Dollahite Family

Christmas travels

2012-01-13T09:24:00.000-08:00

Announcing: we have a walker. Titus is so funny because he actually started walking around 11 months before he was able to crawl. Within about a week, he started crawling and hence stopped walking. We could coax him to walk on rare occasion with lots of cheering when the mood struck him. But starting in early December, he's now on his own two feet. It is fun that he can get around now.

W had a great time with friends from our Young Marrieds fellowship group called Unite, when we were newly weds in SLO. Tahoe was beautiful - but NO SNOW! It was a little bit of a bummer, but I think the moms were all secretly ok with not having to deal with it ;)

Here are the 8 kids at the cabin all 3 years old and younger. What a fun and lively bunch!

From Tahoe, we went to San Jose to see Andy's family for Josh and Desiree's engagement party and pre-Christmas celebration.

Reading the Christmas story from the Bible with Didi's Kyrgyzstanian nativity set.

Annaliese love her new jammies from Didi and Papa Mac!

The adults took a quick pic after the kids had gone to bed.

Then we drove to my parents family and celebrated Christmas Eve/Day with them. Annaliese enjoyed singing "Jingle Jingle Happy Bells," "Joy to the World," and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (her favorite).

Titus had fun, but wasn't entirely sure of what all was going on.

The Peters Family :)

Come on, cutest kids in the world? I think so.

They love their Nannie Pie and Opa.

Photo op clearly over.

Annaliese loved the new games she got for Christmas and enjoyed "Spilling the Beans" with Opa - totally thinking the point was TO spill the beans, instead of NOT to.

Candyland with Mom and Nannie Pie.

Then to round out our trip all over the entire state, Andy and I got to go up to Shaver and stayed at a B&B for a night away while my parents watched the kids. It was a great time for us to relax together, although again - no snow! Oh well, we had a blast with everyone - family, friends and just us. I hope that you all had a wonderful time celebrating Christ's birth with your loved ones as well.

January in Southern California

2012-01-04T15:59:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

We went to Kidspace Children's Museum on New Years Day. It has been so warm here!

The kids got soaking wet and loved every second!

As a bonus, we had to park near the Rose Bowl and got to see some of the floats that were being decorated! This our Cal Poly's "hero-themed" float.

We got to see Roy Rogers' daughter here at her father's honorary float.

They had to keep misting the flowers since it was so hot!

Of the 5 or 6 we saw, the Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer red wagon float was our favorite.

Today the kids and I went to Santa Monica with my friend Jayme, her two kids, sister and her grandmother.

My kids love the sand and water. Titus especially just wanted to go head-long into the water. He would cry when I would lift him up when a wave would come up above his waist.

Just another sunny January day in So Cal. Winter, what?

What I've been up to

2011-12-11T13:51:00.001-08:00

So I've been really busy, which has been a good thing for this year. Another reason that I haven't posted on this blog regularly is that I've started another blog for my Bradley classes. It is unfortunate that I neglect one for the other, but I'm trying to remedy that, obviously :)

Here is one of my adorable couples who won the costume contest, which happened to fall on Oct. 31st ;) I just thought it would be something fun, since we were in class on that day. Teaching my Bradley class has also been a great addition this year, giving me some much needed adult time as well as a point of focus on something that really enjoy. I have really loved getting to know a few of my couples and seeing them learn and grasp concepts that I know will help them in their labor and birth and beyond.

I've also been making a lot of bows, headbands, and clips. My friend Megan and I sold them at a church boutique on Thursday and Friday, but unfortunately, it was much financial gain. At least I was able to support Women's Ministry at Paz Naz (it was a fundraiser), which is where I go to MOPS.

Being a part of MOPS leadership has been a fun part of this year as well. I am both the Asst. Coordinator and the Hospitality person. The bummer is that we all have pre-schoolers, so leaving the house by 7:45 to set up and staying until noon to clean up, bringing food and having leadership meetings once a month in addition to 2 meetings per month ends up being a lot, especially since it is not particularly close to my house. I've loved it, but probably will be stepping down next year as Andy's year will be much more crazy when he starts rotations next August.

Our church has been a wonderful blessing this year as well. In July, we changed churches from MBCLA (Mandarin Baptist Church of Los Angeles) which we had attended the first year, to Grace Pasadena, a relatively new (about 3 years old) PCA church. The fellowship we've found there has been such a reprieve from the loneliness that I experienced last year, even amongst the church and small group that we were a part of. There are a lot of young families there, many of whom are also new to the area and need an "extended family" just like we do. So it is a great fit. Plus we convinced a couple med students to go there, including Andy's friend Tyler and Luke & Drea - bonus! :)

It is hard to say which is the biggest factor in this year being much better, but definitely one of them would be Andy's schedule. Whereas last year he had 36-40 hours of scheduled lectures, labs, group activities, and then would have to study and go in to the lab on top of that, it was a lot of time away from home. This year, he has significantly less required time at school and he has become an avid "web-caster" meaning that he watches the lectures on his own time (in double speed, mind you). They also don't have anatomy etc. that keeps him studying in the lab. It has been wonderful for me and he's gotten to see the kids a lot more.

Having two kids is busy, but no longer having a newborn and not nursing has also contributed to this year being easier. We're looking forward to having more kids, but not sure exactly when that will be. I think I'm also glad that we weathered the 2.5's and are into the 3's. To be honest, it is still really hard to discipline with love and consistency and lots of grace, but at least I don't feel as much like I got broadsided with all these discipline issues like I did last spring when it came on so strong and suddenly. Annaliese is very smart and catches onto the slightest little things. I have to remember that even though she's so smart, she is only a toddler. Titus is really beginning to exert his little will and is both sensitive as well as stubborn, not surprisingly. They are both delightful, of course!

Christmas time will be fun and a lot of traveling. After Andy has his final on Thursday, we'll go up to Tahoe for a weekend with friends from SLO. Then we'll visit Andy's family in San Jose until Friday. Finally, we'll go to the Valley to visit my family for a week. We'll be back in Alhambra for New Years, I think we'll probably miss it. I guess that's when you know you've begun to make a place your home - you miss it when you're away.

Dean's list

2011-12-11T13:27:00.001-08:00

Although when I try to get everything on the blog, I just end up not posting everything, this is one thing worth backtracking. In October, Andy was on honored on the Dean's List for the 2010-2011 school year.

It really is an accomplishment including not just an academic achievement amongst a class of smarties all of whom are future doctors, but also a leadership and service component, as well as being personally recommended by multiple professors. And although the Dean himself ended up having another commitment which prevented him from actually attending, there was a really nice reception. My babysitter ended up getting sick at the very last minute, but my dear friend Megan was able to come over and watch the kids so I was able to make it for the ceremony. I was so grateful that I got to see him be honored.

We all already knew it, but my honey really is the crème de la crème. His fellow students really look to him as a leader and for help with school stuff, rides, and personal stuff, and yet he can also be found cleaning the community student refrigerators before school once a month with a couple of other CSF students. Amazingly, he still throws Annaliese up in the air (we're talking WAY up in the air) and throws a ball with Titus when he gets home and also helps me do the dishes and takes me out for a date when we get the chance to sneak away. What a guy. I don't deserve him, but I thank God that he's mine! :)

P.S. Thanks, Shannon, for telling me to update my blog. I do love it. I just get overwhelmed with the fact that I can't seem to get it all done to the degree that I wish I could. :) Something is better than nothing, right!?!

New friends

2011-12-10T23:26:00.001-08:00

How are we adjusting to life in L.A.? many of you have asked. Well, to be honest it has been hard, especially the first year. I find it difficult to know how much to say in the midst of it all, but fortunately, rather, thanks to God, this year has been SOOOO much better.

L.A. County Fair with Drea

One of the main reasons is because I have made a friend, Drea. This friend happens to be the wife of a first year medical student who is also Andy's friend, Luke. They are so dear to us. We met them through CSF (Christian Student Fellowship) at Keck and they are both believers. We usually see then multiple times per week. They have made dinner for us countless times, and often bring over wine and/or dessert so we can put the kids to bed but still be social in the evening... SO AWESOME!

Progressive double date in downtown L.A.

Luke and Andy are in a men's small group at school through CSF that meets on Wednesday mornings to fellowship, pray and have Bible study. Drea and I also meet at that time at my house before the kids get up to pray together at 6:30. It has been invaluable to me, to have someone to pray with as we walk through this unique and often difficult path together. I also know that they are lifting us up in prayer during the week.

Frozen yogurt date in her jammies

Oh, and they've adopted our kids. I already posted about how they watched our kids for us when we went out for Andy's birthday (and gave us a Groupon), but I didn't mention that they also took Annaliese out on a special date for frozen yogurt one night as a surprise. She LOVED it. That doesn't really explain it though. She was shrieking and bouncing up and down when they came over and told her (they had asked me already), "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!!" I have to say that Luke and Drea were pretty ecstatic about her reaction as well. ;) I think that was the night they officially became "Auntie Drea and Uncle Luke" (aka Untel Newt, as Annaliese pronounces it).

Buddies

Titus also has a special place in his heart for Luke. It is so adorable. Usually when I am in the room and someone else is holding him, he tries to squirm away and get to me. But he loves to just sit calmly with Luke and Titus looks for Luke when Drea comes over without him. So precious.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a bit about these peeps who have made such an important, positive impact in our lives. It has only been a few short months of knowing them, but it feels like we've been friends forever. I can already tell that we've a lifelong connection.

A special date

2011-12-10T22:52:00.001-08:00

I told Andy that I felt kind of like George Bailey at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life," last week when we got to go out on a date for his birthday. Our friends Drea & Luke watched the kids for us AND gave us a Groupon to a nice restaurant in West Hollywood, The Foundry on Melrose. (Btw, the food was AWESOME! We agreed, the best we've had in L.A. so far, not that we've been out a whole lot though.) Then one of Andy's classmates called ahead to the restaurant to give us a bottle of wine. We chatted for hours and enjoyed the food and drink - the perfect celebration of his 31 years. It was such a blessing and a needed respite while we are plugging away, both working so hard in different ways toward the same goal. We felt so refreshed and revived to finish out these last couple of weeks before his final next Thursday. I'm still drawing on that time to get us through until we have another break next weekend through Christmas and New Years. Thank you to our friends who made it possible. :)

So much to be thankful for...

2011-12-10T22:22:00.001-08:00

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving with Andy's family. We were just missing a couple of people: Josh and his new fiance, Desiree (more on that later). We hosted the meal and other hanging out activities here at our house, but it was really awesome that our friends Luke and Drea allowed Bert, Dale, Jon, and Ashley to stay at their empty apartment just down the street while they were in Portland. It worked out great for everyone; we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

It was fun to see Papa Mac and the kids. The love him and we crack up any time Titus taps his head/cheeks/face because that is JUST like his Papa Mac! It is hilarious. If you know Bert and this funny habit that he has, you've got to see Titus do it too.

Didi playing a rousing game of Cooties with Annaliese. Didi was a good sport and spent lots of time on the floor, reading playing games etc. with this little busybody.

Uncle Jon and Titus. What good looking guys we have in our family!

It is funny how kids always do this with olives. I guess it is just that they see a hole, and automatically know that they should stick their fingers in them.

Andy did a lovely job setting the table with our beautiful china and crystal (and clearing off the buffet, which is usually filled with stuff making it not accessible). I made all the sides, including mashed potatoes, bacon gravy, green bean casserole, apple cornbread stuffing with sausage, but skipped the turkey and bought a spiral-cut ham instead. It was perfect because Andy's family doesn't prefer turkey and I didn't want to attempt it any way on my first time hosting a big holiday like this. Some friends had an early Thanksgiving meal and then flew out of town and gave us some yummy fresh cranberry sauce and an apple pie. My mom supplied the zwiebach - again, didn't want to attempt it, knowing it wouldn't be as good. But it was a delicious feast overall, if I do say so myself.

