Group Photos

Here's Ani with some friends from Nicole's Mom's group.

















Henry, Nika, Avery, Ani, Isaac, Lenci, Wally, Kailea

Heads Up!

All is well at the Bellweathers. It's been fun watching Ani progress. These days she likes sitting up on our laps and is starting to grab everything so she can put it in her mouth. Standard protocol for all babies this age, we know, but it's exciting for us.

Visit from Kyann and Sabine

Kyann and Sabine came for a visit this weekend. Sabine (4.5 months) gave us a fun look at what a difference a couple of months can make in babyland.

Gearing up for the Holidays!

We dressed Ani up for a pre-holiday get together this past weekend. Here's our little holiday elf!

Strike a Pose

Well...lesson learned. I can't force a posed picture of Ani. Here are two sad sad attempts. The first picture was supposed to be Ani looking cute and preppy and the second one was supposed to be a funny picture of Ani sporting long hair - courtesy of mom. Instead, I got (1) a picture of Ani yelling at me that she's too young to model and (2) a photo that makes Ani look like Janis Joplin after a bender. We'll stick to spontaneous photos from now on.

Clean Living

Here's a cute photo of Ani in the tub. As you can see, her eyes are open and while our girl likes her sleep she's a little more engaged every day. The smiles and gurgles are amazing but the fussy time cries we could do without. :)

Family Reunion

Ani completed her first major roadtrip this weekend to Arizona for a Bellows mini-reunion. Grandpa Greg came out from Michigan and braved the roadtrip with us.

Visit from Jean, Brian, and Domi!

Aunt Jean, Uncle Brian, and Cousin Dominick came to visit for a nice long weekend. Dominick (10 months) showed Ani the ropes on what it means to be a fun baby - although Ani slept through many of his lessons.

Cousins out for fish and chips

Last weekend two generations of cousins got together at an English pub in Kensington (California). I'm told on the greatest authority that this fine English establishment could not in fact be truly English with its loud Kids Corner parked right under the dart boards. Regardless of single regulars' opinions (read reviews), area families pop in with kids in tow for a cold pint or two every evening. Nevertheless, cousins and spouses and friends had a great time - even Ani was awake for a while.

Ani Protests!

While it may only sound like regular old baby cries, we think that Ani is adapting to her Berkeley environment and protesting the world's ills - war, poverty, environmental damage, etc...

Now let me think about it...

sure it was staged, but no less cute. -ben

Grammy and Grampy come to visit....

Here's a couple of pictures of Ani with her grandparents who are getting a short break from constantly waiting on Nicole. As you might have noticed, our pictures of Ani always show her sleeping. That's because she sleeps A LOT! The challenge with her is to keep her awake enough to eat. We know we will soon regret that we spent so much effort in waking her up out of a peaceful sleep to eat, but oh well.

FAQs

Thanks to everyone for the sweet responses. We're doing well so far. Here another photo of Ani and some answers to frequently asked questions:

Where did you get "Annice"? Annice (pronounced "a niece") was the name of Nicole's great grandmother which is as far back in Ani's maternal line as we can go so far.

How was the labor? Well, no picnic, but I'll count myself lucky. I managed to avoid the epidural but did partake of some wonderful narcotics (fentanyl) that gave me a nice break between 6-8 centimeters. Good stuff, especially after 9 months of not drinking!

Do you want visitors? Sure! We're not planning on going anywhere besides an occasional walk and trip the grocery store for a while, so feel free to come on by, if you're inclined. As fair warning, though, you should be prepared to see a messy apartment and probably Nicole's breasts ;). We're getting a handle on the breast feeding but haven't advanced to the skill level of "discreet" quite yet.

More photos? The hospital took some cute photos. You can see them here:

http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/babypage.asp?UrlID=1V5K4S9Z5L
Password: Bellows

Ani Bellows makes her debut!

Here's Ani! After much anticipation and about 20 hours of labor, Ani has arrived. Here are her stats -

Official Name: Annice Josephine Bellows
Born: September 12, 2006, 7:54 AM
Size: 7 pounds, 1 ounce, 21 inches

We just arrived home from the hospital today (thursday) and all parties are doing well. Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes!

Due Date

Well, we've hit the due date of September 9 but no baby yet. You can see that she's getting pretty big, though. Stay tuned for more info....

Greetings

Hello all. With the upcoming baby extravaganza we decided to set up a blog to post photos of little one and brag how we are certain she's a bonafide genius, etc...