The Sasser Family

His Grace...

2011-08-17T21:44:00.000-04:00

This is not a post on the reasons I have not been blogging or even a post about these two cute little ones.

Although, there are many posts for each of those things and hopefully one day soon that will come to pass. But instead this is an update on where God has brought us as a family.

In July, Kevin and I had a few days at home without the children. Well, I was at home and Kevin was at work. I am a doer and usually I would have spent this time being productive, checking things off of my growing to-do list. However, instead I did something quite the opposite. I took time to just be. I told Kevin afterwards that I felt as if God was preparing my heart for something. I took the time without the children to be still, to listen and to allow Him to just breathe life into my being. It was a sweet time. And He surely was preparing me for something.

In the past year God has been stirring in my heart. I had in essence closed the door on believing He was big enough, but instead had put Him in a box or at least in terms of what He could do through our family. When learning just over a year ago that Kevin had MS, I quickly determined our family was complete. However, as God has a way of doing so, He slowly began to work on my heart. I do believe God would have been fine with us only having two children. But I also believe God wanted me to acknowledge my need for control and thus, my ultimate need to surrender to Him…in everything.

In terms of control, life seems somewhat out of control right now and thus, one of the reasons for this blog post. We would love to share in person with everyone that we will be welcoming another Sasser Baby into the world come March, but because the yuckiness and tiredness have hit full force, we decided we had better spill the news.

We have friends who have welcomed new additions to their families, which we would love to provide meals for, but we are doing good to get dinner on our table at nights. We have birthday parties and playdates we want to attend, but at a moments notice I am having to say, “no.” We decided we had better give reasons for our “no’s” and lack of committing to do much of anything now instead of waiting to see many of you in person at events already planned in the near future.

It finally hit me this week that we are 8 weeks pregnant and we had not shared the news nor had I even called my doctor. So, today I headed to the doctor at which the nurse looked at me and said, “Wow, we need to schedule your ultrasound for NEXT week.” We are really pregnant!

We are both excited and I think still a little in shock. As my sweet friends know, I do not get excited about newborns. I actually don’t even hold my friends’ children as newborns because I know I will have to hold mine and that is more than enough time with a tiny little one. But amazingly, I have seen babies recently and had the desire to hold them. I have been excited about what is to come----all of it, the good and the not so good times.

When we shared with my parents or rather my sister guessed that I was pregnant, my dad shared that he experienced things with my sister, their third child that he never would have experienced with my brother or me. We are looking forward to those experiences and God’s grace that will pour out of those experiences.

I wish I felt like I did a short week ago, hardly pregnant and our plans to share in person with many of you could unfold. We ask for you to pray for this pregnancy and for our family as we prepare to be a family of five. It is going to be a wild ride, but thankfully we are not ultimately in control! Thank you Lord!

Four pictures...

2011-05-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

that lead up to this birthday, her fourth birthday. This is the baby girl that made me a momma. This is the baby girl that stole my heart four years ago today. This is the baby girl that brings a smile to my face each day. This is the baby girl that has blessed her daddy and me beyond our wildest imaginations.
Anna Cate on her birth day...

Anna Cate on her 1st birthday...

Anna Cate on her 2nd birthday...

Anna Cate on her 3rd birthday...

Today we celebrate her 4th birthday. Pictures to come of this sweet, sweet baby girl that is now really a little girl. I surely can't believe she is four years old. We love you!

Sweet Boys!

2011-04-25T22:18:00.002-04:00

Tonight we had to say goodbye to this sweet little boy on the right. Cousin Elliot has been in NC for over two weeks. Anna and Aiden are going to be missing him, but are excited he will soon be moving to NC! We can't wait!

My two boys! Notice the hair and curls in the back of Aiden's head. Love the curls and love these boys!

Just for fun!

2011-04-24T17:34:00.000-04:00

Blogger and Picasa have been giving many of us trouble for the past few weeks, which partially explains the lack of posts. There are many other reasons. One of them being that life is full and the days and weeks are quickly turning into months. I rarely have a moment to just sit and document our life, but we are in a season with our children that we are really loving. How can it almost be May and how can we have a daughter who will be turning FOUR in a matter of days?! I have lots to catch-up on and have even tried to jot some posts down as Picasa was not working. But until then, enjoy this sweet picture of Anna and Aiden from this Saturday at an Easter Egg hunt. Anna was able to take a ride on Chief, the horse. Aiden really wanted to ride the horse and even asked for his turn. I think Anna was more timid than Aiden. Chief's owner was nice enough to let Aiden sit on Chief for some pictures at the end of Anna's ride.

Soccer!

2011-03-31T22:46:00.007-04:00

Anna has been asking us for a while if she could play soccer. Several weeks ago after church we headed to the same sporting good's store where I bought all my soccer gear growing up and got this little one all ready for her first season of soccer. Cleats...check! Shin guards...check! Soccer socks...check! Umbros (or the new brand of umbros)...check! A little girl all smiles...check! Here she is ready for her first practice. A week later it was a little colder for her second practice, but Anna was still all smiles.

Here are some action shots. She really is beginning to grasp the concept and has a great kick. This girl LOVES to play goalie! She asked enough at her first two practices that when it came game time she was the goalie for the first quarter of the first game. Sadly, we don't have pictures from her first game as I left the memory card for our camera at home. Anna did not let anyone score on her and actually grabbed several balls with her hands resulting in a couple of throw-ins and even a goalie kick. Several times we did have to quickly get her attention as she was easily distracted in the goal. However, as soon as you called her name she would squat down and spread her arms wide waiting for the ball. The other three quarters were spent out on the field. She might have been one of the few players on her team that played the entire time. She has several teammates who are not 100% sure they want to be playing. We spent most of the game either yelling for Anna to go after the ball or laughing. Anna thoroughly entertained us as she ran almost the entire game, but most of the time it was just chasing the mob of other little people around the ball. She had us laughing as she would scan the sidelines as she ran down the field. Her eye would catch something---a cheering mom, a crying teammate, a little baby playing and she would fixate on that until she realized a game was being played. She beamed from ear to ear as she ran because of the crowd of people on either sideline cheering. I am sure many more pictures are to come of our soccer star in her jaguar uniform!

The progression...

2011-02-19T14:45:00.001-05:00

We are loving this warmer weather and the longer days. It means that daddy gets a little bit of time outside with us when he gets home from work and before dinner. It also means that daddy encourages Aiden to learn new tricks that mommy would never encourage because now this little man is going to have to be watched like a hawk in our backyard. In the first picture daddy is showing Aiden he too can make it up the climbing wall to the slide like his big sister Anna.

Surveying the scene.

Determined.

Now making his way on his own.

Progression Continued...

2011-02-19T14:40:00.001-05:00

Almost to the top and so serious.

His other new trick...swinging from the wood piece at the top of the slide.

And then this is what all the work was for....a slide down with his big sister.

(Yes, that is a small boo boo on Aiden's head. He fell head first down our concrete back door steps and did not shed a tear. However, as he continues to bump it or as we bump it tears are surely shed.)

Dancing in the Minefields...

2011-02-14T17:40:00.000-05:00

This morning these decorations greeted me in our kitchen. I had a full weekend with lots of fun events that kept me away from our house a good bit and Kevin at home solo with Anna and Aiden. Of course he took full advantage of his time with the children and graciously allowed me to play. He and Anna spent some time making these hearts, even hearts of garland were streamed from our light fixture. Anna even cut out her own hearts. And then there were Valentine cards for both Anna and myself. Such a fun way to restart our morning after it had originally started by being abruptly woken because clothes and sheets were wet and needed changing.

Kevin being intentional during his one-on-one time with Anna and Aiden is just one of the many reasons I love him. Below is one of the Christmas crafts he worked on during the weekends leading up to Christmas with the children. LOVE them. The Christmas trees are made-up of both Anna and Aiden's hands. Anna sat with her daddy as they both worked hard to complete them.

I came across this song on a friend's blog. It spoke to my heart and mirrors much of our journey. We have been in the minefields and in the storms. But with God's grace I think we are learning to dance and sail in those places. Without a doubt it was harder than we both dreamed but I don't think either of us would change where He has brought us because we know the last lines of this song to be true.

"Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all the chaos, baby,
I can dance with you."

Wouldn't want to be dancing with anyone else. Happy Valentine's Day Kevin.

A doctor...

2011-02-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

and her patient. My laid back little boy has had a rough few days as six plus teeth are trying to make their way into his mouth. According to Kevin, it could possibly be eight. Aiden got teeth early but since the arrival of those top front and bottom front teeth he has had none to speak of...until this week. He has been in pain and he has been fussy. Whew. Little makes him happy, except a trip to see his favorite doctor. Anna got out the prized doctor kit as we were trying to make it to his AM nap this morning. My children LOVE this kit. Aiden sat completely still and perfectly content as Anna did a thorough check-up, even including a manicure as she cut all his nails. He held up his hand as she went through each finger. He looked away or down the entire time. He was so serious and Anna was so focused. If only we could get him to sit this still when daddy tries to cut his nails. It is because Anna spends so much time using the stethoscope on Aiden that he will finally not cry when our pediatrician makes his way with his stethoscope to Aiden's little chest or back. Aiden of course had to listen to Anna's chest as well. I am pretty sure this is the only time my children smile when they are getting a shot. And I left out the picture when Anna looked in Aiden's ears. Although no one was harmed, it surely appeared that the instrument being used was a little too far down his ear. It wasn't, but the picture misrepresents the doctor. And Aiden highly recommends this doctor and manicurist!

DDD....

2011-02-08T15:43:00.001-05:00

Daddy/Daughter Date! This past Saturday Kevin and Anna had a special daddy/daughter outing. The Chick-fil-As in our area were having a daddy/daughter Valentine dinner complete with reservations, placemats, a hostess to seat you, a waitress to take your order as well as to serve you at your table and to top it all off sundaes with an assortment of toppings. Anna had been waiting all week for this special time with her daddy. She had searched her closet for the perfect dress earlier in the week. She was so excited about getting "all pretty." So excited that it was hard to snap shots of this little girl. Although, the last picture is blurry it depicts the evening for Anna. She was literally jumping up and down as she and her daddy made their way to the car. When I asked her about the evening she remarked on how there were questions on their placemats for each of them to answer. I am surely thankful that Anna has a daddy that wants to pursue her and wants to spend one-on-one time with her to get to know her heart. I am thankful too that although Kevin did not need the questions on the placemats that Chick-fil-A wants to encourage that relationship between daddies and daughters. Anna had fun listening to her daddy answer his questions and of course Kevin said our little one was thoroughly enamored by the other daddies and daughters that sat near them. She is our people watcher or often even engaging them in conversation!

Scissors...

2011-02-01T15:11:00.001-05:00

are of course for cutting coupons. We were at lunch yesterday with some friends and the mommies were talking about crafts for little ones. We happened to talk about scissors at one point and Anna shared with one of the mommies that scissors were also used to cut coupons. Cutting coupons just happened to be on my list of things to do today. However, I thought Anna would be working on her numbers while I sorted through the coupons. I should have known better as this girl doesn't want to miss an opportunity to be a little mommy and she surely loves to cut those coupons. I pass on the fliers to Anna once I have out all the needed coupons. Notice her purse strap. She stores all her coupons in her purse, which she then takes to the store when we make a grocery run because of course we use her coupons too when purchasing items. ;)

She has mastered cutting on the dotted line. If only I could get her to know the coupons we need and don't need. One day. But I am sure when that day comes, cutting coupons will not be nearly as exciting.

Cleaning up her mess and heading to dump it all in the recycle.

She worked so hard this morning that by the end she shared with me that her neck was hurting. I guess from leaning over and concentrating so hard. She is a hard worker! It is tough being a mommy or pretending to be one. Just today at lunch she asked me if I liked cleaning our kitchen floor? Guess she is ready to tackle that chore next. ;)

Saturday Night Fun!

