Anna - 15 Months Old

Our Anna turned 15 months last weekend (the 28th).  I didn't get a chance to write up a post for it until now!

At 15 months, she is so much fun.  She is busy and curious and into everything.  She is such a talker and repeats just about everything.

Her favorite things include:

- Daddy (she's a total daddy's girl!)

- Slides and swings

- Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  She has been walking around the house saying "Oh Toodles!"  She really has only seen it a few times (mostly on vacation in the hotel room) but since we've let her watch an episode every few days and she just loves it!  That's good because I picked up a Minnie Mouse costume for her at a garage sale for Halloween!

- Her new big girl bed!  She's continued to do fantastically in her new bed.  She doesn't get out until we come get her and she's sleep as good (and better for naps) as she did in her crib.  She's just so independent!
- Her brother.  She is the best big sister.  She brings me burp rags for him all the time and if she finds his pacifier, she'll pick it up and try to stick it in his mouth.  If he's crying when I put him in his carseat, she rocks it for him.  She'll "shhhh" him when he's upset.  She wants to hold him all the time and to let me know when she wants to, she sits down on the ground in front of me and waves her arms back and forth. It's adorable.  When someone else picks him up or talks to him, she gets really possessive and makes sure that no one is going to take him.  I can't believe what a good girl she's been since bringing a new baby home, it's truly amazing.

- Outside. She'd spend every waking minute outside if we'd let her!

- Gee-gees and blankies. 

- Phones, keys, cameras, or any other technology.  If she catches us with our phones or keys, she stands with her hand on her hip and holds out her hand like she's entitled to it.  I'm not sure why she thinks that way, we don't give them to her when she does that, but it's hard not to laugh at her.  

- Being worn.  She LOVES to ride on my back in the Beco.  She asks for it a lot still and frankly, it's a nice way to keep her contained and out of trouble! :-)

- There are probably more that I meant to record, but I'll have to come back and add them if I think of them :-). 


Anna is such a joy.  She also is very stubborn.  Some days are a battle of the wills between her and I.  I always win, I am just as stubborn.  But it's a test of patience.  She's slowly learning that mommy doesn't give in to tantrums and the way to get my attention is not by screaming at me.  She's started to come up and ask for a hug or a kiss instead when she wants my attention.  She's a very affectionate child and I find myself giving her a billion hugs a day!

Anna Clare, you are such a beautiful and wonderful daughter.  Mommy, Daddy and Anthony love you so very much!  But please stop growing up so fast!

Pictures of my kiddos!

Here ar some fun pictures I've taken this week of the kids.  I can't believe Anthony's already 3 weeks old (although he looks much older, he's a big boy) and today Anna is 14 months old!  My kids are growing way too fast!

Anthony - 3 weeks old - just being cute :-)



Nana got him this outfit for his uncles.  They're both into music, especially guitars :-).  It has a super cute guitar on the butt.

Anna always wants to "hold" her baby brother.  It doesn't last long, and she needs help, but it melts my heart every time!

Yup, she's standing on the couch.  She loves playing on the couches.  Luckily is also very good at getting down by herself. 

Playing at the park.  She LOVES the slides!

Witha little help from mom and grandma, she figured out how to sit down and push off with her hands to go down by herself.  She's a very independent child :-).

She also loves to swing.  And I fall for that smile every single time!

Concentrating very hard on climbing up the playground equipment.

Friday Quick Takes (19)

 

--- 1 ---

Anna has done so much better with a sibling than we thought she would.  We had braced ourselves for many meltdowns and a whiny toddler.  We got none of that (other than the usual Anna-tude meltdowns).  She has been wonderful and super loving and affectionate towards her brother.  It makes me so happy.

--- 2 ---

I think the hardest thing about being a mom is when my kids are sick.  I'm probably a little neurotic about it, but I don't want them to be uncomfortable.  The nurses in the doctor's office know me all too well...

Last week, Anna had a cold that brought a terrible cough with it.  I hated leaving her to go to the hospital because she didn't feel well (well, I hated leaving her at all).  Then she passed it to me, although I'm sure stress and lack of sleep had a lot to do with it.  And now I'm paranoid that my little one week old is showing signs of having a stuffy nose.  I'm trying not to be psycho about it, but I DON'T want him to get what the rest of us had.  I knew he probably would, it's not like I can stop taking care of him because I don't feel well.  But I really hope it's just because he burped formula out his nose this morning...

--- 3 ---

It makes me so happy that bathtime has turned into this:

And my counters now look like this:

--- 4 ---

We keep having to add high chairs... 

Not pictured is the booster that Luke sits in.  We got this booster for Anna this week so that Anthony could be up at the table with us while we ate.  It's so wonderful to have our family of four sitting down for dinner together! 

--- 5 ---

We're having another Baptism on Mother's Day this year!  I can't believe how blessed I am.
 

--- 6 ---

Anna has thorougly enjoyed having Luke back this week.  They have a blast playing together!  I'm so glad she has a friend here and that when Anthony gets older, she'll already have that sharing and playing nice thing figured out :-).

