Anna's Birthday, The Photo Shoot

Last week Anna got two packages in the mail from Seattle. They contained the most perfect accessories to Anna's birthday shirt... purple and green tutus! I was convinced that my oldest BFF has some sort of pregnancy induced psychic abilities. How did she know Anna's shirt was green and purple?! It wasn't until three days later that I remembered I had wished on Facebook for a purple or green tutu. Thank you Ashley, Heath, Frank and Baby Bean for indulging me! She loves them both.

So, this year's "professional" photo opp is sponsored by the Dixon Family. How I miss every single one of them!

Stay tuned for Part 3, The Party!

Anna's Birthday, Part 1

This weekend we celebrated our baby's 2nd birthday. It was a whirlwind.

Cupcakes on Friday...

Presents on Saturday...

Stay tuned for Part 2, The Photo Shoot.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Anna!

Our baby is two. 2. TWO. She'll even tell you..., "I two."

How did she grow so fast?

We haven't had pictures taken since we moved. So here are a few from the last few weeks that capture her personality...

Curious...

Innocent...

And (the trait we see most often), mischievous.

Happy Birthday, Anna Kathryn. You give us a run for our money, but we wouldn't have it any other way. We can't wait to see what the next year will bring.

Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there. And a special shout out to TuTu and Grandma!

We started the festivities on Friday night by deciding to take the side off of Anna's crib. Each night is getting better and better. Yesterday she finally took a good nap, so hopefully naptime starts getting better, too.

Saturday morning was Sarah's last swimming lesson of this session. She has officially graduated from PeeWee 2 and can actually swim! The addition of goggles to our swim attire definitely gave her a bit more confidence. Watch out PeeWee 3, here she comes!

Sunday morning I was presented with a lovely necklace Sarah made at school. She was so proud of it. As am I...

We headed to Artie's for brunch. It was so tasty. I ate too much and felt like a slug the rest of the day.

After rather short naps we headed outside to the backyard. We took down the baby swing and lowered one of the regular swings so that Anna can get on and off by herself. She loves the independence.

JB took Monday off so he could go in to talk to Sarah's class about being a pilot. We borrowed a kid flight suit from Nick. They were both a big hit.

Overall, a pretty good weekend. Beth was here and despite sending her home with the girl's cold she said she had a great time!

We are now awaiting Grandma and Grandpa's arrival on THursday so the birthday festivities can begin. Our baby is growing up fast...

Sarah was singing up a storm at the piano the other day. I think she leans more towards the Piano Bar entertainer than to Concert Pianist. What do you think?

Caterpillars

So, Sarah has found 2 caterpillars in backyard. They have become her pets. Her pride and joy. She makes them beds of leaves, lets them crawl on her shirt as they please, she even gets them fresh leaves every day. The best part, though, is how she is trying to convince Anna to hold one. Anna wants to hold it. Badly. But she just can't bring herself to do it. It. is. hilarious.

The science lesson will continue. This morning one of caterpillars had done his thing. He is now resting peacefully (hopefully not for eternity) in his cocoon or chrysalis. Not sure if they are moth or butterfly caterpillars. I know you are on the edge of your seat just waiting to find out...

It was a long winter..

It was 70 degrees today and despite Anna's fever we headed to the secret park after their non-existant naps. I told Sarah to go get hats and this is what she came back with. Neither one of them would remove the winter hats and put on a sun hat or a baseball hat.

We've seen an increase in the thumb sucking over the past few weeks. Not sure what it's all about, but I'm blaming teeth. What will I blame it on when they have all grown in?

Sarah says, "Mom watch me do the monkey bars!" Then she grabs that bar and just swings back and forth. Maybe one day she'll be gutsy enough to try and get all the way across.

It is amazing to see how much more Anna can do at the park this year. She can go solo on just about everything. Unless, of course, there is a bug, ant, gnat, or fly on the structure. In this case there was a teensy-weensy spider on the platform below her. She wouldn't go down until it was taken care of. Wierd...