2011-01-22T22:33:00.000-05:00

Greensboro is home to the US Figure Skating Championship this next week. We know very little about ice skating, but do know this is a big deal. We thought this would be something Anna would enjoy and learned that practices were open to the public and free. The second part was all it took to get us there. We arrived as the Novice Pairs were practicing. Both our children were enthralled as you can tell from the pictures above. The music was upbeat and both sat entertained. Our next form of entertainment came when the Zamboni resurfaced the ice and then the arrival of good friends. Anna and Grayson sat for only a short bit and then worked on their own ice skating skills. Not only was the event free, but was ideal for two excited little girls to move around and have fun together. Aiden eventually escaped the stroller and made his way around as well. A fun evening was had by all.

Laundry Queen...

2011-01-12T11:11:00.001-05:00

Often Kevin will refer to me as the Laundry Queen. I just might be giving up my reign to our three-year-old daughter. Although, we have a laundry room, my usual procedure with laundry is to take it into the den to one particular chair and fold it. I then sort it into piles by person. Thus, I can be with the children while I am folding laundry and also the piles usually get put up much quicker as they are visible. Anna has been helping me fold laundry for a while. Over the past several weeks she has really mastered folding washcloths. She has worked diligently to learn to fold them. This morning I took the laundry out of the dryer, but was in the middle of setting-up some morning activities or "school" as Anna refers to it for us to do together. Anna said she would fold the laundry. She called me in when she was done. This is what I found....

Three piles (and an accumulated stack of dryer sheets)

Aiden's pile (changing pad covers, onesies, etc) and a pile of towels/washcloths for the bathroom. I did happen to see her folding the large bath towel. She stretched it out on the den floor and then proceeded to fold it.

Anna's pile...PJs and washcloths. I will note that all these things are much easier for her to fold over a stack of clothes.

But still...a girl after my own heart!

Cookie Monster

2011-01-08T21:15:00.001-05:00

Yesterday morning, Anna and Aiden were playing with the doll house in Anna's room. Since they were playing so nicely, I headed to put a few things away in our bedroom. After a short bit (only minutes), I called to Anna as her bedroom seemed a bit quiet for two little ones. My assumption was right, Aiden was no longer with Anna. I quickly looked around as there was no noise coming from any of the other rooms. When I headed into the kitchen this is what I found...

Box open. Plastic bag pulled out and open. Hand in the bag. Mouth full and Wheat Thin drool all down the PJs. Oh the foods this one has tasted WAY before his older sister ever did. Thank goodness they were the reduced fat ones. ;) Maybe this is why we have such a picky eater on our hands. The love of carbohydrates has started early. A word he learned early on was "waf waf," which is for waffle. Every morning this is the first thing Aiden says when he enters the kitchen. All breads, crackers and yes, even Wheat Thins are also known as "waf waf."

Later in the afternoon, this is where I found the little man. He had climbed up to the table and was stirring up a pretend treat in his cups and then feeding himself. I guess since the Wheat Thins were put away, he had to settle for his imagination. He did this for a good long while. Maybe he is ready to begin using a spoon to feed himself real food!

Oh those fingers....

2011-01-08T21:10:00.001-05:00

One day this week both Anna and Aiden were ready for their naps before normal. Both of them headed to their rooms on their own. Anna of course is able to get in her bed by herself, but as I was putting away laundry I put Aiden in his crib to rest until I could get my hands free to close the blinds, turn on the sound machine, etc. When I walked past their rooms with more laundry this is what I saw....

What you probably can't see is that with their other hand they are gently pulling and rubbing on their sheets. Both of them. However, opposite hands. So funny to me and so soothing to them.

White Christmas!

2010-12-26T15:48:00.002-05:00

There are too many Christmas Day pictures to sort through quickly, but here are pictures from our day today. We had a blast in the snow, but Aiden rarely showed any expression-good or bad. However, he didn't want to come inside and seemed content in the snow. His biggest smile came when he fell off the sled and his "boot shoe," as Anna refers to it, fell off. Anna on the other hand smiled the entire time. This year she was even able to carry her own sled back up the hill. She made snow angels and a huge snowman.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T21:12:00.001-05:00

Or as we like to say in our house, "Happy Birthday Jesus." All day there were reminders of Jesus and his birth. When Anna woke this morning she shared with me that she had slept for a long time and rattled off a few details for the morning and getting ready. Her last words were..."then we can get ready for Jesus' birthday cake, deal?!" Any time Anna was asked what she received today, she would respond..."I got ____ for Jesus' birthday." We started our morning unwrapping the very last ornament under our Jesse Tree and ended it singing "O Holy Night" in front of our lit Christmas tree. It was a celebration indeed! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Here is our Christmas card photo for this year.

And here is a picture from last night after the Christmas Eve service.

Merry Christmas!

One last gift...

2010-12-24T22:05:00.001-05:00

We are once again doing a Jesse Tree with Anna. It has surely been the highlight of each evening in our house for our sweet girl. Every night as Anna takes one of the ornaments from under the tree to unwrap, she sits with eyes glowing and says to both Kevin and myself..."you're going to be excited" as she bounces with joy. Each night those words are uttered and each night she is just as excited as the night before. We have been unwrapping His love for us each night as we have been reminded of God's faithfulness throughout time in the coming of a Savior. As I headed to bed tonight I couldn't help but notice only one ornament remained. Only one gift to be opened. It would be easy to forget this gift tomorrow with all the big packages under our "big tree" as Anna calls it, but this small package under our "little tree" is the most important gift of all. It is why we celebrate. Tomorrow's ornament is the baby Jesus. "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 It is why we are getting excited in our house. We can't wait to celebrate Jesus' birth. Oh how easy it is to forget. Merry Christmas.

Where is Aiden?

2010-12-24T21:55:00.001-05:00

I can't find him anywhere.

Is that an arm and head I see peeking through?

Oh, there you are!

And all smiles too!

Bathtime fun!

2010-12-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

Aiden loves water just as much as Anna. All you have to say is "bath" and he makes his way to enjoy some water fun. He loves for you to pour cups of water over his head. The reaction is the same, always---"AHHH" and then a big grin. Kevin has been working with him to be cheerful when bathtime ends as it is hard for him to watch the water turn off and having to leave the cups behind. However, most nights now, he is all smiles when he is all clean.

Sweet Girls...

2010-12-24T21:30:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday the mommies in our small group took the "older" girls on a special date. All seven of us piled into one car, car seats and all, and headed to Lexington to see the Nutcracker performed by the High Point Ballet. They have a special performance for children known as the "Land of Sweets" that is a little bit shorter than the usual production and at an ideal time for little people. They have a time before the performance to meet and greet the characters. Anna was unsure of this at first but by the end was getting autographs. They also give away prizes at the end of the performance for the children in attendance. None of our girls won, but they can hardly wait to go next year in hopes to hear their names called.

Anna loves these two girls.

Here they are in their seats waiting for the performance to begin or as Anna describes it..."the show." Since being home, Anna has had her own shows. She will turn off the den lights because the lights were dimmed at the show and begin to dance. She definitely pays attention to the small details. When she reenacts church she will dim the lights during worship but will quickly turn them on when it is time to welcome everyone to her service and give the morning announcements. When performing the Nutcracker for daddy, she even had a time for daddy to get her autograph on her Doodle Pad.

Afterwards we took the girls to the Lexington Tea House for lunch. It was indeed a treat for Anna as she got to have the "princess plate" that included a strawberry/kiwi drink that was served in a tea pot that was then poured into her very own tea cup.

She was so excited and enjoyed every drop!

It was such a fun day, even up until the very end. On the way home the girls sang songs and played the game, "I spy with my little eye." We can't wait until next year!

Brrrr Cold!

2010-12-24T21:25:00.001-05:00

Over the last several weeks we have had some cold, cold weather. We have spent A LOT of time inside, even having all day pajama days (or "J's" as they are known in our house). These two have also spent A LOT of time on the floor---snuggling, tickling, rolling, flying on airplanes and wrestling. It is so fun to watch them play together and love on each other. Most nights daddy gets in on the action. We received crazy creeks as a gift this year from the YL committee. Who would have guessed that these chairs would have provided hours of entertainment for our children. They love to read in them, make homes for their babies and stuffed animals, but probably their favorite activity is rocking in them with mommy or daddy. They both pile on and it makes for a great workout for all. They are one of the first things that make their way out in the morning and Aiden is usually the one dragging them out, despite the fact they are as big as him.

It is about time!

2010-12-24T21:16:00.000-05:00

Poor Aiden rarely gets any blog love but he is surely loved by this momma! He is such a joy and all three of us-Daddy, Anna and I love him to pieces. Not only is he lovable but he keeps us busy, smiling and laughing. He can reach, climb, open and get into most anything. One of his favorite places to play is on the fireplace. He loves to stack things from cups, to blocks or even Anna's wooden pantry items. His favorite toys are balls, which also happens to be one of the first words he mastered. Other words include...mama, dada, sis sis for Anna, pees for please, me me for milk, baby, woof woof for dog, ba for bath, guh gob for good job, ight for light and shoes. He loves to imitate sounds. When we would sing to him as a baby he would hum along, now he tries to sing. He LOVES music. We have a Praise Baby DVD that was given to Anna when she was small. Aiden gets so excited when he hears the music play. He will make his way to a chair, only to begin tapping the seat, indicating he wants up so he can watch the DVD. He also loves to dance, which usually consists of bending his knees and bouncing up and down or stomping his foot. Other favorite toys include cars or anything that has wheels and can move. It amazes me how boys are drawn to balls and cars. There is rarely a time a ball is not in this little boy's hand. Even when he is playing with other toys he will at least have a small bouncy ball close by. Although he is all boy in so many ways, he still loves to play with his sister's baby dolls and loves to stroll them. He has such a tender heart. You will often catch him loving on a baby or a stuffed animal. He will sit with them on the floor and just hug and kiss on them. He also loves to play with the play kitchen and all the food. Stirring anything and everything is a favorite past time. Aiden grasps the concept of filling the grocery cart. He will fill it full and push it around. Anna has a wooden dollhouse and Aiden spends lots of time with the pieces of the dollhouse. He loves little things. He often carries two of the small dresser drawers from the dollhouse around with him from room to room. Anna spends a good bit of time during the day on her play phones talking away to just about anyone and everyone. Aiden will walk around with a phone as well but instead of it being put up to his ear he holds it behind the back of his head. He almost has it. When asked to clean-up, Aiden will help put away the toys. This is a must because he also knows how to pull out almost every toy in our house in a matter of minutes. He knows exactly where everything goes from the coins that go in the cash register to books (another favorite) on the book shelf to putting socks in his shoes at the front door to even trying to lift the heavy bins that store the toys back to their shelves. He is even known to find bits of trash on the floor and heads to the trashcan to throw it away. When he is all done with his sippy cup he will go to the fridge for you to put it up.

This sweet boy gives some of the best kisses.

Here he is with one of his many balls.

As I mentioned Aiden loves stuffed animals. He also loves this red car. He has watched Anna ride it up and down our halls and a while back mastered using his feet to push himself up and down the hall. He pays very close attention to Anna and learns a lot from watching her. It is because of this and wanting to imitate her, he is able to master many things that took Anna much longer to learn.

All bundled up to get our Christmas tree in the cold weather. Aiden gives very serious looks a lot of the time, especially when we are around new people or in a big crowd.

Just like his sister he loves to suck two fingers and rub on his sheet. He often will ask to go to bed in the evenings or down for a nap. Most mornings and afternoons he is awake before Anna. When he hears Anna's sound machine turn off through the monitor he will say, "sis sis, " squeal, head for the door and yes, he can open all of the doors in our house. He will then make his way to Anna's room giggling and grinning the whole way. He greets her with a BIG hug and kiss. It is probably one of my favorite times of the day. His excitement is always the same. You would think it had been days since he had seen her. My prayer is that they will always be that excited to see one another.

Cousins!

2010-12-07T12:31:00.000-05:00

These two love each other a whole lot for only being one and three.

