Christmas Day

Merry Christmas! We hope everyone has had a safe and happy holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus. We've spent a lazy day at home in our PJ's playing, eating, and napping. Anna came down the stairs this morning to the Christmas bells ringing (a new tradition we're starting) and then tore into her gifts. It was over sooo quick! She's definitely made lots of progress in her unwrapping skills compared to last year. :0) She's not moved very far from her dollhouse today and even had to put on her sunglasses as the sun was getting her through the windows in the living room but it didn't bother her enough to make her move. Enjoy the pictures and lots of love to you all!

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Belly shots

We're growing! Anna's growing taller and Mommy's growing wider. :0) We're at 28 weeks, just 2 1/2 months to go. We start going to the doctor every 2 weeks now and mommy's getting more and more uncomfortable. It seems much harder carrying this second baby compared to carrying Anna but I've heard that's just how it is...harder with each pregnancy. Or maybe we just forget what it was like before?!

All dressed up

Here we are in our Christmas best! Anna loves to get dressed up and do her hair pretty. She likes mommy to use the curling iron on it (she actually threw a fit yesterday b/c I wouldn't curl her hair!) although, silly girl, she has her own curls. We still add a few just to please her. I'm thankful she's a girly girl and lets me do her hair although it's really not an option. :0)

Christmas Activities

Anna has had tons of fun playing with the Christmas "window stickers" as she calls them. I had pulled some out of my teaching tubs for her and then Grandma brought her some and she has been very well entertained getting them just right. Anna has really enjoyed playing with our nativity set this year. It looks very delicate and pricey but it's actually plastic and it wasn't too pricey because mommy got it after Christmas 6 or so years ago for 1/2 price. She's very gentle with it and is learning what each piece means. The nativity was always my favorite part as well as a child. It was like a fun dollhouse that came out of the boxes for a month every year and I loved arranging all the people and animals just like she does. We've also been doing an advent calendar that Anna faithfully reminds us to do each night. I've not captured any pictures of it but she loves peaking under the next tab. I wish I could find a more toddler friendly one though so if anyone knows of one, we'd love to hear about it.

Anna's Lullaby

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Beethoven Jr.

Anna's been singing entire songs since she turned 2 and I've tried numerous times to catch it on video and finally was successful this morning. She loves to sing, loves to go to choir practice at church with us, and knows our Christmas cantata music just as well if not better than we do. :0)

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Building a Snowman

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When daddy got home from work yesterday, he went out to shovel the snow off the drive from the previous night before we got freezing rain on top of it last night and of course Anna was right on his heels. She was so excited to build a snowman! It's finished! Anna's first snowman or should I say snowgirl? This is what happens when a little girl burns lots of energy playing outside... :0)

Snow Jubilee

We were so excited to wake up to our first snow of the year this past Wednesday. We celebrated by making cookies and then going outside to play. Anna kept calling it the "snow jubilee" as she has a book about snowmen and the story talks about how the snowmen play outside together and have a snow jubilee. Anna couldn't wait to get outside! She dug her snowboots out of the closet first thing in the morning and had to wear them inside until we could go outside. We played outside for an hour although she only liked to play where I had shoveled and cleared the snow off. I think she was afraid of falling in the snow and not being able to get back up. Our faces were bright red and wind burnt by the time we came inside but we had lots of fun!

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Physical Therapy

Anna's been walking on her tiptoes since she was 18 months old and in October we started physical therapy to help her come out of it. She had a check-up yesterday with the PT Miss Vicky whom Anna calls "Miss Bicky" and she's making good progress. A typical 2 year old is supposed to be able to bend his/her foot back 10 degrees and when we started, Anna's right foot would only go back 2 degrees and her left would only go back 4 degrees. In the past 6 weeks she's gained 4 degrees on each side so we're now at 6 degrees on the right side and 8 degrees on the left. Miss Vicky said to continue doing her daily stretches (like in the picture above) and she thinks she'll come out of it just fine. Yea! What a relief that we don't have to put leg braces on her!

Ugh!

Another visit to the doctor on Monday left us with a prescription for an antibiotic and a steriod cream. Anna has a sinus infection, fluid behind her right ear, and severe eczema. The picture doesn't even begin to show how bad her skin looked. Sunday night she had red welts all over her shoulders and chest and it was really itching her. The steriod cream seems to be working thankfully although we've yet to see any results of the antibiotic although it takes a few days to see a change. We're headed back to the doctor in a month so they can get a good look at her adnoids when she's healthy (hopefully) as we're figuring they're large to begin with making it difficult for her sinuses to drain. The poor girl has had soooo many sinus infections for only being two years old.

