134/365

We woke up to more rain and thunderstorms this morning.  Ana Kate slept in, but the first thing she said when she woke up was, 'Mommy....there are thunderstorms...I'm scared'.  We just stayed inside and played and read books...and eventually got bored.  Ana Kate would not settle down for her nap, so I put her in the bathtub (she loves to play in the bath and can stay in there for well over an hour if I let her).  Thankfully after her bath the sun came out and it was much nicer outside.  The ground was still soaking wet though, so we played on the porch.

I am happy to report that the baby bird is still doing well!  I found it outside in the grass and it appears the mama bird is still watching out for it.  We did have a tiny incident where one of the dogs got it, but I screamed at him and he let it go.  It hopped away, so I think it was fine....hope it learns to fly soon!  Ana Kate told Daddy all about it when he got home.

133/365

Today we we had lots of rain and cloudy skies.  We also had a few thunderstorms throughout the day, so we didn't go anywhere.  My Mom came over after lunch and played with Ana Kate until nap time. 

One of the baby birds (from the nest by our window) somehow fell out of the nest.  We were up in the loft watching the birds and they are already so much bigger, but I could only see 2 of them.  So while my Mom watched Ana Kate I went outside to see if I could find it.  It was sitting in the grass by our fence and clearly couldn't fly, but the Mama bird was watching out for it, so hopefully she is still feeding it and it will learn to fly soon.  I went out again this afternoon (when the sun finally came out) and found it in the grass.  I watched it while the dogs were outside to make sure they didn't get it.  I also got a picture of it....I hope the little guy makes it!

I took pictures after dinner and now Ana Kate and I are watching The Little Mermaid.

This is the view of the nest from the loft....you can't really see the birds well in this picture.

The baby bird that fell out of the nest.

132/365

We had a pretty typical day around here, but...it was actually sunny and warm!  We got ready and went grocery shopping and Ana Kate was such a good girl!  She talked to everyone....and I do mean everyone!  She is the most social toddler I've ever seen.  She was also quite entertaining in the car...she has really amazed me recently with her memorization skills.  We always have her Veggie Tales Bible Songs CD playing in the car and she can sing most of the words in almost all of the songs.  There are still a couple she doesn't quite know and she will keep asking me to play them again until she gets it.  It is so sweet to hear her singing along with it.

After grocery shopping we had lunch and then nap.  I didn't work on my closet during naptime, so I'll have to finish that up tonight when Doug gets home.  He's been traveling for work....so my only 'downtime' has been during Ana Kate's nap.  When Ana Kate got up she helped me finish up dinner and some vacuuming and sweeping.  Dinner was SO good.  I baked a whole chicken in my dutch oven and it was so tender!  We also had scalloped potatoes, green peas, and homemade whole grain rolls.  Everyone enjoyed it except for Ana Kate....I couldn't get her to eat anything, but she did eat quite a bit for lunch, so I guess she wasn't hungry.

Pictures were after dinner....Ana Kate was loving the warm sunny day!

Trying to ring the doorbell with her fairy wand.

She was telling me something important here...

131/365

Not much going on around here today.  It has been cloudy all day, so we just stayed at home.  Ana Kate did nap today, so I was able to get most of my closet re-organized.  It already looks so much better!  I found some old scarves when I was cleaning out my closet that I never used...they are made with a fuzzy, soft yarn.  I thought Ana Kate might light them for dress up, so I gave them to her and she loves them!  So I took a couple of pictures of her playing with them.

130/365

Today it was rainy and chilly all day.  Ana Kate and I went to Walmart and then I got her a happy meal for lunch...she chose apples instead of french fries (that's my girl!).  She ate most of her lunch and was so excited to see the toy was a Barbie Mermaid.  She is currently very into the Barbie Mermaid Tale movie and loves all things mermaid. After lunch I let her watch a little tv, then put her down for nap.  She went to sleep pretty quickly...it always seems easier on a rainy day. 

