53 weeks... or 1 year 1 week.... :-)

Sitting on her new toy...

....and enjoying it!!

Wishing a happy birthday to a special Auntie.
Thank you to said Auntie for a prop to help me take birthday card greetings.

Her first taste of wheat bread.

Well, another week has past.  I am debating on how I will do the blog from here on out.  Do I want to still document each week... counting weeks?  That could get a bit daunting, and yet, it might be fun. ;-)  Or do I want to just do a weekly post, and "forget" how many weeks old she is, perhaps only highlighting each month?  Anyone who reads want to offer an opinion, feel free.  I'm open to suggestions, although, I may or may not act on your suggestion.  I will continue to do the blog because (1)  I have a beautiful girl to show off, (2) I take a lot of pictures and I would like to share them (3) I know some family and friends enjoy reading it.  So, just because I have been silent, and it is almost another week over... I will continue to do the blog.  If only to document Anna's life for myself.  Now, I do know some friends who have run into the problem of not having enough room for blogspot.  So if/and when we get to that, I may have to find a new blog site.  I will keep you posted on such events.

Anyway, you will notice that there are significantly fewer pictures on our blog this week.  That's because my model was under the weather for most of the week.  We started with a runny nose that was presumably from teething, and then that, while it didn't turn into it, it did provide a snotty segway into a nasty cold bug.  That nasty cold bug then turned into slight dehydration, and which lead to the finding of the beginnings of an ear infection. Needless to say, it was not so much of a fun week, and there wasn't much time for taking pictures.  So hopefully the next week's post will be to our higher standards. 

Even though Anna was feeling under the weather, we still have some stats....

Anna officially weighed in at 18 pounds 9.5 ounces (32%) when she went to her 12 month well baby check up.  Other than her cold, the doctor said she looked good.  Anna will continue to take an acid reflux medication.  We will probably try to wean her off of it some time around 15 - 18 months.  Speaking of weaning, the doctor gave us the go ahead to give Anna any food we are comfortable giving her (provided they aren't a choking hazard), and that includes cow's milk!  I am THRILLED.  I am ready to get the kid on a carton of milk, and off of me.  It was fun while it lasted, babe, but now well your teeth are coming between us.  Of course, it isn't as simple as "here have a glass of milk."  I mean, really who was I kidding thinking this would be an easy transition.  She took a few sips the first time, and seemed to like it.  After that, welllllllllllll... she'll take a sip or two a day,, and that is it.  Sooo... I probably won't buy a bunch until we are drinking cow milk solidly.  She was 2 feet 5.7 inches (67%).  We are grateful and thankful that the Lord has blessed us with a healthy, happy (when she's not sick), beautiful baby girl!  We couldn't be more blessed (that is, unless she starts sleeping through the night)!

Speaking of sleep.  This week has been pretty miserable for all involved...  hahaha... Anna was sick so she woke up several times a night.  It made us all very tired all week.  I'm hoping we can get rid of the bad habits we picked up this week sleeping, and we can get back to closer to sleeping through the night.  Until then, well, I guess I'll be the mom holding the cup of coffee (usually forgetting to drink it!). 

And, like last week, Anna continues to be in 12 month clothes (at least with pants) and can sometimes wear 6-9 month clothes.  Although, the pants in 6-9 month are too short most of the time, whereas she can still fit in most shirts if I want her too.  But, I am definitely fading those out quickly.  Anna is also in size 3 diapers still, and wears a size 2 shoe.

Anna continues to be a chatterbox... both in words, and now SIGN.  Anna has said "all done" for a while now, but now says "more" correctly.  We debate whether she actually correlates the sign correctly with the action/desire of wanting more of something.  But, she correctly does the sign, AND we give her more of whatever it may be such as more of a particular food item or another lap around the downstairs on her little musical car toy.  I don't think it'll be much longer before she does correlate it well with the appropriate action.  I may try to work on "please" and "thank you" next... but I will probably read what is suggested in the few books I have on infant sign language.  In addition to signing, she continues to use her voice seemingly trying to add new words each day.  Her word list is: mama, dada, baby, ba-ba, papa, and some times she will say or attempt to say:  Anna, all done, poop (hey, I figure if she can say it, she'll be closer to potty training), duck, and grandpa  (that is a stretch sometimes but she does attempt a two syllable word thing after my dad says it.).  I am loving this stage!  It's so much fun.