Christmas lights

We love this time of year when many people put Christmas lights on their houses. Everything looks so pretty. Anna was excited to pull up to our house the other night and see the lights. The picture is dark but you can still see the lights. I can remember driving around with my family as a child looking at all the lights on houses. What a fun tradition that was...one I hope to carry on with my kids. If only all the houses around here decorated like those in Dallas! There were actually companies there that would put Christmas lights on your house for a "small fee". A friend of mine there paid $600 to have lights put on her house and she only had half the lights most houses had. Wow!!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Mommy's family on Thanksgiving day and even got to enjoy some snow while there. It was so pretty to see! Anna loved playing with cousin Kenley, they provided us with many laughs, and was spoiled lots by everyone else. I captured a great movie clip of Aunt Heather singing with Anna but the lighting was terrible so you can't even see them. I was so bummed! Next time I'll be sure to turn on lots of lights!

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We celebrated Thanksgiving with Daddy's family the weekend before Thanksgiving. Anna had lots of fun playing with everyone. She found a favorite book while there as you can see in the pictures of Daddy and Bayli reading it to her. She loved helping set the table and enjoyed lots of hugs and holding for the few minutes she held still. :0)

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Praise the Lord for all that He's blessed us with...so much that we take for granted!

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Anna was really into decorating the Christmas tree this year. She actually thinks it needs redecorated every day. :0) Unfortunately the lighting in this video isn't very good (I've got to remember to turn on lots of lights) but you can still see her having a good time hanging on an ornament and "getting her groove" on to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

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A hunting daddy will go...

Daddy's been trying to fit in some time in the woods since bow season opened in Sept. He's not made it out much but has seen a few deer and shot at one. He says it's good therapy for him to be out in the woods which mommy and Anna just can't understand. :0) As you can see, Anna was not very happy that daddy was headed to the woods while we were at Grandpa and Grandma Smith's house over Thanksgiving. However, she loved playing in daddy's hunting gear!

Hat, Mittens, Scarf

We were going through Anna's "grow into tub" of clothes this morning and came across some much needed winter things. I do believe winter has arrived with the low last night being a chilly 26 degrees. BURRRR! Anna has had a blast wearing her new scarf, hat, and mittens today around the house as she plays. Pretty cheap entertainment as I believe I only paid 99 cents for each piece last year at the end of the season. Gotta love finding the bargains on Old Navy's clearance racks. :0)

Aunt Aimee

Aunt Aimee visited us this past weekend and what a blessing it was to have her come! She is such a great help, not only with Anna, but also with whatever needs done. We had a dinner at our home Saturday night with about 25+ people for a missionary visiting from Haiti. Aimee was a great help in the kitchen and with the other kids who came. She kept things under control and even helped deal with one of the little ones who ended up getting sick all over the bathroom. We are so thankful for your company and help Aimee!! :0)

Thomas

Anna really likes Thomas the Train and I was able to find quite the deal on Tuesday. The resale shop had this train for 5.50 and we had just played with it at the grocery store where it was priced 16.99. What a deal! She wasn't with me when I got it so I held off giving it to her until this morning and she was thrilled. She's had so much fun playing with it today. I love a good bargain, such a blessing!!

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Anna and the Banana

We had a fun time trick or treating last night. Anna was really into it this year and happily rode along in the wagon hollering, "More candies!". Whenever she'd see a porch light on she'd get excited and point saying, "Candy!" She was quite the cute little ladybug! Anna wasn't too sure what to think about Uncle Nate's banana costume. Although, a 6'2" banana probably would seem a bit intimidating if we were all 2 year olds. Nate was the star of the neighborhood with kids screaming about the banana. He managed to get a few laughs as well. :0) Anna LOVED passing out candy. She would wait at the door until the next group of kids came by. A town nearby had their trick or treating last Friday so we were able to pass out candy that night and go out ourselves last night. A few times she would come ask us if there would be more kids coming and when they did come, she liked to give them handfuls of candy each. We had to hold her back so we didn't run out. Finally some more trick or treaters!! I think she enjoyed passing out the candy as much as she liked getting it. :0)

Baby Girl #2

That's right! We had our ultrasound today and saw little girl parts. :0) We are thankful we were able to find out although our little one was quite the acrobat making it hard for the technician to measure anything as she was constantly moving. We showed Anna a tiny pink onesie that she wore as a newborn and told her the new baby girl was going to wear it. She thought it was funny when Mommy held it up to her belly. Although the baby is measuring ahead, the doctor decided not to move my due date up so it's going to stay at March 16. This bummed Mommy but baby girl #2 may come sooner than that anyway...we'll see what God's plan is. :0) We're halfway done, only 20 more weeks to go, that is if we go to the 16th.

Rotavirus

The past week has been a rough one for Anna. She's had a terrible stomach virus, Rotavirus, that's caused diarrhea, vomiting, and awful stomach cramps. It's been so hard to see her in pain and not be able to do anything to help her. Thankfully by Tuesday evening she started feeling a bit better and actually played with her toys a bit. Up until that point she either wanted to be held or wanted to rest on the couch watching movies. I think we're officially over the virus now as it's been almost 48 hours since she's had a yucky diaper. A week of this awful virus is plenty!! Praise the Lord for answering our prayers and healing her body.