Yes, we're still here....

Yes we're still here...just very busy lately. We were super busy in September, October, and November! So, in order to keep it simple, I'll do a recap in pictures. I will try to update more frequently in the future....in fact, I plan on trying to do at least one post per week. Let's see if I can keep that up!

A quick update on Ana Kate. She is getting to be such a big girl! She talks just like an adult, has an amazing memory, and has more energy than anyone I know! : ) She can sing her ABC's and count to 12. She also knows many songs and loves to sing them all the time. She usually wants Doug and I to sing with her, but the other day she was singing 'Jesus Loves Me' and when I tried to sing with her she said, "No Mommy....I do it by myself!" She's quite bossy! She is doing SO well in the church nursery now....she goes in and doesn't cry or look back...yay! I even take her to a different church nursery for my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) meetings and she does great! Ana Kate and I both got sick at the end of October. Ana Kate tested positive for Type A flu, so it could have been the swine flu, but they didn't test specifically for H1N1. Whatever she had, I had the same thing....we were miserable for a few days, but everyone is healthy now. Hopefully we will stay that way through the winter!

Ok....on to the good stuff. Enjoy the pictures!

September:
We went to Dallas over Labor Day weekend to visit our good friend Sherry. While we were there we visited the Dallas Aquarium and the Zoo. Ana Kate LOVED it!

With Sherry at the zoo.



A couple of family pics taken in September.



Both of my 1st cousins (who are sisters) gave birth to their beautiful babies on the same day...September 15th. Ana Kate and I were able to go and visit Taryn and baby Piper the day she was born. We finally were able to visit with Brandi and baby Rhys in November...he's adorable!!

Baby Piper....SO precious!

Taryn & Piper

Ana Kate & Logan (holding his baby sister Piper).


A couple of random pics of Ana Kate from September....notice she is wearing her pants on her head in one of them....silly girl!

Brad & Ana Kate watching Elmo.


October:
In October I was able to go meet some of my very best friends from high school. Claudia (who lives in California) and I flew to Illinois to see Michelle and her family for a few days. We had an amazing time and promised to meet up at least once every year from now on. We went to visit a pumpkin patch one day when we were there and the kids had a blast! Michelle has 3 boys (Michael, Matthew, & baby Andrew) and Claudia is hoping to have a baby soon.

Me, Michelle, & Claudia.

Michelle & Claudia

Michelle & I

Ana Kate & I meeting baby Andrew.

Ana Kate, Michael, and Matthew having fun at the pumpkin patch.

Group picture

Sweet kisses from my sweet baby girl.

Me & Michelle with the kids.

Claudia & I with the kids in front of the giant pumpkin.

Claudia with the kids.

Me & the kids.


Ana Kate was such a BIG girl....she went down this huge slide all by herself several times and she LOVED it!

Ana Kate loved Michelle's kitty's.

She loved the horses too.

Michelle, Claudia, and I....together again after almost 20 years!

Halloween picture....she was a fairy.


November:
We went to see Papa earlier this month and it was SO warm....in the high 70's.

Playing at the park with Papa...Ana Kate LOVES her Papa.

Ana Kate's 2nd Birthday

Ana Kate celebrated her 2nd birthday today, so I thought I should post an update to let everyone know what she's up to. She is learning so much so quickly right now that it's hard to keep up, but here are a few of the highlights:

• She is currently approximately 26 pounds and just a hair under 34 inches which puts her in the 40th percentile for weight and the 51st percentile for height. So she is growing well despite not being a great eater. She has started eating a little more and drinking less milk, so she's moving in the right direction.
• She is a very active girl, always running, jumping, dancing, and climbing on everything! She has really been riding her tricycle all over the house the past few weeks and is getting pretty fast. She is also quite strong and can walk on her hands when I hold her feet for a really long time. She also can hang on to the pullup bar for a long period of time and swings her feet up to her head. I'm think she has a future in gymnastics....which I'm loving since I did gymnastics when I was younger. I plan on putting her in classes when she's a bit older, so we'll see if she enjoys it.
• Ana Kate talks ALL THE TIME....she can really wear you out! But I love it....it's just like talking to a little adult. She has such a large vocabulary and will repeat anything you say (which isn't always a good thing).
• She says 'No way!' most of the time rather than no.
• When she tells someone goodbye she has to give them a 'hug hug' and a kiss and almost always says 'I'm gonna miss you!' Its so precious.
• When I tell her not to do something she will sometimes point to the other room and say 'Go in there Mommy'. It's so funny!
• Anytime she sees something she likes she feels the need to tell us. In the car she is always telling me....'Look Mommy, balloons! I like balloons!.' We have some great conversations in the car.
• One of her current favorite phrases is 'Did you hear that Mommy/Daddy/Whitney?' Then she has to know what the sound is and where it's coming from. We had a couple of thunderstorms this month and she now insists that she's 'Scared of funder'...then she has to put a blanket over her head.
• She now knows almost all of her letters and can recognize them when asked. This really surprised me when she first started doing it. She has fridge phonics and I just randomly asked her where different letters were while doing dishes one day. I knew she would recognize a couple, but she got almost all of the right. She can sing her ABCs with just a few gaps...when we fill in the gaps she will continue on, so she knows the order as well. She's doing well with her numbers too and will count to 10 with me, but won't do it without me....the other day when we finished she said 11....she's such a little smarty pants!
• Her current favorite cartoon is Clifford, so that is always her choice when it's TV time.
• Ana Kate is still not a great sleeper. She is out of our bed for the most part, but still in our room. She has slept through the night a few times, but is still typically waking up at least once per night. I am SO ready for her to start sleeping better. I'm hoping that will steadily improve.
• She has been staying in the nursery at church for a while now, but it's been difficult. This was a huge thing for us because she would cry so hard when we left her. The first couple of weeks we had to go back and get her, but lately she would settle down after 5 minutes and be happy when we picked her up. But this week she went in and didn't cry at all! Yay! Let's hope that continues!

There are probably a hundred more things I could add, but I don't want to bore everyone. This post is getting incredibly long.

We had a great birthday celebration today. We love Ana Kate SO much....she is such a blessing!

Enjoy the pictures (the one at the beginning of this post was edited by Ana Kate's Aunt Lauren and I just LOVE the way it looks!) There is also a video at the end of Ana Kate blowing out her candles...

Pretty girl:

Puppy kisses...

I let her lick the icing off the beaters this week...she LOVES chocolate!

Playing in her new kitchen on her birthday....

Birthday girl with her (cup)cake.

Trying to hold up 2 fingers.

She loved her cake.

Just a small lick....no one will notice.

Worn out at naptime...


Here is a video of Ana Kate blowing out her candles:

Pig tails!

Aren't they cute?! Unfortuately Ana Kate only keeps them in for about 15 minutes...then says 'I don't like' while pulling them out....enjoy the pictures!




Blowing Mommy a kiss.