See what I mean....
(not sure if you can tell, but Elliot is beaming as he hugs Anna)

And all three of them LOVE the piano. They would sit there all afternoon, lined up on the one bench, if we would let them. The amazing thing is that no one even really bangs on the keys. It is actually a pleasant experience.

The meal...

2010-12-06T15:52:00.000-05:00

and all who partook!

Every year my mom spends her holidays in the kitchen serving her family. She has blessed us with many amazing meals. This Thanksgiving was a little different. We decided very last minute to bless her this year. Her children and their spouses spent Thanksgiving morning preparing the Thanksgiving meal. We still used her kitchen and many of her ingredients, but instead of one chef, the six of us had a fun morning playing in the kitchen together. It was an unbelievable meal with old and new recipes, but still a very traditional meal, which was the main criteria for each of us. We had so much fun together that it was quickly decided this would be a new tradition.

To serve....

2010-12-06T15:04:00.000-05:00

This Fall Anna has been a part of an AWANA program at a nearby church. It has been a blessing to Anna. She looks forward to going each Wednesday evening. She couldn't be more proud of her vest she wears each week that is slowly starting to accumulate patches from the bible verses she is memorizing. A few weeks before Thanksgiving her lesson was on serving. Often we use her AWANA lesson and expand on it during my teaching time with Anna throughout the week. In keeping with serving others we decided to make place mats for everyone to use over the Thanksgiving holiday. Anna worked hard over several days on her 9 place mats. They served us well over Thanksgiving and even held up over many, many meals together!

The artist with her place mat!

Cascade Park

2010-12-06T14:48:00.000-05:00

When her Uncle Todd and I were her age we spent many hours at this park. It was a blast from the past for her Uncle to spend the afternoon with her at the park. Although, most things have been replaced and updated, there are a few things that are still there from when we were little.

Sweet Anna was sick most of the Thanksgiving holiday. But she didn't want to miss out on her time with her uncles, aunts and cousin. She was a real trooper and was able to enjoy being with everyone despite not feeling so great.

Happy Birthday!

2010-12-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we headed to Grandover one day for their most delicious brunch. It was a celebration of the several birthdays our family has in November and the beginning of December. One of them happens to be today. Happy Birthday Uncle Todd! I am pretty sure we sat at the table and ate for a good two hours.

Anna was thrilled with her mickey mouse pancakes. Another highlight was tossing pennies into the fountain. Anna has spent a lot of time tossing pennies into fountains. She is a huge fan!

Anna and Aiden with the LA crew!

Tossing more pennies!

Fall Fun!

2010-11-16T14:42:00.000-05:00

We have truly enjoyed this Fall from pumpkin patches to fall festivals with good friends to Anna dressed as a cowgirl. Anna enjoyed her second ride of the season at the fall festival. I surely kept my mouth shut and hands down this time. We have had some fun-filled weekends with some being very warm to others being quite chilly. We are gearing up for Thanksgiving in our household!

State Fair!

2010-11-11T21:20:00.001-05:00

Several weeks back, Kevin was planning on being out of town on a camping trip. However, on Friday he was not feeling well from his shot the night before and decided to forgo the camping trip. This left us with a wide-open weekend, which is rare. We decided to be spontaneous, which if you know us is also rare as we are both planners. Saturday we headed to Raleigh for a night away. It was a fun adventure for all of us, especially Anna. It was her first time in a hotel where she had any recollection of the event. The questions began flying as we tried to explain where we would stay and what we would do. Our main purpose in going to Raleigh was to go to the State Fair or as Anna first called it, "Earth Fare" as that is the only "fare" she has ever come in contact with. Hotel highlights for Anna: being in a big girl bed right beside mommy and daddy's bed, eating breakfast in the hotel with everything you can imagine, riding the "alligator" (elevator) up and down and up and down, and of course going swimming Saturday night in the indoor pool with daddy. Sadly, I didn't take my camera out much, but I did snap this picture of Anna at the fair on Sunday. We walked and walked and walked Sunday. Our kids did much better than anticipated, especially Aiden. We placed him in the stroller when we arrived at the fair and did not take him out until we were back at the car, ready to head home. We were afraid if we took him out, our now on the move boy, would not want to be strapped back in. Both our children loved the sites of the fair-the people, the animals, and the exhibitions. Anna was able to pick one ride to go on as there was so much else to do that was completely free. She chose the cars, which is pictured above. She had never been on a ride before and I of course thought she might be a little nervous. Thus, as any good mother would do, I waved and said her name as she passed by us each time. Later that evening we were at home talking about our favorite parts of the fair. Anna's response when asked about riding on the car was...."Next time I don't want mommy to wave and say, 'hey.' None of the other mommies were saying hey and waving." What?! I have already embarrassed my child. I am sure it will not be the last time and she is only three. And here I thought she was nervous, but instead she was scoping out the other parents and seeing that no one else was waving and yelling their child's name.

Pumpkins!

2010-11-09T15:47:00.001-05:00

This year we decided not to carve our pumpkins but let Anna paint them. She had a blast. We started out small and worked our way up! In the first picture you will notice Aiden in the background "playing" with his sippie. This is a whole other story for another day but this boy has been stubborn about drinking milk from a sippie or even a bottle. He amazes me with how long he will go without drinking or only drinking a sip here and there. He is persistent.

Back to the pumpkins....Anna was very serious during each paint session. She worked hard on each one.

Here she is with one of the bigger pumpkins.

By the time she was done, the pumpkin was covered in all the colors of the rainbow!

**update**

How could I have forgotten one of the conversations that took place while Anna was painting her pumpkin?!

Anna: "Can I show daddy my pumpkin?"

Me: "Of course"

Anna: "He will say, 'Girlfriend, wow!'"

Anna is VERY into knowing exactly what someone will say in a particular situation. Often she will ask us about a situation and then will follow-up with "what will he/she say." She wants a play-by-play. This time she told me what daddy would say and although I am not sure he said, "girlfriend"; I am pretty sure he said, "wow."

Walking!

2010-11-09T11:53:00.000-05:00

About a month ago, Aiden started walking. It took Aiden a little longer to walk on his own than Anna. He had been walking with push toys for months but would not try it solo. However, once he decided he had enough confidence to do it on his own there was no looking back. He was more steady on his feet than Anna was at first. He rarely falls and now sprints most places. Thus, the reason for the lack of walking pictures. The first two pictures were captured that first weekend in October when he took some first steps. We were at a fall festival. If you look closely you will see he is not wearing any shoes. This is because our little man has a very wide foot and we could not find any shoes to fit his foot. Finally, grandmommy took him to the store where we bought our shoes growing up (same furniture is still in the store, 30 years later). Even there, only ONE double wide shoe was actually wide enough for his foot. I am still not convinced it is wide enough. Allowing the shoe salesman to put the shoes on Aiden was no small task. He is a STRONG child. If he doesn't want to do something, he will fight you on it. And he did not want those shoes on. I wasn't sure he would ever wear shoes. Now he wants his shoes on all the time. Glad we made it past that battle.

Backyard arrival...

2010-11-09T11:36:00.000-05:00

Back in August, just in time for Aiden's birthday, we received a generous gift from our neighbors and previous owner's of our home. The people we bought our home from, six years ago, moved just two doors down and thus are our neighbors. One August afternoon, the swing set that used to be in our backyard before we owned the house was moved back into its original location for our little ones to enjoy! Anna especially has spent many hours out back since its arrival. She has even mastered swinging by herself. She knows how to pump those legs!

Even Aiden gets in on the action as he loves to slide. However, most of the time when we are out back he spends his time in the Cozy Coupe. He LOVES that car!

Elliot was here to celebrate Aiden's birthday and was able to enjoy the swing set too.

Of course getting a picture of all three of them is nearly impossible. They would much rather look at each other than the camera. But they had a blast playing. Notice how red Elliot's face is. He played hard!

Dance

2010-11-09T11:19:00.000-05:00

All the way back in September, Anna started taking dance (otherwise known as creative movement) one morning a week. This girl LOVES her dance class. Of course on the first day when ALL the other children were hesitant to go into the classroom and were holding their mommy's hands, my little girl sprinted straight into the classroom with no hesitation and not even a glance back in my direction. It is so sad how shy she is. ;) It has been such a wonderful experience for us as Anna has had to listen to directions, work on coordination, wait for her turn as she cheers on her classmates as well as meeting new friends. She of course was very curious the first day about what others were wearing. She inquired why some of the girls were not wearing tights and of course had to show the two boys in her class her leotard and questioned why they were not wearing one. She is for sure one observant child and usually questions follow as she scopes out a situation.

Their daddy!

2010-11-09T11:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was their daddy's birthday. They adore him. This picture captures one of the many reasons why they do. He gets down on their level. He is involved in every aspect of their lives. Last week, Kevin walked in the door from work and Anna's first words to him were, "Daddy, I've been missing you all day." It made his day. Maybe his week.

Who she is...

2010-11-09T10:31:00.001-05:00

(Life has slowed down a bit and I am hoping to catch-up on the happenings in the Sasser household. I found this post that I had started months ago and never posted. Thought I would just skip it, but this is one of my favorite pictures of Anna. I decided to go ahead with the post and then start moving forward).

She is not our baby anymore but each day is becoming more and more a little girl. She is a talker, a thinker, and a doer. She is spunky yet nurturing. She can be demanding but attentive to others needs. She takes it all in and most of the time can process it all and then retell it in the right context at a later date. She makes life really fun and I am so proud to be her momma!

A few Anna moments (some much older than others, but haven't made it into a post)...

Kevin needs new glasses so back in May he took his current pair with him to a store. Anna began asking questions about his glasses...

Anna: "Daddy, why you got your glasses?"

Kevin: "Because I need new ones."

Anna: "Where'd you get them."

Kevin: "I got them a long time ago."

Anna: "When I was a baby?"

Kevin: "No, before you were born."

Anna: "When I was in Mary's belly?"

Kevin: "Mary? Like Jesus was in Mary's belly?"

Anna: "Yeah!"

Not sure if I have actually documented it or not, but our sweet girl does have two imaginary friends. At times they are more present than others. "Keen" and "Twos" are their name. Not sure where the names came from but we hear lots about these two in our house.

Since May, Anna has been using several transitional words in the right context. I love to see the mind of a little person develop. "Otherwise" and "actually" are two we hear often.

Other phrases that she uses in the right context as well...
"You kidding me, right?" and "You cracking me up." Those two phrases definitely crack us up. Anna also thinks that if you need something done right away or immediate action is required that you just insert the name, "Cate" after the person's first name. I guess this is because we often say, "Anna Cate" to get her attention.

When asked when her birthday is, Anna's response is, "My birthday in Kate May." Yes, her birthday is in May but she responds Kate May because we have a good friend whose name is Kate May.

She doesn't do it as much, but often when given something, Anna will respond with, "Thank you sirma'am." All one word!

Ever since Aiden was born Anna can point out the location of the hospital when we are in the car. A conversation about life and death almost always ensues. Here is just one of them...

Anna: "That's the hospital?"

Me: "Yes"

Anna: "Where we got Aiden and picked up Mommy? Jesus there?" (thought this because she knows Jesus "made" Aiden)

Me: "No, He is in heaven." (Yes, technically He is everywhere but she wanted to actually "see" Jesus)

Anna: "I want to see grandmommy's mommy (she knows my mom's mom is in heaven). Where is heaven? When I die again I'll see her?"

Anytime we refer to heaven she assumes before being here (on earth), she was in heaven. Thus, she has already been dead once and will be dead again. Notice too that often in conversations with Anna that another question comes even before I can answer the first one. There is little silence in our house.

And because Anna can answer many of her own questions she and Aiden actually have a good bit of conversations. Here is a recent favorite one....

Aiden had a shoe and I had just told him, "no touch" and he began to cry. Anna's response as she is gently rubbing his head, "I know it's hard. Its just part of life. Sorry. I'll give you a kiss to love on you."

This exchange captures Anna's heart so well. She does love to love on others.

