Anna's birthday bash

We had such a fun party for Anna's 1st birthday! Some of us had a little too much fun (you know who you are). She thoroughly enjoyed her cake and opening her presents. When Eric put her to bed last night she went right to sleep without so much as a peep. She was even in exactly the same sleeping position when we checked on her before we went to bed.

She's our Goose

My mom was about to give Anna her cake when she dropped it! Luckily it landed on the table and was salvagable.

"Gimme that cake!
"

She dug right in

Nope, she wasn't the least bit shy. At least she didn't get any in her hair.

Oh, wait, yes she did (thanks Uncle Rob)

Poor Goose at sooo much cake!


It took a team of two to clean her up


And she got a bath in the sink


And now, let the gift opening commence!

She got a very snuggly teddy bear and knew just what to do with it

My parents gave her a little crib and my mom made this goose blanket for it. So cute!


Here she is modeling her new hat

Ayden had to get in on that action! He's striking a pose.

Oh yeah, she's all girl. See how happy she is that she got clothes!

And of course she wanted to try them on right away

The big gift of the day was this cop car from Daddy and Mama

It was a very popular toy! The other kids wasted no time fighting over it.

Cousin Dakota squeezed in

So did Aunt Jen

After the party my parents and my sister's family stayed and we played a game. Anna "helped" grandma.

She looks like such a big girl!

These are for you, ma

You just can't invite Eric's family anywhere without bedlam breaking out :oD

Anna is the big o-n-e!

I can't help but think back to what we were doing today one year ago. We went in for our scheduled c-section bright and early and had our little girl a little after seven a.m. The first few hours were wonderful as we were getting to know Anna. The rest of the day is really hazy to me because of the pain meds I was on, but I know we had lots and lots of visitors who couldn't wait to me our new little sweetheart. She is so special to me. I can't even begin to express how much I love her, and I'm getting pretty emotional writing this, so I'm just going to show some pictures of the day she came into this world.

Just minutes old

Here we are in the recovery room

She was one day old in this picture

The first time big brother met little sister

The hair! I won't ever forget that hair!

Now, Anna is a big one-year-old girl! As I write this she is sitting on my lap, drinking a bottle, and idly kicking anything her little foot can find. She is almost walking, she just needs to figure out that walking is a better, faster way to get from here to there, but she is close! She can find your nose when asked, gives kisses (sometimes) when asked, and gives high five. She says Otis, Bella, Mama, Dada, and probably more that I just haven't figured out yet. She is very affectionate, a little stubborn, and when she wants something she goes after it full force! Anna is such a special little girl and we are all wrapped around her finger. And she knows it!

Anna the cutie bug

Here's a couple of videos that I took of Anna yesterday.

Anna showing off her mad walker usin' skillz

Anna and daddy playing

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Cuddling with Bella

The kids and Bella have taken to each other quite nicely, no surprise there, and I got some shots of them laying with her.

Ayden taking advantage of the dogs' comfy bed

notice their ears

Our newest addition

Look what we got! These pictures do not do her justice, she is gorgeous!

My friend put an ad on Facebook yesterday that she had to find a home for her Great Dane, Annabelle (Belle). I casually mentioned it to Eric and then this morning we decided to get her. My friend is happy that her dog was going with someone she knows, Eric is happy to have a guard dog, Otis is happy to have a playmate, and I am just thrilled to have another baby. We changed her name from Annabelle to Bella because we already have an Anna and it was getting confusing. Bella is the sweetest dog! She is calm and polite and a pleasure to be around. We are so happy to have her.

Prepare to be amazed!

When you watch this video that I took today, keep in mind that Anna stepped her very first step yesterday.

Exciting news!

Anna took her first steps yesterday! I put her on the wall and she started by taking two steps, then three, and by nap time she was taking four good steps. Then last night after dinner we were practicing walking again and I stood her in the middle of the room to try and see if she could do it from there. She wanted to get to a toy and she took four steps then regained her balance (without falling down or holding on to anything) and she took four more steps! And if that wasn't exciting enough, she was walking in the kitchen a little bit later and she took ten whole steps!!! Holy moly, my daughter is amazing! Not only is she a natural, but she enjoys walking. When we were practicing she never chose to lower herself down and crawl instead of walking, she would just see something she wanted and take off for it. I was so excited last night that I put her to bed a little late so we could keep practicing. I can totally see her walking well by her birthday!

A silly conversation

Daddy and Ayden were talking about taking a bath. This is the kind of silliness that goes on in our house.

Lookie lookie!

Anna is getting braver and braver. I got this video of her practicing her standing skills tonight. It's just been in the last few days that she has had any interest in standing on her own. I'm optimistic that she might even be taking a few steps by her birthday.

Some new pictures

I have been sick -again- and have not felt like taking many pictures, but I picked up my camera yesterday and shot some really cute ones of the kids.

Thought I'd throw this one in just in case anyone wanted to save it to their computers (just double click on it and then right click the big one that comes up and save picture as . . .)

Anna is finally old enough to figure this toy out. I love watching her play with it.

a rare picture of Ayden with a real smile, when I tell him to smile now-a-days he does a really cheesy grin.

This is one of Anna's favorite toys. She is even learning how to turn it when she gets stuck.

The contentious subject

New header picture

I finally got the kids in the same place, at the same time, and was able to snap a good enough picture to use for my blog header.

We got a new couch!

Gosh, I don't know what else to say, the title pretty much says it all.

Update on Assignment #3

I had my last photography class tonight so I thought I would let you know what the instructor thought of my photos. I don't want to do a whole new long post with the pictures so I wrote new stuff (in italics) on my previous Assignment #3 a few posts down. Please scroll down a few posts to see the updates. :o)

Oh joy!

Ayden discovered a new game tonight. I was at the kitchen sink washing Anna's bottles and Ayden ran in from the playroom and said, "May I have juice please, Mama?" I told him no, so he said "awww" and ran back into the playroom. He did this like 10 more times, each time asking very nicely for juice and each time saying awww when I told him no. Doesn't sound like a very fun game to me, but then I am not 2 ½ years old. I'm wondering if he was trying to wear me down . . . hmmm.

Photos of birdies

Spring must be in the air because there are lots of birds playin' in our tree and at the neighbor's bird feeders. I took the opportunity to take some pictures of them today. I was standing inside at the window using my zoom lens to take these.

(you can click on the pictures if you want to see them bigger)

My Goose is 11 months old!

Anna (she's Goose if you didn't already guess that) is only one month away from her 1st birthday. Ack! How did the year go by so fast! Anna is such a big girl, I can't even believe all the stuff she can do.

She uses anything she can push around to walk behind and she is getting good enough at it that sometimes she only holds on with one hand! She has stood by herself for a few seconds, but isn't really that interested in doing it yet. If I try to get her to stand by herself she usually either dives for me, does the jelly-leg dance, or lowers herself down to the ground.

Anna's favorite game is peek-a-boo and that is usually the only way I can get her smile for the camera. She loves playing with her baby doll (by playing I mean rolling over and crushing it repeatedly), and she still dances to any song or beat that she hears.

Goose has five teeth and finally has just enough hair to put a pig-tail in. She can say Da-da and Ma-ma, although she rarely says Ma-ma. Her new "phrase" is "hi Da-da", which she says by waving and saying Da-da at the same time. The other morning she said it as soon as she saw Eric, it was way sweet! Anna already tries to repeat words that we say, and I predict she will be a good talker like her big brother. I'm gonna' need some earplugs if I want any peace and quiet :-).