My professional gravy-tasters. :)

We hired a sitter for the first time ever, my friend Michelle from MOPS, to all be able to go to the USC v. UCLA game. Even the kids were dressed up in support of the Trojans!

It was my first football game of his magnitude. The energy, even from way up top, was really exciting.

We've got spirit, yes, we do!

Fight on!

Ashley in her super cute new glasses! I seriously love them!

Andy took this pic and made us stay until the buzzer rang out. It was a great time for all... except any UCLA fans that were there.

We had some great family time, good conversations, as well as a brief shopping time at Ross for the girls. :) I love that it was low-stress and mellow. We had fun celebrating Andy's birthday with the family a little early, on Friday evening, with Cappuccino Cheesecake - amazing! It didn't turn out quite as "beautiful" as it has the past couple of years, so I don't have pics from this time, but here are some from two years ago (it is a once a year kind of caloric intake).

And here is the recipe.

Although words really don't suffice, thank you, God, for the many, many earthly blessings you have given us as well as for the gift of your Son and the life you give us in Him.

Birthday Party - Round 2

2011-12-10T22:12:00.001-08:00

We had a little birthday party here in L.A. with Annaliese's little friends here too.

She obviously had a great time, and once again, loved the cupcakes. Some of her little buddies, including Isaac, Aurora and Alina. (Jacob was also there, not pictured.)

Titus riding in a little car, pushed by Uncle Luke.

Third cupcake of his life. I promise, he doesn't eat cupcakes all the time. ;)

One of her favorite presents, a "tent" from Auntie Jen. She loves to go outside and read with her blankies.

Happy Birthday Boo!

2011-12-10T22:00:00.001-08:00

Our little girl is 3! She had a wonderful princess party at Opa & Nannie Pie's house with friends from the Valley.

BFF - Ellyann

We were all about the cupcakes, as you can tell.

Loved having everyone sing to her

She had so much fun decorating these with Ellyann before the party started - that could have been the whole party, in her mind, I think!

Fuzzy kisses with Opa

Princess kisses with aunties

The cupcakes were a hit with Titus as well... clearly.

All the little princes and princesses (plus Luke) :) They were adorable.

It was so fun, including a reunion of friends for Andy and me. The party was 6 days before her birthday, so she kept reminding me that she really wasn't 3 yet. Then she would occasionally ask, "Am I 3 yet?" It was so precious. I love that she just trusts me to tell her stuff like that.

Ginger Molasses Cookies

2011-11-23T09:58:00.001-08:00

My hubby asked that I make these, which I was happy to oblige. He just wanted to make sure they were BIG. He later told me how my cookies are always good, but just not BIG.

I guess I've just always figured you can always have more, but apparently there is something to just taking a bite out of a big ol' cookie, rather than just popping the whole thing in your mouth (if you have a large mouth like Andy :) love you Hon!).

I have to say, I was kind of doubting both my abilities to perform up to the raving about these cookies that Andy first tasted at school, but they turned out so well, that I think they may become a holiday staple for years to come in our house. And hence, I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

The amazing thing about them is that they have the spice and holiday-ish flavor, as well as a chewy, plump texture on the inside, with a sugar coating on the outside that gives them a little bit of crunch.

Ginger Molasses Cookies
4 1/2 c. flour
4 t. powdered ginger
2 t. baking soda
1 1 /2 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 c. Crisco (I used butter-flavored, as I always do)
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Combine wet ingredients and then slowly incorporate the dry ingredients. Roll into 1" balls (I did my bigger, more like the size of a golf ball-ish, just to make sure they were BIG, as requested). Dip into iced water (sound weird, I know). Place 2" apart on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for ONLY 14 minutes - avoid overbaking. They literally have to "dry" to be done, they don't look totally baked when they are done. If you do the XL size like I did, 14 minutes should be perfect, if you do a smaller size, adjust the time down accordingly.

The golf ball sized dough balls produced 2 dozen (yes that is it, with 4.5 cups of flour, that is all we got!).

So, while we still have more cleaning etc to do, we're getting ready to host family for Thanksgiving and we're excited about it! Can't you tell!

Knocking over the water bottle

2011-11-11T11:25:00.001-08:00

Sometimes the most random thing is funny!

The Lord's Prayer

2011-11-11T10:25:00.001-08:00

This is actually from August, but I'm trying to play catch up!

Say, "Please!"

2011-11-02T22:45:00.000-07:00

My kids have never gone trick-or-treating. You may think I'm a lame mom or something, but actually I'm not against going out to visit people we know or my kids eating a bunch of sugar on one night, it just hasn't worked out so far.

On the day of Halloween, they did however get a piece of candy from one of Andy's med student friends when we went to visit Andy at USC. Let me tell you, the students got a kick out of the kids. That we have 2 toddlers is novel enough to most of them, but they loved seeing them all the more dressed up (even though Titus got too hot and had to get out of his costume in the 85-degree-California-fall weather).

Before arriving at school though, I had to stop by CVS. When we were checking out, the nice witch (as she called herself) behind the counter said, "Oh how cute you kids are - I have some treats for you!"

She grabbed two mini-bags of M&M's and Annaliese's eyes lit up. The witch cashier said, "Now what do you sa-ay?" Annaliese put on her biggest cheesy grin and said, "PLEEEASE!?!"

I think the lady thought it was weird that I hadn't taught Annaliese what to say even though I had obviously dressed her up. I quickly informed Annaliese of the right words which she promptly repeated. M&M's are her favorite candy, she let me know later. Titus didn't actually receive any of the benefits of the M&M's, but enjoyed a little bit of Oreo cookie with which I tried to coax a smile out of him while taking these pics.

Andy was also kind enough to bring my kids for a quick visit to my childbirth class in Pasadena that I recently began teaching on Monday evenings. It is a pretty time-intensive course for pregnant couples to learn about pregnancy, labor, birth and breastfeeding. By time-intensive, I mean a 2 hour class weekly for 12 weeks! I am really enjoying it. Andy has been so supportive helping go to training in San Francisco this summer and watching the kids for me while I teach.

It has been a great way to have some adult time, share some great info that we learned while pregnant with Annaliese, and to be out there meeting new people that I wouldn't have otherwise. Hopefully, it will also help bring some additional income, once the initial investment of the cost of training and supplies recovered. In case you're not familiar with The Bradley Method® and are interested, you can check it out here (which is where all 8 of my couples have found me), see my personal Bradley website, or visit my new blog (which is all things pregnancy/labor/birth/health/baby-related). The training over the summer, prepping for class and teaching are partially why I think I've neglected this blog for the past several months. That, and I get so impatient waiting for pics to upload. It was way faster uploading these pics though, so I think I'll try to be more regular again! I miss you all - friends and family!

Happy Birthday Buddy Boy

2011-10-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Titus is ONE already! Can't believe how the time goes by. Obviously... since I haven't posted since May. There's a part of me that wanted to bail, well, not really bail, but gets frustrated with myself for not keeping up with the blog and therefore just walk away from it, but alas, here we are.

Titus had a fun race car-themed party and loved the red balloons, but his first taste of cake was his favorite.

Nannie Pie & Zwieback

2011-05-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

I love when my mom comes to visit. She loves to spoil the grandkids, and I, of course, benefit as well! When she came most recently, she helped me rearrange so that Titus and Annaliese now share a room. Rearranging furniture is one of my mom's favorite pastimes, so it worked out well for all of us.

Here are Annaliese's bed and dresser....

...and Titus' crib and changing table all together in their room now.

The switch went surprisingly well for Annaliese, who like most of us, doesn't really like change. When she realized she gained a playroom out of it which gave us room to set up her Christmas present from Uncle Bryan, she was excited. She appropriate deemed the "baby place," a baby bed/high chair/bath/changing table/kitchenette.

The playroom and baby place in the lower left corner

Tea time

Did I mention that my mom likes to spoil the grandkids? So she took us to a children's museum and got us an annual pass for our family. What a blessing!

Annaliese thought the sand at Kidspace was pretty great, but the water activities were her favorite!

Annaliese was "checking my heart like the doctor" because I actually got really sick and dehydrated while my mom was visiting. It was a huge bummer to be sick, but I was so thankful that she was here to take care of the kids... and ME. You know how it goes, where sometimes as a mom you want to call in sick but instead you have to just pop in a video and press on. Well this time I was so lucky to have relief from my mommy!

Annaliese has come to love making zwieback (a Mennonite traditional double-decker, twice risen bread roll that tastes buttery but still light and airy) at Nannie Pie's house. (Only the bottom half of one shown above.) Last time we visited she even got to help make strawberry jam, which always goes along with zwieback.

These were Annaliese's zwieback and I think hers might be better than mine! I need to work on forming them correctly so I don't smash all the air out of them!

Titus at 6 months

2011-05-02T21:03:00.001-07:00

I love this little "Butter" boy. Can you see where we get the nickname? He's just a ball of butter!

I love his puffy feet. Annaliese always used to cross her feet like this when she was a baby too.

Chubby toes.

Check out the knee, or lack thereof.

He wasn't quite stable enough to sit up on his own at this point.

He looks kind of mischievous here, don't you think?

Ha ha! Bye bye!

Didi, Papa and San Jose visit

2011-05-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

Just prior to turning 6 months, Titus was introduced to his first "solids" meal, rice cereal mixed with mommy's milk, which he totally loved. He seriously downed it. Didi was here to visit and again got to witness her grandchild's first try at the spoon.

Didi was so kind as to fly down and help me drive up to San Jose since I hadn't driven that far by myself with the kids. It was during one of Andy's big test weeks so it worked out well for all of us (which he did great on by the way).

Papa Mac was having a grand old time singing the William Tell Overture with Titus.

As a bonus I got to visit my best friend in the world, Nikki. It was fun to have all the kids together too, but I forgot the camera. It was such a blessing to me, just to soak in the brief time with her. I miss her SOOO much. I've really been realizing what a treasure my friendships are to me, especially ones that have lasted the test of time and truly speak God's love and truth.

More yummy homemade carrot baby food.

Kids these days

2011-02-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

My mom always says that I should write down all the cute things that Annaliese says and that Titus does, but I never have - ahem - make the time. But I'm going to now.

Before I launch into the kiddo update, I thought I should also tell the world that Andy got a 95% on his dermatology test in January! Congrats, Honey, I am so proud of your intelligence and diligence! You're the whole package - brainy and sexy! I love you!

Time is flying - Annaliese is 2 years and 2 months; Titus is 4 1/2 months old. We're half way done with our first year of medical school. Whew!!! Craziness!

A few of Annaliese's frequently repeated sayings as of late:

"Maybe sometimes." In a sing-songy voice often in response to questions to which it isn't applicable and other times about nothing at all. Her BFF Ellyann back in the valley picked up on this one, her mom Virginia told me.
"Hmmm, let's think." Then purses her lips and touches her index finger up to her top lip. She typically looks at me and if I don't quickly follow suit, she says, "Come ON! Let's think, Mommy!"
"I have an idea!" Just like she had an epiphany, but when asked what is her idea, she often appears to be making something up right then.
"I'm not scared!" She says this in a know-it-all voice when we visit my parents house and my dad (Opa) teasingly stomps his feet to try to get rise out of her. She used to laugh and run away, but started making this announcement a few months ago.
"It's my celebrations!" She loves to build towers or hold up little things she finds and tells me that it is a celebration, since we tried to tell her the reason that we did certain things throughout the recent holiday season obviously frequently using the word celebration.

A few funny incidents recently:

We were at a candy shop to have a little sweet treat. Annaliese said, "I want dark chocolate! I did pee-pee on the potty!" and threw her head back in excited laughter. We cracked up that she said dark chocolate.
"Mommy, you have boogers (buddahs) in your nose and I'll help you in 5 minutes," holding up 5 fingers. I laughed, but quickly had to check out the situation in the mirror!
She came running in from playing outside and said, "Mommy, you so pretty (pitty)!" I had to check to see if Andy had come home early and set her up. He hadn't, but he had obviously prepped her previously! Still sweet though!
"Titus is my best friend!" So adorable, especially since we definitely didn't teach her to say that.