Anna's new thing this week is also climbing the stairs.  We have her Aunts to thank for that.  And in addition to climbing the steps she also had her first tumble down the steps... (don't freak out readers!)  she only fell down the last two.  She cried a little bit, and then was fine.  We do try to keep the stairs blocked though.

Well, other than that, I think that sums up our week.  We are in our second week of not feeling 100%, but hopefully by the end of our current week, we will all feel much better!  Thanks for checking in on us!!

Birthday girl!!

 On Friday night we exchanged gifts with Auntie Katie and Uncle Todd.  They dropped off her birthday gift too.  It was wrapped in "functional wrapping"... All Saturday, this was pretty much what we saw.

Hmmmm... what do I do with this, mom?

Finally, she just gave in... and started playing with it.  It was cute.

                                     

 Well, on December 15 at 4pm we had a birthday party with our closest family and a few friends.  There were about 40 people in our house.  It was pretty much borderline ridiculous.... but hey, it was fun.  And there isn't a single person I wouldn't have wanted there.  Anna is loved so much!  It was such a blessing to have our family and friends there to celebrate with us.  I'd also like to thank Aunt Launi for taking most of the pictures (or at least allowing Jeremy to use your camera to take pictures,) and then sending them to me.  Without you, this blog post would not happen!  :-)

We matched (sort of).

Eating dinner

Our little princess had a MOUNTAIN of presents.
It started out well... she sat on my lap, and actively helped
me open presents...

Yay!  She claps!  So excited!

A musical soccer ball.

4 "odd balls"

About this time, she was starting to realize that we were opening them...
and putting them aside.  This was not an acceptable action.
She really wanted to play with that soccer ball!

She crawled away.

I got her back!

I held her captive with a book!  (this girl loves books!!)

Saying hi to her cousin

This shirt says "silent night. I don't think so."  Pretty much our motto.

This shirt says "Daddy's little snow angel."
Ridiculously cute when paired with some gray pants.

this outfit has matching purple pants.  Also, super cute.

She crawled away to play with her Aunt Kimmee.
(Ann loves her more than she loves books!!)

She got a shape sorter... that kept her there as well.
She played, while I opened her presents.

Some books from her Great Aunt.

Hello in there!!

What she's playing with now is a light up pyramid type thing.  The
shapes are stars.  And they get smaller as you go up.
It's one of her favorite toys.

Our cake!  It was so cute!  And SOOOO YUMMY!
Thanks Candi!

A gluten-free cupcake for the princess.
(We had to warn people not to do a loud "yay" since that made
her bawl at her cousin's birthday. Hahaha Our guests
behaved, and there was no loud ruckus.)

yay!  Song time!

Very serious!  Not sure what to make of this.

Oh, there's daddy... he's singing too!
(Mommy and daddy helped me blow out my candle)

Not sure what to think of this....

She was super dainty.

she picked at it a little bit, and ate some of the frosting. : -)

Then she decided to take the decorations off her high chair.

She got a little fussy after a while... so we put her on Aunt
Kimmee's chair, and then went for a very little ride.
(she was sad when we took her off...)

Grandma Corbett & Grandma Leeper are playing with her
and her new farm toy.

Grandma C

Showing her how to press her buttons.

You can appreciate her tutu a little bit more in this picture!

Hey, what are you doing with my toys, mom!

Her song bike... or whatever we call it.

The next day, Sunday, December 16 was her actual birthday.  Went to church, and showed off a few of her birthday presents as well.  :-)

Showing off her Rapunzel hat that Uncle Todder's mom made.
(Thanks Carol!)
She really does like it, despite the sad look.

This is another hat that Aunt Launi, and Grandma & Grandpa Leeper gave her.
There are also matching mittens!!

She wore this shirt all day. (It says "I'm the birthday girl!")
For church she had her tutu skirt on, and after naptime she had some
stretchy brown pants (show here.. sort of)

Aunt Teresa sent us a wagon.  So naturally daddy put it together while
mommy took a nap.  When we both woke up, we took it for a spin around our house.
Needless to say it was a hit!
(Later that evening we went to the mall, and took the wagon with us too!)

We finished off the end of the day with a birthday bath!

Well it's hard to believe Anna is 1 year old.  We are so blessed to have so many people love on our little girl (and us)!  We will have lots of fun in the weeks and months to come playing with our new toys!  Thank you everyone!!

52 weeks!!

