Slow Monday

Since it is still wet and gloomy here...and it looks like we are stuck inside for yet another day, I thought I'd post an update. It's been a while since my last post, so I have lots to share.

Our last weekend in April was quite busy. We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary as well as Doug's birthday. We out to dinner on Friday for the anniversary celebration and Ana Kate was quite a character (she doesn't like to sit still during dinner....especially when we're at a restaurant). Then on Saturday we woke up early for the 5K race for the cure. We had a great time....Whitney ran the 5K (we realized we couldn't take the stroller on the 5K), so we just walked around the mall promenade and tried to keep Ana Kate entertained. They had an event for dogs, so she was quite excited and happy to see all the 'puppies' there. After the race we went shopping and ate lunch, so I guess that was sort of Doug's birthday celebration. We decided to get a movie and pizza and relax the rest of the night. Here's a picture of Whitney and Ana Kate with their bunny hats after the race:


We have been working on leaving Ana Kate in the nursery at church, but it hasn't been going very well. We've been called back every time so far, but we're hopeful that we will get there eventually. I decided I really had to work on getting her used to Mommy dropping her off, so I came up with a plan. My friend Amanda agreed to help out, so last Wednesday after nap time I took Ana Kate over to Amanda's house and left her so I could go shopping for 30 minutes to an hour. I stayed for just a few minutes to make sure she was comfortable then told her bye (which is typically when she starts losing it). I really don't like sneaking out when she's not looking...I have done this, but don't like to, and it doesn't typically make a difference anyway. She didn't cry or get upset at all....I was amazed! I'm sure the distraction of Amanda's two dogs helped, but it was still a huge accomplishment for us. Ana Kate will sometimes cry when I leave her with Daddy, so I have to stress how big of a deal this was. So off I went to Target and was able to leisurely shop and take my time...it was wonderful! When I got back Ana Kate was happy as could be. She did have one little incident while I was gone. She tried to stuff too many apples in her mouth and threw up (sorry Amanda!), but after a change of clothes she was fine. Amanda said she never got upset the entire time I was gone, so I told her she is now our 'go to' sitter. :) I can't tell you what a relief it is to be able to leave Ana Kate and know that she's happy and not crying for me while I'm gone. Thank you SO much Amanda!

Whitney was sick all this weekend with a fever and just generally not feeling well. I don't think it's the flu, because her stomach has been fine, she's just tired...so I've been giving her lots of medicine and orange juice. She seemed a little better last night, so hopefully she's getting over it. She has some finals this week, so it will be tough if she's feeling bad.

Ana Kate has been doing really well...she's talking non-stop and putting sentences together. Any time you tell her she looks pretty she says 'mirror' and has to be taken to the nearest mirror so she can see herself. Last night she was so funny. I was making homemade cinnamon rolls and decided I better put on an apron before I rolled the dough out. (Whitney had my apron made for me for Mother's Day a couple of years ago and it's black with white polka dots and has Mom embroidered on it in hot pink...really cute.) So as I put it on Ana Kate notices and runs to the kitchen saying 'pitty' (pretty). It was SO funny, she kept saying pretty and cute over and over. I think I might be in trouble if she already thinks clothing is cute and she's not even 2 yet! I think Whitney was the same way at that age.

We really haven't been doing much else...it's been raining here non-stop for the past week, so it's pretty dreary. Due to all the rain I really haven't taken many pictures...but I do have a few. Enjoy!

These were taken on a beautiful sunny day before all the rain started:



Ana Kate playing with her sunglasses in the car yesterday:



This morning she was watching her video with a blanket on her head...silly girl!