Titus is such a good natured, easy going, lovable little chunker! He is a total thumb-sucker (as was his sister) and is sleeping through the night like a champ. Pulling up to standing and looking out at the world around him are his favorite pastimes. He gets toted around quite a bit and rarely makes a scene. He is so low drama, unlike his sister, as shown at Titus' 2-month and Annaliese's 2-year simultaneous appointment. They both had vaccine shots and Titus let out a yell, but hardly cried. Annaliese was wide-eyed, bewildered, shocked and screamed in pain for the remainder of the office visit, even though we had talked extensively about the shot and how it would hurt a little bit. She is really good with her brother. She loves to have me read stories to both of them, sit or lay next to him and hold his hand. She talks about him all the time, "Titus is so cute (toot)!" and "Titus is getting big already!" When he cries some of her various responses are, "I'll get it!" meaning she will pick him up - to which I quickly respond, No - I'LL get him, "Don't cry, Titus!" and "That's enough!" She is a little riot and keeps me entertained throughout the day.

Yesterday at the grocery store, an elderly lady stopped me and said cooed a bit at Titus. He was hamming it up with her, smiling and laughing and she said that he should grow up to be a lawyer or something that would utilize his good looks and "winsome personality!" What a crack up! She also encouraged me to be kind and gentle to them, particularly to him as he understands a lot but can't communicate yet, as I am shaping his early view of women and what he will eventually value and look for in a future wife. I hadn't really thought of it that way with regard to my son and so I thanked her for the chat.

On a personal note, I had tough week last week, but this week has been better. It always helps to count my many blessings and remember that is a joy to serve my loved ones and make them happy. Thank you to those who prayed for me and for the encouragement from my BFF Nikki by phone and by blog. Thanks, God, for always being faithful to me.

Talking, laughing... crying

2011-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

Away in a Manger

2011-01-10T20:47:00.001-08:00

Our family needs some SERIOUS singing lessons. Annaliese apparently realized this and opted to only do the motions rather than join our hideous sounding corus.

Butter Boy

2011-01-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

So I was trying to be cheap since we have such an awesome camera and take Titus's 3 month pictures myself. They are not studio quality, but just some cute pics at home (don't worry, your eyes are not playing tricks on you, this one is just out of focus). Since I don't know how to use it very well and can't him to engage with me while I'm looking in the viewfinder, I'll probably end up having to haul all 3 of us to the mall for a JC Penney's $8 special - a trip that I am not looking forward to... but I'd better get on it since he's already 3 1/2 months old!

We affectionately call him...

-Butter Boy

-Brudder (as Annaliese says rather than Brother)

-Butter Bean

-Butter Ball

-Butter Bean Ball

-Buttery Boy

...and so on and so forth, you get the idea

Some of these were seriously taken with me not looking in the viewfinder while trying hold the camera up with one hand and tickle or prop him with the other.

Hence, the artistic framing.

We love our little Butter Boy.

Christmas Cheer

2011-01-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time with family and friends for the holidays... here are just a few of fun memories

Annaliese's favorite gift was a "nap mat"

Titus is not thrilled about going to Christmas Eve service

Annaliese painted an angel and gave a picture to Nannie Pie

Christmas Eve service with Didi and Papa Mac at Venture Christian

Annaliese LOVED the snow... even though we stopped when chains were required on the way up to Shaver and there was only a few inches

She loved building a little snowman and kept asking Daddy to throw "baseballs" at her

Christmas in the Park in SJ with the Dollahite sibs

"Cheesing!"

Nannie's visit

2010-12-06T15:41:00.001-08:00

We had fun during tap & ballet class while Nannie Pie took some pics!

Look at that point! :)

Silly Christmas fun with Nannie Pie

Love those eyelashes!

2010-12-06T13:31:00.001-08:00

Seriously?

Pretty sure that GAP will be calling soon to secure their sponsorship of this future model.

Driving to the Beach

2010-11-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

From the play date at the park yesterday - too cute! It makes me want to really take them to the beach!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Boo!

2010-11-18T14:26:00.000-08:00

Annaliese is TWO!

Annaliese had a blast at her party last weekend. She knew it was coming since we had told her, so all week she kept asking, "Happy birthday, please?" Since I would generally reply it was coming, she started to answer her own question with, "Its tumming!" since her "c/k" sounds like "t"!

Neatly eating her cupcake with a spoon

Titus was too tired to party, but enjoyed sleeping on Nannie Pie

Playing with her new soccer ball from Uncle Josh

This morning Annaliese woke up and was very excited that it was her birthday! I have a feeling that she'll continue to ask for "Happy birthday, please," for the next couple of days though!

Titus was also pretty excited!

Annaliese got to frost some cupcakes (or "tuppytates" as she calls them) to take to the park for her friends at a casual playdate.

Annaliese and Annika are both 1/4 Japanese, but at first glance, I would say that Annika looks more like she was my daughter and Annaliese looks more like Christine's daughter! Both super CUTE!

Artists sometimes have to get down and dirty to complete their works of art

All the kids (Joie, Bryan, Prisha, Annika (Annie), and Annaliese) drawing with sidewalk chalk

After the park, we stopped by Prisha's house as we were walking home. It was a SUPER fun-filled day for both the birthday girl and mama.

Cheesing

2010-11-17T15:19:00.001-08:00

Last week, I walked into the living room hearing Annaliese saying "Cheese... Cheese..." and wondered if Andy was taking a picture of her. Instead I found her posing behind Titus' swing (similar to her stance above) without anyone around. When I asked her what she was doing, she said, "I'm cheesing." I had to laugh, but then I thought my little (almost) 2-year-old is pretty smart to be able to manipulate language and create her own verb. Since "cheese" is what she says when she is posing for a picture, "cheesing" must be what she is doing! Can't believe she'll be 2 tomorrow!

This Will Definitely Make Your Day Better...

2010-11-17T14:35:00.000-08:00

And probably get you to smile from ear to ear!

The future Dr. Dollahite

2010-11-04T21:17:00.001-07:00

Tonight Andy came home after a full day at school, had dinner with us, and returned to school to study with a group for a few hours since they have a test on Monday. He'll be studying all weekend as well. I can't tell you how incredibly demanding medical school is. It is different than most other graduate programs from what I can gather. There is so much intensive lecture information, aside from required reading including concepts and history, as well as hands-on lab knowledge.

All in all, Andy juggles it all with joy, coming home to an often frazzled wife and two kids who are sometimes both screaming (although not always) during his "break" time. For that I am thankful. It is a hard season for both of us right now, but I am glad to know that through it all we have each other and the Lord on whom we rely.

Fortunately he loves it, which is an encouragement to us all... so much in fact, he includes interesting medical information in his blog, Hidden in a Field. How does he find the time, folks? Beats me!

P.S. Isn't he lookin' good in that white coat and scrubs!?!

Tapping Shoes

2010-11-04T16:37:00.001-07:00

Little Miss Ladybug & Baby Bear

2010-11-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

Brother & Sister

2010-10-30T22:34:00.001-07:00

Not surprisingly, Annaliese LOVES her little brother Titus.

She tries to comfort him when he's crying with blankets, burp cloths or a paci and says, "It's okay, Titus! Don't cry, baby!" (Yes, this was when he was just born, we did not have the pack'n'play bassinet set up yet, and it was 113F and we had to flee our L.A. house without A/C to my parents' house!)

She also tries to share her prized measuring cups with him.

She was trying to position his fingers and teach him "Fight On," the USC motto in which you hold up two fingers, but when I pulled out the camera she stopped of course. Still it is precious to hear her say his name.

The past few days, she has shared her cold with him unfortunately even though I tried to keep her from touching him. *Sigh* Well, I'm glad she is generally really gentle with him and hasn't been acting too jealous. I hope they'll be good friends as they grow up together.

Titus James

2010-10-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

Titus James

Sept. 24, 2010 at 2:43 am

7 pounds 12 ounces, 20 inches

Titus means "defender" & James for his father (Andy's real name is James Anderson)

We praise God for this joyful gift of our son! More details to come, but just had to get a picture up of our son (already 2 weeks old)!

Titus's Birth Story

2010-10-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the extended version of Titus's birth story (really for myself). But for those of you who are like me and enjoy hearing all the details (including the background story), here you go!

Many people have prayed for us so much for years, so you may know that it took a couple of years of trying for us to conceive our daughter Annaliese and that we miscarried once before she was born. So although we wanted to have more kids and sooner rather than later, it was a little unexpected when we found out in late January that our son was to be born before Annaliese would turn 2 years old. Later when we found out where exactly we were moving for medical school we also learned that he was due Oct. 8th, during the week of Andy's first set of exams.

Through many mixed emotions, we've trusted that God had planned for this little guy to be born at the right time. I was so nervous about giving birth a second time for many reasons even though my first birth experience was completely amazing. This time there was no family nearby, having a toddler who needed to be watched over, not knowing my doctor or the hospital well, the possibility of going into labor during one of Andy's tests, fear of the extremely LONG labor I previously went through, the difficult recovery from the tear with Annaliese, plus the usual concern that everything to go smoothly for a healthy delivery for baby & mom.

Listening to Titus's heartbeat

Although my car had been making a noise, we had been told by the mechanic that it was the catalytic converter and though it would probably not pass the next smog inspection, it probably would not cause a big problem. We figured we had until March when the next smog test was due, but started looking for minivans to upgrade for our growing family. At 36 1/2 weeks, I had gone to my college friend Leigh's house in Corona (nearly an hour drive) to visit her and her kids. In the evening on the way back, my car decelerated down to about 35 mph on the freeway about 7 miles away from home. I was able to safely get off and drive to a Bed Bath and Beyond, where we waited for Andy to come get us. We spent the next week driving all over southern California looking for vans and finally bought one and picked it up on the following Tuesday (pictured below at 37 1/2 weeks).

Proud owners of a 2006 Kia Sedona

The next day, after I had gone to meet my new doctor for the first time, I nonchalantly packed a bag at almost 37 weeks, thinking I would go late like I was with Annaliese (40 weeks 5 days). She said I was not leaking amniotic fluid, dilated or effaced at all even though I was losing my mucus plug. I began interviewing doulas-in-training that week since we couldn't afford a certified one, for some extra female support.

On Thursday, Sept. 23, at 37 weeks and 6 days, I had told Andy that I felt the baby SOOO low and didn't think it would be much longer, although I didn't want to get excited too soon since Annaliese took so long. The fourth and final doula, Yarah, came to our house at 8:30 pm that night. I told her that I thought my water may have broken earlier that evening, but it was only a small amount of liquid so I couldn't be sure. I really enjoyed meeting Yarah and told her at the end of our meeting at around 9:30pm that I selected her to attend our birth. I told her that I thought it might be sooner rather than later (I felt another slight gush as she was leaving) and we planned to meet again in a few days. Later I showered, cleaned the bathroom, and went to bed at around 10:45 pm. At 11:23 pm, my eyes popped open with the pain of a hard, low contraction. I immediately thought this might be labor because it was different from the many contractions I had been feeling previously. After the next contractions came at 9 minutes and then 7 minutes, I got out of bed to tell Andy who was studying that I might be in labor. I told him I'd feel better if we got someone to come and stay to watch Annaliese even though this might end up being a false alarm.

I went back to lay in bed and try to relax. The contractions kept coming consistently, low, and hard... and closer together. I called the doula and she encouraged me to get up and walk around and said she'd call back in 20 minutes to check on me. I knew this was it and I could still hear Andy on the phone talking to a fellow student on the phone in the office next to our room. I called him from my cell phone and said, "I need you!" He quickly came to hold my hand, help me breath and try to relax through all the rest of my contractions. He was a great encourager and helper. Two Biola students that we knew from Immanuel High School (where Andy used to teach) were coming to stay with Annaliese. We called our moms and to tell them we were going to the hospital just before 1am.