Those eyes

2010-10-26T15:25:00.002-04:00

Anna: 17 months Aiden: 14 months

Life has been full and the eyes of these two sweet little ones captured me today. Jeremiah 31:3 comes to mind, "...I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kidness." They love me much like the Father...unconditionally, despite how I have treated them or how frustrated I get with being their momma. One day I will have time to catch-up on all the happenings in our life, the celebrations and even some failures, but not today. Being a mommy to these two is where I am needed. And although, most times I wish more things were getting checked off my "to-do" list, today I am content with where He has me.

Where we've been...

2010-10-04T21:45:00.001-04:00

or at least where I've been...

sorting, storing, washing, swapping and giving away of clothes. Nine rubbermaid bins line my dining room all labeled and ready for the attic. The clothes on top of one of the bins happen to go in one of the many other bins already stored in the attic. Whew! If you are a mom of little ones you know what a chore it is to complete. You also know that the daunting task will have to be done again in the not so distant future. Until then...

Day 4

2010-09-15T22:26:00.002-04:00

Day 3

2010-09-15T20:41:00.001-04:00

We didn't have the camera out as much on Day 3, but here are a few shots from the late afternoon. We have used this rented double jogging stroller (or as Anna refers to any jogging stroller as the "noggin" stroller) much more than we could have anticipated. Aiden especially has spent a good bit of time in it, even sitting in it while it is parked and everyone else is playing in the sand and water.

This mound of sand or the "mountain" known to Anna has entertained her quite a bit. It was even standing this morning when we woke, which only meant it would be added to throughout the day, getting even bigger.

Finally, let loose from the stroller. We can't get over how much this little one loves the sand and water.

Day 2

2010-09-13T21:33:00.003-04:00

Day 1

2010-09-13T08:35:00.001-04:00

Technically these are from Day 2 of our beach week with Granny and PaPa, but Day 1 consisted of traveling and getting settled. I might add, both of these went much smoother than I had imagined. We still have the continuation of Aiden's birthday, dance lessons, the arrival of the swing set and labor day pictures. However, I thought this might be a great way to capture this week, posting some of my favorite pictures at the end of each day. It is only the first day and it was almost impossible to only pick four. Looking at these first two of Anna, I realize just how old my baby is getting. Highlights for Anna: Rocking in a perfect size rocking chair, just for her.

Looking for seashells with Granny and running on the open beach. Highlights not pictured: Opening Aiden's birthday presents, swimming in the pool (she is able to swim from one end to the other), having more pool toys than you can possibly imagine, showering in an outdoor shower and venturing in the ocean with daddy.

Highlights for Aiden: Sand, Water, Sand, Water! He LOVED it all. He spent the morning in the pool, floating around. The afternoon was spent on the beach. He squealed when he saw the ocean and held his hand up as if he was waving to it. He went straight for the water and was not intimidated by the waves splashing on him. He also spent a good bit of time in his baby pool on the beach. He was perfectly content sitting in there with a few toys and several seashells.

Another highlight for Aiden is having a perfect set-up for him to play. Our living area could not be more conducive to children. Aiden opened, well really Anna, but Aiden enjoyed his birthday presents from Granny and PaPa. And of course, a highlight that is not pictured is a morning and early evening stroller ride on the beach.

Highlights for mommy: Time on the beach with Kevin while both children napped (woo hoo for monitors that work on the beach), walks on the beach, one-on-one time with both of my children and my husband (a rare occurrence for sure) and having PaPa prepare all of our dinners (woo hoo for someone who considers cooking a hobby!) It's going to be a great week!

His day!

2010-09-07T22:02:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday we celebrated Aiden's first birthday. We decided not to have a big party as we did for his sister, but instead asked friends and family to speak words of truth into our sweet boy's life by sending a short note, scripture or prayer. It is our prayer that one day he will know our Father and we thought of no better way to spur him on than to gain wisdom from those who have walked ahead of him. It is our pray that he would grow up to be a tender warrior for our Lord and a man that asks for wisdom as James 1:5 says. We of course celebrated as a family. There are plenty of family photos that will come soon but these are pictures of Aiden and how he spent his 1st birthday as well as insight into his little life these days. From left to right and top to bottom:

1)Having a birthday waffle. Yes, he did stick his little finger in the candle as he was trying to grab the waffle. Aiden does not mess around with food. Once it is placed on his tray, it is quickly picked up. And like everyone in our family he LOVES his carbohydrates! Although, most food is shoved into his mouth he actually does chew up his food very well. He just stuffs his mouth before the chewing begins.

2) Pushing his tractor. Aiden LOVES pushing anything with wheels and will turn most anything into a push toy, even a package of diapers that slides nicely across our tile kitchen floor. Notice this small tractor became a means for Aiden to walk from one room to another. He has not mastered walking without the assistance of a toy, but I have never seen a child use toys and especially his push toys that are intended for walking to get from one place to another.

3) Eating cooked carrots. One of his favorites. Other favorites: bananas, grapes, watermelon, peaches, applesauce, cheerios, cheese, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, beans-black, kidney, pinto and each morning he eats a bowl of oatmeal with fruit added as well as the much desired mini earth's best waffles. Anna ate so many of these that when I went to buy them for Aiden I almost teared up when I saw the box. Aiden is much more of a picker eater than Anna was at this age, which makes meal time a little more tricky.

4) Taking his afternoon nap. Aiden still takes a solid morning nap and afternoon nap. Both are usually around an hour and a half to two hours. As soon as you lay him down in his crib he makes his way to the corner and buries his head in his bumper. Many days he wakes up with the indention's of his crib on his forehead.

5) Opening presents. As you will see in the family photos this was not a huge hit for Aiden. He could have cared less about opening the presents but his sister on the other hand could not wait to open them.

6) Being shown some of his new toys by none other than his sister.

7) Being sung to! We sung a whole lot of "happy birthday" on August 29th. Not necessarily for Aiden but because Anna thought everything Aiden ate as well as hers needed a candle, the song sung and the candle blown out. She tried to carry it over to Monday but the big day was done.

8) DEVOURING the cake! (this was new to us as Anna wanted nothing to do with her first birthday cake)

9) Shoveling the cake and icing into his mouth.

10) Thrilled with the cake!

11) Looking for more cake! (what is not pictured is Aiden getting upset when there was no more cake)

12) Playing with some of his new toys!

13) Sliding on our "new" to us swing set (more on that later).

14) Hopping down from the swing and making laps around the yard with daddy. Aiden loves to be outside and is perfectly content sitting in the grass. He entertains himself with the acorns and grass but is thrilled to make a lap every now and again.

15) Taking a ride in the Cozy Coupe. Since this shot, Aiden has spent a good bit of time in the Cozy Coupe while Anna is on the swing set. He is thrilled to just sit in the car as she plays.

16) Stroller ride. Of course his day would not have been complete without a stroller ride as he does love his walks. He actually got a morning and evening one on his birthday.

17) Ready for bed! Aiden really loves being in his crib these days. When waking in the morning or from his naps he will just roll around. We hear him babbling away and he is content to stay and play. Often after his morning nap if you go in to get him too soon he will arch his back and reach to be put back into his crib to roll around some more. He gave us the best birthday present a few weeks ago when he decided he would sleep in for an hour or more each morning. We are loving that we do not see the 6am hour. 7:30 am or later is much more pleasant. However, most mornings daddy doesn't get to see either of our children before he heads out for work.

18) Worn out. When his fingers go in his mouth he is ready for his bed!

It is hard for me to believe that our little boy is a one-year-old. He is truly a delight. He brings joy to us daily. We love you sweet Aiden.

365 days....

2010-08-28T14:49:00.001-04:00

or 12 months in the life of Aiden.

This past week I have thought back often on the week leading up to Aiden’s birth. It was only a year ago, but in many ways it seems like a lifetime ago. Looking back those days seem simpler. We did not know what was ahead. The week consisted of pool visits, a trip to the science center, consignment sales and dinner swaps. The actual days with Aiden have flown by. It is hard for me to believe we will have a one-year-old. But the days that make up this year have been full. Often you will hear a year will change you, but there are days in this year that have changed us, even moments that have been life altering. It has been a hard year. One I am not sure I would repeat, but one I would not trade for another. It has grown us individually and as a family. It has humbled us. It has had us on our knees. We have shed many tears, but we have experienced true joy and peace that can only come when you’ve really experienced the Savior. When you realize that His hold on your life is true. When you realize He loves you even in the midst of fearing child birth, your son in the NICU, growing relationships, sleepless nights and long days that follow as well as being told that the one you love and have chosen to walk through life with is not well. If I am honest, I have wrestled with His love for me at times this year. I have struggled to surrender my fears to the only One capable of disarming them. But He has shown me time and time again He is faithful even when I am faithless. Even with its trials it has been a year full of blessings. We are changed because of this year. We have a new perspective. Not that we didn’t have a heart for God, but our eyes are more fixed on eternity. Time together is more precious, more sacred. Life is richer. We know our Father as one only does when they’ve been in the trenches together. We understand our need for Him daily. Not to mention we were given one of our greatest blessings this year, whom we will celebrate tomorrow. Because of this year, I know without a doubt, God is good…ALL the time. Thank you Lord for the blessings of this year, especially Aiden Caleb Sasser. May you continue to refine us and draw us near to you. May we not live for ourselves but may our eyes stay fixed on you.

The Adults!

2010-08-27T21:43:00.001-04:00

We are very close to my mom's side of the family and some of our extended family joined us for part of our lake week. We had a blast together and the best part is they loved on our children well.

Of course two of the adults that are almost always at the lake are Grandmommy and Grandaddy. It is such a blessing that they have made this house so welcoming to our children. Anna has also spent each Tuesday with my mom this summer. They began the summer going to storytime at my parent's church where they would listen to stories and make a craft. Anna was also able to pick out books and DVDs (known as DBDs to Anna) to bring home. Storytime has ended but they still venture back to check-out new books and DVDs as well as for Anna to say, "hello" to some of the new friends she made. Of course she doesn't know a stranger. This week they went to a good friend of my mom's house. They spent time out in her backyard. When Anna got home she shared with me that she had seen a "cardinal, chickadee and chipmunk." My mom's friend let Anna pick out an animal visor to bring home as well as offered her some stickers to bring home. Anna was thrilled with the visor but declined the stickers, politely saying, "she already had some at home." I was shocked but later on that day Anna shared with my mom that she wanted to leave the stickers there so she would have them there for when she returned. I guess they will be going back to see Mrs. Pam! Thanks Grandmommy and grandaddy for loving our two well.

Alabama!

2010-08-27T16:58:00.001-04:00

Aunt Bess and Anna have a special bond. Although, many miles separate them, Mary Beth adores Anna and gives Anna her undivided attention much of the time we are together. They had lots of fun in the water during our lake week. They played Red Light, Green Light from the top dock and when Anna got to the end of the dock she jumped without any hesitation. Anna spent a good bit of time riding on various animals, also known as Aunt Bess' back. Mary Beth tried all week to get Anna to tube but after Anna watched the adults being thrown off the first few days she would not bite. However, she did float on it as it was attached to the dock. Shortly after we came home from the lake Kevin randomly taught Anna the song, "Sweet Home Alabama." Several days later Kevin was putting Anna to bed. Below is their conversation:
Kevin: "What song would you like me to sing?"
Anna: "Aunt Bess' song."
Kevin: "I don't know Aunt Bess' song."
Anna: (a little louder) "Aunt Bess' song."
Kevin: "I am sorry but I don't know that song. We can ask mommy tomorrow if she knows that song."
Anna: (even louder and getting a little frustrated) "BAMA"
Yes, she had put two and two together. She realized that the song Kevin had taught her was about Alabama and that is where her Aunt Bess lives. She even says, "Aunt Bess is coming home" instead of "Lord, I'm coming home to you."

It just so happens that yesterday was Aunt Bess' birthday and she has just arrived for a visit. Happy birthday Mary Beth. We all love you. We can't wait to celebrate all week with you and Elliot!

The two of them...

