with blue eyes, neither John nor I have blue.
Here's a pic from our house of the beautiful mountains. I love how blue the skies are after snow storms.

5 Weeks

Annabel is 5 weeks already. I can't believe how fast time goes by. I'm just so grateful I have been able to spend all day and night with her since she was born. Annabel now weighs 7 lbs 4 oz and is 20 inches long, finally the size of the average newborn. We love her to pieces. She is starting to give us little smiles when she is awake, and is very alert and attentive. The doctor said she had the strength of a 2 month old at 4 weeks, and that I better start doing my aerobics so that I can keep up with her in the near future.

In other news, John has been so busy since Annabel was born, which is great except we never get to see him, or spend much time together. Our condo will be open for a renter in a couple weeks, so if anyone needs a place to live, let us know. Other than that, not much to report on. Life has been great, as well as the great Reno weather.

Well, pictures are the funnest part about blogs, so enjoy the many pics below.

Annabel definitely does not like her arms swaddled, never has. Here are her many arm positions. We could take a different picture every day of her arms suspended in the air while sleeping. Not sure how she does it for so long; I know my arms would get tired...









This was Annabel's first real bath at 4 1/2 weeks, she ended up loving it. She's showing off nearly 2 pounds of added baby chub since she was born. SO CUTE!


Morning co-sleep. Nearly every morning around 7 am, we put Annabel in our bed. The best is weekends when Daddy is home too.

The great thing about having a baby who is so strong; more time with the bumbo. She only likes to sit for about 5 minutes though. She looks so tiny compared to the bumbo.



Last, but certainly not least, Annabel playing with Tama near by. Tama wants her to play with him so bad. We really have to watch him around her because he tries to play by putting his paw on people, and he's way to big to do that with Annabel. He's had an okay transition. He's found lots of things to chew up in the yard, that he never bothered before, but other than that, he has been doing really well.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for the next round soon to come...

Grateful to be a Mom

Life as a Mom has been one of the greatest things I have ever experienced. I may be weird, but throughout pregnancy and now that Annabel is here, I have enjoyed most every moment, including all the things that others usually complain about. Pregnancy: not easy, but so rewarding. The many weeks I spent with morning sickness, were only a reminder of the great miracle taking place, and as long as I felt awful, I knew things were going well. I can't say much for the end of pregnancy because I never got very big, and Annabel came three weeks early. It was a breeze, with occasional minor discomforts. I'm excited to experience pregnancy again. As for being a Mom; waking in the middle of the night to feed our precious little girl is surreal. It is hard to initially wake up, but once I do, I stare at Annabel's little face in awe and amazement, I love her feeding times. I love every minute of time since she was born. I enjoy watching John with her,and seeing how much he loves his little girl. I don't want to miss a moment or ever show a lack of gratitude for such a great blessing, regardless of the challenges. Life is GOOD and oh so PRECIOUS!!!!

First family photo

Bath time with Daddy, so content

Annabel's Great Great Uncle Mike

Annabel Ethel is here

Our beautiful little girl finally made it into our arms on October 14 th at 6:02 pm. I was exactly 37 weeks when my water broke at one A.M.. Without going into detail, it was the scariest day and happiest day of my life. Annabel ended up being born by c-section after a rocky labor that she didn't tolerate well at all. We are just relieved she is here and is as healthy as can be. We are all home now enjoying life as a family. Enjoy all the wonderful pictures. We may be a little biased, but we think she is the cutest newborn ever...

The beginnings of active labor. It was a great experience for the first few hours... Induction makes for a pretty tough labor.

This was after everything started to go sour. I had so many tubes and wires coming out of me, so they could keep a close eye on the baby. I think by this point I had had several liters of IV fluid in me, trying to keep my blood pressure up.

This was another pic from the beginning of active labor.

Pre c-section. We were relieved to get our little one out and excited to finally meet her. It was a rough ride to this point.

Annabel with her VERY PROUD Daddy.

Annabel Ethel Gonda 5lbs 8 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long

It's hard to tell just how small she is, so check out the size of the bulb syringe in the corner.


Annabel only made two little whimpers when she came out, so here they are trying to ensure me she is doing well.

So exhausted!

Her first outfit, preemie size

Tiny foot

Heading home!!

Oh so sweet.

Little angel, so peaceful.

Some prep time for baby

Many of you may think that since I'm on bed rest, I should be keeping this blog up to date, but frankly, being on bed rest means there isn't a whole lot to talk about. So, I thought I would just post some of what my husband and mom have been doing around our house to prepare for baby, who will be here within the next two weeks. I am now 36 weeks, and have been on bed rest since 32 weeks because the baby is small, and my fluid was low. It was all completely unexpected and all I could think about was all the stuff we still needed to do to get ready, we had done nothing up to that point. If you want to see a belly shot, just look at the last post, it is just about the same. Although the baby is slowly growing still, it is hard to tell by looking at me.

One of the joys of having a handy man for a husband, is that I can design my own closet. Here is his handy work. Below this pick he is painting the closet prior to building the organizer. It looks great, I love it!

Here's my mom cleaning up and decorating my front porch. I've never put much time into our front porch because there are so many spiders. It looks really great and seasonal right now.


A couple weeks ago I had my baby shower. Obviously I didn't lounge on the couch during it and was exhausted for the next couple days. It was great having everyone visit and share in our joy and great anticipation though.




My sis and me after the baby shower. Oh sooo tired! That couch has been my hangout for the last 4 weeks.



Here's where John hung out during the shower. I love this new color, I'm so excited about our little nursery.