We got to the hospital after a minor detour for a freeway entrance and we were extremely glad that there was no traffic going into downtown L.A. after midnight! When we got there, I told Andy to go to the wrong (main) entrance, because apparently I missed that important bit of information during the tour. Although I was laboring hard, I actually got out of the car and walked with Andy to the door before we realized that we had to drive around to the back to enter through the ER. I felt the baby so low, but I was able to walk between contractions. I just kept trying to relax and breath though the pain like I had learned in the Bradley classes we took before Annaliese was born.

When we we got off the elevator at the 8th floor for Labor & Delivery, they were washing the floors and, I mean, washing the floors with soap, bubbles, and water all over the entire hallway floor. The smell of cleaner was nauseating. I demanded a wheelchair immediately as I pictured myself barfing and slipping on the wet floor. One custodian dried a strip down the hallway and one went to get the wheelchair, but I just followed in the path of the dry strip toward the check-in desk with Andy. I was on a mission, and I kept saying aloud, sort of to myself and to anyone in earshot, "The baby is coming!"

The hospital had not let me pre-register during my tour since my insurance company had not sent my insurance card yet, so Andy had to fill out some paperwork while I waited (finally sitting in the wheelchair). I urgently asked if there was any way they could hurry the process up... "The baby is coming!"

In the triage room, I screamed in pain when a nurse checked me during a contraction and said that I was about 7-8 cm. She had to do it again for some reason and said that I was actually more like 8-9 cm. Then I had to move to another bed after I was wheeled to an L&D room. The nurses there saw my birth plan and confirmed that I wanted a "Bradley" birth (I had previously not heard it called a "Bradley" birth, but rather more typically a natural or unmedicated birth).

Yarah met us in the L&D room and was very encouraging and offered some massage techniques, but I wasn't interested. The nurses put an external monitor on my belly, called the on-call doctor, and allowed things to progress. I kept saying again and again, "The baby is coming!" and tried to relax through the contractions, but finally I could not. I had to push. The nurses said to do what I needed to do. I was lying on my side, but did not have the unbearable pain in my hips like I did with Annaliese. After a couple pushes, I was shocked that he was already out! Since the doctor hadn't arrived in time, the nurses had to follow protocol and wipe him off and cut the cord before handing him to me.

It was amazing to hold our son and take him in with my eyes after carrying him inside of me for months.

The on-call doctor whom I had never met came about 10 minutes later and delivered the placenta and said that I had not torn! (Praise the LORD!) The nurse told me I had to go pee before I could be transfered to a postpartum room, but I just couldn't go! So she wanted me put a catheter in me, but after having such a wonderful, unmedicated and natural birth (no IV or anything), I couldn't stand to have a tube stuck inside of me just to transfer me downstairs more quickly.

I felt great and I was able to walk myself to the restroom, but couldn't relax enough to go. Yarah was a great help and suggested that I relax in a warm shower while Andy held the baby. The nurse asked her charge nurse if it was ok that I wanted to wait longer since I apparently was at risk of bleeding internally, but finally I was able to go and avoided the catheter!

The next day, Andy brought Annaliese to visit in the hospital and she did wonderfully! She was very gentle, but excited to meet her baby brother whom she called "Ticey." She made us all laugh with her energy and antics around the hospital room.

Andy's mom Dale drove down from San Jose and met us at the hospital and took Annaliese home. Although I honestly felt like I could have gone home that evening, but we ended up staying another day.

On Saturday, as we were drove home from the hospital, we thought of the many ways that God had provided for us in this birth and here are just a few of them:

Andy was home and able to help me through labor.
Our friends were able to come over and watch Annaliese with no notice. Also, Annaliese did surprisingly well, waking up with her parents gone and two strangers there to take care of her.
We had reliable auto transportation to get us to the hospital, were able to get to the hospital without getting lost (I had gotten lost previously and Andy had never been before) and that there was no traffic.
The labor was short, but long enough that we were able to get to the hospital.
The insurance transition, which took place only a couple of weeks prior, was in place.
Although the doctor did not arrive in time to catch the baby, the nurses were nice and allowed things go naturally.

Of course we were most thankful that Titus was born safely and in health. To God be the glory!

Backyard Turned Playground

2010-09-12T02:57:00.000-07:00

As a gift to Annaliese for her 2nd birthday coming up in November and the birth of the new baby, my parents gave us a swing set/slide/playhouse for the backyard!

She obviously LOVES it! Thanks Opa & Nannie Pie!!!!!

Annaliese will just go round and round, climbing up the ladder and down the slide. It is a wonderful chance for her and me to get outside when we can't get to the park... or many times, before or after we've already been to the park!

Annaliese calls this "Anna's house." She has been talking so much over the past couple of months. I am in disbelief sometimes at how much she understands and says. One of our favorite sayings that she frequently says throughout the day is, "O-tay Baby! Awight, Baby! Let's Doe!" (Translation, "Okay Baby! Allright Baby! Let's Go!") It is so adorable!

So Proud!

2010-09-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

At the end of Andy's first week of school in August, all the students were recognized as entering the medical community and were officially draped with their white coats. It was a nice ceremony at the quad on the Health Science campus at USC in which they read the Hippcratic oath.

Andy's family came down for the ceremony/reception to celebrate and we had a wonderful time with them.

Annaliese is certainly proud of her daddy and how hard he works!

Andy is enjoying the beginning of med school and has the daunting task of studying so hard, yet still balancing life at home with a pregnant wife and active toddler daughter - he does so well with all of it though! He rides his bike to school 3 times a week and gets a good work out that way (6 miles each way). He has made some friends with whom he can study with and we've had also been able to get together with a few of them and their wives/kids. It is nice to know we're not the only crazy ones who took a round about way into med school and have a family as well! Next week, I'll try to get a picture of him in his scrubs (he's such a hottie!). He has already gotten to meet patients and has been learning so much!

As the time approaches for our son to enter the world, we're praying that he comes after his due date (Oct. 8th), since the week of Oct. 4-8 is Andy's first week of comprehensive exams! Although it would be excused if he had to miss part of the testing, it would be great to have that first set down before adding another little one to the family! Please join us in praying for a smooth and safe delivery (hopefully after Oct. 8th)!

Mr. & Mrs. Dollahite

2010-09-01T22:40:00.000-07:00

We set them up and it worked!!!

Andy's brother Jon & Ashley, a former co-worker at Immanuel Schools, got married in June! [pictured at their rehearsal dinner]

It was a beautiful day in Arroyo Grande and we were both in the wedding party, so it was a little crazy. Fortunately, my parents watched Annaliese so that we could participate in all the festivities without worrying about her! She was an adorable dancer out on the floor though! (sorry we didn't take pics of the lovely bride and groom on the day since they had such wonderful photographers)

We're here!

2010-09-01T22:13:00.000-07:00

We've officially been living here in Los Angeles County, in the city of Alhambra (about 6 miles north east of the USC Health Science campus, which is very near downtown L.A.), for a month now! We love our little old house that we're renting, with all it's little quirks and issues.

Although dealing with the drama of getting a truck/trailer from U-haul that was too small (even though we'd reserved a much larger truck nearly a month prior) made things MUCH more difficult, we were so THANKFUL to our friends who helped us load up from my parents' house in Reedley (not pictured) and the friends who came down to help us unload! These guys as well as my mom, who came for the first several days to help settle in, were such a blessing to us - I can't even explain how helpful they all were.

We've loved being able to walk downtown to restaurants/coffee/dessert (while we were being spoiled/treated by mom when she was visiting and we were all unpacking), as well as the library, a couple different parks & grocery stores, and churches we've visited. Annaliese has handled the move with as much grace as you can imagine any almost-2-year-old possibly could. The only real issue we discovered was that we had assumed that she'd gladly go back to her crib (she used to love it), but had been sleeping in a Pack-n-Play for over a month and just preferred to continue. Since her "big girl bed" was one of the things that got left behind when we had the small truck/trailer to move, I'm just waiting to transition her from the Pack-n-Play straight to the bed soon (before the little one arrives).

Annaliese has also been talking up a storm!!! She will mimic anything anyone says or does, so we all have to be extra careful! :) She knows SO MUCH including colors, animals & their sounds, and her favorite tv characters and is learning her letters and numbers. She really is a little sponge right now! Yesterday, she wanted to do "pree har" (pretty hair) with all sorts of bows & clips while I was getting ready in the bathroom. It was a crack-up so I had to share.

Back at the ranch

2010-08-10T23:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry, friends. In all the craziness, and in my attempt to go in chronological order of events (there have been lots), I've not posted for all of July & August. But here we are in September, and I'll just do them in random order, as the fancy strikes me... (here's one I had started, but never posted awhile ago):

We will miss all our dear friends from church! We had a wonderful time sharing dinner and chasing after all the little ones. Annaliese miss her little friends as well (especially Ellyann - who went to bed and missed the pic).

We all loved living at Nannie Pie & Opa's house before we moved down! My parents blessed us so much by letting us live with them for over 2 weeks, eating their food and taking over their home! As you can see, my mom didn't mind too much!

We also had another goodbye party with family and other friends (on my 30th birthday), but it turned out Annaliese caught a bad virus which involved a really high fever that evening, so it was a tough night (and several days following). We were so thankful to see everyone that came though and we know that others would have loved to have been there.

We miss everyone so much!

Craziness

2010-06-26T03:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a little update of the craziness that we've been up to lately:

Completed items (YEAH!!!!):

Find renters for our house
Collect a lot of boxes/bubble wrap
Andy's brother's wedding in Arroyo Grande - happy 1 week anniversary!!!
Find a place to live in L.A. (2 trips)
Have a giant garage sale
Andy finish working at BJ's Brewhouse & Restaurant (just finished last night!)

Still in progress:

Go to Andy's extended family reunion in Alabama/see other family in upstate NY for about 11 days (7/3 - 7/13)
Pack all our stuff into these 4 categories - for the AL/NY trip, for the remaining couple of weeks in July after the trip but before we move to LA, for LA, and for long term storage (confusing? you bet! I am too!)
Determine loans, scholarships, health insurance, and other details for switching to a different medical school in mid-May
Take care of and hang out with our toddler daughter as well as go to maternity check-ups

So we'll be moving out of our house by the end of June so that our renters can move in. Then we'll go to another wedding locally, fly to AL, fly to NY, fly home, have a couple of weeks in July during which we'll stay with my parents and say good-byes to friends & family locally, visit our dear friends the Dauphins who had just had their baby girl in the Santa Cruz area, Andy will go on a quick backpacking trip in the Sierras, and I may be working a bit in Fresno. Then we'll move down to LA around the 1st of August.

Phew... is it any wonder that I can't really sleep with so much going on?!? Please pray for us!! We know God preparing the way for us.

7 Years

2010-06-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed to have been married for

7 YEARS!!!

We've been through ups and downs, but we've been joyfully side-by-side since June 21, 2003. That day was such a joyful and blessed "door way" into our life together. We have such sweet memories of the wedding and reception... from the heights of anticipation, to my (Stephanie's) nervousness that lead to trying to put the ring on Andy's right hand :) during the ceremony, to the overwhelming gladness of having (most) everyone that we love and that love us surrounding us in support of our union.

God has been and will continue to be our foundation. It is wonderful knowing that we can display our marriage relationship and happiness in one another to children. Even though we're not perfect, they get to see us work it out daily and rely on the Lord for everything. It is adorable how Annaliese loves to have us kiss each other after we both kiss her... she'll push our heads together and we know that she knows that we love each other.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner out with Annaliese and my parents to celebrate at one of our favorite restaurants in Fresno, Campagnia.