2010-08-27T15:16:00.002-04:00

Our little girl loves her daddy. She often comments during the week when she wakes how she wishes it were Saturday. And come Monday morning the first thing out of her mouth is, "I don't want daddy to go to work." "When it will be Saturday?," is something we are asked starting about Wednesday in our house. We have breakfast each morning during the week after Kevin has already left for work. Almost every morning she will pray for Kevin and then at lunch or dinner she tells him that she prayed for him that morning. Speaking of mornings, Anna is a big helper in the morning. She will set the table (napkins and utensils for all) while I am getting Aiden ready for the day. She is even able to get most of her breakfast on the table with little help from me. Some mornings if I am taking a little too long she will already have started on her yogurt by the time I make it to the kitchen and she even puts her bib on herself! She is really a great helper.

As for the lake, Anna gets lots of quality time with Kevin in the water. This is how they spend much of their time....

Lake Week!

2010-08-26T15:46:00.001-04:00

We have spent some sweet time as a family up at the lake this summer. This captures many of the highlights had by just our family during the week we spent up there over July 4th. During this week Anna and Aiden had special time with their cousin, Elliot, extended family from a far and of course Grandmommy and Grandaddy. After all, the lake is known to Anna as Grandaddy's lake. One of my favorite conversations I had with Anna up at the lake was one afternoon as we were sitting on the dock letting our feet dangle in the water as we looked out at the big open water.
Anna: "Grandaddy put all the water in the lake like my sand and water table?"
Me: "No, grandaddy did not fill up the lake
Anna: "Who did?"
Me: (stumbling over my words as I tried to answer as it is a man-made lake) "God put the water in the lake."
Anna: "With a watering can?"

I hope to capture some of the moments with others in my next few posts! But as for our time as a family at the lake this summer it has been relaxing. Our children both have enjoyed it more than we could have imagined. Anna has even made a trip or two solo without us. We spend our days swimming in the lake, jumping off the dock, splashing in the baby pool, taking boat rides, skiing, tubing, even wake boarding this summer, walking to see the cows, relaxing in the sun, swinging, playing with the sand and water table, jumping on the small trampoline and having picnics outside. Anna even graduated to her own room this summer. She sleeps on the bottom of a bunk bed all by herself and sleeps very soundly after a day full of exercise. She is waiting for the day that her Uncle Todd comes to visit and sleeps on the bunk above her or when Elliot is old enough to join her in the basement.

Who he is...

2010-08-25T15:30:00.000-04:00

There is nothing special about these pictures but as I was looking back through them today I realized that these capture so much of who this sweet little boy is, at least up to this point in his life. This is how Aiden spent his time at the splash park and how he spends much of his time. Yes, it is in the stroller but it is so much more telling. Aiden usually let's out a big shrill or kicks his legs when he sees me pulling the stroller out of the car. He absolutely loves to go for walks in our neighborhood. He is perfectly content for any amount of time. As for the pictures below...
Here Aiden is intently playing with the stroller straps. This boy can fixate on an item and can play with it for quite some time. He is determined to figure out how something goes together. He works alongside Anna and watches her every move when she plays with a toy. Rarely does Aiden get frustrated but pushes through until he gets something to work or a piece to fit in a particular place. He is determined.

The next two pictures depict just how laid back this one can be. Yes, he does love to be on the move and can pull almost every toy out in our house in under 10 minutes but he is a very relaxed child. He takes life in and doesn't mind being still every now and then. Not to mention he has the relaxing down...feet up and laid back!

A lot of Aiden's life is spent as a spectator. But he is a happy one and smiles as the action takes place often just on the other side of the stroller. He is especially a fan of watching Anna do most anything. As long as there is some sort of action going on for him to view, he can be perfectly entertained for a good long while in the stroller or anywhere for that matter.

Oh, how two children can be so different but what a blessing they both are in our life.

Water, water, water....

2010-08-25T15:04:00.000-04:00

I need to back-up a little bit in our summer fun before we can move forward. Father's Day weekend was spent in the water. Saturday we headed to the pool with BicBic and Aiden took his first dip in the water. He is a HUGE fan of water but it was the day after his 9 month shots and he was in a daze the whole afternoon. The next day we ventured to Greensboro's new splash park! It is a great place to cool off. Kevin and Anna had a blast getting soaked by the water, while Aiden and I enjoyed looking on.

Recently we headed back to the pool with BicBic. A live band happened to be playing poolside. I wish I had a video of our dancing daughter. She was jumping off the diving board as the band was playing. She would make her way to the diving board not by walking but by dancing and the dancing continued as she made her way out on the diving board. It was only after she had danced for a good bit was she able to make the plunge off the board and into the water. She did this over and over. It entertained us all. Oh to be that young and carefree. What freedom there is in not worrying what others think of you. Anna, we pray that you will always be exactly who God created you to be, even if that means being set apart.

Someone is ONE today...

2010-08-16T14:34:00.003-04:00

and no, not the one on the left

but this sweet little one

with the cute hat

and the one who continually pushed his cousin on the lion, even though it was his toy

which means this sweet face will be ONE in 13 days!

We love you Elliot and wish we could celebrate with you at the pool today. But Anna can hardly wait to celebrate with you in two short weeks. She said today that she would show you how to..." drink milk milk, eat popsicles and chicken biscuits"(Chick-fil-A free chicken biscuits were this morning) amongst many other things. I guess she thinks you are now old enough for these special treats. Happy 1st Birthday! Glad we got to see you have your first taste of ice cream this morning! Hope you get some more later today.

As a side note: Anna is constantly sharing with us things Elliot can do with her when he gets older. She will often point out the chair he can sit in, the activity he can do with her, etc. We are pretty sure she thinks Aiden will always be a baby but her cousin Elliot will soon be doing all that she is doing. It is funny how these little minds work.

His, Hers and Both of them!

2010-06-29T14:28:00.001-04:00

Finally, pictures from our Memorial Day weekend lake trip. Aiden was a trooper and ventured out on the boat despite the oh so uncomfortable life jacket. Although, smiles are hard to come by as the jacket squishes his face, he didn't seem to mind the ride one bit.
Highlights for Aiden:

Time in the grass and dock, while watching Anna swim and boats pass by.
Watching grandaddy power wash.
Eating lots of puffs and cheerios.
Sleeping soundly in the dark, dark walk-in closet.
Lowlights: Tumbling down a flight of stairs. Followed by a fall off the bed the next day. Years were surely taken off my life after those two spills but he seemed just fine!

Wow, what a difference a year makes. This little girl who was apprehensive about the boat and massive lake water last year couldn't get enough of both of them on this trip.
Highlights for Anna:

A boat ride to the Mexican restaurant for lunch one day.
Swimming, swimming, and more swimming.
Convincing mommy the water was plenty warm to swim.
Jumping off the lake hand-in-hand with mommy and daddy.
Climbing the ladder to the dock.
Riding in the boat as mommy and daddy skied.
Playing with her sand and water table.
Going "over the lake" as she and grandaddy swung.
Picnics outside.
Sleeping in a BIG girl bed, a bunk bed nonetheless.
And of course blowing bubbles. No trip to the lake is complete without bubbles!
Lowlights: Having to leave it all behind.

And in the words of Anna...here are a few pictures of "both of them" playing at the end of the day in the yard. They surely make me smile!

Jumping Board

2010-06-26T22:42:00.000-04:00

Here is how Anna spent her day at Granny and PaPa's. It only took a short while for her to jump without someone catching her. Pretty sure this was her last of at least 50 jumps for the day. How her little arms and legs were still moving is amazing. She is sleeping soundly now and dreaming of the "jumping board" as she calls it.

"A family plan!"

2010-06-20T15:09:00.001-04:00

When asked what he wanted the plan to be for Father's Day that was his quick response.

This is only one of the reasons I am surely thankful Anna and Aiden have him as their daddy!

Hoping to get pictures of our "family" day/weekend up as well as the lake soon. We are currently kitchenless and living in a bit of chaos as one of the ways Kevin spent his weekend was demolishing our existing kitchen.

A to Z

2010-06-17T16:33:00.005-04:00

Well, almost. More like A to V. This was this mornings "art" project. I have many creative, artistic friends and I myself am not. So this was one of my better moments at making learning come alive. Since the 1st of January we have been doing an uppercase letter a week. In the midst of life we have missed a week or two but for the most part we have stuck with it and as you can see we are so close to wrapping up the alphabet. This morning we went through the alphabet looking through magazines. I asked Anna to first pick out an "A," then a "B" and so forth. She picked each letter out all by herself and we left room for W,X, Y and Z. You might notice there are two "O's" This is because the first "O" was identified as a "rectangle O" by Anna. Yes, it is a bit odd in shape (block style lettering) and then she picked out just a regular,plain old "O."

Anna was given, "My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God's Word in Little Hearts" by Susan Hunt for Christmas. This is what jump started our alphabet learning and each week we use this book to learn our new letter as well as the corresponding bible verse. It has taught mommy just as much as Anna and we have been blessed. We have both hidden God's word in our hearts. We have recommended this book to many. I am excited about going back through it again as we learn our lower case letters. Now how to explain there are two of each letter?!

Side Note (more so for my memory): I can't count the number of times a day I hear, "What does ____ start with?"

Also, most every letter we have learned has a specific word associated with it. She will say, "T for ____." Most of them are for people's names.

Anna will also sometimes say, "What does "A" (or another letter) start with?" Meaning what are some words that start with that letter.

She is really starting to associate letters with words.

Favorite faces...

2010-06-08T14:29:00.002-04:00

We've spent the last two weekends at Smith Mountain Lake. I am hoping to capture all the fun that was had in a post soon. But here are some great smiles from my two favorite little people.

Her two babies...

2010-06-02T22:29:00.001-04:00

We headed to the lake for Memorial Day weekend. Another post for another day as I think I have well exceeded my quota for an evening. As I mentioned, Aiden loves strollers and this was no exception. However, it was short-lived because he was almost too big. Anna loved it just as much. And as a side note this was my baby doll stroller when I was just a little older than Anna.

How could I forget...

2010-06-02T22:24:00.001-04:00

in the update about Aiden that he has found his fingers. Not the same two as Anna but they both do suck their middle fingers. The second finger for each just happens to be the opposite ones beside their middle fingers. Oh, and this was Aiden's view at Anna's swim lessons each week. He was always thoroughly entertained.

Our little fish...

2010-06-02T22:16:00.001-04:00

Last week was Anna's last swim lesson. She has enjoyed every minute of her lessons with her teacher. It is unbelievable how far she has come in such a short amount of time. She is able to swim 6-10 feet on her own, reaching for the edge of the pool and pulling herself up. She can float on her back. She can lift her head out of the water. She learned at her very last lesson how to roll from her stomach to her back. We still have a long ways to go but we are thrilled that she loves the water. Now whenever she is in the pool she wants to practice swimming. There is little playing around. However, she does take time to observe everyone else and to speak to most everyone in the pool. Her teacher said to us at the last lesson that she has never met a child who is such a people person. Anna knew the names of the other instructors who were teaching at the time of her lesson as well as the names of those children who were swimming with those instructors and those children who were taking lessons after her. Not to mention their parents and brothers and sisters as well. She has never met a stranger and surely isn't afraid to ask questions. She is probably the only child who has asked (and actually did) to swim to the other instructor teaching private lessons at the time of her lesson. And of course they all know who she is. I have some video from her last lesson that I hope to post soon.

Can it really be...

2010-06-02T21:59:00.003-04:00

that this little one is 9 months already?!

