Creating Cassie: First 3 months, then 3 years!

Catching Smiles on Camera.

Hey everyone! Sorry that another few weeks got away from me. I keep telling myself "I'm gonna blog today" and then life happens and tomorrow comes. The whole cycle happens everyday and soon weeks escape me. My apologies :) So, it's 2012 and the last 3 months have breezed by. Another year gone by and another year beginning. It's pretty exciting, though some people might say it's depressing. I have had a great year, personally. 2011 held a lot of milestones for me. I celebrated my 10 year high school graduation and yes even attended the reunion. I started back to college (with a break so I could have a baby). I celebrated by 1 year wedding anniversary. I found out I was pregnant in February and gave birth to a beautiful healthy baby in October. And my life would forever be changed. All of these things seemed only to have happened in the blink of an eye! It really is crazy how time passes so quickly. As a child you don't see this or even care to. You're too busy living in the moment and earning your allowance so you can go buy some candy or a new toy.

Little "Miso"

I looking forward to yet another year of life and living only this time it's different. My first full year of being a mom. Man, you don't even know how those words make me feel. I'll explain: For 9 years, I've kinda been pushing off going back to school because I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I finally bit the bullet and told myself that even if I got a degree in Liberal Arts (General Studies), I would still have a degree and that appealed more to me than anything. Which is why I went back to college this past year. But as a young adult one thing that has always remained in my future, I knew for sure that when I grew up, I wanted to be a mommy. I wanted to create a life, give birth or adopt and raise a child. I wanted to be a role model to a young person. I wanted to have someone look to me for physical and emotional support for all of their life. I wanted to teach lessons of life and tell family stories of the past. I wanted to know that I had an influence on another beautiful life in this world. I wanted to experience the unconditional love that mother's feel for their child. I wanted to watch in amazement of how a little human being can look like me, talk like me and act like me. I wanted to listen to those "darn things kids say" all the time. I wanted to experience the most difficult and most rewarding challenge ever in life.

Now here I am. 2011 has begun that lifelong journey for me. "I am a mom." Sometimes I have to repeat it to myself because some days I'm still in disbelief. But believe me, if becomes VERY real when this precious little miracle is screaming her head off and fighting sleep at midnight. It's crazy, but I even enjoy those moments (a little less than the well rested happy giggling baby I know during the day) but because she's my world. My life. I love her in any condition and even more when she cries.

Our dear Annaliese just turned 3 months old yesterday and already she has grown so much. She is a wonderfully round 14 lbs and smiling more and more everyday. She laughs and "talks" now and that just melts me into a huge pile of gooey mush. It's so fun to have a conversation with a 3 month old. I wonder what she's saying... She is very shy too! When daddy comes home from work, he gets down and close to her and says "Hi, bug", and her face lights up and her cheeks rise to give her the "miso" look every single time. That too, melts my heart. In case you're wondering what I mean by "miso look", it's kind of a running joke in my family. When I was a baby I looked Asian. Almond shaped eyes that got even looked smaller when I smiled. And my daughter has my eyes. But as you can see below, she is a perfect mix of both mommy and daddy. :)

Me as a newborn

Justin at around 5 months

Anyway, when anyone makes Anna smile, she gets a huge smile on her face and turns her head as if she is being shy. It's so cute! I was a shy kid too, so maybe she gets that from me? Oh and she is able to roll over onto her side now too! She is very strong willed and seems to get very upset at herself when she can't accomplish something. (Definitely a trait of both mommy and daddy) She is growing longer, has thicker hair and longer eye lashes. I believe she is also teething too. She gets very fussy (I know I know...what baby doesn't ?), always sucking her hands and tongue and drooling a lot. When I offer her my finger she gnaws like she will never have another meal in her life. Although I don't see any teeth yet, there is definitely something happening to where I can see the white part of the tooth and where it will come through the gums when it does make an appearance. Oh...I can't wait for that day. Teething is something you hear a lot about from other parents. Usually when the kid starts sleeping through the night, that comes to a screeching hault when teething is in the picture. But since Anna has only slept through the night about 4 times so far (hey, I am NOT complaining), maybe it won't be such a bad transition when teething is in full force. Good times! ;) Anna has also developed a liking for the television. Of course we only allow her to watch appropriate cartoons and Baby Einstein videos and only a limited time a day. We have also started story time, which she loves as well!

Sometimes mommy reads a non-children's book to her: