The Baker Journey

New site!

2010-12-29T09:40:00.004-05:00

Please update your favorites and bookmark our new blog address here:

We have moved our site due to storage and uploading issues with Blogger. You can now find us at WordPress. :)

Don't forget to bookmark us at http://thebakerjourney.wordpress.com/ !!!!

Let the posting begin!

2010-12-15T11:05:00.003-05:00

I am a bit behind on posting pics so you will probably be seeing many posts in the next couple weeks as vacation time rolls around!

I hope you all are doing wonderful as this holiday season approaches!

Getting ready to watch the VERY cold Parade of Lights!

As we were getting ready for a party, Matt decided to snap some pics of Anna and I going through my old holiday jewelry.

Playing in Mom's jewelry

I love the fact that Anna wants to wear jewelry and soccer gear at the same time!!! :)

Smiling for Daddy!!

Cheese!!!!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T05:30:00.006-05:00

We took a trip up to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving this year to be with our family up there. Matt and I decided to spend the night halfway so the trip wouldn't be so long of a drive. We left Tuesday afternoon and arrived at our hotel in Virginia. I will let the pictures tell the story of our trip!

Anna absolutely loved the big beds in our hotel room. She played on them and had a great time watching Aladdin on the TV. We are so glad we stopped instead of choosing to drive the whole way!

When we arrived at Grandma's in PA, Uncle Chris entertained Anna by finding all the toys upstairs. She enjoyed beating the drums!

Thanksgiving morning, I participated in a Turkey Trot run on the Lake Erie border. That morning was VERY cold and it was raining and sleeting. It was THE most miserable run I have ever done. However, it is one I will never forget! My husband was brave enough to be my "fan" and go down there with me. I had on six layers and I still couldn't feel my feet to run. :)

"Cheese"

Thanksgiving dinner! Yum!

After Thanksgiving Anna and I played on the piano a bit.

Aunt Becca joined us and Anna enjoyed dancing to our music (and helping out of course!)

Then Gran helped too! Maybe our daughter will take want to take piano lessons one day!

Granpa was one of Anna's biggest sources of entertainment while in PA. Great Grandma gave Anna one of those Hallmark snowmen sets for her to keep. She played with it most of the way home! Anna loves watching the little penguin ring the bells.

Daddy and his girl!

Great Grandma and Anna (please note the snow out the window.....brrrr)

Anna and I playing in the car before we left for our tree.

Arriving at the tree farm to chop down our tree

Anna was not incredibly happy about having her winter gear on.

Uncle Chris and Anna

Our family pic at the tree farm

Our family went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch our big Gamecock vs. Clemson game. Anna was such a trooper and cheered with all of us!

Anna and I at the restaurant watching the Gamecocks BEAT Clemson!

Rebecca and Matt

Our family :)~

This is the morning before we left. Matt and his girl are sporting the long underwear....haha!

This is our Blue Spruce Christmas tree. It has been put up in the living room and the ornaments are almost all the way on! Will post more later!

I have some additional pics from my phone I will get up soon. I just wanted to get some on here so you all could see the trip!

We had a great trip! It was nice to arrive back in the south and have 70 degree weather!

2010-11-10T22:02:00.003-05:00

Hey folks!

I hope all of you are doing well! We had another eventful weekend. We got a chance to see off Uncle CJ as he left for his deployment this weekend. We are so proud of the service he is doing for our country.

Saturday afternoon Anna and I were left up to our own devices so we enjoyed a bit of girl time! We read stories and played with the camera!

Making the "cheese" face.....

Yes, I will have some explaining to do to her kindergarten teachers!

Carrying her books in her bookbag

Cheese!!!!

One fish, two fish.......her absolute favorite book

Makes her Mommy proud! I hope to have to buy her an e-reader eventually! :)

Yes, the pictures below are of Anna Kay on a potty! We are starting to "introduce" the potty into the bathroom so that when we start potty training the whole scenario isn't a shock. :) She thought the whole situation was funny! She even tries to stick her boot in the bowl part. Then she figured out that she needed to sit on it. hahaha

Halloween Pics

2010-11-06T21:54:00.003-04:00

Check out the hair! :)

Our girl helping carve the pumpkin. She wasn't a fan of getting her hands messy!

Sweet Tinkerbell with her carved pumpkin.

Headed out to Trick or Treat. She was not happy that we stopped her fun for a photo! ;)

Taking a break from walking to ride to the pond and eat a snack on the way!

Daddy and his girl walking for more treats!

2010-10-17T18:54:00.002-04:00

This weekend has been full of fun! As a matter of fact the next couple of months will be much the same! Friday night, Matt and I had a date night to see Miranda Lambert in concert. It was really good! Thanks Nana for keeping our sweet little one while we went out for a few hours!

Then Saturday morning I woke up early to head out for the Ray Tanner Run. This race even was huge! It took place over both bridges in downtown Columbia and ended in the Gamecock baseball stadium at home plate. Anna enjoyed seeing the crowds and meeting Cocky.

Thanks so much to Meagan and Linda for braving the race too! It was a pleasure getting to see everyone out there! Collins....you are a true groupie! :)

Anna meeting Cocky

Posing with Mommy after the race

Check out that hair!

We took Anna to the State Fair and the Merry go round was her first ride!

Her Daddy riding the bees with her. :0)

This coming weekend we are heading to Gatlinburg for our annual trip. We can't wait!!!!

I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Lake Day

2010-10-11T07:38:00.007-04:00

Matt wanted to take our boat out again before the weather gets too cold (and we have something every weekend from here until Dec.), so we decided to go this Sunday. The weather was absolutely gorgeous!

Anna waiting on us to leave for the lake.

Driving Daddy's boat

Driving David's Bayliner.... what a lucky girl! Two boats in one day!

A very happy Daddy!

This post would not be complete without mention of the fact that our Gamecock football team did such a great job this weekend beating Alabama. What an exciting game! Our girl was decked out in her apparel to cheer them on! After their big defeat, we decided to celebrate with a treat out! :)

Fall....fall.....

2010-10-07T11:06:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we had a get together with the "Ward" bunch! Since we were together it was a great time to celebrate Jean's birthday!

After work on Monday, Matt and I decided to take Anna down to the pond to feed the ducks! She gets so excited when they start "quacking" and heading her way. These domestic ducks are so well fed the minute they see people they start to descend and the flock comes right to us. We also got a bit of backyard play time in before it got dark outside. :D

Girls, Girls, Girls!

2010-10-02T15:34:00.004-04:00

This morning we got to visit with Anna's Great-Nanny! Anna was excited to see everyone and showed off her dancing skills to her audience. :) I was super excited to get to snuggle my niece (and see my sister too). Brayden is getting so big!

Here are some of the pics:

The girls together!!!

My sweet niece.....love those cheeks!

Anna playing with Tia

Checking out her cousin

Getting Brayden to smile

Great-Nanny and Brayden

All four of us take 2

Free time....finally!

2010-10-01T19:56:00.003-04:00

Well folks, it has been a while and I apologize. I can not even being to tell you all the things that has been going on around here. Life itself has it's way of getting in the way! I have been battling with a bit of medical issues.....come to find out after many tests that it is not in fact lymphoma (thank God!) nor do I appear to have any autoimmune disorders but that I have some type of horrible infection that they are choosing to treat with heavy doses of antibiotics. My doctors are also choosing to send me to a special team of doctors in Washington DC with the National Institute of Health, that hopefully will have some insight to this Premature Ovarian Failure that I have. No doctors here in my state are familiar (or even have another patient) with the same condition as me so I am a bit of a marvel. Lucky me! So, despite the hot flashes, pains, nausea, extreme tiredness but plagued with insomnia, I continue on! I really am looking forward to going to meeting the team of doctors. I think they will be leaps and bounds more informative than the ones I am being treated by now. I will keep you all posted on when the trip is once I know more.

On to other more happier topics, I am immensely looking forward to this fall. The month of October is my very favorite of the year! I love everything about it! From the fair, the weather, the decorations, Halloween, and my birthday! I love it all! This year we have two exciting trips coming up in this month and the next. In October, we are taking a trip with my family to Gatlinburg, TN for a long weekend. I am soooooo ready for a vacation! Then, next month we are taking a trip up to PA for Thanksgiving to be with Matt's family! I am ready to see all of our PA family and maybe even get to see a bit of snow! I am planning on running the Turkey Trot the morning of Thanksgiving at Presque Isle on Lake Erie's border so I hope the winter weather won't be too bad. This will be the first race I have ever attempted by myself so say a prayer for me! I am really looking forward to being up there. PA family.....get ready for Anna...she is so much different than when you saw her in January! She is a mobile, talking, energetic bundle of sweetness with a bit of sass thrown in for good measure! She is my source of constant motivation and entertainment. She makes every day wonderful!

On a side note, I am taking another graduate class (yes, I know I said I was finished with school) but opportunities keep cropping up. I am taking a Spanish class at the local technical college. And since I teach in a school that is at least 67% hispanic....I feel obligated and motivated to learn the language. Not to mention I am having a blast learning it. It has become a personal challenge now to see how well I can read and speak it. I find myself listening to the mp3's on the way to work just to add extra vocabulary to my school lessons. Not to mention I have discovered this helps with road rage.....it is a nice distraction from idiot drivers! haha! Anna chatters along with me while I repeat various phrases. Who knows, maybe she will pick some up too! :) I am sure she thinks I am quite funny while watching me from her car seat while I am trying to correct my pronunciation.

Well, I shall call it a day for now. Check out the pics below from a zoo trip a couple weeks ago (yes, I know, I will do better about posting a bit more "promptly").

Hansel and Gretel

2010-09-22T10:52:00.002-04:00

Yesterday Anna and I went to Matt's work because I was going to be going to class that night and he was going to be watching her for the evening. When we got there, Anna wanted to "talk" and see all of his co-workers. While in the main office, Anna noticed a cardboard cutout of a frog (Matt's company's logo) and was immediately taken with frog. She began talking to him animatedly and pointing. Another one of Matt's co-workers noticed her enthusiasm over the frog and told us he had something to show her. So, we followed him to his office and he had tanks (picture what you'd keep a beta fish in) full of African Dward frogs. Anna was in heaven! Her favorite thing in the whole world is aquariums. So, she immediately began to converse with the live frogs. The gentleman who had all the frogs was so sweet and gave Anna her very own tank with two frogs in them. She was so happy! She was not so excited to later find out that she would not be able to ride home with the frogs on her lap though. :) We have had to teach her that she can not "hold" the frog friends but she can look at them through the tank and watch them play! :)

Below you can see her the first morning of being a proud "Pet Owner" of her frogs Hansel and Gretel.

Long Weekend!

2010-09-07T18:17:00.004-04:00

A picnic at the lake!!! What a great way to spend Labor Day weekend!

Playing in her boat float :) Thanks Gran & Grandpa!!!

Aunt Becca and Anna

Daddy and Anna

Check out her hair!

Anna and her Gran & Grandpa

Us and the Grandparents

Anna and Mommy

Contemplative...

Sitting on the boat

Trying to snap a pic of the three of us....

Bliss!

Beach weekend

2010-08-30T07:28:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we took a small vacation to Edisto for Matt's birthday. We had a great time! We spent much of the weekend just being lazy and eating good food. :) We also spent lots of time at the beach. Anna was SO EXCITED to see the waves and to be near the ocean. It had a been a few months since she had seen the water and back then she couldn't walk, so this beach trip was amazing for her. She played in the sand and in the waves. Due to the horrible riptide (tropical storms were roaming in the atlantic), we wouldn't let her go more than in to her ankles and we had to hold her hands. She loved it though! She also liked eating at the Sea Cow (who doesn't???) and enjoyed her time at the surf shops too! I have to say a huge THANKS to DW for letting us use the condo. It was perfect!!!!

Seeing the waves!

Wow!!!!

Mommy & Anna

Anna and the birthday day boy!!!!

It was a fantastic relaxing weekend!

2010-08-24T17:08:00.000-04:00

Well, it is back to school time for me and back to Gran's for Anna. We have adjusted well so far after our first week. It is SOOOOO hard for us to get up early in the morning and then for me to go one way and Anna the other. I miss her terribly during the day. I can't wait until the afternoon when I get to go and pick her up! I just have to remember it is good for her and she definitely loves seeing her Grandparents and her friends during the day.

At Gran's

Fun, fun, fun!!!!

2010-08-09T09:02:00.011-04:00

It has been a marvelous few days!! We went to David's 3rd birthday party this weekend! It is hard to believe he is already three. He is such a brilliant and sweet child!

Here some pics from his party!

David giving Uncle Matt a hug. :) Then promptly said "I'm three years old and pick my nose" haha! I love it!

The birthday boy!

Matt and Brynn (Lacy's sweet little girl)

Harrison and I (he was pondering my necklace)

Yes, that's our girl.....tutu and all! Matt decided since it was a boys party she should rock her tutu and she was more than happy to oblige. She had been wanting to wear it for a week.

Me and my best girl

Anna loved Uncle Jd's swing set! (By the way she expects one for Christmas)

Daddy pulling Anna

Gdaddy and Anna - She brought a book over to him and hopped up on the couch

Anna and the kids

Taking over the chairs - playing is hard work

She loved the fish.....of course. I suppose we will eventually have to put a tank in her room.

Playing with Brynn

Pulling out of their driveway.... she was exhausted!

A Visit to BABY BRAYDEN!!! (and to see Jenn and Sam too!) :)

My precious niece and I

Uncle Matt and Brayden Rose

Matt taking Anna to see Brayden's stork

She had to ride Uncle Sam's golf cart

Matt, Anna, and Mrs. Cindy

Anna checking out Brayden's car seat

Cousins!

We got to see the Bailey's too!

Another sleepy girl

We let Anna ride her plane that Grandpa made in a parking lot. She has really gotten the hang of how to push it with her feet.

A few pics.....updates to follow soon!

2010-08-01T19:53:00.004-04:00

Hey everybody! It has been an incredibly busy week. My niece was born last Wednesday!!!!! Baby Brayden is here! My sister Jennifer showed amazing courage and strength while in labor with Brayden. She had a very difficult and long day but after almost 14 hours both Mommy and daughter were okay and recovering. I will post more pics of my sweet niece (and her and Anna) soon! I am giving Jennifer a chance to post her pics online first and then I will post mine. :)

Brayden Rose

And pictures of our hooligan..... :)

Summer is going too fast!

2010-07-21T09:12:00.003-04:00

As I type this, I am also beginning to work on school plans for the new year. I can't believe how fast this summer has gone. For the remaining time (right around two weeks) I plan on making the most of every minute.
This past week Anna and I haven't done anything too exciting. We have mainly stayed around the house except for attending her gymnastics classes. We have had a good time playing in the yard or attempting to put puzzles together. She loves the concept of dumping the pieces out but not necessarily putting them back in the spots! She'd rather chew on the pieces still. I have been really impressed by the things she has been doing lately. She is definitely in the "Monkey see" stage. She can identify her "head, belly, toes, and nose" which I think is pretty good. She has also really taken to signing and will sign for "more", "milk", "finished", and "eat". I have been trying to get her to pick up on the "sleepy" one, but she hasn't quite gotten it yet. Her spoken vocabulary has increased too. She can say quite a few things. She says "bye" consistently and in the correct context as well as "ma ma" and "da da". She calls all dogs "bubba" (I actually think she tries to say "bandit" but it just comes out easier as bubba. She will say "book" and "ball" sometimes. "Uh oh" is a constant too! I am just amazed at how fast learning at this age takes place.

An update on "parent activities" Matt is still continuing to play soccer on Sundays. He is enjoying getting back to his sport. He is hopeful that he will get a break from being in the goal this weekend and play in the field instead.
I am attending Zumba, taking Body Pump classes, and playing tennis as much as time allows through the week. As a matter of fact, we have a tennis tournament this weekend and I am looking forward to having Matt and Anna cheer me on! Anna is our group's best cheerleader (she's certainly the loudest!)

Next week I am going to try to get as much school stuff out of the way so that Anna and I can spend some quality time with Matt because he will be leaving for a training session in Boston August 8th. We will be sad to have him away for a week. :( But, I am sure he will learn a bunch!

No blog is complete without pictures of our girl! Here are a few from this week:

Gymnastics class wears her out! :)

She loves playing "dress up" in Mommy's closet

I think the Crocs add a special touch, don't you?

Daddy and Anna left me a message in the bathtub....so sweet! (Guess who has to clean all that up....yours truly)

Uncle Chris went out to LA and Las Vegas for a vacation and he brought Minnie back for Anna. She carries her everywhere. It's so cute!

2010-07-11T17:28:00.008-04:00

This past weekend we were fortunate enough to get away for a mini vacation to visit Uncle David and Aunt Jackie in the upstate! They were nice enough to host us and take us on a tour of Greenville! We absolutely loved it! Everything was so nice and clean. The people were friendly and the views were spectacular! I had so much fun capturing the views with my camera, so I will let the pictures tell the events of the weekend!

We started out at the Greenville zoo....

Anna sitting on one of the lion statues

They had a baby orangutan!!!! So stinkin' cute!

Anna at the petting zoo....

After the zoo, we took a stroll in downtown Greenville. They were having a farmer's market sale.

Anna and I

David and Jackie (well Jackie is behind the sunflowers!)

Brothers! Matt and David

Anna entertaining herself while waiting on lunch. She spent more time trying eat the crayons than actually coloring.

This was a beautiful terrace outside one of buildings....I think it is frame-worthy!

The view from the park

This park was amazing! We are standing in Reedy River here.

Matt and Anna

At Uncle David & Aunt Jackie's house!

Loving on Skynyrd....I seriously think Anna is super sad not to have him at our house. She loved having him around.

We took a trip down to the lake. Anna was much better about wearing a life jacket this year!

Playing in the water!

Aunt Jackie and Willow

Daddy and his little girl.

Skynyrd patiently waiting on Anna or Matt to throw the ball

Love this one!

The crocs were a bit hard to walk in while in the water...so we ditched them!

Sweet Willow

Thank you David and Jackie for giving us a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-05T09:41:00.005-04:00

Happy 4th! We spent the day with family at a huge bash near Lake Marion. We enjoyed listening to the band, eating great food, and spending time with loved ones.

Getting ready to leave

Sitting with Grandpa

Anna loves riding the golf cart

Rockin' out to the band

Time to play in the water!

Anna wanted to ride on the tractor......so Matt obliged. She was so excited!

Jason, Matt, and Anna

Us!

Dancing with Daddy

Getting sleepy.....

Time to go....

Watching fireworks at our neighborhood pond. Families brought all their fireworks and created one big display. It was beautiful.

Our sweet girl.....sleepy....

Gamecock Parade

2010-07-02T14:51:00.005-04:00

Being the big Gamecock fan that I am, I couldn't resist taking Anna downtown to see the parade in honor of our National Champions and my alma mater! We were so thankful that it was only about 85 today so it was actually quite comfortable!

Anna and Claire watching the parade

Our girl! (intrigued by Cocky at the moment)

Anna showing support for the Wilson family! We ♥ them!

(Have I mentioned that they used to be my landlords? ;0)

Our state capitol dome flying the Gamecock flag!

Still not worn out.....you'd think she would be!

Taking a moment to snap a pic with Mommy!

Soccer Sunday

2010-06-27T20:04:00.004-04:00

Today was Matt's soccer game. It was VERY hot, but he played well and had a great time!

Matt in the goal

Anna watching Daddy and eating a snack

Walking with Grandpa

Practicing her dribbling skills

Soccer Star

2010-06-24T11:48:00.002-04:00

Anna playing in her Daddy's soccer stuff. She knew exactly how to put on the goalie gloves and everything! Let's just hope her wearing them gives her Daddy good luck for his game on Sunday!

Having fun clapping her hands in the big gloves

Trying to master the art of holding a ball with them on

She got it! :)

Father's Day Zoo Trip

2010-06-22T14:48:00.004-04:00

Matt wanted to take Anna to the zoo first thing on Father's Day morning so that's what we did! We had a great time and got out of there before it got to be too hot!

Look who wanted to walk around all by herself!

I'd like thank Matt for being the best "daddy" a girl could ask for. He does a great job of taking care of Anna and is always there when we need him. He isn't intimidated by the dirty stuff like changing diapers or cleaning up after spaghetti dinner nights. He doesn't mind changing the music in the car because the "girls" want to listen to something that we can dance to instead of his Pearl Jam (though they are okay every now and then). Matt is a spectacular husband and the BEST father! I know that Anna will turn out to be a wonderful person because she has him in her life.

2010-06-18T08:30:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone! I wanted to let you know there will be some changes to the blog site over the next few weeks. I have sent the first year of Anna's life in blog form to be printed from a great company called www.blogs2print.com so that I will have a "book" of her first year in blog posts and pictures. I have kept up with her baby books but not in near the detail that I post here. So, it is a great way for me to save or scrapbook her events. For those of you who have a blog, I highly recommend this company. They were very user friendly and their costs are competitive with others on the market. They also let you customize your book.
All of that to say that I will be archiving the first year or so of my posts in a bit, so if you want to look back, please do so soon. Blogger only lets a user have so much space, and I am getting near my limit. It's about time to do some housekeeping so that I can continue to add on! :)

One of our favorite afternoon past times.... playing in the sprinkler!

Practicing the walk

Sumo pose!

Being sweet to Mommy

Anna is much like her father....when the TV is on, she is focused! Especially if it's Martha Speaks!

Anna and her Bumbo seat....she was never interested in this seat as an infant. She didn't like to sit in it and really never used it. But now, as a toddler, she plays and sits in it all the time!

2010-06-14T09:55:00.004-04:00

Fun Times!

2010-06-10T11:33:00.006-04:00

Hey everyone! This morning Anna went to class and her Gran came too! Gran got to seen Anna and the other children in action! Thanks so much for coming Gran and taking pictures too!

Look at me walking with little help!

Her favorite...she cried when she had to get off......taking turns is not quite a skill she has yet!

Mom helping me learn to do a forward roll

By the end of class Anna was tired! She had been awake since 6am and she was ready for a nap!

She was much more comfortable on the equipment this week than last time. :)

Summer time and the livin's easy!

2010-06-08T17:00:00.004-04:00

I've had a couple other "moms" want to know what we are up to this summer and how our daily schedule is so I figured I'd just post it here for them to read. Right now the plan is just to keep Anna and I busy and have fun! Luckily, I am very much like a toddler and like to do lots of different activities throughout the day!

Here is a rough idea of what we will be doing throughout the summer days!
7-8 am - Wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast
9am to whenever - go to an outing (classes, zoo, visit family, shopping etc.) or outside play time/trip to the pond normally with a morning snack around 10am
11:30-12 ish - Return home/lunch time!
1pm - nap (Mom cleans up)
3 until - afternoon snack
puzzle/coloring time
song and dance time (her favorite!) Bubbles too!
Outside time - Pool/Sprinkler/Playground/big ball
Story time!
5ish - Clean up time and Independent play/ Daddy's home!!!!- Mom gets things ready for dinner!

Our days change but this is our "basic" plan. If any of you Moms have creative ideas to do with a 14 month old let me know. We have several playdates lined up as I am fortunate to have a few friends with young children too!

Today Anna went to her first "Music and Movement" class at the library. She had a great time. It was fun to see the variety of developmental stages in the class from 13 months to 24. Anna's favorite part was the parachute! The kids got to go underneath it while the parents made it go up and down. Of course that did a PE teacher's heart well to see! That is one of the items my kindergartners at school play with and love!

Anna sleeping after Music and Movement today!

Then after we finished her class, we drove to vote! Anna loved waving at the volunteers at the poll. She even got a "I voted" sticker!

Summer time!

2010-06-05T16:41:00.004-04:00

Our favorite time of the year is here! We just love the lazy days of summer!

Today we started off our summer by taking Anna to a "gym" class with other toddlers ages 12-22months. I am planning to take her there a few days a week in order to give her some time with other children her age and give us an outing! Today we got to practice the forward roll, balancing, playing on the swings, and jumping on a trampoline. She did a great job for her first time there! She is one of the younger ones in her class, but that doesn't stop her! She is a bit cautious as new things and equipment are introduced, but she tried everything at least once!

Then, as if we needed to wear her out more......we came home and played in her pool and sprinkler! She loves dodging the water from the sprinkler!

Ok Mom and Dad......I'm ready to play!!!!

Please pardon my picture quality these days.....my normal camera is no longer charging so I'm going to have to be on the search for a new one soon. Until then, I will primarily be using my cell phone camera to take pics and video. It is definitely not the best....but it gets the job done! :)

Check back regularly.....as it is the summer and I have more time to post. We are planning to do lots of fun things this summer! We are going to go to the zoo a bunch, check out Edventure Museum, visit family, and play in the water!!!! Yipee!!!

A "MINI" vacation to Charleston

2010-05-31T08:41:00.007-04:00

This weekend has been fabulous! We took a trip to Charleston to pick up my new car. I have been driving the Buick for a while and I have really REALLY disliked it. It was too huge, though it served it's purpose well for Anna's first year. We took it three times to PA, but I have to say I really didn't like driving it. I have always been a "car" person not a big SUV person. So, I was ready to get back to a car....especially one with a manual transmission. I am not a fan of an automatic. So, I have ALWAYS wanted a MINI Cooper but I knew they were completely impractical for a family....but then last October, I discovered the MINI Clubman (I am part of MINI's email updates) and I knew I would eventually want to have that car as my family car. It is basically an extended version of the Mini Cooper. It has three doors (an Anna door) and extra storage space in the boot. Matt and I worked really hard to save money ..... in other words limiting our eating out and trips, eating cheap meals at home, and using coupons every chance we got to save money to pay off our Buick. After we did that, we started the search for my Clubman. There were three different dealers within 100 miles that were bartering for our business which really helped us get the best side of the car buying deal.

After we picked up my car.....we decided to take Anna to the Charleston aquarium. She absolutely LOVED the big tanks and the fish. She would squeal and laugh when they would swim by her stroller. We were so glad we decided to detour through downtown and risk the crowds from Spoletto. She was in toddler heaven!!!

Our new Mini

Matt driving the "oompa loompa" car haha

Here is a video of Anna enjoying the wind blowing through her hair from the open sunroof!

Matt taking Anna to the touch tank in the aquarium

Anna and I at the aquarium

Anna waving at a boat while getting her picture taken

Look at my cute baby crocs!

Anna and her new turtle from the aquarium

She decided she didn't want to talk across the bridge by herself. ;)

It was such a great weekend!

Little Dancer

2010-05-23T08:57:00.000-04:00

Summer is almost here!

2010-05-20T18:05:00.006-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posting folks! It is the end of the school year and boy is it crazy! I am so ready to be out for the summer. It has been quite a year! The lazy days of summer are definitely calling!

So, this week we had a baby checkup appointment and Anna Kay is officially 31 inches tall and 21 pounds. She had her first MMR shot and she was not crazy about that. She has handled the immunization well so far though. She's growing very fast and is still in the 95% for height, and only 40% for weight. She is still predicted to be a tall girl! More power to her....her Mommy wishes she had a couple extra inches every now and then! :)

This is a pic of me entertaining Anna at the doctor's office.

Anna is doing all types of amazing things these days. She says "hey!" to everyone and waves like she is in a parade constantly. She "chats" with any one. Our child is definitely not shy! She has started trying to miss one of her naps a day and has basically dwindled the naps down to just one a day.

On the way home today from Gran's.......definitely a tired girl!

She as recently become a fan of throwing food at mealtime which has resulted in her losing her tray a time or two. She really loves to feed the dogs from her highchair and watch them scurry for the food. She can climb a full flight of stairs if you let her. She will stand independently and take a couple steps. She still isn't crazy about walking from here to there yet. She prefers to have something to hold on to. She pushes her tiny stroller all over the place. She also is obsessed with the show Martha Speaks. It's her favorite! Well, actually the theme song is her favorite part....but when she hears it she goes nuts!

Sitting in her Disney princess chair and watching TV. Those pj's are the cutest.....they are "Life is Good" and say "nightowl" on them.

Gran took the girls to the park! Here is Anna getting pushed in the swings!

Our sweet girl cheering me on at my 5k race! :)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

2010-05-09T12:09:00.003-04:00

I'd like to wish a Happy Mother's day to all the amazing women out there. I am fortunate enough for this to be my second Mother's day and my how life has changed during that year. Anna Kay was only a couple weeks old whenever I got to experience my first Mother's day. I believe I was still in total shock at the time of actually becoming a mother. I was in the midst of changing diapers constantly, feeding every two hours, and exhaustion from the lack of sleep that comes with those first few weeks. I learned the sweet feeling of snuggling a newborn that wants your warmth to soothe her to sleep and mastered the art of swaddling to keep her there for at least three hours (maybe!). I read books and books on childcare and bonding, sleeping and behavior. I found myself sleeping with one arm over the bassinet more often that not just to make sure Anna was still breathing through the night. I can't tell you how many times my arm fell asleep during those nights. Then she advanced to the crib and I had to adjust to not having her there....Matt will tell you I didn't. He will also tell you that I spent the first night on the floor of her nursery sleeping on the floor.

Now, just a year later, we live in a different world, one full of finger feeding and sippy cups. Size four diapers, tantrums, and toys galore! We get to watch her try to gain her independence by standing, walking, and feeding all on her own. Gone are the days of sitting on laps contentedly for periods of time for they are now traded in for playing chase in the living room and dancing to every tune she hears.

I have watched her learn to smile, recognize voices, roll over, crawl, babble, stand, and take a few steps. I am anxious for all that is to come as I know each new phase will be just as exciting as the one before! I am so thankful for the opportunity to be a mother to the best daughter in the world!

Here is a small list of things that I love about being Anna Kay's Mommy:

* Hearing her "talk" to me in the car on the way to and from places

* Always having a constant companion

* Her infectious smile..she makes everyone smile....they can't help it...she's so cute!

* She is the BEST snuggler - hands tucked in and head on the shoulder!

* Hearing her laugh....the sound is amazing!

* Watching her experience all of her "firsts"...

* Knowing the hard work you do daily is helping shape a life!

Look at how much she has changed in just the past year!

Mother's day 2009

Prom and Birthday Weekend

2010-04-27T17:28:00.002-04:00

This weekend was packed with activity. Friday night Rebecca (Matt's little sister) had a soccer game, then Saturday night was her Senior prom, and Sunday was Anna Kay's party!!!!!

Her birthday weekend begins!!!!

Snuggling Aunt Becca after her soccer game

Notice the bow that is in her hair......woo hoo!

Aunt Becca and Charlie

Becca and Anna ..... Anna loved her sparkly jewels

Party Day Arrives!!!! Anna Kay is One Year Old!!!!!!

Can you believe our girl is one???

"Where are my guests?" She was the official greeter. :)

David playing with Anna (in her princess chair)

Anna and her friends

Aunt Jennifer and Anna (and her cousin on the way....Jenn's expecting a baby in July!)

Her cakes - I made these myself and am super proud! I think by the time she's 10 I may actually get the hang of decorating them. I thought they turned out pretty good considering it was my first attempt. :D

Anna Kay's cake

Down to business......opening presents

A little help from Daddy

More clothes??? Notice the thumb in the mouth and the hand in the diaper....... hilarious!!!!

Mommy got to help too

The animals made noise that she thought was funny!

Her gift from Mommy and Daddy.

Testing it out

Cake time!

"Why is everyone singing to me?" This really baffled her!

mmmm cake in one hand, cheezit in the other. Our girl can multi-task!

This was a weekend we will always remember. We have so many amazing memories from the day of April 25th, 2009 and Anna's arrival. From the call at 3am, to the wait, her arrival, and bonding time during the hospital. The day marked an answer to MANY prayers. The day also forged bonds between families and showed that where there is hope and faith there is also love.

P.S. I'm still sorting through pictures and uploading so I'll continue to post pics as I process them. :)

2010-04-18T10:33:00.005-04:00

For a few days over spring break, Anna and I went down to the beach and we brought our friend Meagan with us! We met some of the rest of my family and enjoyed several days of beautiful weather.

Meagan and I at the beach! It was sooooooo windy that day!

Playing on the porch

Some of our friends from Germany were also staying with us during the time of Spring break.

Barbara and her parents....a bit of Martin too!

Me on the slackline - it's a bit like tight rope walking

Jean rockin' the slackline

Look at DW go!

The next day after we got home from the beach I decided to take Anna for a picnic at the neighborhood pond.

Here they come!!!

Feeding the ducks

Hi Mom!

Sweet sleepy girl

She also got a new car seat over Spring break! She's now in a "big girl" seat facing forwards! Woo hoo!!!!! We have been waiting so long for this day!

Easter

2010-04-14T21:12:00.006-04:00

Ok......I admit it...I am just now posting pictures from Easter and Spring break. I apologize! I have been rather slack about my blog updates but I will try to do better! We have been doing great and have been making the most of our family time together!

Easter morning

Arriving at church

Proud parents!!!

I love this picture! Her face is priceless!

My sweet girl!

Anna with (some) of her Aunts and Uncles

Granpa and Anna (Another one of my favorite pics!)

Couldn't ask for better Grandparents!!!

After church we met my family for a quick bite to eat. I really enjoyed getting to see almost all of our family on Easter!

Patiently waiting on food.......

She wanted the slice of lemon

Haha but it didn't quite taste like an orange! The funny thing is she kept going back for more!

Anna and Aunt Jennifer

Anna and Nana

Anna's Easter basket from Aunt Jenn and Uncle Sam! It was so cute!

Look! She got an Easter basket at Gran's too! What a lucky duck?!!! She loved them all!

Pictures from spring break to come.....tomorrow perhaps!

2010-03-27T09:04:00.004-04:00

Anna playing in her hat and purse Nana brought her....dress up here we come!

Trying to ride a tricycle at Gran's!!

We went to Becca's soccer game last Friday.

Anna and Becca posing in the goal.

Anna sitting in the soccer goal on the field that her Daddy, Aunt, and both Uncles played on!

Aunt Becca made a shirt for Anna to wear that said "I love #5!" on the front and "That's my Aunt" on the back. Anna proudly sports it at her games now!

St. Patty's Day Race and Festivities!

2010-03-13T16:20:00.007-05:00

We attended Columbia's Annual St. Patty's Day in downtown 5 points and had a blast! We started the day out with me running the "Get to the Green" race with my good friend Meagan. Then we all went and watch the parade and Anna loved that! She liked to watch all the mascots roam about and of course she loved the band! After the parade we roamed around and talked to friends that we saw along the way. Anna's favorite part of the day was going to see the bands play on stage!

Meagan and I at the finish line

All done!

Collecting some beads along the way

Waiting on the parade

Chillin' in the stroller

Sunglasses!

To top off an end to a great day, we went and watched Aunt Becca play soccer and their team won! Yay!

2010-03-10T21:06:00.004-05:00

Here are the photos of last Saturday (courtesy of Aunt Marcia......Thanks for taking such GREAT pics!!!).

Anna and Harrison roaming about

David (hasn't he gotten so big so fast!??!) and Anna

David and Harrison (brothers) and Uncle Matt in the background :)

Obviously not interested in the Gulf War haha

Harrison and I

Anna joining me for a pose.... don't ask about my hair..haha....it was doing what it wanted to that day!

Anna clapping for me (I believe I was dancing for some reason or another)

2010-03-08T08:43:00.005-05:00

This weekend was fantastic! Not only was the weather was gorgeous, but we got to be out and about and spend time with friends and family all weekend. Saturday morning I went downtown to do a practice run for the race next weekend. The weather was beautiful! Matt and Anna ended up meeting me down there and we went to Uncle Chris' for a visit. Collins and I met up with them and we all decided to do lunch. It was so nice to get to spend time with Uncle Chris!

Out to lunch!

Then Saturday afternoon we headed over to my family's house to meet John David, Marcia, and the boys, along with Jean, Matt, DW for dinner! Anna's cousins are growing fast! We had a good time watching all the different children go this way and that. Anna entertained the adults at the table with her table etiquette (or lack thereof). :)

Sunday we had a busy day of shopping (Anna is currently wearing her 12mo stuff and rapidly heading in to 18mo stuff) so we had to go and pick her up a few new items. Well, we went to the mall and just wasn't impressed with some of the stuff there. They mainly had all summer stuff out and the weather just isn't warm enough yet for shorts. :) So, we headed to babies r us instead and hit the jackpot! I had to STOP myself from buying the place out. They had all Carters sets on sale 50% off....yikes! So, Anna ended up getting a few new dresses, some onesies, a sweater, and a couple pairs of pants. Matt was a trooper the whole shopping experience.....guess he better get used to it! He's now got to deal with TWO girls wanting to go shopping! :)

Our little leprechaun

Then after shopping we attended our normal family night dinner at Matt's parents' house. Matt's brother CJ just got a new motorcycle and he was so excited to show it off. Anna got a chance to sit on the bike. However, Matt strictly stated to CJ....this will be the ONLY time she's ever allowed on a motorcycle...with us and while it's in park! haha

Playing with her plane! She's almost tall enough to sit on it and ride it now!