To Andy: It is with rich joy that I recall the past 7 years that God has been knitting our hearts closer and closer together in marriage and it is with great honor that I look forward to journeying through this next crazy chapter of our lives together. With the Lord on our side and our 7 year foundation beneath us, I know we will be a great team.

I love you, my man. Thank you for loving me.

Ode to Ji Hae

2010-06-09T21:05:00.001-07:00

Our Korean host daughter has gone home to visit her family and will be moving to Texas after she returns in 5 weeks. (Isn't she beautiful!?! Andy took her senior pictures and they turned out amazingly!) We will miss her so much and will continue to love and pray for her as God molds her into a lovely and Christ-seeking young woman.

Just as Andy wrapped up his last year of teaching (for a total of 5 full time years at Immanuel High School), Ji Hae graduated and we had a fun party to celebrate her accomplishment and wish her well as she moves to Texas for junior college.

We're so proud of her and Ji Hae will always have special place in our hearts and in our family. Annaliese misses her terribly and asks for her by name as well as "calls" her on her various toy phones. We love you "Ji Ji!"

...and now USC!

2010-05-22T20:32:00.001-07:00

Just as we had been settling into the idea of living in Syracuse, NY, for the next for years for Andy's medical school, we were given a new opportunity! While teaching on Wednesday afternoon, Andy picked up a call from the Dean of USC's Keck School of Medicine. He was so giddy and happy in front his Biology students and even called me on speaker phone immediately to tell me the good news. I was overjoyed and overwhelmed almost to the point of tears (as I was picking up car from the mechanic). It was rather unexpected, although we had hoped that the Lord would open that door.

We're now changing gears and working on undoing some of the details that we had planned for NY and starting to plan for the move to Los Angeles in late July now (instead of late June). I imagine life in So Cal to be quite out of our comfort zone, but I am reassured that God will provide for all of our family's needs. Please join me in praying that all the details would work out, especially our first item of business... where to live! Hopefully we'll get to go down right after Memorial Day to check things out.

Go Trojans!!!!

Annaliese & Ellyann

2010-05-19T12:34:00.001-07:00

These two little munchkins are great little friends... and have grown up and changed a lot since last summer!

Little BROTHER!

2010-05-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I had my first ultrasound of this little one at 19 weeks and it was amazing to get a peak inside at what God is knitting together in my womb! And after a long wait at the office and at the end of the exam, we found out we're having a little boy! We are both so excited to have a son (but I think especially Andy)!

Chocolate Lover (just like her Mama)

2010-05-11T12:48:00.000-07:00

Our Visit with the 5 Dauphins (+1 in the oven)

2010-05-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

I wish I had the gift of words and writing like my dear friend Nikki Dauphin (as well as my husband), but I don't. Hence, most of my posts are pictures with captions. I know I've used the phrase on my blog before, that words fail me. Well, I suppose it is not their fault. I just can't fully describe the unique and lovely friendship that we share with the Dauphins.

The kind of friendship I'm talking about is something you've either experienced or you haven't. I pray that you have or that you will. I'm talking about when there is not only deep underlying love and commitment to one another, but also to God first and foremost and then to uplifting each other through our lives on earth, as well as just true enjoyment of each other. Beside the uncommon friendship that Nikki and I share, amazingly, our husbands Steve and Andy also experience the same kind of deep friendship. Truthfully, it makes me feel choked up, just typing about it. I know that God has used each of us in each other's lives at various times to sharpen, encourage and enjoy life together. And I know that even though the physical distance between our families will drastically increase in a couple of months, I know that our friendships with the Dauphins will become only more close-knit over the coming years.

We were so blessed that they carted their 3 boys (Isaac, 4 1/2 years old; Caleb, 3; Josh, 1 1/2) to visit us here at our home in Dinuba for the weekend a couple of weeks ago. They sacrificially packed up and made the drive from Watsonville (over 3 hours) after Steve had taught high school all week and Nikki was closing in on her 32nd week of her 4th pregnancy. We had a fantastic time playing with the kids, eating, walking/biking to the park, chatting and just soaking it all up.

Our little Annaliese is just 7 weeks younger than Josh (above) and we hereby publicly announce their betrothal! :0) At 1 1/2 years old, they weren't too into each other yet, but it will come in time! Although I didn't get a pic of the two together, Nikki did and posted it on her blog. I can see it now, in their wedding slide show! Ha ha!

Dauphin Family, we love you and thank you so much for being our sweet friends. We're so glad that all 5 of you came to see us. Know that you are so tenderly cherished in our hearts. We plan on seeing you once more this summer and meeting Baby Girl Dauphin before we leave!

What's up with us?

2010-04-30T22:59:00.000-07:00

Here's the update for our future:

My handsome and intelligent husband has gotten into two medical schools, SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY, and Eastern Virigina Medical School in Norfolk, VA. Of our two available choices, we choose Syracuse (for several reasons, cost being a major factor). While we make plans to move to Syracuse, we will continue to hope to hear positively from either UT Houston in Texas or USC in Los Angles, CA.

For now, though, our best option remains Syracuse. We found a wonderful place to live when we took a trip there almost 2 weeks ago - God really blessed us with a fruitful, quick, last-minute trip. It was a bit emotional for me, reality beginning to hit that we really are moving. It is going to be tough at times, but I know that we'll be joyful overall.

So the current plan for the move is that we pack up and have our stuff shipped just before we go to the 40th Annual Up Yonder Alston/Dollahite Family Reunion on Pickwick Lake in Alabama (at the tri-state area of Mississippi, Tennessee & Alabama) for the Fourth of July and the week following. Then we'll travel up to Syracuse where our stuff will be delivered with about a month before Andy's program starts to get situated, do a little sight-seeing and prepare for Baby #2!

Today, I am 17 weeks and will hopefully find out boy/girl at my 19-week ultrasound. So far I am doing really well and have gotten to hear the baby's heartbeat three times so far. I haven't been sick, mainly just tired, but has not been bad. God has really been faithful to remind me, often through Andy's gentle reassurance, that He (God) will take care of our needs, even when I feel like I don't know all the details... Thank you, Lord!

Annaliese is currently under the weather and was very attached to me today. I pray that for a quick recovery for her! Recently though she is quite a ham. She scrunches up her nose and makes funny noises to make us laugh. She has learned a lot of new words and uses them frequently to tell us what she wants. My favorite new word is "Mae" which refers to her two blankies. I'm not sure how she got that one. She loves patting and carrying around her dolly, giving her kisses, putting her in and out of the dolly stroller, and putting her dolly "Nigh Nigh." She has also started pretending or joking with us, when she sometimes will lay her head down at random times and say "Nigh Nigh... shhhhhh!" and then pop her head up with a smile, as if to say "Just kidding!" She continues to be a great sleeper, napper and milk-drinker, but is fairly particular when it comes to food. She occasionally has a difficult time when we don't understand her or when things don't go exactly her way, but for the most part she is a very happy and obedient toddler. She just moved over from the infant (0-18mo) to the toddler (18mo - 3 years) side of the church nursery and she absolutely loves to play with all the big kid toys. I realized I could go on and on, but I should really get to bed now, so I'll just say that she loves to play with crayons (mainly putting them into and out of the box) and get to bed.

I love my family and I'm learning to embrace this adventure that we're on!

Muddy girl

2010-04-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

Classic. Yes, there was originally a shirt on this child. Then she got dirty and I took it off before taking her inside. When she escaped and began to rub mud on herself, I had to grab the camera!

Showers in SLO

2010-04-30T21:37:00.000-07:00

Technically, this was March, but now at 17 weeks along I'm playing catch up. I would say that I'm no longer napping daily, but I took two naps today. That is because my sweet toddler (can't really say baby anymore since she's just shy of 18 months) has hand foot and mouth disease and would only sleep ON me today. Normally she will NOT sleep on me, so I just treasured it and we sat around watching Elmo (her favorite) and napping together all day. I felt so horrible that she had a temp of 102-103 and couldn't hold food down for a while. I think we're through the worst of it though and tomorrow should be better. Anyway, the point was to tell you a bit about a fun weekend we had about a month ago.

We went to San Luis Obispo for two sweet baby showers, one for Jaime Lewis and one for Donna Templeton, and stayed with our friends the Dave & Sharon Cumberland. (I'm not sure why I didn't take a single pic at either shower; I must have been just enjoying myself and catching up with old friends the entire time.) We really are in that time of life where there are babies everywhere! The Cumberlands' son Ian is about 3 months younger than Annaliese and they had a fun time together.

Thanks to all the dads who stayed with the kiddos so that the mommies could enjoy the showers!

Andy took even more pictures of Annaliese that weekend, all of which are adorable, of course.

Easter in the Garden Isle

2010-04-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Lest the entire month of April pass by without me posting a few little nuggets about what we've been up to, I'm keeping these short & sweet with WAY fewer pictures than I'd love to share.

We were so blessed that my parents took us on a family vacation to Kauai, where we enjoyed family time with her side of the family that still lives there and relaxed while enjoying watching Annaliese really discover just how much she really loves sand and water.

It was such an amazing and wonderful trip; words really don't do it justice. Thank you Mom & Dad (aka Nannie & Opa) for such special memories!

Belated Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-24T16:28:00.000-07:00

Happy belated St. Patty's day to all! Obviously, I'm a little behind on my posts! We celebrated by blowing bubbles outside, one of Annaliese's favorite activities. As you can see, we've been able to trade the striped fleece hat for a sun hat with the same understanding that we wear the hat so we can go outside - so glad that it wasn't a huge struggle!

It's exhausting being this cute! (clearly nothing to do with St. Patrick or wearing green :)

Our little gardener

2010-03-24T10:33:00.000-07:00

Annaliese loves to be outside so helping her Daddy plant the garden was lots of fun!

Since we went way overboard last year and then didn't keep it up after July, we decided to go small and simple this year with 2 kinds of tomatoes (total of 6 plants instead of 24 like last year), bell pepper, cucumber, and squash. We also have seeds for green beans again and will have to add in some zucchini and basil. We'll enjoy it until July and hopefully whomever rents our house starting this summer will get to enjoy it too!

The kitties didn't help very much, but they are adorable also.

Reimer's

2010-03-18T21:40:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, we started out on a mission to find wild flower in which to take pics of Annaliese. She had woken up with a little cold but we decided to still go. Although there were some beautiful wild flowers in the foothills near our house, we never saw them at a convenient place for taking pictures of a toddler and Annaliese slept most of the time any way.

But we ended up a Reimer's Gifts and Candies and indulged in a waffle ice cream cone and a couple of chocolates. Yum! Highly recommend it if you are in the Three Rivers Area or heading up to Kings Canyon via 198.

Annaliese was sleeping while we took this picture (and several others) of this cow. You should have seen Andy calling "Hey cow!" in order to get the cow to look up... but it worked!

Big Sister

2010-03-07T21:47:00.000-08:00

Great news! God has blessed us with a new little life! In early October, Annaliese will be a big sister! I'm 9 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good, just exhausted. There are lots of big changes ahead for the Dollahite family! Thank-you all for your continued prayers!

[Btw, we're still planning on moving to upstate NY in July unless we hear that Andy has been accepted off the wait list at UT Houston or USC.]

Big Helper

2010-02-25T13:54:00.000-08:00

After driving up to the snow, the car was in desperate need of a washing (even though rain was inevitably coming soon after). So Annaliese was a big helper as she got soap and water everywhere (hair, clothes, ground) and stayed out of the way while I did the washing :) Too cute!

Giggle girl

2010-02-25T12:33:00.000-08:00

My Sweetie did a good job for V-day!

2010-02-24T13:23:00.000-08:00

Andy and Luke prepared dinner including dessert for Virginia and me for Valentines Day... take a look what we enjoyed!

Luke grilled up steak for the main course

Amazing salad with apples, avocado, strawberries, candied walnuts on a bed of baby greens

Sparkling apple cider (Virginia is preggers!)

Andy's creme brulee a la strawberries

(Seriously, he made this completely on his own!)

Love you so much!

Good times with good friends!

P.S. Thanks to Ji Hae for taking care of Annaliese and putting her to bed for us so we could enjoy this time!

Snow Day

2010-02-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

Annaliese and I drove up to Sierra Summit a couple of weeks ago to have lunch with Andy when he was taking a group of high school students to go snowboarding and skiing.

Such a beautiful day!

Ji Hae had a blast learning how to ski... she's going to try learning to snowboard next! Maybe Annaliese will be hitting the slopes in a few years! :)

Fun family time!

The Park

2010-02-06T23:27:00.000-08:00

Most days of the week, when it is not raining, we make it down to the park. Although there is a nicer, newer park about a mile away, this one being less than 2 blocks away gives us more time to just toddle around. Basically, Annaliese thinks the best thing about the park is picking up the bark and throwing it, although she sometimes tries to eat it as well. She loves watching other kids, running around, going down the slide and sometimes gets distracted enough so that when her hat falls off it doesn't even matter.

P.S. Thanks to Ji Hae for taking these pics of us.

P.P.S. Do I wish I had showered and done my hair that day? Um, resounding... YES.

Outside

2010-02-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

One of Annaliese's favorite things to do is to go "Outside." Whenever I or anyone else says the word "Outside," she taps her head to see if she is wearing her hat or not. Frequently she already is. If not, she begins looking for where it might be. With a little help situating her hat, she marches to the front door and whines for me while signing "Please." She craves going outdoors. Daily. Rather, multiple times per day. Even when it is raining. Rainy days can be long for both of us sometimes.

If we've already been to the park that day, we usually go just beyond of our front yard to a little dead end part of the road by the rail road tracks (fancy and super-kid friendly, I know) and wander around, picking up pebbles, kicking bottle caps, and pulling grass.

If you can ignore the orange striped road block, and imagine that those mountains are not only toward the east as shown in this picture, but stretch both north and south in our view on this particular day, then you'll know that this is one of those cherished but all too few days in the Central Valley of seeing the awe-inspiring views of the Sierra Nevada that we will miss when we move to... somewhere else.

For now, we'll just enjoy going "Outside!" and then love the new "Outside" where ever that is, when we get there!

12-14 months

2010-01-27T10:03:00.000-08:00

January

2010-01-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

No recent developments on where the Dollahite family is headed for the next 4 years yet. We're still just waiting and praying! We'll keep you posted though.

Due to the cries of the masses (I heart you Shanny), here are a couple pics of our little miss during this cold month of January. She now loves to ride on her little pony, make it sing & talk, and absolutely loves wearing her hat.

For some reason or another, she can't handle wearing a headband or bow though and generally has this type of grimace on her face just before ripping it off and looking at it as though it had attached her head.

She is learning tons of new things, like saying Annaliese (Anna, although it is sometimes NaNa - which also can mean Banana or Nannie), roaring like a lion (also sounds like "naaaaa" and not very ferocious), giving mom & dad kisses on the lips or eskimo kisses (so precious!). She also can kind of tell the difference between yes and no, as shown by her "Yes Yes No No" book where she can nod yes and say No No repeatedly. She is getting better about learning not to throw her food and generally hands it back to me if she doesn't want it, which I do appreciate. She has been having fun with little friends at the nursery or play dates and seems to be dropping her morning nap *sigh*. Alas, we are having a ball with this sweet toddler girl.

2010-01-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

Although I technically wouldn't say that I have a New Year's Resolution, I am going to try to be a lot better about keeping track of our finances from now on. And what I've been using is mint.com. It is great because of so many things:

It is free.
It keeps track of all of your accounts (mortgage, CDs, 401K, IRA, checking, savings etc. ALL in ONE place - which is great if you're like us and have accounts at a multitude of different places unfortunately.
It tells you places that you can save, such as higher rate savings accounts - a feature that I just made use of yesterday. (This is how they make their money, by the way, simply by referring you to save $$ by switching to another account.)
The budget tools are AWESOME. They keep track of all expenditures without you having to do anything other than verify the category that it selected (unless you split things things purchased from 1 place). This is a great feature for us as well, because we pay some things directly out of our checking with online bill pay, or a direct debit from our account, some with checks, some things with credit cards (which we pay off each month) and can put them in graphs, group by category, date, net income, or anything you want!
Did I mention... FREE.

After 3 months, we now have a much better idea of what is going where and can manage things much better this way, without spending a bunch of time entering receipts or trying to back-track auto-debit bills. I love it... you should check it out or let me know what you use to keep track of your $$$.

The wonder of being a child at Christmastime

2009-12-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

As Andy was remarking yesterday, it is so amazing to think that the God of the universe was born as a baby and lived on earth. At one point, he was 13 months old and fell down as he was learning to walk and babbled as he was learning to talk. The God of the universe learning to walk! He emptied himself and lived a sinless life to ultimately sacrifice himself for our imperfections so that we could have an eternal relationship with him, full of everlasting joy both here on earth and in heaven. Thank you Lord Jesus for saving us when we have nothing to offer you. Thank you for loving us that much. Thank you God for your infinitely wise and grace-filled plan to save us from the beginning of time. I love you and offer you my life in joyful worship to you, full of wonder and awe just like a child.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T23:33:00.000-08:00

We hope and pray that each of you has a blessed Christmas, pondering and celebrating the joyful news that Jesus, fully God, became fully man on earth - to live a sinless and sacrificial life and allow us to come into joyful and personal relationship with the God of the universe!

Annaliese "dancing" to "Little Drummer Boy" in her high chair

We got a new camera... a DSLR! It is so much fun playing with it as we try to learn what an awesome tool it is!

Playing with the camera... but you can tell that we have a fake tree (oh well)!

Napa

2009-12-23T22:14:00.001-08:00

All new moms and dads should definitely get away for a night or two. We took the opportunity in mid November (I'm a little behind in posting) while my parents babysat Annaliese, or rather got to have a sleepover party weekend! The Thomases and Ji Hae also helped out watching her, so we are very blessed to have family and friends who would bless us like in this way and apparently they enjoyed it!

The weekend so wonderful to reconnect, invest in our marriage and soak up the time together while our daughter was in such good care. We wrote letters before we left about what we love about one another and what we will individually work on in our marriage (not a laundry list of what the other person should work on) and read them at dinner on Saturday. This verbal affirmation was a highlight for me. Napa Valley was beautiful, the wine was exquisite, and the ambiance was memorable. Truly, I don't have words to express just how thankful I am for my wonderful husband and how much he shows me that he loves and adores me.

...Cakebread Cellars...

classic napa

first place we went to

our favorite wine that we tasted

met a nice couple from Florida

...Castello Di Amorosa...

litterally a modern day construction of European castle set on the hill

boutique wines only available from the tasting room

bought a fun and unique dessert wine

...Sterling Vineyards...

gondola ride up to the tasting room overlooking a gorgeous view of the valley

self-guided tour through their wine-making process

randomly met up with the couple from Florida again!

enjoyed tasting a couple of extra wines in the final tasting room

[camera batteries died]

...Rutherford Estates...

the couple from Florida joined us

the draw was "Reds and Chocolate tasting"

it was ok - our least favorite wine/tasting room experience

got 1 piece of dark chocolate though!

Dinnner at Farm at Carneros Inn

recommended by a kind gentleman

beautiful mod decor and ambiance

half the fun was just enjoying the atmosphere, so we soaked it up for a couple hours

on Sunday

Brunch at Fume Bistro

my smoked salmon omlette was among the best breakfasts I've ever tasted

...Black Stallion...

a new winery on a drizzly day

liked their Chardonnay actually (I'm not a fan of many whites)

bought a souvenir magnet

In short, the whole weekend was nothing short of amazing. Words fail to describe the complete experience. I love you, Honey.

29 and the best is yet to come!

2009-11-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

Andy celebrated 29 years young on Saturday! His family including our future sister-in-law came to our house for brunch on Saturday and my family came over for dinner on Sunday to celebrate! Andy said that it was one of his best birthdays ever because we got to celebrate with family and good food, just like he likes it - low key :)

We took a quick picture for a Peters family Christmas card on Sunday but forgot to get out the camera at brunch on Saturday with the Dollahites.

Ji Hae has been living with us since June and has become Annaliese's Korean big sister! We love "our Korean!"

Although I am far from being a good public speaker, I gave a quick toast to Andy with our mimosas at our brunch with the Dollahites...

You are…

A Toast to My Husband, on Your Birthday

You are a wonderful provider, taking care of our family’s needs so that we do not have to worry about anything which allows me to care for our daughter and home full time.

You are our spiritual leader, setting an example of striving to know and love Christ through everything that you do.

You are generous, as shown by your welcoming Ji Hae into our family and loving to give good gifts to many people, including me (and good restaurant servers ;)

You are industrious with the many talents that God has given you, serving your students, BJ’s customers, soccer and football players, your colleagues, our church body, our friends, our family, and, in the future, your patients.

You are a tender and gracious Da-da, so gentle and loving toward our daughter Annaliese.

Though there are many other things that you are to people who love you in this room and elsewhere, lastly, to me, you are my best friend and the love of my life, and I couldn’t be happier with the blessing of being married to you and having our foundation together firmly in Jesus.

To all that you are to me and to each of us! Happy Birthday!

Annaliese at 1

2009-11-30T11:02:00.000-08:00

Annaliese loves taking a bath!

Annaliese is getting a lot better at walking and she just loves to walk around the house, picking up things and carrying them to another location. She knows a few signs: more, all done, water, I love you (blows kisses) and waves for hi and bye-bye. She can identify all of the following body parts: head, hair, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, cheeks, shoulders, arms, elbow, tummy, feet, toes (I guess we're just missing legs & knees - those just happen to not be in her "Your Baby Can Read Books & DVD's... can you tell that I'm a proud mama??) Although she babbles constantly throughout the day, the words that we can definitely understand so far are Ma-ma, Da-da, and Ball, but she's also working on Na-na (for Nannie Pie or could be Banana and Ji-ji for Ji Hae - her Korean big sister who lives with us). She is also gradually learning what "No!" means and how to test those limits!

She is no longer the chunky baby that she used to be - kinda sad :( because she is growing longer and losing her baby rolls. She is now in the 20th percentile for weight at 19 lb and 4 oz and 75th percentile for height at 29.75 inches. She still takes 2 naps a day and sleeps for about 11 1/2 hours a night. She drinks 4 bottles of whole milk a day (4-6 oz each) and eats most of what we eat (in little chunks). One of her favorite foods that is funny is frozen peas - she doesn't like them when they are thawed out or warm!

Like most kids these days, she loves screens, buttons and lights, although we try to limit her watching videos and save Sesame Street as a treat when visiting at Nannie Pie's house. She adores our cats, even though she doesn't always know how to pet them gently or make them come back to her. Being outside is another favorite activity as well. She loves to read books... fast!... and lets you know by turning the pages quickly or pushing a particular book away if it is not the one she wants.

Her little personality is coming through more and more each day. She is not a big fan of crowds, but loves to be the center of attention and slowly warms up to people, especially those who have Cheerios or a set of keys in their hands. She loves to breathe fast when she's excited (which is often) and wave both of her hands in the air. She is sometimes a little jealous of others, but we're working on that too. It is so funny to me that she has opinions about so many things already - where she wants to go, what she wants to do and eat! As you can tell, we are having a ball with her and being a parent is one of the most amazing God-given gifts on earth. I can't believe it has already been 1 year.

Happy Birthday Annaliese! & Congrats Jon & Ashley!

2009-11-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

As you can see, Annaliese enjoyed her birthday celebration with friends and family on Nov. 15 (3 days before her actual birthday). She absolutely tore into her little home-made decorated cake in true Dollahite fashion

It was so joyful to celebrate the gift of family and what a glorious blessing Annaliese is to us all. Words just do not describe how happy we are to have her in our lives.