Where has the time gone? In 3 short months we will have a one-year-old! Aiden is saying "mama" and "dada." He loves to rub things with his hand (just like sweet Anna). His fingernails are constantly scratching on some sort of surface. He LOVES balls. He begins laughing as soon as you roll one in his direction. Anything with wheels-trucks, tractors, etc are a big hit too. Almost everything goes into his mouth. He is a drooler. Not only does he pull-up on everything and crawl all over , he loves to climb up on things and crawl over things. Not much stops him. He is very determined. He continues to be entertained by Anna and wants to be wherever she is. He loves to watch her play with her toys and tries to snag a few for himself. Aiden rarely cries but if he does a duet by mommy and Anna usually puts a smile on his face. Unlike his sister, he does not like to be snuggled and has no need for rocking. But he loves to give kisses, hold tightly to your fingers and sit in your lap. As soon as we get him from his crib in the morning he must eat. There is no time for even saying, "good morning." However, he is easily distracted when eating. Although he loves solid food he has his favorites and is sure to let you know when he does not want something. He shakes his head back and forth and if you don't want the next spoonful to go all over, you will take that as a sign to move onto the next food item. Sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce, bananas and prunes are some of his favorites. Anything green is a stretch. And any food, such as cheerios that he can pick up on his own are devoured. He is thrilled when his daddy walks in the door from work. Tonight as I was heading to put him to bed he reached out to Kevin and Anna who were reading on the couch. It was all I could do to keep him from falling head first in their direction. His personality is developing and each day we are falling more in love with this little one.

Ahhhhh....

2010-06-02T21:31:00.001-04:00

This little girl is finally in a big girl bed. Mommy had reservations but she has done wonderfully and surely loves her big girl room.

Same sweet eyes

2010-06-02T21:26:00.001-04:00

and lovely eye lashes.

Anna and Aiden are both 9 months old in these pictures. Although different in so many ways they both surely love bath time and water.

Outdoor Fun!

2010-06-02T21:14:00.001-04:00

We are enjoying the longer days, which allow us to play outside once daddy gets home from work. Anna is working on learning to ride her very first bike. It is a bit confusing to her as to why she stops when the pedals go backwards. Brakes are a new concept as tricycles do not have them.

She is fascinated with watching her feet and as a result her steering is not the best. :)

Our swing finally has a taker. Aiden LOVES to swing and is all smiles from the minute you put him in.

He has perfect form. He grabs hold of the ropes and kicks his legs as fast as he can.

These two couldn't be more opposite in the things that have entertained them as babies. Anna loved the exersaucer. She would have spent hours in there if we would have allowed her. Not to mention we put her in there even after she was cruising around and walking. Aiden could care less about the exersaucer. It buys me little time. However, he does love the stroller. He would stroll for hours. Anna had limits on strolling. Anna was a huge fan of her portable booster chair that we took to restaurants and her high chair at home. She would sit there long after a meal was done. Aiden is there to eat and will tolerate it for some time but it wouldn't be his first choice. And of course you can see what a fan of the swing he is. This swing was barely used by our sweet girl. It amazes me how uniquely God creates each of his little ones. No two of us are a like. But both of these two are blessings.

Be strong and courageous.

2010-06-02T20:25:00.004-04:00

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6

Several weekends ago we had Aiden dedicated at our church. This is the verse we picked for him for several reasons. Above all else we want both our children to know Jesus. And then to know he will never forsake or leave them. We had Aiden dedicated because we believe ultimately he is the only one who can decide for himself if he is going to follow Jesus but we want to do everything we can to grow him in that direction as is the case with Anna. We know they are both really Jesus' children and we pray one day they will choose for themselves to follow him. The New American Standard version of this verse says it this way, "He will not fail you." May both Aiden and Anna know this to be true. We also picked this verse because Aiden's middle name is Caleb. Caleb is an extension of the story of Moses. The words of this verse were spoken by Moses to the people of Israel. Caleb along with Joshua believed they could possess the land God had promised them when most did not. Caleb means a "different spirit." We do pray Aiden would have a spirit set apart for God.

His turn!

2010-05-08T22:32:00.001-04:00

Yes, there is another little one in our house. And he has been up to his own fun. For a while now he has been mobile. At the end of March he finally learned to roll from his back to his stomach. He had been rolling from his stomach to his back for quite some time. Once he got this down he began to really move. He was able to move from one end of a room to another just by rolling. However, at the end of April he began to crawl and he has perfected it. He can get anywhere he wants now and he loves to crawl over things. Not to mention he is pulling up on everything. His crib has even had to be lowered. However, unlike his sister did at first, he has no problem getting down once he pulls up on something. There have definitely been some good tumbles. He's made momma's heart race a few times.

Here's a glimpse of him on the move. Just this week I put him down on the floor in his room. Moments later he was down the hall and headed for his sister's room.
Making his way into Anna's room...

Target in sight...

Pulling up....

Moving around to the front....

Her actual birthday!

2010-05-04T15:05:00.001-04:00

We have celebrated this sweet girl a good bit. But yesterday was her day. She started her morning with a date. Around 8:30am her daddy came home from work to take her to her favorite breakfast spot...Chick-fil-A. Daddy even took a candle and matches and sang, "happy birthday" to her as she blew out the candle on her biscuit.

Leaving for her date.

I had planned on cooking one of Anna's favorite meals for dinner... homemade spaghetti. However, on Sunday night when we were talking about tomorrow being her birthday she shared very matter of fact that she wanted to eat dinner at "Carolina" (Cafe Carolina) and have soup. She has only eaten soup there once but I guess it made a huge impression on her. So that is exactly what we did. And it could not have been a more perfect evening as we sat within eyesight of another family who had a child close to Anna's age and one close to Aiden's age. Anna spent the majority of her meal watching that particular family. She loved every minute of it! She is a people watcher like her momma.

We then headed to the toy store for Anna to walk around and then home to play outside for a bit. Here is our now three-year-old showing you exactly how old she is! She definitely doesn't make it easy on herself to hold up three fingers!

Birthday fun at the Goat Lady!

2010-05-04T14:35:00.002-04:00

Sunday was Opening Day at the Goat Lady Farm . We went last year as a family and Anna loved it. This year several of our favorite families met us out there to enjoy the festivities and to celebrate Anna. We had some fun cookies, sang "happy birthday," sampled the cheeses, played with the animals and enjoyed a hot Sunday afternoon on a farm. All the children's faces were bright red by the end of the afternoon but all were smiling nonetheless.

Bam Bam!

2010-05-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

It's your birthday sweet girl!

A recent conversation with Anna...
Anna: "Who made my body?"
Me: "Jesus"
Anna: "He bam bam?!" (insinuating he used a hammer to put her together)

He surely bammed bammed you just perfectly! Hard to believe it was three years ago today. We couldn't imagine life without you. We love you on your third birthday and always!

Late afternoon fun...

2010-05-01T21:41:00.000-04:00

heading to the pool with daddy!

It's May!

2010-05-01T14:30:00.001-04:00

Well, I have to say I am not completely caught up on my blogging. But my mad dash to get to some posts was because May was approaching, which meant we would soon have a three-year-old in our house. That's right! This is Anna's birthday weekend. Kevin said this morning that he was pretty sure I was more excited about her birthday than she was. I am not so sure that's true but I am excited to be spending time with our sweet two-year-old before she turns THREE on Monday! Hoping to finish catching up later today (famous last words) on some of our past happenings. But I thought I would give you a glimpse of our morning, which kicked off the weekend of celebrating Anna. It started out with blueberry muffins, a favorite of Anna's but only second to blueberry scones (she is her momma's daughter). We then headed to Rudd Farm where we picked our first basket full of strawberries for the season and of course ate plenty along the way! YUMMY!

Earphones!

2010-04-30T15:40:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago daddy brought a surprise home from work for Anna. He had stopped by a small hardware store and gotten Anna these earphones. She was thrilled! You might be wondering why an almost three-year-old would want her very own pair of orange stihl earphones. Well, you see Anna LOVES her daddy and any time she gets to spend with him, especially one-on-one is simply the best. One of her favorite activities is watching her daddy do yard work. She will sit on the top step of our front porch for an hour and watch as he mows, weedwacks and blows. She has asked on multiple occasions for her very own pair of earphones like the ones her daddy wears when he does yard work. Daddy did not want to disappoint, so he got them exactly like his! I love that our little girl can be entertained with such a simple activity of watching her daddy do yard work. She beams from ear to ear as she sits on that front porch. She even turned down going on a walk with mommy last week in order to stay behind to watch the yard work be complete!

Easter Weekend!

2010-04-30T15:00:00.003-04:00

Easter weekend we headed to the lake. Although it was early in April it felt like it was the middle of the summer with temperatures approaching 90. Anna spent lots of time in the hammock with daddy and wanted a chance to push anyone and everyone on the hammock. It was so entertaining for her to swing us. Even Aiden got a turn. Aiden spent most of his time rolling around inside as he was not feeling well and had a yucky cold and ear infection. Anna practiced soccer. Her favorite thing to do are sideline throw-ins. We walked and walked as Aiden slept. Bubba, the neighbors dog joined us on our strolls. This was the highlight of Anna's weekend. She has been talking about Bubba since last summer. She even talks about Mr. Richard, Bubba's "daddy," whom I am not sure she has ever even met. Randomly throughout the winter we were asked, "What are Bubba and Mr. Richard doing?!" Anna got to see first hand and she was thrilled. Anna even helped grandaddy with an outdoor project as he repaired a walkway. It would have been a perfect weekend if the water would have been warm enough for Anna to have "swim lessons" as she calls it with daddy. Anna has been taking swim lessons for the past couple months. She looks forward to it each week. When I tell her she is going to swim lessons she will then ask, "with who?!" She considers swimming with daddy on the weekends swim lessons just as much as her time with "Ms. Cyncia."

Easter Egg Hunts!

2010-04-30T13:55:00.001-04:00

Anna had so much fun at the two Easter Egg Hunts we happened upon this year. The first was by complete accident. We were out to lunch when the Kenglas were in town. As we all headed to our cars we saw a helicopter hovering over a field across the street. We quickly realized that Easter eggs were being tossed on the field below. We quickly packed the cars, raced across the street, dumped everything out of the cooler so Anna would have an Easter basket of sorts and arrived just as her age group was descending upon the eggs. She had a blast!

The second was at a small church near my parent's lakehouse. We were probably some of the only visitors but it was a morning of fun that first started out by taking a group picture, hunting for eggs, listening to stories about Jesus and best of all getting rub-on tattoos (a favorite of Anna's).

Daddy congratulating her on a job well done. She had enough candy for us all! :)

Staycation!

2010-04-30T13:29:00.003-04:00

As I mentioned earlier the Kenglas headed here for a week in March. Carlos was here on business and Mary Beth and Elliot came to spend time with us. We packed in the fun. We headed to a park one morning and the science center another!

Ate lots of yummy food!

Strolled!

Napped on the go!

And Anna got lots of time with her Aunt Beth!

Candles!

2010-04-30T12:59:00.001-04:00

Back to catching up...The weekend of my birthday Kevin and I headed to Charlotte. His parents came into town to keep the children. It was a treat to get away, have uninterrupted conversations and to sleep-in. Not to mention we visited Ikea and got some fun things for our new play area/office! Anna was thrilled with all her new "presents." Upon returning, before I could even take my coat off, Anna ushered us in to see what she had been working on. She could hardly wait to light the candles, sing "happy birthday" and eat a cupcake. Each time a cupcake was eaten, "happy birthday" was sung and the candle was lit and blown out. I am pretty sure lighting the candles were just as much fun as eating the cupcakes.

Not to be out done!

2010-04-12T14:54:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of March we were at my parents' house skyping with Mary Beth and Elliot. Anna was so impressed with her cousins ability to sit up all by himself as was I. I told Elliot that he would have to show Aiden all his tricks when they came for a visit just a few short weeks later as Aiden was showing little interest in sitting up. Much to our surprise, by the time the Kenglas arrived, Aiden was sitting on his own as if he had been doing it for weeks! One of the hardest things for me as a mom of two is not having the individual time I had with Anna to spend with sweet Aiden. I often feel as if he lives in the carseat or stroller or he is placed in his exersaucer or on his playmate as I tend to Anna's needs and running a household. However, life for Aiden is surely more lively and entertaining with an older sister who loves to play with him, show him new things and is definitely his biggest cheerleader. There are trade-offs for being the second child but I am pretty sure with all the smiles we get from this little one he wouldn't trade it for the world! We surely wouldn't and we know Anna wouldn't!