2010-03-03T06:51:00.002-05:00

Sorry about the delay in posting folks! Anna has had a bit of a cold for a couple days. Our sweet girl didn't sleep very well Sunday night...waking up through most of the night and we knew she wasn't feeling well. She loves her sleep just as much as we do and she normally sleeps soundly. She started running a fever about midnight and it was time for baby tylenol. Monday she still didn't feel great and developed a runny nose and congestion. She rested all of Monday afternoon on either myself or her Daddy....she wouldn't let us put her down. She just wanted to snuggle and it was so sweet! She is normally such an active child and for her not to want to be ALL over the place we knew she wasn't feeling well. By yesterday she was back to her old self with just a bit of a runny nose. We are so glad she is feeling better. There is nothing worse than having a sick child whom who isn't old enough to understand what's going on yet. :(

Here is our precious angel who fell asleep while watching "Martha Speaks"

Snuggling with Mommy but obviously still not feeling well

Much better!

Dinner is always fun at our house!

Fun weekend!

2010-02-22T07:59:00.006-05:00

This past weekend was great! Friday night we entertained Grandpa and Chris for dinner. It was nice to have them over and for us all to get to spend time together. Anna was the life of the party having had a late afternoon nap, she stayed up until 10! She was crawling around and giggling. She has a game of liking to be chased or chasing others. If she sees that you are "going to get her" she takes off as fast as she can so you can't catch her. :) She also enjoys chasing too.
Saturday, Matt and I spent the day with Anna just doing things around the house and then we took her for a bit of "out and about" time because the weather was BEAUTIFUL! I dutifully did my running and was so glad to not have to bundle up in layers for my training. I am running a race on March 13th so I only have a few more weeks of training left!
Saturday night, Aunt Becca and Grandpa so graciously agreed to babysit our sweet girl so that we could go out for a "date night" downtown. We had gotten a call from some of the people we graduated high school with and they were going to be downtown and wanted to get a group together.
The weather was just as great Sunday, so we spent as much time out in it as possible. We met some of my family for a lunch out and Anna really enjoyed that. She is big into finger feeding so she was nice and messy by the time we were ready to leave. It was hilarious! Thank goodness for baby wipes....they are great!
I was so excited to see my sister...she is now beginning to show in her pregnancy which is so amazing! I can't wait until March so we can find out whether I will be having a niece or a nephew!

Anna napping from the car ride. :)

Helping Mommy bake!

Look at that bow!......there's almost enough hair to hold it!

Carolina Snow Day!

2010-02-12T20:29:00.000-05:00

We are enjoying the SC snow day!!!! We are in the process of getting at least 3-5 inches here in SC and boy is it beautiful! We couldn't resist the urge to bundle up and go out in it a bit!

My two Valentines!!!!

Mommy and her sweet girl!

Look at those beautiful eyes.

We were a bit caught off guard for this photo :)

Laughing because she was trying to eat the snowflakes

Our backyard.....poor Bandit was dragging bottom!

The weekends go by too fast!

2010-02-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

This weekend has gone by so fast! First of all "Congrats" to the Saints! I am so thrilled that they won. I have been a fan since Brees started and I am so glad they had such a fantastic season. Now, on to the weekend affairs. Saturday, Anna and I hitched a ride with Matt's parents to Charleston to see family. We all had a great day of laughing, playing Wii, and eating Baroni's!

Today, I spent the day doing some things around the house and playing with Anna. She is all over the place and pulling up on most things. I imagine it won't be too much longer before she will be standing on her own and walking. It is hard to believe! She is such a delight!

Here is Anna at Aunt Rose's!

Aunt Rose and Anna

A sleepy Anna getting ready for a trip to Target.

This is what she does now for nap time......did I mention she has decided that she is "too big" for morning naps now?!?! :D

I had a couple people email me and request a video of her crawling so here it is!

2010-02-01T08:06:00.000-05:00

We had a great weekend! Saturday Anna and I went out to lunch with Collins and Jean! We went to Tabouli downtown and then went shopping a bit as well. I was also thrilled that Matt got off work Saturday due to the "weather". Ha! The park service ended up closing the park early so he got to come home! Yay! So, Sunday we went to family night dinner and Anna had her first "real" meal. She had baked ziti...and loved it! She was probably wondering why we had been feeding her all that gross stuff for months. :)

Anna at Tabouli

Enjoying a story before bedtime

Mmm! Ziti at Gran's!

I apologize for the quality of these videos but they are taken with my cell phone. It's quick and easy to grab on the go!

More eating video!

Daddy Daughter Days!

2010-01-28T07:16:00.000-05:00

Matt was off Wednesday and Thursday of this week so he and Anna got to spend some quality time together. He took her to feed the ducks at our neighborhood pond and she really enjoyed that.

She also had her 9mo old wellness checkup yesterday and we were both excited to see how much she had grown. She is now 18.12 pounds and 29inches. She is still projected to be a very tall girl!

2010-01-25T07:53:00.000-05:00

Here are few random pics from the end of last week and the weekend. Matt had to work all weekend so Anna and I roamed a bit and played! We visited the library, a few stores, and even grocery shopped! We were quite productive. :)

My favorite grin of hers!

Yes, that's a sippy cup in her hand! She's trying really hard to get the concept.

My lil "reader"

Isn't this outfit the cutest?? Her Gran got it for her for Christmas. It has little Scottie dogs on the side. :)

In Daddy's truck

Anna goes back to the doctor this Wednesday for her next checkup and immunizations. I will share with you all her heights and weights......I am sure she is still in the upper percentiles for height. She's in 12 month old clothes these days and she's just now 9months. She can fit into a few of her 9 month items but most of the pants and onesies are becoming a bit short.

2010-01-23T13:24:00.000-05:00

We made is successfully back from PA! The trip was nice....especially being able to visit with family we don't get to see all the time. We did get to see snow....tons of it. Though most of it was from the previous week. There were snow drifts in parking lots as high as a house. It was crazy! It was nice to visit, but I can't imagine having to deal with it all the time. I don't know how they do it! We did take advantage of it though! Matt and Anna played in the snow. Anna experienced her first sled ride with Daddy! Matt then decided to practice his snowboarding skills. :) Anna was a little baffled about all the white stuff but she enjoyed riding on the sled.

Below are some pictures from the trip....there will be a few more to come as I took some pictures with Gran's camera so I will have to get that from her and upload them.

My little snow bunny

Brr it was freezing....

Going up the hill for a ride

Check out her balancing!

Ready to go!

With her pigtail hat (it's the only type of pigtails she will have for a while haha) courtesy of Aunt Jean

A trip!

2010-01-13T21:06:00.000-05:00

I wanted everyone to know I will be out of touch technology wise for a few days as we are traveling up north to PA tomorrow to visit our family up there. I will take a bunch of pics and post once we get back. Please pray for Matt's grandfather (he has suffered another stroke) and for safe travels. We are looking forward to getting to see everyone and might even get to see some snow! :)

Frosting!

2010-01-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

The other day I made some cupcakes and Matt was holding Anna and eating one. She kept reaching for the cupcake and so Matt held it out to see if she'd lick it (she can't have the cake part yet). Instead she stuck her whole mouth over the top and pushed her face into the icing to get as much as possible. It was hilarious! She was so excited and LOVED IT! We can't wait to see what she does with her cake when she turns one!

