AnabelleLee Journal - ParentShack.com

I realize I've really let the site go again...so this week I will be updating the site with a bunch of new pictures and then creating folders for every month for 2010 and putting photos in there as I get them. Anabelle and Roxanne have gotten so big you all will be amazed!!! You all should get a notice when the pictures are up from this past year, it might take a few weeks to get them all in but I'll have it done by this weekend. More edit: even more pictures up! Still have to get the photos off my phone and Mike's phone...so there will be more coming in the next few days!!! Edit: Okay, I had some pictures that I was able to upload today so here are a few to get y'all started!!! I'll be uploading more this week. Maybe even a few more today if I can get them off my phone!!! Merry Christmas to everybody!!

Well, I guess that I have been a bad mommy and not loaded any photos on here in a really long time. I will be changing that by the end of the week and adding a lot of photos to show you all how big the girls have gotten! Roxie turned 2 on Friday!!! I can hardly believe it...it seems like she was just a baby a few months ago. Her vocabulary is really taking off and she has shown that she has quite a temper! We are having a party for her next weekend at her grandma and grandpa's house in Corbin and I will be sure to post some pictures on here of it. We just got Anabelle a loft/bunk bed for the room, and put Roxie's crib under it. It really has freed up a lot of space in their tiny room so that now they have room to play. We are looking into leasing (then buying) a home in the area, but since I just started a new job, we're waiting to see how that goes before committing to a home purchase. Anabelle is loving first grade and doing very well. She's getting taller and taller and I think may even be taller than me one day. She is still the great big-sister and loves taking care of "her little Roxie". That's all for now. Keep your eye out for some photos coming this week. I promise to do a better job of posting in a timely fashion on here from now on!

Wow, so I added a ton (and i mean TON!) of photos today from our trip to Seattle and Anabelle's first day of school. Lots has happened since my last post. Roxanne is almost walking and she'll be one in 4 days!!! Where did the time go??!!?? Anabelle is doing great in school...and Mike has a new job at Pinnacle airlines that he really enjoys instead of going to school which schedule-wise was proving harder than we had imagined it would be. And a nice perk, we can fly on passes (again for me since Dad retired from United and I used to fly on them all the time) so travel has become much easier for us now. Work continues to be good for me...everything seems to be running pretty smoothly. I hope to post some pictures from Roxie's birthday on here soon. But we may not have a big family party until Thanksgiving time due to Mike's work schedule. Hopefully I won't wait to post them like I usually do. Roxanne, Anabelle and I have also started attending a UU church in the area and are really enjoying it. Anyway, we'd love to hear from you and we do read all the notes you leave on the site and on the pictures...Have a great and safe Fall Season!!!

So in loading these last few pictures, I have discovered I take lots of photos, but not as many with people in them as I'd thought! I'll have to work on actually getting pictures of the girls and not stuff we're looking at. Things are going well here, Anabelle, Roxanne and I will be going to Seattle for 2 weeks at the beginning of August and we can't wait! I have finally finished going back to Pikeville, so all we have to do now is sell the house. We've had a number of people look at it and one offer that was low, but we're keeping a positive outlook on it and we hope it'll sell by the end of Summer. The girls are doing great and Roxie is really growing. She has 3 teeth in, 2 on the bottom and one on the top. The top one isn't a center one though, it's one of the ones next to the center teeth. Maybe they'll be following soon. Hope to get more pictures of both girls on here soon...until then, enjoy what's new!

So we moved to Northern Kentucky...back to the land of the living!!! It is so nice to be in an area that isn't 2.5 hours away from anything! Roxie is growing every day and Anabelle is becoming quite the helpful big sister. I will be starting classes for my AuD at the end of this month, and Mike and I will be taking a trip to Cancun, Mexico at the beginning of May. I have a training for a hearing aid there one day, and we'll have the other 2 days to hang out and relax...all for free! Well, almost anyway, we just had to pay to fly Mike there and to get our passports. The passports were actually more expensive than the plane ticket since we had to rush order them. But it's all worth it for the all-inclusive resort we'll be staying at from 5/3 - 5/6. We'll be in Mexico on Cinco de Mayo and the day after our wedding anniversary...not too shabby. Mike is still planning on attending UK, but due to class offerings, it may not be until the Fall. I am loving my new job, it is a nice break from the crazy-days I had back in the Pikeville office. I am still going back there every couple weeks, until the first part of May, but then I'll be done. We have our house on the market, but with the way home sales are going, may not be selling it anytime soon... If you want our new address, just drop me a line and I'll jet it to you. Hope to hear from everyone and we'll have more up-to-date pictures of the girls on here soon!!!

