.wow.

It has been about 9 months since my last blog. I feel awful about that. But in my defense....a lot has been going on. Eden was born on June 26, 2011 at 7lbs 4oz. She is amazing and truly looks just like her daddy.

She has helped me through some dark times and is a miracle sent straight from God to give me the courage and strength to go on. I don't know what I would do without my girls. And I cannot imagine my life without Eden in it to complete my beautiful family. Elle loves her so much, as I figured she would. They light each other up whenever they are around each other.


I turned 30 in December. I thought it was going to be weird but now I just don't feel different. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'll never be in my 20's again and that's odd. lol But it's ok. I feel hopeful for my 30's.

Most of you know what event took place on October 28. My father....my sweet, amazing father...the man who could and would never let me down, left this world and entered Jesus' loving arms. He fought cancer for over 6 years and finally he just didn't want to fight anymore. It has been.....weird. For lack of a better word. For instance, right now as I'm typing this I am overcome with emotion. I miss him so much but there are certain days when it feels like he is on vacation and that he'll be back soon...but then there are other days when it hits me like a ton of bricks that I will not see his face again...at least in this life I won't. I won't hear him call me smidget (like my papa used to) or make a silly joke that made me call him a nerd. Or....and this is the hardest to swallow....that he won't be here to see my kids grow up. It's hard for me when I think of Elle....She knew him so well. She loved him and misses him. But she's still young and doesn't quite understand what happened to him. And then I look at Eden. My little pumpkin who was only 4 months old when she lost him. I have such amazing pictures of the 2 of them together....but it still hurts knowing that she will never remember him or know him. She is growing so fast and it devastates me to think that he is going to miss this.



But in all this, I know he would never change how things happened. Nor would he want to be anywhere else other than where he is right now. He lived for his faith...for Jesus. I can only imagine that he is having the time of his life.

I went through alot in the last year. Most of you know what I'm talking about...Everything happened at the same time and I just didn't know how to cope. I'm getting there tho. Slowly...surely. The only thing I have now is faith. Faith that it will get better...faith that I will heal...faith that each day my family mends...faith for my children...faith for my husband. Faith that, no matter what, it will all be ok and it will turn out the way God intended. My prayer is to not be scared...to be strong...and not let every insecurity I have weigh me down. It's an awful feeling being in that pit of darkness. I'm ready to climb out. I have so much love in my life. I know that....With that, I will be ok.

.32 weeks.

So I know it's been forever and a day since I've written. And Unfortunately, I'm not going to make this long because I'm too uncomfortable sitting on this chair. haha. But everything is going well! So far so good. I am nearly 32 weeks pregnant with girl number 2 and I'm in alot of pain currently. lol I know that's what comes with pregnancy but Holy geez. I am dying! :) My baby shower was great. :) I am so grateful to have such amazing people in my life.
And yesterday was mother's day and I have never felt so blessed! I hope everyone felt that kind of love yesterday like I did.

The only new thing going on right now is that Elle is in swim class. We are trying desperately to get her fear of water-on-her-face over with asap. It's sooooo annoying.
And we are moving in 3 weeks! crazy I know. I haven't even started packing yet. I'm a nervous wreck about it but I'm actually thankful for the move. It'll be smaller and cramped but I know it's better for us and it will work out.

I have a new nephew. His name is Kevin James Jr. and he was born March 5th. Weighing in at 6lbs 3 oz. I get the privilege of watching him during the week for his momma.
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The summer months are creeping upon us and I'm feeling it more and more. NO BUENO! Annie does not like the heat and hates it while being preggers. lol

That is about it for now. Continued prayers for my daddy who is still battling his cancer. It has gotten much worse in recent months and right now we just need to have faith that God will do what he needs to do.

I hope I get on her again before the baby is born but honestly with how hectic everything is going to get I have a feeling I'll be slacking a little. lol But I WILL try. Promise. :)

<3 Annie <3

.eden mckenzie.