After she licked most of it off her face ;)

Time for the tub!

:D

This is a cute video of a sleepy Anna who gets excited when Patches comes over to play! Anna has two very obvious signs when she's ready for a nap and you can see them here.....sucking her thumb and putting her hand(s) behind her head!

More Christmas pics

2009-12-30T10:24:00.000-05:00

We really had a wonderful Christmas this year. We did a bit of "party hopping" so that everyone got to take part in Anna's first Christmas.

Anna and Tia the dog having a staring contest

Anna's ever growing present pile at Nana's.

This was her favorite part of opening gifts.....trying to eat the paper!

Anna and I sitting (I was on guard to take away paper before she actually consumed it!) I think she's part goat!

Nana and Anna

Matt and I

Anna at Gran's and Grandpa's......guess what she went straight for... the tree and presents! That's one smart girl!

Aunt Becca and Anna

Charlie, Becca, and Anna

Uncle Chris and Anna (with her tub toys he got her)

Anna and her pretty dress from Great Grandma

Of course....representing her Daddy's team... from Great Grandma and Grandpa in Erie!

Daddy helping Anna with her new penguin

This was probably one of the most memorable gifts she received. This airplane was hand made by her Grandpa and it is absolutely amazing! The plane was created using Aspen wood that he cut and sanded and painted and placed together. He even chose the design that he painted himself. The back end of the airplane's number will be "0425" her birth date. There is a little seat on it so Anna can ride it around as soon as she gets just a bit taller. Her feet don't quite touch the ground right now when she's on it. But giver her a month or so!

Anna and Grandpa (the creator of the plane) :)

Anna and Gran

There are more pics that I will be posting soon too! Anna has a new mode of transportation these days...A walker! She's been creeping and trying to pull up on things and so Matt and I got her a walker so she could move around the house. She's always getting frustrated because creeping isn't fast enough for her so we figured we'd give her some wheels. ;) She is an active mover (we spend most of our time chasing her around on the floor) and so this is perfect for her! She is great at going backwards in it but hasn't quite got the hang of going forwards yet. I'll try to get a video of her soon so you guys can see her in action.

Here's an update on other areas of Anna Kay: :D

She is also rapidly expanding her eating regime. She loves finger foods...puffs, yogurt melts etc. She got several cans of those for Christmas and we are thankful. Those are great for "entertainment" whenever we go out to eat or are in church. :) She enjoys eating baby food as long as it has something to do with fruit. Her only vegetables that she is a fan of so far are still only peas, butternut squash, and sweet potatoes. She likes all fruit. She will eat meat baby food as long as it is mixed with a fruit (ie: Gerber Chicken and Apples). Go figure! It sounds like a weird combo to me, but she likes it. We are working on getting her to like the sippy cup, however it is a slow process. She mainly just likes chewing on the end of it. She very seldom actually drinks from it. She thinks of it more as a toy.

Anna is also developing a personality of her own. She is every bit a girl! She is friendly and smiles at people when we are in stores. She is ticklish (especially feet) and loves to laugh. She can be shy at first around strangers but then warms up. She loves water! She definitely has her opinions on how she thinks things should go (which is hilarious...and she's great at adding a bit of drama!). If she wants a toy or object that is taken away, she gets mad and screams (no matter where we are might I add...Target has definitely heard some Anna screaming!). However whenever it does happen she's easily distracted and pleased by other entertainment. She is beginning to figure out the word "no" when going near things that she shouldn't touch. She will hear one of us say it and then look at us and stop (with a devilish grin) and most of the time she will change course. She also still hates her car seat on most occasions. I think it is more or less she hates being restrained. We get around this carseat dislike by giving her special toys in the car or letting her watch Baby Einstein on the dvd player. That cures just about everything. She is still taking roughly two naps a day. Her morning nap is shorter than her afternoon nap. She truly is the best baby ever!!!!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-26T00:27:00.001-05:00

I just wanted to put a quick post up to wish you a Merry Christmas! This picture was taken bright and early this morning (Anna is an early riser on most days but today even more so!) She knew what was coming!

We'll post more about the day's events soon!

The baking is done!

2009-12-23T17:12:00.000-05:00

Well today lil' miss Anna Kay and I did some of our holiday baking. A few weekends ago Gran and I had started it off with some peanut butter blossoms, chocolate no bakes, and pretzels with kisses. Today I made some sugar cookies! Yum! It was fun (and messy!) cutting out the shapes and decorating them. Anna enjoyed getting to watch the process and eat Gerber puffs. :)

Tomorrow is Christmas eve and we will be preparing to go to service tomorrow night. Then it's Christmas day.......yay!!!!

Anna has learned how to clap. This was a video of the first day she actually "got it". Now she does it constantly. We are working on teaching her how to wave. It's so cute to see her clapping her way through stores now. :)

Sorry for the quality of this one...it was taken on my cell.

2009-12-22T09:15:00.000-05:00

I apologize for not updating more recently, I have been a bit under the weather but am feeling much better now. :)
I am thrilled to be out for the Winter break and to spend two weeks with Anna! We have lots of things planned for the holidays so keep checking the blog for updates on Anna's first Christmas!

Last night we celebrated Christmas with a part of my family. My sister hosted the event at her house (Thanks Jenn!). We had a lot of good food and were glad that everyone was able to be there to celebrate.

Sitting down for some food!

(Dana, Bryan, Sam, and Mom)

Anna opening up presents!!!

A box?? That's it? haha

So, she attempts to eat the box!

Aunt Jenn gave Anna her last bottle for the night

Snugglin' with Aunt Jenn

Daddy helping out with the new toy.....stock in batteries here we come!

Loving on her new cabbage patch doll (a childhood favorite of my sister and I so she had to have one too!)

Trying on a new hat from Aunt Dana

"Rockin' around the Christmas Tree..."

Matt opening his gifts

Bryan opening his gifts

Matt discussing his exciting new "Leatherman"

Mom opening her gifts

Dana being silly with some of David's gifts

Uncle Sam and Aunt Jennifer playing with Anna (she loved his watch)

Lights at the Zoo

2009-12-13T07:45:00.000-05:00

Last week we went to the Lights at the Zoo to celebrate Gran's birthday. The lights were gorgeous!

Anna's ready for the lights! She was excited as we drove to the zoo.

Anna, Gdaddy, and I arriving at the zoo

Stopping for a pose

Our family

Grandpa and Anna on the giraffe

Watching the pony eat....

Look at Gran milking that cow! haha

Brothers...Matt and Chris

Looking at the lights

Charlie wanted a turn pushing Anna

Anna feeding herself as we were going through the aquarium. She's got the hang of feeding the 4oz. bottles.

Aunt Becca serenading Anna with the famous lullaby "Baby Got Back" ha!

Uncle Chris playing with Anna

Her favorite place...the aquarium

Grandpa and Anna

Grandpa took Anna to see Santa at the zoo (and this one was a bit more jolly)

Snuggling with Chris

Chewing on the car seat on the ride home....no sleepy baby here!

Trimming the tree and seeing Santa!