Well, the year is almost up and it's been an eventful one. We've had an addition to the family, plus all the other stuff our beautiful Anabelle has put us through..or rather, enriched our lives with. As the year closes, we want to thank all of you for continuing to keep tabs on our little group and wish you all a prosperous 2007. Some news for us, Mike will be returning to the University of Kentucky to pursue a Geology degree. Since we currently live over 2 hours away from campus, we have decided to move out of Pikeville. This has been a little hard to leave my current patient base, but it is definately the right decision for the family. Mike is thrilled to be leaving here, as all of his activities are either in Lexington or Lousiville. I'm excited to be getting to a more populated area with some decent shopping in closer proximity, plus a lot of the activities I was involved in back in Seattle. Did I mention we'd be closer to the shopping? I will be working at a busy 9-physician ENT office with 4 different office sites, splitting my time between 2 of them. I am excited as the office is run very efficiently and my day will be more scheduled than it is now. The benefits are good and I'll actually get vacation/PTO days that if I don't use them, they roll over onto the next year. I also plan to start working on my AuD (clinical doctorate) sometime in the Spring...so you can see we have lots in the works for the upcoming year. We'll keep you all posted on our lives and let you all know what our new address is as soon as we have it!

Things are still going well. Roxanne has some colic which seems to pop up around 10:30 p.m and not subside until between 1 and 2 a.m., but that is getting better. I have just less than 2 weeks left on my maternity leave then back to work. She has really put on some poundage, gaining over 2 lbs. in 6 weeks...she is a good eater that is for sure!! Anabelle still loves being a big sis, and now that all our company has come and gone, things are settling down into a more normal routine and her behavior is improving. She is really looking foward to Christmas...like any normal nearly-5 year-old. I have some pics to post, but will do that this up-coming week hopefully. We completed the birth announcement for Roxy...more pics to follow!!

Well, Roxanne arrived on Tuesday, October 17th at 10:02 a.m., with a very uneventful delivery. The recovery, however, was more dramatic on my part...I want to thank everyone that called and supported Mike, Anabelle, and Roxanne during the stressful time they were experiencing. Luckily for me, I was pretty out of it and wasn't really aware of the seriousness of the situation until it was all over. After a lot of medical treatment, I am finally back to normal (well, normal for me anyway) except for being a little bit, well, okay, really tired. We are adjusting to having anothe little one in the house, and Anabelle is handling the change pretty well. Once we realized that Roxanne hated her sleep positioner and removed it from the crib, sleep for everyone was much smoother. With all the reflux/colic issues we had with Anabelle, it's strange to have a baby that behaves the way a typical newborn behaves. She really only cries when she's hungry, has a little gas, wants to be held, or has a dirty diaper. This is in huge contrast to the first few months of Anabelle's life where she cried/screamed and threw up for a majority of her day. As for me, I look like my arms were used for punching bags with some of the bruises I have from the attempts at establishing IV's, but other than that, you wouldn't really know that anything had gone wrong. We've taken a few more pictures, and now that I have some extra time during my day, I'll try to put them on here sooner than I was doing before. Again, thanks for all your support and we'll post again soon!!!

Hey Look! I finally got the pictures from this Summer up on the site!! WooHoo!!! We are all set for the baby to arrive, should be any day now (HOPEFULLY!!). When we have pictures, we'll post them. It's amazing to see how small I was at Convention compared to now...maybe I'll take a picture of me today to post on here so you all can see my enormous-ness...it's almost comical. It's all in the front, looks like I swallowed a beach-ball. We'll keep you all posted on the progress!!!

Well, were are proud to announce, on today, Anabelle's 4th birthday, that on/about October 29th, we will be expecting another little Manning trouble-maker!!! Yep, I am around 5-6 weeks pregnant and very happy. Anabelle hasn't quite figured out what all this means, but I just know she'll be a great big-sis. Other than dropping everything and not being able to remember things from one moment to the next, I'm doing well. No real morning sickness and just some minor food cravings. We'll hopefully be having an ultrasound in about 3-4 weeks and will post pictures when we get them. I have a number of pictures of Anabelle to post as well, hopefully can get to them this weekend. I'll keep you all posted on how things are going!!