Well at my 21 week check up ultrasound, we were told that our little bundle had "girl parts" as the tech exclaimed. :) My immediate thought was, 'Oh no. What is Ollie thinking...He wanted a boy so badly!!' But as she took pictures of that perfect little face I slowly forgot about that and just thought how beautiful she was.



We had already picked a name if it was a girl. Eden McKenzie. Both her and Elle will have the same initials so we thought it was perfect. I love her so much already. And Elle was ecstatic to have a baby sister.

Ollie has been able to re-coop. As sad as he may be that we didn't get the boy he was hoping for, he knows he is the best daddy to girls and he is grateful that she is at least healthy and happy. The tech was so surprised that she was so active. It was hysterical to watch her punch the crud out of me! lol

We haven't lost sight of what a miracle she is. We cannot wait to show her off to the world. For now, here is a glimpse!

Her Profile

Her Little Foot

It's A Girl!

.miracle.

This picture will say it all....




After trying for 2 years Ollie and I decided that we were done. It was too emotional and exhausting. We had given up. 4 weeks and 3 positive pregnancy tests later we had our answer to prayer. Today was the first ultrasound. I am 11 weeks along with a due date of July 8, 2011. I have been super sick with this one but I wouldn't change it for the world. Thank you to everyone who had been praying. Trust me, I know what a blessing this is for us. I cannot wait to shower you all with photos as time passes! :)

Merry Christmas!

~Annie~

.can it start feeling like Fall time already?.

Sooooo, anyone who knows me understands my utter distaste for the time of year in Arizona known as April through September. I cannot begin to express my relief that it is September 27th. Thank God we may only have a few weeks left....*crosses fingers*

ALOT has happened in a month. For starters Ollie has started working at 2 different massage locations and is doing SO well. We are making more income and that is ALWAYS a blessing! PLUS I was promoted last week at Massage Envy. :) I am now what they call an ACA, which translates to Assistant Clinic Administrator....or for u slower folk, assistant manager. lol yay! IT is a salary position and I will be able to only have to work one job now. *sigh* Though I am relieved to finally have stability and less stress and sleepless nights, I will of course, miss my kids Ive been teaching. You bond with them so easily and saying goodbye is going to be hard. But this is a good thing in our lives! I cannot wait for this chapter to start. Things are lookin good!

Last weekend we went to a wedding where Ollie was the best man. We look so good don't we? lol The groom wanted 007 action so thats why they look so "fly".


We then went to see Daniel Tosh this past weekend. So flippin funny that man is. VERY cryptic and weird but none the less, a great show!

For Sarah's 15th birthday we went to the JO Bros's concert!!! it was actually so much fun. Amy and I had a blast staring at Joe....*sigh*

Elle has been doing so great in school. The downside to the promotion for me is that she won't be going to school anymore. :( She'll be with us more and that's a great thing but I absolutely LOVE her teachers and I LOVE how much she has learned in such a short time. I had parent teacher conference today and she is so far advanced it's ridiculous! The teacher said, if the school would let her she would be ready to start school next fall! She said she knows everything. She showed us everything she has learned...Here are some examples:

This exercise she was asked to draw a line from one image to another. Though every other child in the class needed guided hand help on the first pair of images before they understood the instructions, Elle didn't need help at all. She simply knew what to do the first time. Amazing huh?


This one shows her cutting and direction following skills. They asked her to cut out a square on the paper. This is what she did with absolutely NO HELP! You can see the cut out square stapled to the paper in the left hand side. There was more but these were my fave ♥



Ill post video of Elle doing her letters, shapes and numbers next! She is so smart I cannot stand it!

So today was nice and relaxing. After coming home from work Elle wanted to do my hair. So I let her. lol. I then took a little nap on the couch while Ollie was playing a video game and when I woke up my whole body was covered with my blanket. According to Ollie, Elle notice that I was asleep and said, "Oh No...mommy need her blanket!" So she ran into our room, grabbed my blanket and covered me up. It was the sweetest thing ever. She's going to be a great little mommy. :) Later we had this conversation:

Elle: "Mommy, I cold!"

Me: "You are? Well why dont you go get your blanket and we can cuddle on the couch."