It was a double celebration for the Dollahite family too, since Jon had proposed to Ashley just two days before Annaliese's birthday party!

They took this awesome pic as re-enactment of the proposal after the real thing ;) They got engaged up near Huntington Lake overlooking a waterfall. Awhhh! So excited for Jon and my future sister-in-law!

Half Marathon

2009-11-30T10:09:00.000-08:00

Although I've never considered myself a runner (and still don't) I completed the Two Cities Half Marathon on Nov. 8th, 2009. Yes. I jogged 13.1 miles (in 2 hours and 28 minutes) and paid to do it.

And I actually had a good time and my knees held up (just sore later)!

Thanks for all the encouragement Virginia!

My sister Jenn completely whooped on the race, finishing in less than 2 hours, without really training! I didn't see her until the whole thing was over, but good job Jenn!

Baby Giraffe

2009-11-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

Um, seriously, can this baby giraffe be any cuter???? I don't think so!!!!

Practicing taking steps between things

Annaliese's friend flower friend - Ellyann

Sneaking up on Ellyann for a little "BOO!"

Looks like Annaliese got her!

Daddy's gonna be a DOCTOR!

2009-10-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Andy!!! All praise to Jesus!!!

Today we received notification of Andy's acceptance to Suny Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY. It has been a process of a couple of years, including night classes with homework and exams... volunteering at the Orosi Family Medical Clinic... and studying for the MCAT... all on top of his normal load of preparation for teaching, correcting students' work, coaching, being a loving husband and now daddy. I've been confident all along, but for those of you who don't know what an amazing feat this is, it is EXTREMELY competitive to get into medical school (especially now with more people staying in or going back to school with the current economy). Of course, all of this is to God's glory, the Great Physician who designed us as well as this universe and everything in it! God has truly gifted Andy though, and he will be a great doctor!!! (Can you tell that I am so proud of my Love?!?)

Does this mean we're definitely going to move to upstate NY next summer? We're not sure yet. He will accept within the next two weeks to hold his spot, but if he gets in somewhere else that we would prefer, he can withdraw his acceptance at Upstate at that time. At least we know we're in now! So we will keep you posted if we hear from any other schools and make any more definite decisions! Thank you all for your love, support and continued prayers!

First AGO Event - Pismo Flag Football Tournament

2009-10-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, Andy and I met through AGO - Alpha Gamma Omega, Christ-centered fraternity, and LSM - Little Sisters of Maranatha, 10 years ago. Annaliese got to enjoy her first AGO event this weekend while we got to catch up with old friends!

While Annaliese was cheering her dad and the other Kappa (Cal Poly) AGO alum in the flag football tournament, she got to taste her first beach sand at Pismo... Yeah for their win against Zeta (Santa Barbara) Alum!...

Try as I may, along with the other mothers and their kids, I could not keep her from eating it again and again!

Notice the sand all over her lips!

Annaliese and Joshua Dauphin are only 7 weeks apart.

Although they don't know it yet, their parents have cooked up a plan for their future.

They're just not that interested in it... YET! ha ha :)

Uncle Jon Jon showing Annaliese how to throw a pass.

"I love my Uncle Jon Jon!"

DD time!

2009-10-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

Annaliese was such a good girl for her Grandma DD while we were at a wedding in SF. We also had a great time with family in San Jose for the weekend.

P.S. Annaliese is walking!!!!!! She took her first multiple step walk today, and then repeated it many times! Here's a Facebook link to a short video although you may not be able to view it if you don't have a FB account. I'll repost it when I get the video from Virginia soon!

Sneak Peak

2009-09-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

Frozen blueberries on a hot day

Time for a swim

Preview of Halloween (really just an excuse for a cute costume)

Trying to velcro her tail back on this moving target!

Bargain

2009-09-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

Annaliese is smiling with just one tooth showing in this pic, but has 2 on bottom and 1 just cutting through on the top.

She has just learned to "kiss" things, which she learned by trying to "kiss" that "baby in the mirror" - so cute! Tonight she was trying to kiss the babies in the books too!

She is pulling up and "furniture-walking" and getting faster at crawling... more pics/video to follow! This weekend she got some gently-used toys from a consignment sale, including this little table and a walker that she can push- she immediately knew what to do and loves it! She is SO MUCH FUN and I'm sure she'll be walking soon!

Best Friends

2009-09-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Ellyann & Annaliese

Staying Cool

2009-08-29T21:23:00.001-07:00

This baby loves the water! She even tried to "kiss" the water squirting from the little octopus, obviously that didn't turn out too well.

Andy was commenting that summer is over so why are there still commercials for summer things, but as we Valley people know, we probably have quite a few more weeks of summer weather for playing outside in the water during the afternoon.

She kept trying to "drink" from this plastic cup but would get overwhelmed with water pouring on her face. Then she'd try it again.

So fun. She would love to just hang out in the water all day.

She's getting better at crawling and she gets so excited to show off her skills. She is also learning to pull up on things and loves to hold our fingers to walk around the house.

That's about the end!

Me too!

2009-08-18T14:18:00.001-07:00

Feeling Crafty

2009-08-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

My friend Danette's baby shower is tomorrow and I've been meaning to make a gift for her so I finally whipped it together tonight:

Starting with some ribbon & an antique pillowcase...

...I made a dress for baby Emma! (Now I just have to make one for Annaliese! Yikes!)

Then I folded and tied up a cloth placemat...

...into a cute little holder...

...for a diaper change on the go! (The placemat is now a changing pad!)

Mu friend Linda Zalamea's friend's blog (whom I don't know) inspired me to make these "re-creations." Do you ever go down those rabbit holes of friend's friend's friend's blogs? It is endless...

Cheese

2009-08-07T23:19:00.000-07:00

Annaliese learned how to feed herself cheese yesterday and she loves it!

What a big girl!

Well, she tried to eat most of it anyway!

A few more pics

2009-07-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ithica, NY near Bert's old fraternity house Sigma Nu (there's a waterfall just behind there)

Kathy sewed the 5 littlest girls at the lake matching outfits... so cute!!

red brick chapel at Cornell

Annaliese had a sweet little friend, Abby

UVA

Meeting cousin August (Robyn & Chuck's baby) - he's almost as big as Annaliese even though she's 4 1/2 months older!

Up Yonder (catch up...)

2009-07-28T21:35:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile and a lot has happened.... Since I last posted, Annaliese sprouted 2 teeth! She also easily sits up on her own, although she doesn't like being by herself much, more specifically, doesn't like being away from her mama. She babbles a lot including ba, ma, da, pa, and has said her definite first word, "Mama," to me while waiting for the doctor at urgent care on Sunday for continued treatment of her earache. I don't know if she really knew what she was saying but it was priceless and perfectly timed when she wanted me to nurse her. She's hopefully on the mend but still being treated for the earache (actually Andy and I are as well).

Here is a quick run down of our 2 week trip (I'll spare you the 4 total layovers we had while flying, but I tell you, this little girl is well traveled!)...

Cherokee, Alabama: Our travels included a week with Andy's extended family (the Alstons and Dollahites) who get together annually for a giant reunion at the lake house affectionately called Up Yonder. A few highlights of this main part of our trip (beside seeing 60+ crazy yet endearing relatives that we don't see often enough) were the cat fish fry, whole hog BBQ, wake boarding, the huge outdoor screen set up for Rock Band, and the infamous talent show.

Nashville, Tennesse: As we drove north, we visited my Aunt Lisa & Uncle Cliff and their kids at their house for dinner. We also got to see the Vanderbilt campus which is one of the medical schools to which Andy applied.

Northern Virginia (Burke, Charlottesville): We also got to stay with the Dollahites' family friends, the Fimianis, in Fairfax Station near Burke, where Andy grew up for 9 years. We also visited the quaint town of Charlottesville to see the University of Virginia (UVA) campus.

Maryland: Another highlight was a mini-Hammond reunion in Maryland at Andy's Uncle Rob & and Aunt Willie's house where we enjoyed a picnic with the cousins. We loved staying at Robyn & Chuck's house out in the country.

Hershey, Pennsylvania: We briefly stopped to see the Penn State campus and get a Starbucks (nope, didn't see the chocolate museum etc.).

Corning, New York: Our final destination before flying home was 3 days with more Hammond family including Aunt Carolyn and Annaliese's sweet great-grandparents. We had lots of good meals together and had fun reconnecting.

Upstate New York: As though we hadn't had enough driving, we drove up to see the Suny Upstate University campus in Syracuse and along the way up we visited Andy's dad's alma mater Cornell in Ithica. We thought the Cornell campus was so pretty that we stopped on the way back down as well and saw his old fraternity house, Sigma Nu.

So many fun memories, but here are just a few pics from Up Yonder to share... I'll get some more pics posted soon.

Seeing family was the best highlight of the whole trip... Great grandma Virginia, Grandma Dale, Mama Steph & Baby Annaliese

Hey, I thought the little kids were supposed to have a turn at Rock Band! Ha ha! "Kids" of all ages indulged!

Reunited with my "pardner" Anne Marie making dinner for 50+ people at Up Yonder

The shirt says it all, "Grandma's Girl"

Annaliese's first boat ride at Pick Wick Lake

Water baby

2009-06-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Second time swimming

She loves it!

Swimming with the girls!

Best friend Ellyann Thomas

Annaliese is sitting up (sharing a toy with Ellyann in this pic) and scooting like crazy. Today she got some rug burn on her knees. I'm sure her skin with toughen up and she'll just get faster from here on out!

Annaliese & Ellyann leaning watching sports with their dads. Virginia and I are pretty sure that they'll be the girls that actually know what football penalty was called (and explain it to their mothers) and know who to pick in the basketball playoffs, yet will still be sweet and girly as well.

Summer yummer

2009-06-26T20:53:00.000-07:00

I love the crunch of a FRESH green bean straight from the garden!

Getting a few awesome ripe strawberries just makes it feel like... Happy Summer!!!

This was one of those awesome what-should-I-make-for-dinner moments at like 6:30, went out to the garden, came back with zucchini, squash, tomatoes, and basil and tossed it with some whole wheat pasta and... wahla! A super yummy healthy dinner without having to go to the store!

Andy made these awesome stuffed tomatoes today... these were stuffed with BLT & ranch and he also made some with guacamole. We'll also be making more stuffed tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil.

Dedicated unto the Lord

2009-06-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

I am reminded of Hannah's story of God's faithfulness in 1 Samuel as we had Annaliese dedicated in our church yesterday. It is amazing to think that exactly two years ago, we were mourning the loss of our first baby at 9 weeks into the pregnancy when the baby's heartbeat disappeared from the ultrasound just days before Father's Day 2007. This came after a couple years of yearning for a baby and was followed by 7 more months of doctor visits, medication, ultrasounds etc. In his own time, God again graciously granted us the gift of a child without any medication or other intervention and allowed me carry Annaliese in my own womb, even as we had begun the process to adopt in early 2008. Now, she is a joyful baby, growing and learning new things almost daily and we couldn't love her more. We give God the glory and humbly ask him for guidance and grace to be godly parents.

As Andy has said before, we were already obligated to raise her up in the Lord and in our hearts we've already dedicated her to God. But it was a blessing to share this with our family and congregation, especially on Father's Day. She was a ham, smiling and waving both hands at the church and trying to eat Pastor Jim's microphone as he prayed for our family.

"I [Hannah] prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

So now I give him [baby Samuel] to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD."

1 Samuel 1:27-28a

After the service we joined our family at my parents' house for a yummy meal. Annaliese enjoyed her peas and as her Auntie Jenn Jenn said, she could be a Gerber baby commercial for peas (although I usually steam/puree them myself). She loves vegetables although I've been trying to get her to eat more fruit to make things easier for her down below. She prefers veggies so much that I have to sneak the fruit in by mixing it with veggies! I hope that she continues to love veggies, but I also hope that she gets some relief from having to push so hard!