2009-12-07T19:21:00.000-05:00

Things have been busy around the household these days! Yesterday we took Anna to see Santa at the mall. We got there an 45 minutes before the mall opened and still had to wait a while in line. Anna was great the first half hour, then she had decided that she had enough of sitting still. She wanted to get down and move around (not that I blamed her). We distracted her with some puffs and she ate for the remainder of the 15 minute wait. By the time we got up to Santa we were hoping that she would be okay to sit on his lap. Matt eased her onto his lap and she just stared. She was mesmerized by his appearance. She didn't really smile, but she just looked and looked at him. As a matter of fact, I only got one picture (that's all they will let you take personally) but the cute package we bought is a picture of Anna looking up at Santa and him smiling at her. It looks as if she is in awe.....so sweet! I'll have to scan it and post it soon.

In addition to seeing Santa, we have been working on decorating the house. I have posted some of the pictures of that too!

The ornaments begin their decent from the attic

Matt and Anna decorating

She liked the spiked branches on the tree

Silly girl

Getting ready to go see Santa!

Beautiful

Chewing on Santa

Arriving at the mall getting ready to meet the Jolly ol' St. Nick

Wiggling on Daddy trying to get down

"Why is this lady trying to make me smile?" haha

Some decorations getting put on the tree.....it's getting there.

Our Annual Tree Cutting!

2009-12-06T08:04:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we packed up the cars and headed up to Boone, North Carolina to get our Christmas tree! We enjoy the experience of traveling up there and going to large tree farms and searching for the "perfect" tree. This year was even more exciting because it was Anna's first time going and it was snowing!!!!! The weather was beautiful. It was cold (around 26 degrees) but it wasn't windy so it was tolerable.

While we were picking out our tree the guys had snowball fights. :) Anna didn't quite know what to think about all the snow. She just looked around trying to figure out what was going on. After we took tons of pictures we headed to the Daniel Boone Inn for dinner. A great time was had by all!

Here are the pics!

Getting ready to leave!

Arriving in Boone.....the scene from the car

Arriving at the tree farm (she wasn't a fan of being bundled up haha)

Look at all those trees!

She decided being bundled wasn't so bad after all!

Anna and her very serious looking Uncles!

Daddy on the hunt for the perfect tree!

Winter Wonderland

Aunt Becca!

Grandpa and Anna

Gran looking for their tree

Uncle CJ launching a snowball attack

Matt getting involved in the war

Our special bundle!

Uncle Chris and Anna

Aunt Becca and Anna

Our cars all loaded up with trees

Our family!

Grand and Grandpa with Anna

Us entertaining Anna in the car while we waited to eat in Daniel Boone Inn

Anna watching Charlie Brown Christmas.

Later on today, we are taking Anna to the mall to see Santa!!!! I can't wait to see what she thinks about that!

Thoughts of Thanksgiving

2009-11-28T11:57:00.000-05:00

Well I am sure you all know what Matt and I are most thankful for this Thanksgiving....yes, you guessed it Anna Kay! I am sure that will be the case for at least the next hundred years. :) However, as we celebrated Thanksgiving this year I could not help but think back over the past year's happenings without realizing how much things can change in just 12 short months. As Matt and I sat down to Thanksgiving last year at Uncle Marty and Aunt Rose's we had just received word that after being interviewed by a birthmother (and her parents) we were not chosen (she wanted her child to have at least one sibling already and we had no children). So it was with somewhat heavy hearts that we ate and celebrated with family during that meal. Then, the beginning December came around and we were yet again chosen by another birthmother. This time were were her one and only choice and she loved us. Our hearts were filled with hope and excitement. The baby was a boy and was due the beginning of January. We made preparations over the month of December and had a great holiday season anticipating a new baby. When the birthmother went into labor we got a call and headed up to the hospital. We got to see the baby and spend time with the birth family. The child even had the name that we chose. However, God had different plans for that little boy, and the adoption did not work out. The birth father came forward and wanted to raise the child. So on January 13th, we were told the adoption had failed. Words cannot describe the amount of dismay and disappointment that Matt and I felt. We had met and held a sweet child...as well as our family. I knew that there was no way I was going to go through the same thing again. Our family was devastated but held firm in our faith that this was just not meant to be. Life continued on and winter turned to spring. Near the end of March we got a call from our social worker stating that a birthmother would like to meet us. Matt and I attempted not to be too excited...but failed. Our hearts soared with the mere possibility, yet we tried to remain guarded. We made plans to meet her on March 31st. Both of us were nervous as we made the drive and stepped out of the car at the Bethany office. We were greeted by a social worker (Ginger if you happen to be reading this you were awesome!) and the birthmother and her mother. The conversation started and Matt and I realized the conversation flowed easily. We thoroughly enjoyed their company. We decided to head out to lunch and enjoyed some italian food (though looking back I think I was still too nervous to eat anything). We parted with a few pictures (which have been added to a scrap book for Anna). Emails were exchanged during the next month as the baby GIRL(!!!!) was due May 7th. We got a call the morning of April 25th at 3:48am from Ginger saying you better head this way! We were so excited! Matt shoved everything he could think of into a luggage and we took off. We arrived at the hospital at 6:30. We waited in the waiting room anxiously worried. How was the mom? The baby? Were they giving her pain medication? Did she need anything? Nicely enough, her family was so sweet to come and give us updates as the day progressed on. Then around noon, the unthinkable happened. Ginger (social worker) came in and asked me to follow her back. I am to this day amazed that my legs worked and allowed me to walk. I was so nervous and excited. I thought that I was being taken to meet the baby for the first time. I was wrong, our birthmother wanted me to be in there with her during delivery. The amount of emotion that comes from that one sentence for me is astounding. I entered and stayed properly at the head of the bed as Anna was being born. I got to hold our birthmother's hand during delivery. I held Anna immediately after she was born. For this experience, I am most thankful.

Because of that day, we have this absolutely perfect daughter whose life has given us such joy. By her entrance into this world we have found a new meaning and respect for the word love. Obviously there is our amazing love for our child, but with that love comes a love for her birth family and our experiences together. I also have a such an overwhelming love for our family and friends who graciously supported us throughout our entire adoption process.

As you can tell this year has taken on quite a change from last year's Thanksgiving. This year instead of wondering if we were ever going to be a parents.....this year we are ones! :D

Here is a list of things that little Miss Anna is up to these days!

- Saying "Ba" a lot ... and Matt swears she has said "da" haha

- Responding to her name with a gigantic grin

- Enjoys being sung to and dancing

- Rolling all over the house

- Attempts to put knees underneath her to crawl

- Eating stage 2 baby foods - her favorites are any fruit (especially apples) and sweet potatoes

- Eating Gerber puffs - favorite kind so far is apple-strawberry

- She has two teeth on the bottom

- Showing dislike if a toy is taken away (or pouting if she can't get what she wants) :)

- Loves bathtime and has discovered the art of splashing

- Is a complete night owl and enjoys being the life of the party - Wouldn't have her any other way! :) She was the only baby at Thanksgiving that didn't take a nap - and was pleasant the whole time!

- Avoids taking naps if there are people to "entertain". But normal nap schedule is 2 naps per day - one in the morning one in the afternoon.

Aunt Jean and Anna

Uncle John David and Anna

Showing Anna flowers

Aunt Marica giving Anna a hug

Getting ready for 2nd round of Thanksgiving dinners!

Watching some Wii bowling :)

Eating "Turkey and Sweet Potatoes" as her dinner :) Though we did give her some marshmallows which she loved!

2009-11-24T18:36:00.000-05:00

Our Sweet Angel!!

Look at those teeth!!!

Aunt Becca

My Ranger man and I :)

David being silly

The ranger boys and their mom

David, Jackie, Anna, Matt, and I

The ranger boys and their Mom and Dad