Elle: "Okay! Let me get it!" (1 minute later) "Here we go mommy! I do it."

At this point she covered herself up next to me on the couch. 5 minutes later, I witnessed this.....


It is the most amazing thing ever! going to sleep on the couch by herself without arguing! Thank you God! lol.

We have ALOT of stuff coming up. So the countdown begins now.

Katy's 1st birthday: October 5th
Last day of preschool job: October 6th
Sophia's 1st birthday: October 7th
10 year high school reunion: October 9th
Disneyland trip: October 14th-17th
Halloween Party: October 23rd
Momma's birthday: October 27th
Halloween: October 31st
Ollie's Men's Retreat: November 18th-20th
Harry Potter Midnite Showing: November 18th
Elle's Princess party: November 21st
Elle's 4th Birthday: November 22nd
Thanksgiving: November 25th
My birthday: December 3rd
Christmas: December 25th

*whew* I'm tired just typing it all out!!! But it should be exciting and fun! Cannot wait for the holiday season. Decorating is my life! Let's bring on the cooler weather before I freak out and die!

Love you all!

~Annie~

.elle, the genius.

So I'm not gonna lie, my daughter is a genius. I never thought I'd have a motivated kid but holy cow is she ever! She just wants to learn and learn and learn. This blog is going to be super short because I have alot to do today but I just needed to share with the world what I'm talking about. Keep in mind...she is 3 years old....ENJOY!

Elle Genius 2 from Annie Ammerman on Vimeo.

Elle Genius from Annie Ammerman on Vimeo.

.i wish there were 28 hours in a day.

Working 2 jobs is not the ideal situation. Especially when you also have a 3 year old to make happy. BUT it's what I have to do. Funds have been running tight so my friends at Massage Envy Arrowhead gave me another job working at night. SO with working at Elle's pre-school in the a.m. and ME in the p.m., I basically have NO time with my family. Plus I work 6 days out of the week. The only day we have together is Sunday....:( It makes me sad jost blogging about it. I gotta do what I gotta do though and one day it will be worth it. But for now I wish there were a few more hours in my day to spend with Ollie. I see Elle more than him actually, which is a good thing for her, but I miss my hunny. By the time I get home at night it's 11 o'clock and I'm exhausted. I have to wake up at 630ish to get to the morning job so I really can't hang out with him too much at night. *sigh* I just keep telling myself it will be worth it.

Well, on Saturdays they are the best because I don't go to work until 3pm and I have the entire morning with Elle. Today she asked me to open a puzzle box for her. I left the room after I did so and came back about 15 minutes later to check on her and THIS was on the floor.....

Pretty good huh? Not bad for a 3 year old. This puzzle, BTW, is 2ft x 1.5ft. So it's huge! Then she wanted me to take a picture of her....she was very proud of herself because she went "poopy" all by herself without my help just 5 minutes earlier. lol. It's funny what makes her happy but it is nice not to have to go into the bathroom with her anymore cuz she's a BIG GIRL and can do it all by herself.

This week at school was spirit week and Elle won 2 days! She won for CRAZY HAIR DAY and for NEON DAY. SHe came in second for PAJAMA DAY. lol. Guess mommy loves dressing her up.

We had a party a couple weeks ago for our friend Ty who is leaving for the army soon. Ollie had wayyy too much to drink and I got a little tipsy myself. But not as bad as the hubby. He was the toilet's best friend all night long. Stupid boys.

Ollie is really drunk here

Ollie, Nathan (in red), and Ty (Ollie is in Nathan's wedding in September :))

They decided to have a massage train

All of us...so cute

Our vacation has been spoiled again. I was supposed to go on vacay in March but it was cancelled. I was supposed to go to Chicago with Ollie but I couldnt. We were supposed to go to Cali at the end of July and now we can't. *sigh* I swear i don't know when we ever will get to go. We have planned a trip in October so HOPEFULLY that will pan out. I NEED a vacation!

Thats about it for now. Next up: Leo's 3rd BDAY party! and Elle goes to the 4 year old classroom! yikes.

♥ Annie ♥