Teeth

2010-04-12T14:42:00.000-04:00

We have LOTS of catching up to do! The hours, days, weeks and months are flying by and our little ones are getting bigger and bigger not to mention developmental milestones are being reached by Aiden, Anna is learning new things each day, memories are being made and laughter fills our house as these two bring us so much joy. We have had some sweet family time over the past several months. Here's hoping I can do a recap over the next few days or at least hit some highlights. Here goes...at the end of February, overnight, Aiden had these two teeth popping through. One appeared on the 17th and the next on the 18th.

I love these two...

2010-02-25T15:52:00.001-05:00

(this has been set to post for over two weeks now. i wanted to add another picture so i hadn't posted. the other picture has not been added but i thought i should go ahead and post or it may never happen. :) there is surely not a dull moment with these two and very few free moments!)

It amazes me daily how much these two interact and how much love they already have for each other. If Anna had her way she would be right beside Aiden at all times. She gets tickled when he begins to laugh. The top right picture is when we first put a star on Aiden's playmate. Anna was so excited to watch the star light up and play music with her brother. Just the other day Aiden was sitting in his bouncy as Anna and Kevin were eating breakfast. Anna turned to Aiden and said, "Hey buddy...what you thinking about?" She is very inclusive of her brother. It is a blessing to spend each day with these two.

One of a kind!

2010-02-14T14:10:00.001-05:00

Favorite Anna stories these days…

One day after her nap I hear her calling, "Amy Sasser."
I go into her room and ask her what she is saying. She says, "I'm calling Amy Sasser."
I asked her, "Who is Amy Sasser."
She says, "momma" and gives me a big hug.

Now when Anna is watching basketball with daddy she will look up at the TV and say...
"Look daddy, tattoos. He have tattoo."
Yes, almost every player has a tattoo or multiple ones along their biceps. She is very observant!Not to mention a huge fan of tattoos these days. It is a super treat when we happen to be somewhere they give out rub on tattoos.

In reference to getting into our bed one Saturday morning to snuggle she says, "let me get all situated." She has since then used the word, “situated” in the right context multiple times.

Anna begs to go to the “grocery” (Harris Teeter) and the “market” (Fresh Market). Both are like going to Disney World for our sweet girl. We can easily spend an hour in the grocery when Anna gets to push her own grocery cart. Anna has never met a stranger and asks almost everyone we pass a question. The last time we were there Anna was invited to one ladies house by the time their conversation ended, she asked and was told what a cane and motorized wheelchair were, helped a little girl pick out a greeting card, asked every child that we passed what they were doing and asked multiple people what they had in their cart. One of those conversations went like this with an older gentleman…

Anna: "What's that?" Pointing to a bag in his cart.
Man: "Candy"
Anna: "You make shewee on the potty?"
Man: “What sweetie?”
Me: Smiling and ushering Anna down the aisle, trying to explain that everyone does not get "cando" as she calls candy when they use the bathroom.

Several questions I hear repeated all day…

“What’s it called it? Please tell me.” (Anytime she is unsure of something new or unfamiliar)

Who gave this to me? (Lately she wants to know where and from whom each item came from)

I are? (Anytime she is wondering if she is doing something)

When answering a question, one of our favorite answers she gives...

"Ummmm probably"

Recently I received hand soap from bath and body works from a friend. Anna happened to open the gift bag and was SO excited. She ran to put it in her bathroom and requests to wash her hands with that soap. Without a doubt, she is our daughter. Who else would get excited about a bottle of hand-pump soap?

Just last night Kevin and I went out to dinner. When we got back home Anna was asking us several questions. I shared with her that the food wasn't that good. She looked up at me and said, "It wasn't tasty?"

And yes, this sweet girl can also be sassy. Lately if Anna is doing something she knows she is not supposed to do and we share with her that we do not do that she will respond…

“But ________ do it.” The blank can be any number of friends or even Kevin or myself. Where do they learn these things?!

Favorite things these days: babies, babies and more babies. She strolls them around our house all day, getting their "exercise," rocks, feeds, burps, changes and even disciplines them. Her kitchen, flashcards (shapes and letters) and songbooks. Instead of reading storybooks her three favorite books are songbooks-"Nursery Rhymes and Lullabies", "Bible Songs", "Children's Songs and Fingerplay" We sing them over and over and over again! There are very few pictures in them as they are literally songbooks with the chords and all but she knows exactly where her favorite songs are, three of which are "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," "Peace like a River" and "He's got the Whole World."

She does bring us so much joy. We love you, Anna Cate Sasser!

Snow, snow and more snow!

2010-02-12T15:08:00.001-05:00

We had to drag sweet Anna in from this second big snow of the season a few weekends ago! She couldn't get enough of the white stuff, especially sledding in it. The bigger and faster the hill the better. She would go down solo, backwards, laying down, on her knees but whatever way she went she was all smiles! And fearless!

Below is a video of Anna going down one of the big hills in our neighborhood. She was out there with all the "big" kids. At the end of the video Anna is calling her shoes, her "boot shoes."

Sorry it is sideways. It is much better when viewed right side-up but for some reason when I upload it here, I can only get it to upload this way. Better than no video at all. :(

Pampered!

2010-02-11T15:54:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I headed to the spa with a good friend to get pampered for the afternoon. When Anna woke from her afternoon nap she asked Kevin where I was. As he began to explain to her where I was and what I was doing he decided it would be fun to show her. When I met them for dinner that evening Anna took off her shoes and showed me her toenails. Pretty impressive, daddy! He might just be doing my nails from now on. Anna has been thrilled all week to take her painted toenails to the grocery store, into the shower, to the library, etc.

5 Months!

2010-02-10T20:24:00.000-05:00

We can hardly believe that next month we will be half-way through our first year with Aiden. Where has the time gone?! Because of having RSV he did not go in for his four month check-up/shots until the middle of January. He weighed 14lbs 6oz and was 25 inches long. Both are in the 25th percentile. Here is a little recap of what our little man is up to these days!

He has discovered his feet and LOVES them! He just wishes he were a summer baby like Anna and they were free from his footed PJ's more! His fingers continually stay in his mouth. I believe he will follow in his sister's footsteps and suck his fingers. He hasn't had a paci in several months. The other morning as we were getting Aiden up from his morning nap I overheard Anna teaching her brother how to "pull." I was putting clothes away in his dresser and Anna was standing by his crib with her hands through the rails. She had her fingers in her mouth and she was showing him how she pulls the sheet and rubs it with the other hand she is not sucking. She was asking him if he wanted to pull as well. Her words exactly: "Want to pull Aiden?! You do buddy? Here you go."

Just this past week we have been putting Aiden in his exersaucer. He was pulling on things, spinning in the seat and stuffing things in his mouth almost immediately. Of course Anna was right there to show him exactly what to do.

Aiden shows no interest in sitting up by himself. However, he loves to stand. Put him on his two feet and you will get the biggest grin.

He might not be sitting up but he is rolling (at least from his stomach to his back). Saturday morning when we woke, we looked at the monitor and saw that he was on his back. Yes, both of our children have slept on their stomachs. He was thrilled with himself and does it immediately when placed on his belly.

Three weeks ago we gave Aiden his first taste of rice cereal. He was hooked. He ate a whole bowl full that night. However, he will only eat the rice cereal if it is mixed with pumped milk. If we mix it with water he shows no interest. He also grunts if it is too runny. He likes for it to be rather thick. He is only getting this once a day, while we eat dinner but it seems to have really helped him to sleep for a full night. Like his sister he prefers an early bedtime. Most nights, both of our children are in their beds by 7:30pm, if not before. However, unlike his sister he is not a snuggler. He could care less about rocking but his sister still begs to be rocked. "Just one more minute," is a phrase we hear all too often from Anna. Not to mention if I do happen to rock Aiden for just a moment in the day, Anna quickly makes her way into the chair and nestles in. Aiden continues to be our laid back baby who is content most of the time. He is awe-struck by Anna and tries his best to keep-up with her, moving his head in order to catch glimpses of her. I try to nurse him in the morning before Anna wakes in hopes of getting one feed in where he is not trying to scan the room for her as he is so easily distracted. He has the sweetest spirit and brings all three of us so much joy.

Anybody there?!

2010-01-28T16:06:00.000-05:00

We've been MIA for the last month but lots has been going on with our little ones. One thing is for sure Anna and Aiden surely give us something to smile about each day! I realized yesterday I had not picked up my camera in many weeks. This is what I found when I returned to Aiden's room after retrieving it ....

Anna and daddy were having their afternoon phone conversation as he headed home from work. Anna then leaned over the crib and asked Aiden if he would like to talk to daddy. Her words exactly, "You would buddy?!" Sure enough he did! Anna is not only phone savvy but just yesterday she asked if she could skype. Almost daily she will be on her phone and now instead of just talking she will tell me, "I need to send a text really quick." She also will ask about sending an email. Oh the things they pick up and retain! More pictures of our soon-to-be 5 month old and stories of our two-year old. She's had us laughing a lot recently, which is a good thing. "A cheerful heart is good medicine" Proverbs 17:22 We need all the good medicine we can get. :)

Happy boy...

2010-01-03T17:44:00.004-05:00

despite RSV.

This picture was taken as we sent off Todd and Vanessa at the airport. Aiden has become our little talker as seen in this picture. He loves to make eye contact and chat away with you. His legs are also in constant motion. Our sweet boy is sick. Despite being sick, when awake, he wants to chat and will even smile for you. He is pitiful and having a difficult time breathing. Anna had a cold last week and by Thursday Aiden was congested. It is inevitable that when Anna gets sick Aiden will soon follow as she cannot stay away from her brother. We decided to take them in today as Aiden had a terrible cough and such difficulty breathing despite his bed being on an incline and the humidifier running. Anna thankfully seems to be on the mend but she does have an ear infection. Aiden had an ear infection as well and the doctor wanted to do an RSV test to be safe. It did come back positive. We will be going to the doctor daily so they can keep a close watch on our little man. We are praying we stay out of the hospital. Although we know he is uncomfortable this little one continues to rarely cry. He brings us much joy. He and his sister are complete opposites when it comes to being sick. When Anna is sick there is no sleeping in our household. She is a sensitive little girl and is awaken with a runny nose. We can line her crib with kleenex but she still cries out for us. She wants to "sleep all through the night," in her words but just can't. Aiden is like his daddy. He is a sound sleeper and has been sleeping a good bit since being sick. His mommy is the only one not sleeping as she worries he cannot breathe. He weighed in at about 13 1/2 pounds today, at four months.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles!

2010-01-03T17:13:00.002-05:00

We didn't have any trains but we did have planes and automobiles! The Californians by plane and the Alabamians by car. Anna expected to see a plane parked in grandmommy and grandaddy's driveway when we went to greet Uncle Todd. She looked and looked but she did get to see several planes on their departure as we escorted them to the airport. It was a fun-filled week with her Aunts and Uncles. Although, now she is not the only grandchild but she still stole the show (at least for one more year). Next year Aiden and Elliot might give her a run for her money. Grandaddy did love spending time with his two grandsons and getting them to interact. Aiden LOVED talking to Elliot. When placed in front of Elliot he would begin chatting away. All week Anna was entertained from working on puzzles, reading, playing basketball, dressing up with an assortment of clothing from her dress-up chest to learning how to draw circles. She had some great one-on-one time with each of them and learned all sorts of new things. Thanks Vanessa for working on shapes with our little one! She practices everyday. We only wish they all lived a little closer.

Funny Girl!

2009-12-30T20:45:00.001-05:00

Anna and Grandaddy had a blast playing with the wrapping paper rolls over Christmas. Not sure who had more fun. As you can tell Anna makes us smile a good bit. A great example of this is a conversation that took place at a Chick-fil-A not too long ago between Anna and a woman sitting at a booth behind us. Eating at a "restaurant" as Anna says is one of her favorite things to do as she gets to people watch and interact with so many.

