Pumpkins!

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!

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...

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

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!

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...

(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

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...

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...