We went to a birthday party that had a lot of families from our birth class.
This is Scarlett.  It's so cute, because as you can see they're holding hands.
...it's even cuter, because Anna HATES when people hold her hand(s).  So
it was sweet that she didn't object!! :-) Instant bffs?

Crawling toward the camera when I was trying to take the picture.

Hi, Mom!

Boy, am I thirsty.  I can't decide... bottle, or water... maybe both?

We went to the last Christmas program practice at BCA (where I taught).
Anna is posing with Miss Tucker the kindergarten teacher
and great friend!

A shout out to the Uncles!!  They don't get
enough publicity!

Well... 52 weeks ago today, started our very busy few weeks of the Christmas season!  It was going to be a non-stop 72 hours of yuletide fun!  However, our God and our little princess had another plan!  Around 8am my water broke, around 9:30 I was in a doctors' office, around 12:30 we were headed the hospital.  Around 6 I started having constant contractions, and at 7:27pm we had the beautiful baby girl!  It has been much joy and laughter since.  I remember pretty much being in a daze for the next few days (maybe even weeks or months), because I couldn't believe she was here!  But God is good, and now I look back at this past year, and wonder where our time went??  I believe everyone when they tell me, "Enjoy the time, because it goes by fast."  Even in our sleepless nights... this year has gone by so fast!!  I eagerly anticipate the many, many more to come!!  Happy 52 week birthday, Anna girl!!  We love you so, so, so much!  But, more than that, our Father, God, loves you!!   Thank you Jesus for such a precious gift!!

Well, this week was busy.  We had many Christmas festivities, work, and all the while I was trying to clean our house for our joyous celebration this week!  Miraculously and with the help of well... everyone... we got it all done.  I'd like to say a little thank you to our very special Grandma & Grandpa Leeper for keeping our little jewel so I could go home and clean like a mad woman all by myself without interruption.  That was GREAT!!  Thank you!!

I plan to post a whole blog post on her birthday.  We are having a party tomorrow to celebrate her first birthday, and then as most of you know her actual birthday is Sunday!  Soo yay!!  So stay tuned for that one!

Here are the current stats....
We'll start with talking!  Boy is Anna a chatter box!  She tries to say a lot of words, but the ones she can say most clearly are: mama/mom, dada/dad, papa, baby, and baba.  She definitely attempts to say duck, but it comes out "du", and grandpa (but it comes out a 2 syllable word that sounds more like papa.  But she says it every time the same way right after my dad says "grandpa.  So we'll give it to her!)  And some times she says Nana, or Anna.

I don't know how much our little monkey weighs, but we go on the 20th to our 12 month appointment where of course she'll be weighed.  But I do know that she is mostly in 12 month clothes, but we still wear quite a few 6/9 month clothes.  But the pants seem to usually be too short, however the 12 month ones some of them she has a hard time holding up and sometimes are a little too long.  I guess we're in a weird size state at this moment.... but definitely closer to the 12 month than the 6/9.  And we are still in size 3 diapers.

Sleep is going well.  We seem to be in a good groove.  Anna usually takes 1 nap a day, but if she wakes up earlier than normal, or goes swimming a lot of times she'll take two then.  Her 1 nap is usually at least 2-3 hours.  At night, she usually goes to bed between 8:30-9:30.  She'll usually wake up about :12 or 12:30 eat, and then sleep til 8ish.  Although some nights she actually lets me get a little bit of sleep before waking up... But, I don't mind it... sure I'd love for her to sleep through the night completely... but at least I usually get a decent stretch one way or the other.  :-)  And when I think about it, it's a whole heck of a lot better than what it used to be!!  Praise the Lord!!

Food is still sometimes hit or miss.  Although, I do think she is a pretty good eater.  I'm hoping that with the addition of her first birthday to our history, that maybe we can expand our potential food list.  :-)  I'm excited for her to try new things.  Although, right now, cheese, bread, and grilled cheese are at the top of her list.  I am proud of my little girl for always at least trying the stuff I put in front of her.  It makes me smile!



Anna is very mobile now.  She crawls everywhere!  She does a little bit of furniture walking, and doesn't do any walking by herself at all.  I'm not worried though, she'll get there!

Anna is definitely a people person!  Friends have commented a lot about how she is just so smiley, friendly, and likes people!  I am thankful for this.  It makes it so much easier to drop her off at grandparents' houses, and the nursery at church.  I might have a small heart attack each time if she didn't do as well. 

Well, I think that's about it for right now.  I will post plenty of pictures from our birthday bash!!

Happy 52 weeks princess!!