Anna: "You have shakemilk?"
Me: (interpreting) "milkshake"
Woman: "No, I am drinking coke. When you get to be a big girl you can have coke too."
Anna: "You wear underwear?"
Me: (apologetically) "We are potty training and we have told her that big girls wear underwear."
Woman: "Yes, I wear underwear. Do you wear underwear?"
Anna: "Yes"

We are so proud of our big girl. She has been wearing underwear since November 1st with only one accident to report. Anna just made up her mind one day that she was ready for underwear. More than likely there would not have even been a single accident if she didn't have a mom who rarely remembers to ask her if she needs to use the bathroom. Potty training had been taken off my radar once Aiden arrived. Anna had other plans though. She has amazed us as we rarely prompt her to go. But it is VERY nice only having one in diapers during the day!

The real reason for it all!

2009-12-29T19:20:00.001-05:00

Our 2 1/2 year old surely helped us keep the real meaning of Christmas in perspective this year. A little over 2 years ago, shortly after Anna was born, I was asked to be a part of a group that was making Jesse Tree ornaments. We each made 25 of one ornament and then exchanged them. Giving each family 25 different ornaments, one for each day leading up to Christmas in December. The ornaments correspond with a story in the bible that ultimately prepares you for the coming of baby Jesus. Although we have had the ornaments for the past two years this was our first year of reading through the Jesse Tree book, the corresponding scripture and hanging the ornaments on a small tree. We thought Anna would be old enough this year to begin to grasp some of the concepts. Little did we know how much she would understand and how excited she would be about hanging a small ornament each night. It was the highlight of each day. We were blessed listening to her recap what she had gathered from each story. It was amazing how much she began to understand sin. She refers to it as disobeying and will either give you the example of Adam and Eve eating the apple or someone pinching. Little minds. One of our favorite moments in sharing with her was when we were reviewing the story of Abraham. The night before we had shared with her about Abraham having to sacrifice Isaac. We asked her the next night," what present did Abraham give God instead of Isaac?" She looked at us very seriously and immediately said, "Livy." We have good friends who have twins the same age as Anna. Their names are Isaac and Livy. Another night we were talking about Jesus coming back to earth or as Anna refers to it, "Greenboro (Greensboro)." Anna immediately had multiple questions, "Jesus have car, Jesus walk, Jesus have backpack, Jesus have puter (computer) like daddy?"

Christmas Eve was another reminder of the excitement of Christ's birth through the eyes of a child. Anna was so excited about going to the Christmas Eve service at our church. She could hardly wait to sing. She kept asking us over and over again if we would sing, "Go Tell it on the Mountain." This is one of her favorite songs right now. She knows it word for word. We told her there was a possibility we would sing it. After the first song was sung, Anna blurted out for all to hear around us, "Go tell it on the Mountain." Sure enough, moments later the words to her favorite song appeared on the screen. Those sitting around us turned around and smiled at our sweet girl and continued to watch her as she clapped and tapped her foot as we sang those wonderful words!

Anna was surely excited to open presents on Christmas morning but nothing compared to the birthday celebration for Jesus. Yes, a new basketball goal was thrilling but it paled in comparison to singing happy birthday to Jesus and blowing out his birthday candles on the cake she had decorated. I believe we lit the candles at least three times and sang "Happy Birthday" five times with Anna's voice towering over everyone else's. Before we had Jesus' party, Anna kept asking when we were going to celebrate Jesus' birthday. She knew the real celebrating had not taken place!

Thank you Anna for reminding us why we celebrate this time of year.
"But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.'"

Luke 2:10-12

My little helper!

2009-12-27T22:53:00.001-05:00

(More Christmas pictures to come but still trying to catch-up on posts from the last two months!)

Most of the day Anna is my little side-kick. A lot of the time Anna will do whatever task I am doing with her toys. For example, if I am cleaning up the kitchen she will go to her play kitchen and begin to wash dishes. If I am wiping the kitchen floor she will get on her hands and knees with a rag and wipe the floor. She continues to love playing mommy these days and rocks, soothes, sings, feeds (yes, she does nurse her baby dolls, a site to see) and strolls her baby all day long but more times than not she has her phone in hand when she is performing any of these tasks. Her conversations are hilarious! One task she loves to help with is the laundry. She has watched me fold laundry so much that she really does have it almost down. She always puts the article of clothing underneath her chin to begin the folding process (just like her mommy). She just can't seem to keep it folded and thus will more or less put it in a ball and place it on the clothes I have folded. As you can tell she is VERY serious about folding her clothes. She doesn't take her work lightly! I surely love you, Anna. You make mommy and daddy smile, A LOT!

J's

2009-12-26T22:44:00.000-05:00

according to Anna but known to the rest of the world as PJ's or Pajamas!
Three cousins.

Big Sister and Little Brother.

Anna and her baby cousin she refers to as Ewwiot (Elliot).

Patiently waiting...

to hold and kiss the one she adores!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T09:00:00.001-05:00

What an excruciating hour and a half. In my head I thought it would be a quick afternoon task that could be checked off my to-do list in no time. How could I be so wrong?! By the time Anna was up from her afternoon nap and both were dressed, Aiden was ready for his afternoon nap and Anna was ready for her afternoon snack. I took well over 100 pictures that afternoon. Kevin tirelessly propped up, moved and positioned our children while I tried to get the perfect shot! After tears, pulling hair (Aiden pulling Anna's), jumping up and down for smiles and eye contact I wasn't even sure we had a picture that we could send!

But thankfully we did! We agreed it was worth it all and we would do it again!

Today may you experience the birth of our Saviour and be reminded of all he had to endure in order for us to have true life!
And know too that he would do it all over again if he had to.
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

What a difference a year makes!

2009-12-24T23:50:00.000-05:00

Last year Anna was very unsure about the white stuff that covered our yard and streets. However, this year she couldn't get enough of the snow! Here she is getting all bungled (bundled) up as she says.

All smiles!

Ready, set, go! Anna couldn't go fast enough or enough times down the hill in our front yard!

What a fun family day!

The princess and Thanksgiving!

2009-12-24T23:24:00.000-05:00

For Thanksgiving we headed to Fredericksburg to spend time with family. Aunt Kristen and Great Uncle Jim were able to meet Aiden for the first time! Aunt Kristen gave Anna a very special present all the way from Vietnam. Shortly after Anna was born Kristen visited Vietnam and it was there that she bought Anna a princess dress. On this trip Anna was finally old enough to wear her gown! She surely looked like a princess in it as she was dressed from head to toe in pink. Thanks Aunt Kristen for such a fun and fitting gift as we often refer to Anna as "our princess." It was actually not too long ago that I made a phone call and when the person on the other end of the phone picked up I said, "hello princess." Needless to say we are a little sleep deprived here and I just repeated words that often come out of my mouth throughout the day as I wasn't talking to my little two year old princess but instead to my thirty-two year old prince charming!

Three Months!

2009-12-24T23:08:00.001-05:00

We are WAY behind on blogging these days but I have high hopes of catching up or at least giving you glimpses into the Sasser household over the next few days! It seems that with the arrival of a second one everything gets done a little later or sometimes not at all. Here are some pictures I took of sweet Aiden at three months. The top picture was included in our Christmas card but when it was printed it was zoomed way in. :( But it was sent anyway, as getting something, anything out was a small feat (more on that later!). At three months our little man weighed 12lbs! We only know this because we took Aiden in to see the doctor at the end of November because he was very congested and having difficulty breathing. We feared RSV. Instead we discovered he had a double ear infection. Aiden gave us no clue that he had an ear infection. He continues to rarely cry and has such a sweet disposition. His eyes love to follow his sister around the room as he sits in his bouncy seat. She provides all the entertainment he could ever want. She continues to be smitten with him! Dancing and singing for him, rubbing his sweet belly as he sits in the bouncy, hugging his neck and giving him more kisses than he can take in.

It's his brthday...

2009-11-08T17:36:00.001-05:00

and I couldn't be more thankful to have him to walk through life with. Although, these days it often seems as though we are running.

and to have him by my side to lead and teach us.

and to carry us through the difficult times as well as the good times.

Not to mention he provides for our needs and often most of our wants!

Thanks for loving us ALL well! We love you today and always!

Two Months...

2009-11-07T15:05:00.001-05:00

and thriving!

I can hardly believe we are starting in on month three with this little man. We had his two-month check-up last week. In a month he has gained two whole pounds. Aiden weighed in at 10 lbs 8 oz. He was 22 1/2 inches tall. Both in the 25th percentile. He is growing! Aiden is a very content baby. His disposition couldn't be more different than that of Anna's as a baby. Not to mention he rarely spits-up. I can count on one hand the number of times he has, which is the exact opposite of our Anna who had such stomach issues. We can use the same burp cloth for a week for him, while with Anna we had one in every corner of the house. Thankfully, Aiden is finally beginning to nurse well. It was a slow start. He is our sweet boy who is starting to engage us more and more with his big blue eyes. He smiles the biggest when he sees and hears the voice of his proud big sister. Anna continues to be enthralled with her baby brother. When she wakes in the morning or from her nap the first question out of her mouth is, "Where's Aiden." She wants to be where he is. She is thrilled that he now has time on his play mat because that means they get to "lay together." She can actually be face to face with him on the mat. Aiden's toes are full of more love than most toes as that is where we try to get Anna to kiss him. Of course sometimes she can't contain herself and has to kiss his sweet head. She also loves to hold his hand and sing to him, count for him or just stare sweetly into his eyes. Some of Aiden's favorite things are having his head washed. This look of complete contentment comes over him and he begins to coo. He really enjoys the bouncy seat, especially when it is vibrating. He loves having his back patted firmly, even when he doesn't need to burp. It is very relaxing to him. Of course, like his sister he sleeps on his tummy. We just don't tell his doctor. :) Aiden can still sleep through anything-bright lights or loud noises. And the minute the vacuum, shower or hairdryer are turned on this little guy is fast asleep. Just this week we put him in the baby bjorn for the first time. He automatically falls asleep when he is placed in there. Like his sister he loves to be held close and will fall fast asleep on your chest within minutes. If only we could get him to go longer stretches at night between feedings.

Weekend Fun!

2009-11-06T22:26:00.001-05:00

We headed back to the beach two weekends ago. But this time with two other families. Anna LOVED having live-in playmates. Once again the weather was amazing and exceptionally warm. Fun was had by all!

For the past two years our good friends have hosted a gathering for all the little ones. The children have a blast playing together in their costumes with all the outside toys you can imagine and yummy food is enjoyed by all. This year we didn't even attempt to get a picture of all the kids together. It was just a challenge to get pictures of them individually, looking at us and smiling. Here are a few shots of our little cowgirl and our sleeping cow!

Comparisons!

2009-10-25T23:00:00.000-04:00

Anna Catherine and Aiden Caleb

I recently came across some pictures of Anna that were similar to ones we have of Aiden around the same age. I've always thought they had the same nose. This definitely confirms it!

AWAKE!

2009-10-21T15:22:00.000-04:00

A few more beach pics...

2009-10-21T15:15:00.001-04:00

Here are just a few more pictures taken with our other camera that show what the little man was up to at the beach. The first day it was just Kevin, Anna, Aiden and myself. Aiden spent time out with us on the beach sleeping away in a small tent. Then grandmommy and grandaddy arrived, after saying goodbye to the Kenglas, and we were able to spend some more time with just Anna and even sneak away for some walks on the beach just the two of us! Anna informed us she was tired at the end of the day on Saturday after running with daddy, digging in the sand, chasing seagulls and jumping waves . She quickly picked up her shoes and headed inside to get in bed (bottom right picture). There was no stopping her or convincing her of staying longer. She was pooped!

A little sunshine...

2009-10-18T21:43:00.001-04:00

on this cold and dreary day! Last weekend we headed to the beach for a long weekend. The weather was unseasonably warm, breaking high temperature records. Anna had more fun than we could have imagined.