Well, we went to Disney princess on ice a couple weeks ago, and was not warned that there would be explosions/fireworks, so after the first one, Anabelle was terrified any time a new or evil-type character would come out. Spent nearly 1/2 the show calming her down or taking her to the bathroom as when a part she thought would be scary was about to come on, she's become completely hysterical screaming at the top of her lungs, "I want to go home, I want to go potty" and writhing all over the place. We managed to get through it though, and today are going to try another show, hopefully with more luck. Last time we were right next to the ice, this time we'll be farther away and she'll know what's coming, having seen the last one. Anabelle loved her X-mas gifts, and as soon as we have the pictures downloaded onto our new computer, will post them. Hope the new year is treating all of you well!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Right now it's just after midnight and we are anxiously awaiting morning when Anabelle will wake up and see all the gifts under the tree. As soon as we get our camera software loaded on our new computer, we'll post some pictures...It has been so much fun this year...I can't wait to see her face in the morning. Well, hope you all have a great Christmas and a safe New Year!!!

Ooooo...Bad Alecia! Well...here are all the pictures that you have been wating for!! We FINALLY got some high-speed internet, and I can now upload pictures at a reasonable speed. We are getting ready for Christmas, and really enjoying our new home. So much has happened since July! Anabelle is doing pretty good, and really liking school. She's the youngest in her class, but adjusting pretty well. Well folks, enjoy the pictures and have a great holiday season!

Wow!! Has it been forever since I've posted anything. So much has happened! We had an awesome time attending a friend's wedding in Vegas, and returned home to our new house! We closed later than expected, it ended up being Friday, May 13th...which Mike and I both chuckled at. It's a 3 bed/2 bath ranch with walk-in closets and a master bath with a soaker tub and seperate stand-up shower. We absolutely love it! Mike is thrilled with the huge kitchen and Anabelle is really enjoying her room with her great-big closet! We're actually paying less for the mortgage than our rent was...we'll probably be living here for 5-7 years and then buy/build our "dream home". As soon as we have internet faster than dial-up, I'll be loading some pictures on so you all can see it. Anabelle is growing so fast, and remains a joy, except when she starts to behave like a 3 year-old!!! She has hit the "why" stage, which gets frustrating, but we are managing to cope. We are trying to get her into Headstart so she can go to school, she is so smart and we want her to start really learning as soon as she can. Well, pictures will be forthcoming...we'll be getting satelite internet later this month, and I'll post them right away. We miss all of you!!!

Wow, sorry it's been so long since I've posted in the journal! February was a busy month, Anabelle had 2 birthday parties plus her own at McDonalds, it was starting to feel like we lived at McDonalds! She's made some great friends at daycare, and also managed to pick up a "bug" that she just can't seem to shake. She actually was diagnosed with Pneumonia, but seems to have kicked that, but still has a lingering cough. We had a little scare yesterday, and had to take her to the ER when we noticed that her nailbeds were turning blu-ish, and her temp was really high. She was fine, and have decided to only have her in daycare a couple days a week. We're also trying to get her into head start, as we think she'll really enjoy it. Our big news is that we have purchased a house!!! It's a nearly-new manufactured home, and we intend to live there for several years until we can buy/build our "dream home". We are so excited, we have a closing date of April 29th, hopefully it'll be sooner. We'll try to take some pictures and post them on here so you can all see it. The weather has been crazy, it snowed last night, and a week ago it was nearly 70 degrees. Go figure. We're taking her to her first movie today, and will be posting pictures soon (hopefully!). Talk to y'all again soon!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Well, we made it back home. It was great trip, but coming home is always nice. Anabelle, Michael, and I all had a great time seeing all our friends, and visiting family. It was good to catch up on everyone and see what was going on in their life. The only news since returning is that Michael will be starting a Pharmacy Technician program in March, and we found out we get to go back to Vegas for another friend's wedding...YEA!!! It will be at the same time as our 6-year wedding anniversary, so we'll combine the two occasions into one. We'll keep you all posted on how Michael is doing. It's a year-long program, so he should be finished by next year. There is a tremendous amount of medical services needed in the area, so we are confident that this is the right choice. I may be deleting some of the pictures on the site, in the older photo albums so clear up some space in the next few weeks, so you may want to peruse them and see if there are any you want to print up. Good luck in this new year!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Well, we've been in Connecticut for a couple days. We left a day early to miss getting caught in the weather that was supposed to roll through E.Kentucky Thursday a.m. Mike has been hanging out with his buddies, and I've been sleeping a lot. Anabelle had a great time opening all her gifts, first at home last week, then this morning. It's such a joy to see how excited she gets and how much fun she has opening gifts. Christmas is truly the best when you can experience it through the joy of your child. I'd say it's even better than when I was little. One of the things my Mom sent was a quilt that my Grandmother made for my Mom when she was little. Anabelle has slept with it the past two nights, and I kinda feel like she has my Grandma watching over her with it. We'll be visiting Maine tomorrow, to see Mike's grandpa, and do a little shopping at LL Bean. Yippie!!! I'll be posting more from the trip later this week, so keep checking back. We want to wish all of you a Happy Holidays and hope all your wishes come true!!!

