Pigtails...

Yes, Aunt MB got a hold of Anna's hair at the lake and brought her down to the dock for her to model for mommy and daddy her new hairdo. She was surely cute.

What's this one-year-old up to?!

I can hardly believe our sweet girl has been one for almost a month now. Daily we see how she is growing. We can see her mind turning and grasping new things. She keeps us moving, entertained, and full of love. For her birthday she received this ball. She has truly grasped the concept of playing ball. You can roll the ball to her and she will pick it up and throw it back in your direction. She also knows the ball can be kicked. If her foot is the first thing to come to it, she will kick it before picking it up to roll or toss.

Yes, those are Anna's first official walking shoes (well sandals) and she absolutely loves them. One day this week I caught her, in the living room, pulling them off the coffee table. She put them down at her feet (indicating to put them on) but before she laid them at her feet she pulled her socks off. You see, she knows that they don't go on with socks. Not to mention this little one doesn't like socks. Barefoot is her preference!

Stacking, sorting and cleaning up are some of her favorite things. Anna loves to put things away these days. She tosses her blocks in her little caddy and if one happens not to go in and rolls out the other side our little girl says, " uuuhhh ooh." Anna has this word down pat and uses it anytime anything is dropped. This weekend Anna spent a good part of her weekend with a bucket and paper towel. She shredded the paper towel into little pieces and then spent her time filling and emptying her bucket. Joyful simplicity!

So you think you can Dance?! Well, Anna surely can. She loves music (as I have mentioned before) but now that she has her Mozart Music Box she can play a tune anytime and she does. We will ask Anna to play some music and she goes right over to her music box and sets it to play. And then Anna dances. She can be in another room and if music comes on she begins to bob up and down or move her arm back and forth. It is absolutely precious. I am not sure music has ever started without her beginning to move as well.

What else is this little one doing? Well, she loves to point out Mommy and Daddy's nnoooos (aka nose). She knows our ears too. But that word is a little hard to say. She hasn't quite grasped she too has a nose. When asked what does a doggy say she says "ufff" (almost blowing the words) and she has one other animal sound down (but that will be for a later post). Finally, Anna has lots of kisses to give. If you ask her for a kiss she plants her face right on your face with her mouth wide open. She stays there for a good long while and then pulls away with the biggest grin. She is very generous with kisses in the morning, especially on the weekends when we all get in our bed to snuggle. Just this week her daddy started blowing kisses to her and she quickly caught on. Now when she blows kisses, she smacks her lips instead of puckering them out. But so close and so cute! Not to mention Anna can point out some of her favorite people. This weekend sitting at the dinner table at the lake we asked where was "_____" and she would point or cut her eyes to the person we named. We surely are enjoying these moments with Anna.

To The Best......

.....Mommy in the whole world!

It has been a joy to watch Amy care for our daughter with such tenderness this past year. She is filled with so much love and compassion for Anna. I love watching as they interact together. It is very evident how much Anna loves her mommy. I am extremely blessed to have this wonderful woman to walk beside me in this adverture of parenthood. She is an amazing mother to Anna, and my best friend. I am thankful for her today as we celebrate Mother's Day.

If I was a good husband I would have taken pictures today to have for this post, just as if I was a good husband I would have thought to do a post first thing this AM. Instead, you get a glimpse back to the past of what things looked like in our house last year.

I love you sweetheart. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

The Big Day (part I)

We spent the morning loving on Anna...

snuggling, laughing and playing!

We let her peek at her video that her mommy and daddy made for her.

After her usual oatmeal and fruit breakfast we gave Anna her very first waffle. YUMMY!

The Big Day (part II)

Let the party begin!

The precious birthday girls...

Our birthday girl

Proud Mommy and Daddy

The Big Day (Part III)

Some of the many, colorful decorations as well as the amazing cake made by Kelly's mom!

A few pictures of our sweet birthday girl. This is how she spent most of her time at the party...playing in the grass with her sweet friends (young and old) and loving every moment!

The birthday cake, which I might add that our little girl had very little interest in. The icing really seemed to bother her and she tried very diligently to get it off her hands. She did sneak a few bites before we cleaned her all up!

*It was hard to pick which pictures to share as we have hundreds. Thanks to Sara and Millie for sharing your pictures as well! Who knows we might post more but at least this gives you a glimpse into our little girl's special day! Thanks to all who helped to celebrate Anna!

12 amazing months...

from sunhats to toboggans and back again it has been 4 fun-filled seasons. We can't wait for this next year Anna Catherine Sasser! We will love you all the seasons of your life!

Our little girl is ONE...

(*Make sure the sound on your computer is turned up)

Two dads...

that love their little girls! Last year about this time Kevin and Charlie were being introduced to their little girls in the hospital. Tonight these two dads are mowing the grass at Cascade park. They are there now. My dad mentioned to me this afternoon that he had driven past the park and the grass was overgrown (a good bit I might add) and he was hoping it was going to be cut by the city this afternoon, but it was not. So, the faithful fathers of two almost one year olds packed up their mowers and headed there this evening. I never knew Cascade park was so large. Thankfully, when I went to go snap this shot a neighbor from across the street noticed the two push mowers and offered to help with his riding mower! Hopefully the daddies will soon be home. Thanks for loving your girls and your wives. Now we just have to pray it does not rain! Happy almost birthday Anna and Maddie!

A year ago today...

was two weeks before my due date. It was a Wednesday. I worked in the morning and met some friends in the afternoon for one of my favorite treats, waffle cone Wednesday at TCBY! Would this be my last visit without baby in tow? No, it would not. Kevin and I met my parents at Longhorn for dinner and we all ventured back to TCBY for everyone's first treat of the day, except for me. Remember I was eating for two! This would be my last visit to TCBY before the arrival of Baby Sasser. You see May 2, 2007 we did not know if we would be welcoming a little boy or girl into our family. Little did we know that we would soon be meeting the one who had been living inside me for almost 9 months.

When I closed my eyes a year ago tonight I had no idea that when I would wake the next morning how much our life would change and the incredible package of joy that would be delivered in just a few short hours.

Anna Catherine Sasser we can't wait to celebrate with you tomorrow. It is hard for mommy and daddy to believe a whole year has passed. Some of the longest days and nights have filled this year but the year itself has flown by, packed with many firsts and many incredible memories. You have blessed our lives. We are so thankful God chose us to be your parents. We love you! Happy Birthday Eve!

5 favorite things....

Of this almost ONE year old!

1. Being upside down. If you are holding Anna you have to be careful because sometimes she will just thrust backwards in hopes of going upside down.

2. Washing her hands. If I am at the sink washing my hands and she hears the water turn on she crawls to my legs and pulls up to have her hands washed. She just loves water and of course being germ free! ;)

3. Sharing. Well, almost sharing. She loves to hold the item out for you (as if she is going to give it to you) and so you don't loose hope she will give the item to you one out of every three times!

4. Taking a big girl bath. Yes, this week we decided it was time to give up her "baby" tub. We got our money's worth out of that tub. We squeezed her in until she was too long. No more conserving water!

Notice Daphne has made her way into the big girl tub but notice too Tommy has taken a backseat to some "new" toys that have made their way to the water.

Look at those waves!

And finally number 5, playing Peek a Boo all by herself!

Yes, this week Anna realized that she can play peek a boo with almost any object-an article of clothing on her changing table, a diaper, pulling her unsnapped onesie over her head and especially her towel after bath time. Here is just a quick peek of her playing with daddy and grandmommy one night this week...