On the move...

Well, at least for the first 24 hours. Wide eyed and with a grin from ear to ear is how Anna arrived at Smith Mountain Lake this past weekend. She often refers to the lake but it was as if she was visiting for the first time, as last summer surely was a long time ago for a baby girl! She explored every inch of the indoors and outdoors at the lake, rediscovering it all.

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles and more bubbles, one of Anna's favorite activities. And with this BIG wand she can even finally produce some bubbles of her own. Usually Anna is just thrilled about sticking the wand into the bubble container and then blowing repeatedly until possibly "a" bubble might appear.

The only toy Anna needs when it comes to time in the water is a cup. This has become her favorite toy in the bath tub and needless to say it entertained her for quite some time in her swimming pool at the lake.

She even enjoyed her meals outside...soaking in the sun! That is until she came down with another high fever on Saturday evening. Thankfully, she is on the mend and was still able to enjoy her time at the lake, despite her not feeling very well. Good thing we packed in so much fun during the first 24 hours!

a "shawberry" picking we will go!

Three weeks in a row now, we have been out to Rudd Farm to pick berries. It has been such a treat to have fresh strawberries daily! It is amazing how many berries a house of three can devour. Anna of course eats her fair share not only at the house but while we are picking. This last trip I did not take pictures of us actually picking but did snap a shot of our tired little girl after the fact. It is hard work getting the best berries in the patch! We will be sad when strawberry season is done but are looking forward to fresh blueberries!

Too much fun!

This is Anna racing down the row at the strawberry patch. She had just slipped but instead of crying she immediately moved to this position to see how far back her mommy was, whom she was racing against! Everyday, if not hourly or by the minute our little girl has us smiling from ear to ear. Last night we were on a family walk and Kevin commented that you literally have to refrain yourself from laughing at some of the things that come out of Anna's mouth these days.

Here are just a few of those words that make us smile:

Most days when we ask Anna what or who she would like to pray for she will begin to list her friends and family. But one night recently was a little different as I was putting her to bed. When I asked her what she wanted to pray for this is what she listed….

Target

Other Store (That particular day we had been in Sam’s and Anna began to cry as we were leaving. Kevin and I shared with her that we were not done with our errands but were going to another store.)

Restaurant

Straw/Top (Our child is infatuated with getting water in a to-go cup at a restaurant, hence a cup with a straw and a top. Anything is better than the sippy cup you brought from home!)

Daddy…Straw/Top

Mommy…Straw/Top

I bet you can tell what we had done that day…ran errands, lots and lots of errands!

Often when putting Anna to bed or down for a nap, Anna will share with us what she wants to do, "tomorrow." This particular night she said, “read the bible” and “target.” She woke the next morning in tears because she wanted to go to Target. She did not understand that the store would not be open for a bit. She rarely forgets what we talked about the night before when she wakes the next morning.

Words we often hear in the car (usually before the car has even started):

Strappy In (also stated after she climbs into her booster chair at mealtime)
Daddy/Mommy strappy inn (referring to us putting on our seat belt)

Too hot, turn on air (air conditioner)

Turn on dance dance (music)

Random words she has learned and uses often:

Calculator (favorite toy these days)

Escalator

Weed whacker (I am pretty sure if Anna could tell you what she wanted to be when she grows up, it would be a postal worker, lawn man or garbage man. All are favorites around here.)

Sunder (thunder)

BasOleen (Vaseline)

Instructions she is often giving us, her baby or herself:

Careful

Slow down

Ready, Set, Go

No Ma’am (what she often tells herself or baby when she knows she is doing something she should not be)

I’ll go run errand (If you could not tell our little girl loves to run errands. These words are often heard in the morning or after her nap when we go and greet her in her room.)

Take a bass (take a bath)

Brush a tees (brush your teeth)

Pray Jesus

Change de diaper (Anna has just recently learned to climb her changing table and will often be found laying on her changing table with a clean diaper in hand, loudly saying these words.)

Catch de mail (Check the mail. Still one of Anna’s favorite pastimes.)

Clap, Clap Hooray (Anna recently would walk around the house saying, "HOORAY" and we could not figure out where she had learned that particular word until we went in to her preschool for a parent appreciation day and the children performed several songs they had learned and those words were in one of the songs. Mystery solved.)