We had a really good Thanksgiving in Connecticut, but didn't have nearly enough time to visit all the people and do all the things we wanted to do. We'll be going back for Christmas for a little over a week, so that will be great and allow us the time to do what we didn't accomplish at Thanksgiving! Her behavior has improved a little, but it's still a struggle sometimes. She's loving her new undies, and getting rid of the diapers has extended the use of her clothes quite a bit since they don't take up so much room!! We'll post some more pictures in a few weeks!!

Well, I think Anabelle has finally done it..she seems to be completely potty-trained!! I'm doing a dance of joy right now!!! She has been going potty for #1 since she came back from grandma and grandpa Manning's about a month ago, but just this week, really mastered the #2 part. Her reward is Dora the Explorer underwear. We'll be going this weekend to buy some. Since starting daycare full time about 1 month ago, her behavior has taken a bit of a nose-dive. We aren't sure if it's bad habits picked up from other kids, or her realization that she can say "no". Needless to say, the past few weeks have been a bit of a struggle, but she seems to be realizing that certain behaviors are not allowed. She's also started crying/whining any time she doesn't get what she wants. Although we're fairly certian this is normal behavior for an almost-3 year-old, it's still VERY annoying. We're dealing with it though. She's still a pretty good kid though, and we feel lucky to have her. Right now, we're looking forward to going to CT for Thanksgiving, and Anabelle is excited to see grandma and grandpa Manning again. She asks for grandma and grandpa Soyk too, but they are a little farther away. The concept of distance isn't quite there yet and can't understand why we just can't go and see them. She loves to look at their pictures though! We miss all of you, and wish you were here with us! We hope all your Holidays are full of wonderful surprises!!!

Well, we finally decided on a daycare, one that is in the same parking lot as the new building I will be working in by Nov. 1st. She really seems to be liking it, but 2 days after starting, got tonsilitis. She's okay now, after some antibiotocs, but while she was sick, got in the bad habit of sleeping in mommy and daddy's room on the floor. We're in the process of fixing it, but it's going to be a long road ahead. Everyone is settling in nicely, and maybe in a few months, we'll actually feel like we live here, and not just visiting!! Anabelle has also started letting us put rubber-bands in her hair, which is good because at the moment it is usually falling in her face. We just can't bring ourselves to get it cut. As long as she keeps going along with rubber-bands, we won't get it cut. Well, that's pretty much it from down south...we'd love to hear from some of you!!!

Well, we are all finally in Kentucky. We went to get Anabelle last weekend, and thing are going well. She's adjusted pretty well to her new room and surroundings. We will be looking into daycare soon so that she can make some friends and give Mike a break a couple days a week. I loaded pics from Tampa, and some that we took today while on a 'hike' by the overlook. The area is really beautiful and a much different pace from Rhode Island. The Job is going well, and I am all set with the state of Kentucky to begin providing hearing aids and hearing aid services. We miss all of you terribly, but are enjoying our new apartment. We'd love to hear from you! E-mail or call us...we're usually home!!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything, we went to Florida for A DZ convention, and Anabelle had a blast. I'll have pictures soon. We also moved to Kentucky, and Anabelle is still at Grandma & Grandpa's as I write this, we are preparing her room for her. Mike will be going back this weekend to get her, our car, and then drive back to Kentucky. We've converted her crib into a toddler bed, and will try that for a while to see if she likes it. I am trying to keep busy at work and putting the apartment together, to keep my mind off the fact that I haven't seen her since the 17th of July!!! Just a few more days I keep telling myself. As soon as we have internet access, I'll load the pictures from Florida and right before Mike and I left, so you can see how much fun she had at Convention with Mommy and Grandma Soyk. Check back soon!!!

