Boo

My rocking chair broke :(

Annabelle's stats

Annabelle had her two-month check-up today. She is 23 inches long and weighs 12 lbs. 8 oz. She got four shots and an oral vaccine and is not pleased. She needs extra snuggles today. Turns out she has mild torticollis, like Rebekah had. Torticollis is a (not painful) condition in which the neck muscles on one side are short, so the baby's head is cocked and she turns her head only to one side. We just have to do some easy exercises to stretch her muscles back out, and it should be gone in a few weeks. It's very mild--you can't even see it in her pictures. Rebekah's was more severe and took longer to diagnose, but since we knew what to look for, I was able to tell the doctor about what I'd noticed and we don't have to go to any other doctors (Rebekah's caused some drama with several trips out of town to see a specialist). Even though it's not hereditary, both girls were born with it. It was likely caused either by neck injury during delivery or by a tight fit in the womb that caused their necks to be scrunched up. They were the same size at birth, so it's not too surprising that they had the same condition. She also got her first prescription for antibiotics today because she's had some serious sniffles for three weeks. I took her to the doctor for it twice and it just looks like a cold, but since it has hung on so long, we're hoping that the medicine will kick it out. In related news, Shannon and I are still sick even though we have finished our medicine. We either have new colds or particularly persistent infections that need even more antibiotics. We've all been sick for a month! It's June--we're not supposed to feel so bad in the middle of the summer! The good news is that Annabelle does not have an ear infection, which is a miracle since her nose has been stuffy for so long. So that's it for now--hopefully I can soon report that our various ailments are cured.

Faces of Rebekah

Not to be outdone, the diva demands attention of the camera.

Faces of Annabelle

Happy Father's Day

Rebekah helped with Daddy's cupcakes.

Camping trip

We had such a great time on our camping trip. It was a huge family reunion, and tons of people were there. We spent time with aunts, uncles, and cousins we hadn't seen in years, and some I had never met before. All of Shannon's immediate family stayed in a 3-bedroom mobile home at Lake Ouachita for the weekend, which turned out to be a tight fit. Everyone managed to clear their schedules to be there at the last minute, so we had 21 people in the mobile home, which included ten children and eleven adults! It's not very often that everyone is together like that. The first night we met up with the rest of the family for a cook-out and then everyone stayed up late goofing off and singing--everyone except for Annabelle and me--we went to bed! Rachel (aka Roo-Roo) is in cosmetology school, and she practiced giving pedicures to Mikka, Randi, and Vicki.

The next day we all went to the beach. I forgot to put sunblock on my legs and I sat on the beach with my arms draped across them. The result was a crazy sunburn that will leave stripes on my legs for the rest of the summer! (You'll just have to take my word for that! I won't be posting pictures of my legs for the whole world)
Here are Rebekah and Kade playing at the beach:

And here are Juran, Chris, Shannon, and Derek acting like little boys:

That night we had a fish fry, and Rebekah and Shannon went fishing. Her line had a small plastic fish on the end instead of a hook, so she got to practice casting and we didn't have to worry about losing an eye! At the campsite she was playing with her pole around a little Yorkie, and it ran and caught her fish. She was traumatized! We got the fish away from the dog and calmed her back down. So Rebekah didn't catch any fish, but she did manage to catch a puppy--not everyone can say that. By the way, Mom, I know what you're thinking--Rebekah is not wearing a life jacket because the boat is tied to the bank and not actually out on the water.

The next morning we got up for a big pancake breakfast with the whole family. Kyle and Chris played their guitars, we sang hymns, and Derek gave a message that had everyone in tears. As you can imagine, wrangling all ten kids is not easy, so we didn't manage a picture of all of them, but we did get one of all of them who could stand up (we're missing the three baby girls: Kyra, Grace, and Annabelle). Of course, they weren't the only kids there, but I felt accomplished just getting the first cousins together. In this picture, left to right, are: Rebekah, Gracie, Drake, Wyatt, Tyler, and Siera; Kade is in the front. The picture is cloudy because it was so hot that the lens kept fogging up.

So where is Annabelle during all of this? Well, after the first night when she smiled and cooed and just charmed everyone there, she was worn out and slept for the next two days!

Great-grandparents

Annabelle met her great-grandparents for the first time this weekend. We stopped on the way up to visit Grandma Cox and on the way home to see G. G. and Papaw Evans.

Rebekah's take on the trip

We're back from our camping trip, and we have a lot to report and pictures to post. For now, though, click here for Rebekah's report on the weekend.