Wow…that’s almost a whole month!  Where has the time gone?  Oh yeah, most of it was spent feeding this little chunk! 

I haven’t taken nearly as many pictures as I would’ve liked.  I’m going to have to do better about that.  I’ve got a few to share later in the post.

We had a cookout with friends on the 4th…Anna did great and slept through most of it.  There is never a shortage of people that want to hold her, so when she did fuss, I had lots of help keeping her happy. 

On Sunday we drove up to Reelfoot Lake to go for a stroll…really just a good excuse to get out of the house I think.  Anna could’ve cared less, of course.  She slept through most of it.  We walked through the visitors center (we’ve both done this countless times and it never changes, so I’m not sure why we bothered), then we went outside and looked at the birds.  For those who are unfamiliar, they have a couple cages (for lack of a better word) with a few bald eagles and some owls…maybe some other birds of prey, I can’t remember.  The owls are always my favorite.  I think these are injured animals, they aren’t there just because.  Anyway…here are a couple pics…first is a barn owl…these were extremely annoying, screechy birds!

After seeing the birds we took a walk on the boardwalk…it’s a little nature trail loop that goes out into the water…kind of swampy, but it has it’s pretty parts…here’s one of them.  This is a nice pic that Mark took from the boardwalk of the cypress trees and stumps:

Lastly, here’s one of Anna and me…does the child even care where she is?  I don’t think so!

Let’s see, what else.  Monday Anna and I had lunch with Jimmie.  Anna slept through that.  Then we went to visit Anne before going to the grocery store.  Anne ended up keeping Anna while I went to the grocery store alone.  Apparently Anna started screaming the minute I left, but she was sound asleep when I got back.  Anne didn’t seem to mind at all…she seemed to enjoy it.  I was only gone about 45 minutes total.  Maybe small doses is the key.  :)

Tuesday, we did NOTHING.  Wednesday I had a haircut appt. in Milan (30 minutes away).  I barely managed to get a shower and get myself and Anna dressed in time.  Anna was quite uncooperative.  I ended up being 30 minutes late to my appointment.  Thankfully my hairdresser was understanding.  Anna had a nice meltdown on the way, but we survived.  She fussed a bit while I was getting my hair cut, but overall did pretty well.  So well I decided to be brave and drive to Jackson.  I had a Target gift card to use and that’s the closest Target (another 30 minutes past Milan).  Anna did GREAT.  She fussed a little in Target, but once she had the pacifier in her mouth, she was fine.  I was able to get everything I needed without feeling like I had to rush horribly.  I even managed to get a Frappacino at the Starbucks in Target on my way out.  I did have to feed and change Anna in the car once we were done in Target.  That was a bit tricky, but I did it.  I was so proud of myself (hey, it’s the small victories, ok?).  Once I got Anna fed, changed and strapped back in her carseat she started SCREAMING.  I don’t mean fussing or crying a little…I mean screaming!  I had just bought her a lullaby CD, so I broke that out and put it the CD player for her.  It worked like a charm…off to sleep she went!  I had to turn it off after awhile though, because I almost fell asleep too! 

Today we had lunch with Jimmie and Lynette and ran a couple small errands.  She’s getting more used to this running around thing I think. 

Ok…I leave you with a pic Mark took last night.  He had laid her on a towel on the dining room table while we folded some laundry.  Don’t worry, we were watching her to make sure she didn’t roll anywhere!  She’s really fattened up since she was born!  She’s starting to get those cute little arm and leg rolls and some chubby cheeks!  Her hair has lightened up considerably, but it’s still as unruly as ever!