Westerly, RI has the POPS each year, where there's a bunch of music and then fireworks at the end. We've gone every year we've been here for it, even before Mike and I were married. This is Anabelle's 3rd POPS, although I'm sure she doesn't remember the first two. We had a great time, and Anabelle really enjoyed the fireworks and cannons during the 1812 overature. Afterwards, she rode home in her wagon with all our stuff piled in with her, and by the time we were home, she had fallen asleep on the blankets in front of her. We had a great time and will really miss this when we move. Hope you all enjoy the pictures!!!

We went to the park yesterday and Anabelle had a blast playing on the jungle-jim. We had been talking about the Easter Bunny for a few days, and when we went to see him, she still freaked out...I guess when you're 2, everything is a little scary. I will admit, the eyes were basically black holes in a mask, so I'm not surprised she wouldn't even look at him. Other than that, it was a great 2 days and the weather was awesome, except for a little wind. Happy Easter everybody!!!

We went to Seattle for about 1 1/2 weeks, and Anabelle really had fun getting to know Grandma and Grandpa Soyk. She was great on the plane, pretty much entertaining herself the whole way there and sleeping very little. She slept the entire way home. She was great to travel with, especially for a 2 year-old. Everyone was saying what a great baby she is...Whew!! We had a close connection in Chicago, and when we got to the gate for the flight to Seattle, they had upgraded us to Business Class from Economy Coach on the 777. Lemme tell ya, it's VERY nice. Then on the way home, we were upgraded to the nicer Coach section. Suffice it to say, it was a great trip. We did a lot of shopping and managed to get to the Aquarium one day and spend a little time on the waterfront. The weather was absolutely beautiful, it barely rained at all and it was about 45-60 the whole time. We couldn't have asked for a better trip. She's really starting to talk, and Mike and I can understand about 85-90% of what she says. She's growing up so fast, I can hardly believe it!! We'd love to hear from you all...post in the guestbook if you have time!!!

Well today is her birthday, but we had the party last night. Overall she was pretty good...I can hardly believe she is 2 already!! She received a lot of great gifts from family, we'll probably start friend-parties next year. Two just seemed a little young to have friends over. Sorry some of the pictures are a bit blurry, she moves quick sometimes!!!

Another year is here and I am enjoying the new camera. She finally got over the ear infection, probably because she gave me the cold that gave it to her! Anyway, no new happenings on the potty-training front...I'm letting her go at her own speed. Maybe by the time she's two she'll be almost there. Hope you all enjoy the pictures, more will come soon!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Anabelle had a blast today opening all her gifts plus lots of Michael's and mine too!! I can't believe she's nearly 2 years old! It sure has gone by quickly. We got an awesome gift today from Ron and Jan, a digital camera!! Now we can take lots more pictures and put them on the site a lot more often. She really is growing up, and has quite a vocabulary, probably somewhere around 25-50 words that we all have heard, some she uses a lot, others only pop out now-and-then. She can recognize a few letters as well, to which Mike exclaimed "she can read!". She's a little far from that, but she is really learning so much so fast! She definately is almost two, and the "limp-noodle defense" is almost as popular as the 'running away from Mommy/Daddy' game.She has also (trumpets and fanfare) pooped on the toilet 2 times. The first by accident at Grandma's while she was taking a bath, and the second when she came to Mike and said "potty", took his hand, and led him to her potty where she pooped! Nothing since that time...but I can see no more diapers around the corner! She had an ear infection last month, and got another one just in time for the holidays, lets hope it clears fast. All-in-all she still a great kid, even when super-cranky. We miss all of you and wish you could see her in person to see how wonderful she is. Have a safe and Happy New Year!!

Well, her vocabulary has expanded to include "off, mama, dada, and up" as well as signing "more and milk". She shakes her head no and really lets us know when she is done or doesn't want something!! Maybe she's hit the "terrible two's" a little early??? We'll try to post more as we just upgraded the site for more space. Thanks for looking at the site!!! We wish all of you were here in person to see her grow!

Anabelle has been saying Uh-Oh for about 3 or 4 months, and just added "down" and "yes" as her first real words!! She also says no by moving her hand back and forth when she's done eating or in response to direct questions. Consequently, she's also started protesting when something is taken away or she's forced to do something she doesn't want to do. But overall, she's a great baby with a very easy-going personality and we're blessed to have her!

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