Lazy

2009-06-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

So, I never posted pictures for our weekend in May with our UNITE friends (young married fellowship from Calvary SLO). It was SO MUCH FUN... we've grown from 5 couples to 5 couples with 5 kids and 1 on the way! Anyway, at least Kayla has pics on her blog.

P.S. A funny story about bath time with the 4 older kiddos (Logan 2 1/2, Lucy & Tobin 1, Annaliese 6 months)... after the bath they were all in the living room dancing in the buff to the stereo music supplied by Chris, when Justin said "Ok, first one to pee wins!" 20 seconds later, "We have a winner!" and Annaliese got the prize!

Also, here's a link to the rest of the photos from the Texas trip, y'all!

Texas (part 2)

2009-05-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

Annaliese got to meet her Great Grandmother & Great Grandaddy for the first time and she had a ball with them! Annaliese liked to try to tweak Great Grandmother's nose and would laugh and giggle with her.

Annaliese and Grandaddy looked like they planned their outfits together!

Andy's grandparents have given us such a legacy of God's faithfulness to continue.

Aunt Leslie and & Uncle Andy were such gracious hosts and we loved staying with them! Oh, and the food! We enjoyed Joe T's (mexican), Railhead BBQ, Aunt Leslie's famous dessert of many names (Turkish Delight, Crack Bars), black berries, and much more!

MOTHER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Ok so maybe it was a two-way tie! Ha ha!

Anne Marie and I hung out all weekend and hit it off like we were old friends. Anne Marie ended up teasing me frequently about my hippie California ways (using cloth diapers, making baby food, etc.) but was pretty impressed with a burp that escaped from me that sounded more like one of the guys! She was relieved to learn that not all of us Californians eat sushi and tofu everyday. So fun to be right at home with Andy's family! Can't wait to see you in AL, Anne Marie!

Kissin' Cousins (Texas part 1)

2009-05-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

Glorianne (daughter of Andy's cousin Anne Marie) loved playing with and kissing her new cousin Annaliese! I guess the girls are second cousins?

Annaliese & Gabrielle (6 weeks) chilling on the floor together.

As any one knows, it is near impossible to get multiple kids to sit still for a portrait, but we tried it anyway at Target... for almost 1 1/2 hours! That poor sweet photographer! It turned out cute, with a little "personality," and the great-grandparents will love the picture of all 3 of their great-grandkids! Sorry it can't be posted here, but it will be hanging at 908 Creekdale soon!

Anne Marie hooked us up with everything we could possibly need for the kiddo so that we were actually able to carry our luggage on the plane (since checking costs extra now, this was particularly great). She brought stuff we don't even have at home, such as this suspended bouncer - which quickly became her new favorite toy.

Actually, Andy and I didn't see too much of each other because he was visiting hospitals with his Uncle Andy who was the on call orthopaedic surgeon on this holiday weekend.

More to come...

The first spoils

2009-05-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Yummy rice cereal

2009-05-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

Cherished Mother's Day

2009-05-11T20:38:00.001-07:00

Great-grandma Peters at the family celebration at my parents' house.

It was wonderful to celebrate Mother's day with my daughter, mom, mother-in-law & grandma. Andy and I also called both of his grandmas, one in New York and one in Texas, to tell them we love them and wish them a Happy Mother's Day.

P.S. Auntie Shelly always comments on how Annaliese has the same little squinty eye that I do when we smile and this picture accentuates it.

What a fun time we had with Annaliese's Grandma Didi! She came bearing gifts from some of her travels to our extended family back east. Annaliese had fun laughing and giggling so much with her Didi! We didn't get all the giggles on video, but they were definitely cherished moments.

Kauai (part 2)

2009-04-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

Annaliese charmed us all (and any one around us) with her smiles and giggles throughout the trip. She is pretty sure that the thing she is holding in this picture is a chew toy, not really something she's supposed to suck on to be soothed.

We enjoyed a free hula show after shopping and eating a Puka Dog at the shopping center in Poipu near Koloa where my mom grew up.

Spouting Horn was erupting as usual, although this pic shows a rainbow, not the spouting.

Proud Grandpa & Grandma at breakfast.

Annaliese's favorite new beverage - ice water from a cup. Sometimes she just sticks her tongue in it, but she does drink a little bit sometimes.

Quintessential hawaiian hibiscus flowers were every where.

Andy was a super hula-hooper on Matt & Rina's Wii Fit. Alana is showing him how to do it.

We were all laughing and having a great time.

Having a great time on vacation

Let's get this party started - 5 months

2009-04-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

Annaliese turned 5 months old over the weekend and wants to invite you to a party according to the T-shirt that her Uncle Josh got her...

Actually, she consistently sleeps through the night so fortunately 3am is a pretty quiet hour at our house.

Looks like the party got started a little early and Annaliese has had her share of millk!

Annaliese is checking herself out in the mirror, making sure she looks good for her party. Her daddy says we'll need to teach her humility... later :)

Kauai (part 1)

2009-04-20T16:21:00.000-07:00

We stayed at the beautiful Marriott at Kalapaki Beach on Kauai for a week. Thanks to my mom and dad, my sisters Jenn and Shelly, Andy, Annaliese and I were able join them on the trip. It was so fun to stay right on the beach and a hotel with such beautiful grounds. This was the view from our hotel room.

Most mornings after breakfast, we went to the gardens to watch the koi fish feeding. You could let them eat out of your hand or throw (or "chrow" as the Hawaiians would say) a whole bunch of food pellets in and watch them gobble them up. My sister Shelly wanted to pet them but was a little freaked out. They really seemed like they might jump right up on to the tile and smack you around if you didn't give them more food!

Could this Grandma be any happier???

She and my dad and Andy all helped out with watching Annaliese at different times so that I could get some pool time between feedings as she is still nursing. It was a great blessing to me... I brought along a book, but didn't read a page - just relaxed.

Annaliese did a great job on the flights and throughout the vacation. She nursed on the way up and down each time and slept a good amount on a little changing table mattress that we laid across our laps so that she could lay on her tummy like at home.

Even though we messed up her naps and bedtimes frequently all week long, she was still generally a happy baby and adjusted to Hawaiian time quickly and easily. Of course, she brought smiles to everyone she came across in the airports, airplanes and Kauai.

to be continued...

Bye Bye BSK

2009-04-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

*Sigh* I’m officially resigning from my job at BSK Analytical Laboratories; my leave (paid & unpaid) is finally over. On Friday, I had to get in one last photo op wearing my BSK sweatshirt with Annaliese in her BSK onsie from Mamie. Alicia, Sandy, Laura and Xai are pictured above. I already miss my friends from work so much (I’ll still stop by to see them) as well as being a Client Service Representative. It has been a blessing to work with such a wonderful group of people.

Now we’re off to Kauai tomorrow for a week with my parents and my sisters to celebrate Easter my mom’s side of the family! Whoo-hoo! Can’t wait, although I’m a little nervous to fly with Annaliese! Pray for us all! We'll have plenty of pictures to share when we get back!

Kittie Kats

2009-03-31T09:06:00.001-07:00

For those of you who haven't met our cats & for those of you who already know and love our little furry friends, here they are. I felt like I should show them off a bit since they've been such good kitties even with their banishment to the outside world. Actually they still come inside on occasion, but much less frequently than before the baby came.

This is Squeaks, aka "Little" or "Little-Bittle." She is balancing on the railing with her legs hanging over the sides. Her favorite pastimes are wrestling with Indie, fighting with Miko, and anxiously trying to get ice that may fall on the floor whenever the someone gets ice from the freezer. Her newest trick is acting like a water dog when I water the garden, running through the water and trying to 'bite' it. I found her abandoned out by a peach tree orchard when I was on a walk over a year ago and she came home with me. We were going to give her away so we didn't name her, but called her the Little One which stuck last past her actually being named. We originally thought she was a boy and when we took 'him' to be neutered, the vet informed us that we couldn't neuter him, but we could spay her. Fortunately, Squeaks is a name that goes both ways and she as soft as a mink coat.

This is Miko (aka Schmiko, Schmeeks, Meeks) and she is oldest sister. Miko gets annoyed with Little's antics and the two girl cats have frequent squibbles for no apparent reason. Miko loves to be inside but she also loves to eat so sometimes it is a toss-up for her whether she would rather go outside to eat when we feed her or try to run inside and hide. She has spent a couple nights hiding in various closets when we literally couldn't find her. She also a litter box snob and will sometimes have 'accidents' on the bathroom rug near the litter box if another cat has 'dirtied' the box before her. Her favorite position to sleep is on her back, legs outstretched so that she looks dead. We're glad that she came to be our cat after being an orphan for her early kittenhood (still eats like an orphan as her portly figure shows below - sorry about the unbecoming photo, Meeks!).

This is Indiana Jones (aka Indie, Bindie, or Binder) and he is intently about to catch a bug of some sort while Miko watches. You can't see his uneven white socks in the pic, but they are always greyish brown because he's dirty. He is the only boy and a hunter and adventurer by nature and frequently comes home with stickers in his coat or cobwebs on his face. He is the only cat that we purposefully adopted from another family. But there's no such thing as a free pet! Indie has been to the vet the most. Beside vaccines/neuter, he had an eye infection over a year ago, got a fox tail stuck in his eye (emergency vet trip for that one), ate something bad and was vomiting and had diarrhea, and currently, his third set of eyelids is visible over part of his eyes implying that he is sick. (The vet doesn't know what is wrong with him without doing a whole panel of blood work etc, so he's on antibiotics which seem to help as the eyelids are slowly receding back to normal.) He's working on using up all of his 9 lives, but we're glad that he's tough guy.

Here is our hummingbird feeder which the cats believe we did just to torture them. In fact, they aren't all that interested anymore because they can't ever seem to get close to them little birds.

Finally, a random pic... Here's our new bedding that we got from Crate & Barrel, thanks to an old gift card that was nearly forgotten. Yeah!! (Even better than finding $5 in your pocket of your jeans.) Thanks for getting this stuff for us Josh.

Genius

2009-03-31T08:02:00.000-07:00

That's right, Annaliese is sporting one of the new colors "Zinnia" in cloth diaper fashion. I did the good old traditional pre-folds last week and when I decided I was committed to cloth we took the plunge and got some easy (but expensive) Bumgenius v3.0 one-size reusable pocket diapers, keeping the pre-folds as backups.

Before you congratulate me for saving the earth, it was almost entirely an economic decision. The fact that we're reducing the amount of waste that goes into our landfills is a definite bonus but if cloth & disposables were the exact same cost, you can bet I'd be throwing those poopy diapers in the garbage. So I plan on doing wash every other day or so and with my very rough calculations, it appears that we'll still come out ahead in the first year with more significant savings after that since we won't have to buy more fancy-schmancy diapers since they have snaps to adjust for various sizes.

All in all, Annaliese doesn't seem to mind wearing cloth at all and I'm thankful that the Bumgenius diapers are so much easier to put on/take off and don't leak during naps or at night. We even used cloth all day yesterday including going to church and to my parents' house (Tutu & Papa Deere). Hopefully my good attitude persists after the honeymoon period wears off... :)

Working out with Uncle Josh

2009-03-20T14:39:00.000-07:00

Uncle Josh came to stay the night for an interview for entrance into the Fresno State Athletic Training program and he gave Annaliese a little work out too.
Doesn't Uncle Joshie look sharp? I'm sure he rocked the interview!!

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Poor baby had 4 shots for her 4 month vaccines today. She is almost 26 inches long (~90th percentile), weighs 14 lb 4 oz (~75th percentile) and has an average size noggin (16 1/2 in head circumference, ~50th percentile). She is also just getting over a touch of a cold so she is not quite her usual chipper self, but she's been sleeping like a champ which is helping her to get over it I think.

Obviously she's getting enough of mommy's milk judging by those chunky thighs, but in about a month or so I plan on starting her on solids... Any suggestions of things that have or have not worked well for any of your kiddos?