Happ Birday to you (since her birthday Anna has been known to sit at the table at meal time and sing the first lines of this song)

Mommy hold you (anytime she wants to be held)

Anna no like (Often referring to a certain food but more recently when we pick out an outfit and she is not the biggest fan of what we have chosen for her to wear that day. Yes, our two year old for over a month now has been opinionated on what she will wear and will often be found standing in her closet looking at her clothes, sifting through the hangers. Not to mention many days she does not want to take off her "Js"-pajamas and insists on wearing them.)

No more jumpy (Referring to the book, "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed" that she just received for her birthday. She will take her pointer finger and move it up and down as she says the words.)

Watching the mind of a child develop is absolutely amazing. We see God's hand prints all over our little girl. Anna is very observant. As I have mentioned before she knows where various places are located throughout the city. On our way to preschool or another familiar destination, when sitting at a light, she will say, "that way" and point her hands in the direction I should turn. Yesterday, I was blown away by her sense of direction. We were on our way to a local strawberry farm (pictures to come). We were in a part of town that we rarely travel, except on Sundays to church. We pulled up to a light where we usually turn right to head to church. Anna immediately recognized where we were and said, "that way, church." There are also particular cars that Anna recognizes and when she sees similar ones around town, she will scream the name of the person whom she thinks should be driving them.

In Psalm 127 we read that children are a reward from our Lord. How true! It is a blessing to be Anna's mommy! May I remember this when I am tired and my patience is lacking. Oh yes, two more phrases this little one learned as we have been a sick household...

"daddy sick?"

"mommy tired?"

Her birthday weekend...

We spent Saturday morning at one of her favorite places...the park! She had the attention of us all and because of the forecast of showers and dark clouds we had the park to ourselves! You will notice her entourage waiting at the bottom of the slide to catch her. She wanted to make sure ALL were there for her slide down. She even learned to climb a tunnel to reach a covered,winding slide.

Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed Anna's strawberry cake. YUM! Her favorite flavor "gurt" (yogurt) these days is strawberry, so we decided a strawberry cake would be fitting. Unlike last year she enjoyed every bit. She even blew out all of her candles by herself. But her favorite part might just have been when we sang, "Happy Birthday." She has requested we sing it each time she has enjoyed a "pancake" (piece of cake) since Saturday.

On her actual birthday we headed to the Goat Lady Farm in Liberty, NC where they were having an open house. This takes place only a couple of times a year and is completely free. Anna of course loved looking at all the animals, sampling the cheese but her favorite part was feeding the goats. You will notice in the pictures that she is trying to allow the goats to sample a leaf. She would repeat over and over again, "here you go, bite?" but as soon as the goat would reach for the leaf she would be surprised he was actually eating from her hand. She would jump back just a bit but would keep smiling and keep feeding them. We had to pry her away. You can see her surprised look in some of these pictures.

Anna Cate, we surely had fun celebrating with you this weekend. You make everyday a celebration!

She's TWO!

It's hard to believe that our 6lbs 13 oz baby is now two years old! We have spent the weekend celebrating. But our goal all weekend was to keep things simple and to just spend as much time as possible with this sweet two year old. So keeping with the plan, I will post more later this week. Happy birthday baby girl!

An update...

It has been a whirlwind few weeks since I last posted. Below are some snapshots of what Anna in particular has been up to. The weekend after Easter we had some dear friends in town. Anna loved spending time with two older girls and just ate up all the attention. The daddies and little girls spent Saturday morning in Old Salem.

We have spent most days outside...at the park, walking, smelling flowers or one of Anna's favorites-blowing bubbles on the front porch with daddy at lunch and after work.

A surprise visit by Aunt Beths and Uncle Car in which we celebrated birthdays. Two of which had passed...mine and Uncle Car's and then Anna began celebrating early. She was very focused on opening her presents and each time she tore a piece of paper off she would run to the trashcan to throw it away before continuing to open the present.

Finally, we have spent the majority of this week in our pajamas or as Anna says, "Js." We have had one sick little girl since early Sunday. Thankfully, Car and Beths showed up mid-week with lots of stickers and markers. I was even able to squeeze in a couple trips to Harris Teeter for triple coupons. Thanks Mom for watching the patient!

Earlier this week Anna could be found curled up in our bed with her blanket as laundry was being folded. Still sick, by today, Anna was able to help me with a little housework. These days Anna knows where most things in our house can be found. Laundry was being folded once again but this time in the laundry room when I ran out of hangers. Our sweet girl went to our room to bring me more. Even sick, our almost two year old is a joy to be around.