Yes, we're still alive

So those of you who are wondering where we've been for the last week must not have checked Hell.

Re-cap: Anna got the sniffles last week.

"The Sniffles" quickly turned into the cold to end all colds which she quickly passed on to me, and eventually Rob. At this point, none of us has slept more than 3 hours at a time for about a week. In addition, the project that just WILL NOT DIE has hit an all time low. Our faithful readers may remember a time last May when the dishwasher we bought didn't work...and we had a new one installed, that flooded our kitchen and subflooring. It took us about 6 months to get that fixed. It was fixed improperly so last weekend we had two guys come out to re-fix.

Long story short, the 300 sq feet of tile that Rob and painstakingly installed ourselves (circa de 2005) has to be ripped up, along with 3-inch thick 'leveler' that was sinking. And then new tile must be installed.

Sound expensive? Oh, IT IS. And (BONUS!!!) The tile guys we have only work weekends. So we're camped out on an air mattress at my fabulous sister's house for the next two weeks. Oh, the fun!

Get Well Soon!

Well, it's official. I've earned my "mom" card. Today I had to leave work early to take Anna to the doc. We Townleys have stopped sleeping at night because poor Anna has been up coughing and sneezing. Thanks to daycare, she has her first cold (awwww!).
Everything is fine, she's just a little 'under the weather' but it's too late in the afternoon for me to go back to work now so I'm hanging out at the house while she sleeps the day away. (ironic?) Looks like I'll be working late for the rest of the week.

My second workout with Chaz went about like the first one, only more painful. We did all upper body last night. By the end of it, I was using both hands to hold my water bottle. I almost called Rob to come drive me home. (shut up, I said ALMOST). I'm sore, but I'm guessing that pain this bad will have some good results this summer. It Better.

Update

To say that yesterday's work out made me sore would be a severe understatement.

I kind of hate you, Chaz.

TGIF!!

I can't believe it's Friday already. I have no idea where the week went! Tonight is my first work out with my personal trainer. Save it. I've already seen enough eye rolls and "Are you kidding me's" to last me until I'm insane enough to have another kid. This may shock you, but America is wrong: "Skinny" does not equal "Healthy". Lately I feel like I have the knees of an 80 year old woman and if I'm going to save myself from a knee replacement in 10 years, I need to be more careful about getting back into shape.
Enter Chaz. He totally has that "personal trainer" name, but he's very qualified and comes highly recommended.
He'll be my drill sgt. for the next four weeks - and then once a month to make sure I stay on track. (yikes)
My only request is that I don't end up looking like this or this.
To the gym!!!

Mother's Day!

Did you know today is the 100th Anniversary for Mother's Day? (Little trivia for you). So, to mark the 100th anniversary, Danielle and I took Anna to a dedication ceremony at church, had our pictures taken by a photographer at Bay Area, and directly thereafter got into a huge argument which caused us to completely miss the Mother's Day Picnic that Danielle planned to formally mark the occasion (Yes, we argue. Shut up.). Needless to say, we were both really disappointed to miss celebrating the day with our friends (as had been the plan)...but we ended up having a candlelit picnic in the middle of our living room instead (it was pouring rain...dining outdoors was not an option).

However...here are some photos of the first truly Townley Mother's Day celebration...and one of the mother and daughter themselves.

Happy Mother's Day

Ephesians 6:4 Parents don't exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

2 Months!

Anna is two months old tomorrow! I can't believe how much she's grown. (This is her back at one week old).

And now at two months!

* You can always tell when Dad dresses her... :-)

Working Mom

Okay, well the work isn't HORRIBLE. I had a few crocodile tears yesterday when I left her with Jess, but other than that I think I did okay. It helped that Anna made me a card while I was gone, complete with pictures of her activities, etc. (Thanks Jess!) Today was easier. I think we'll be okay with this work thing- but I do miss my little girl!
We had some family pictures taken this weekend. Mainly to get infant shots of Anna, and then we had a few with all three of us, etc. This lady is AWESOME. This is a link to her blog where she put up a few 'teaser' shots for us before we get to see all the finished ones. I'm so glad we springed for some professional pictures - I can't wait to see the rest of them!

Last Day :-(

Well it's official. After today my maternity leave is over and I am going back to work. I am a mix of happy and sad. I swear, if I could just leave her in her car seat at my desk we could work together! It helps that other moms (Adrienne!) have gone back to work and say they are actually enjoying a little free time away. I suppose we'll see how I do.