--- 7 ---

After discovering our infertility, Jeremy and I resigned ourselves to the fact that we wouldn't ever have our large family with kids close in age.  God is so good to us.  I just can't even believe that I am a mom to two kids 13 months apart.  And such beautiful and healthy babies.  We used to remind each other that God had a special plan for our family.  We said there are babies out there somewhere who needed parents and a loving home and that we would give that to them.  We had no idea how abundantly blessed we would be.  Anthony's biological grandma told us that she's so appreciative that there are people like us who are willing to adopt kids.  I turned it around and said that no, she didn't understand, we're so thankful that there are strong young women like her daughter who are willing to suffer so that their children can have everything.  We are the lucky ones.  Anna and Anthony are such beautiful gifts and we don't feel worthy of such beautiful blessings.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Anna

We've gotten all of our baby stuff out and Anna LOVES it.  She uses the play gym as a tunnel and the swing as a place for her giraffe and baby doll (and random rubbermaid lids that she pulls out of the kitchen cabinets).  I think she's going to be a great big sister!

And here are some other cute pictures of our beautiful girl!

The Birthday

Here's the big frst birthday recap.  It started on Tuesday with her actual birthday.

Opening her gift that her Godparents sent.  They sent a children's Bible.  She loves it!

Giving Mama a hug first thing in the morning.

Chowing on the chocolate chip pancakes daddy made for breakfast.  She was too busy shoveling them in to pose for a picture.  These are most definitely her favorite!

She had fun lifting her tutu and spinning in a circle all day.

We went with lots of friends to McD's for lunch.  Anna enjoyed playing with all of the kiddos.

And for dinner we went to a local authentic Italian restaurant that we all love.  They have straight from Italy gelato and Anna was a big fan.  :-)

Then we continued celebrating with her giraffe themed first birthday party on Saturday.

Here's the cake I made for her.  It turned out like I wanted it to :-)

And the cupcakes with the chocolate giraffe on top.

Throw in some pink punch and we had a party!

Daddy's contribution.  He insisted on decorating her high chair!

Ok guys, I'm ready or my party!

Mama, Anna and her cake.

Party time!  Playing with friends.

Anna and Gee-Gee ready for some cake.

And it was anticlimactic.  She doesn't like to get her hands dirty, so we ended up feeding her some with a fork.  And then she played with the fork.  Can't blame her for wanting to stay clean :-)

Hanging out with her grandmas

Opening gifts.

Anna said "forget the gifts, this tissue paper is great!"

All in all it was a fantastic birthday celebration for our beautiful girl.  She had so much fn and we are so blessed to be surrounded by so many family and friends who love her so very much. 

Friday Quick Takes (15)

 

--- 1 ---

Today I'm watching my cousin's youngest son for a little while because his dad is coaching one of the girls state basketball teams here in town.  He's like 16 months old, so he fits right in with Luke and Anna.  You would think adding one more toddler to the mix would make my day more stressful, but the opposite has been true.  They have had a blast.  They've destroyed my house, but they've had fun.  And I got Anna's cake made and decorated while they played.  The more the merrier, I guess :-)

Anna (12m), Luke (15m) and Jake (16m)

--- 2 ---

My cousins and her family also gave Anna a doll stroller for her birthday.  She LOVES it.  She's pushed her baby around all day since.  She's become very protective over the whole stroller (she's always protective of the doll). 

--- 3 ---

As I mentioned, I have been working on making and decorating Anna's cake.  Her party is tomorrow and I'm really excited.  I'll post pictures after tomorrow.  I waited a long time to be able to make a 1st birthday cake for my baby :-)
 

--- 4 ---

I'm writing this post instead of cleaning for that same party :-)

--- 5 ---

We had Anna's 12 month check up yesterday.  Her doctor was once again impressed with how much she does and says.  We were excited that she finally moved out of the 90th percentile and down to the 75th for her weight until the doctor realized their mistake... They compared her on the 15 mo. chart.  So she's even big for a 15 month old :-).  At least she's proportionate, her height and head size are all right up there with her weight!  She's a perfectly healthy one year old!

--- 6 ---

I really love naptime.  I like the quiet after the chaos.  I lke the happy attitudes that I get when it's over.  And I like the break and the chance to do something relaxing for me :-).  And I'm super lucky that I was able to get all three toddlers asleep at the same time today!  It only took me 30 minutes, which sounds long, but when you're talking three toddlers, that's no time at all.  I'm also very lucky we have multiple pack n plays :-)
 

--- 7 ---

My quick takes are always Anna related.  I realize that, but she is what makes our weeks interesting.  We're pretty boring people otherwise :-)

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Happy 1st Birthday, My Beautiful Girl!

How do I put into words how joyful I am to celebrate today?

Are there any words to describe how beautiful this girl is?

Or how wonderful it is to wake up every morning to her hugs and kisses?

Or how lucky I feel to be her Mama? 

Is it really possible to express how much gratitude I have for her birthmom?

One year ago, I had no idea what God had in store for us.  I had no idea that a little girl had been born and a courageous young woman had decided to give this baby a life that she knew she couldn't provide.  I was unaware of the pain that R was going through.   I didn't know that there was a sweet baby girl who was surrounded by people who instantly fell in love with her infectious personality.  I didn't know that one year later I'd be writing a post about the sweet young girl who still has that incredibly infections personality.

We are so thankful for our daughter.  We cannot imagine life without her.  She makes us smile a million times a day.  There is something about her that people just can't resist.  It's the same trait that will hopefully make her a very strong and very holy young lady. 

I simply have no words to express how blessed I feel to be able to say "Happy 1st Birthday, Anna".  God is so good.