The Townleys are all a little smoked this morning after a loooong, cranky night last night. Rob gets the super-Dad award for being up with Anna from 1-3:30am rubbing her back/ feeding/ speaking softly to her all while she screamed in his face. (I was lying in bed next to them with a pillow over my head - not that it helped). When she woke up an hour later it was my turn. Of course now that the sun is coming up, she's sleeping peacefully in her swing. Yep. I'm still gonna miss her.

No Shirt, No Shoes, NO BOYFRIENDS!

I can't believe it's my last week of maternity leave. What are you people going to do at work all day when there's nothing new to read here? I'm torn between being excited to rejoin some adult conversations and already missing my little girl SO much!

I don't have too much to report today except that Rob and I have finally found out how we're going to get even with Anna for all the screamy/no sleeping nights. We now have a file we're keeping for her future boyfriends. Oh yes, baby girl! We got your number now!

This is Anna after she finishes her bottle at night.... passed out like a frat boy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROB!

Today is Rob's 28th Birthday! We started celebrating on Friday with dinner out at Roy's. On Sunday morning we had waffles and mimosas with Laura, and today I sent him to work with brownies for his office. (because I rock). Anna even joined in the festivities by screaming for no apparent reason (believe me, we tried EVERYTHING) for two hours last night, and then again around 1:30 this morning. Woohoo.

Happy Birthday, Honey. We love you! (And I love posting pictures of you when you were a kid).

Also, one of my best friends ever, Pete, was in town this weekend. He's living in Hollywood, CA, so for him to be here is a big deal. It was SOOOO good to see him!

DATE NIGHT! (finally!!!)

So, Anna is 6 weeks old now, and thanks to Aunt Laura, last we were able to go on our first date since the day we took THIS picture

(the day we found out we were pregnant).
Last night we went out to our favorite restaurant, Roys, to celebrate Rob's birthday (April 28th)and some freedom. Thanks again for watching Screamy Panties, Laura!

Croquet Match!

So, it's that time of year again- the Johnnie's vs. the Naval Academy Croquet Match. This year we came a little more prepared(this is Mike, one of the three of us who came last year)- Rob rented a 20x20ft. tent (which turned out to be a great idea because it poured). A bunch of soaked Naval Academy guys quickly made friends with us and offered to help put the tent up in exchange for shelter. Turned out to be fantastic and after a few drinks, one of them became "the streaker". (Yes. We know how to party).Anna was amazing- as were Sarah and Demetri- who gave me hours of baby-free time with my husband (thank you!!!). The food was endless and the champagne flowed like the rain (haha). We brought tons of people, made a lot of new friends, and basically everyone swore that this is a new yearly tradition for us. So next year, make sure you mark your calendars. (A few of the thousands of pictures) Our daughter makes the best faces.

A Day in the life of Miss Anna Stuart

Anna's first music video. You are all going to be oh, SO bored when my maternity leave is over. I would like to add that last night our 5 week old slept from 9:30pm to 5:30am. That'd be 8 STRAIGHT HOURS. Rob and I feel ready to take on the world today.

Virginia Tech. Today we remember...

Workin' the Smile

Yesterday I had my first day back at the gym.
In a word; Ouch.
but it feels great to be exercising again. Anna and I have been taking a lot of walks in the afternoon. (hence Anna's new 'walking hat' to ward off sunburn- thanks Jess!)

AND, our Rockstar is starting to smile, ON PURPOSE....although every time I got her picture she was doing everything EXCEPT smiling. She's sneaky like that. Here's a few of my attempts though- you know, for the grandparents :-)

And now, presenting...

One of my best friends, Peter Hanna, is a music writer out in California. This is one of his newest songs: The Scientologist. *Note- Pete is NOT a Scientologist. I am clarifying this for those of you who watch this and it all goes right over your head. It's okay, I still love you.

Raise your hand(s) if you're one month old!

I can't believe it's been a month already!

Here's our big girl one month later! I already see big differences in her face- and she's pretty much out of her newborn clothes and into the smaller of the 3 month ones.

Yep, More baby updates.

Okay, I realize that all my posts are about Anna these days... but I'm a new mom and I'm on maternity leave. So she's about all I've got going on. :-) Not that I'm complaining.
There's only one person who seems to be sleeping in the Townley household these days. And it's not Rob or me. Hint...hint....

Even in the midst of sleep-deprivation, we took Anna to Delaware this weekend to meet her great-grandparents and Uncle Alex.

Aside from that, we're still working on this "sleeping at night" thing (slow going, but progressing!) and trying to keep our house from looking like bottles and blankets have exploded in every room.

Anna Stuart stars in her first movie

So, this isn't terribly entertaining to anyone but me, Rob, and our family. But this is Anna with the hiccups and I think she's adorable.