During Ana Kate's nap I decided to try out my new workout dvd (30 day shred).  I thought it would be perfect for me because it's only 20 minutes.  I decided since I haven't worked out (or even walked) in ages that I should start with the level 1.  Normally I would jump in at the intemediate level....so I figured it would be fairly easy.  It was tough!  I did everything...but I was breathing hard and my muscles were feeling it.  Wow....that was quite a 20 minute workout.  I would like to stick with it and see how quickly I can move on the levels 2 and 3.  The only thing I don't like are the jumping jacks...for some reason jumping jacks make my neck hurt, so towards the end I didn't use my arms.  I am hoping to be able to do it at least 5 days a week since it's only 20 minutes.  We'll see how it goes.

After Ana Kate's nap we ran out to Target to return some things and then browsed a little.  When we got home I got her settled watching a movie while I made dinner.  After dinner we took a few pictures and now I'm going to start cleaning my closet.....not fun.  Wow...I have so much stuff to get rid of!  I will probably just donate all of it because I hate yard sales.  I think Ana Kate's closet will be next!

Ana Kate played with her happy meal Merliah Barbie all day...she even slept with it when she napped.

129/365 - Happy Mother's Day!

First, I want to wish all the Mom's I know a very Happy Mother's Day!!  I have been so blessed with my 2 amazing girls and I had a wonderful day with them!

Last night after church Ana Kate came upstairs (while I was updating the blog) and had on a new t-shirt that said 'I Love Mommy' and had a card and a big box of candy.  It was super sweet!  I'm not sure when Doug found time to this....but I loved it!  Then this morning, Whitney sent Ana Kate downstairs to me with a card form both of them....I love my girls SO much!!

We decided to go out to eat to celebrate, but it's always so busy on Mother's Day.  We typically will not wait in line for any restaurant....so we thought we'd go to a local pizza place that we like and it was not busy at all.  So we had a great lunch!  After lunch we went by Walmart and then home.  Ana Kate fell asleep in the car, so she did take a nap.  When she woke up we headed over to my Mom's to drop off her card and some candy.  Mimi loved it!  After visiting for a while we headed home to watch the final episode of The Amazing Race.  It was a bit disappointing since our favorite team came in second.

I took pictures after Ana Kate's nap out on the front porch while she played with her new piano.  Oh...and while I'm thinking of it a quick potty training update from our 2nd week.  Ana Kate is doing great with very few accidents.  She is going to the bathroom when she needs to without me asking and she was accident free all day today, even during nap!



And here are a couple of pictures that Amanda took of Ana Kate's dedication at church last night:

Ana Kate & Mommy...the first one is pretty blurry, but such a special moment captured.

Ana Kate with Amanda after the service...she was SO excited to see her.  I think we'll have to start calling her 'Aunt' Amanda!

128/365

Today Ana Kate and I got ready and went shopping.  We had her parent/child dedication at church tonight and I needed to get a sweater to go with her dress.  Well, we found a sweater....and a new dress...and a couple of new hairbows too!  She had fun and was a good girl for most of our shopping.  Towards naptime she got a little cranky, so we headed home and she was asleep by the time we got there.

The dedication at church was wonderful!  Our pastor gave us some great advice and prayed for our baby girl, it was a such special moment!  I was worried about how Ana Kate would do, but she did amazing!  She took the microphone and told everyone 'Hi!', then she said the 'Amen' for our prayer and danced around.  Then at the end she took a bow!  I have never seen her do this before...so not quite sure where she learned it.  She was super cute and charmed everyone.  It was a special night and I was so proud of how well she did.  They showed a few slides of Ana Kate and played a voice over that I had done earlier in the week.  This is what I said:

The journey to our youngest daughter wasn’t easy. Ana Kate was born in

Vietnam and after many months of paperwork, anxiety, and prayers we finally

held her in our arms! She was 9 months old on our forever family day and has

been home now for almost 2 years. The year that we spent waiting for her was

one of the most difficult times in our lives, but every minute was more than worth

it. Oh, how we prayed for this child… She has been one of the biggest blessings

in our lives! Ana Kate is an amazing girl with a captivating spirit and we praise

God every day for leading us to her!

I also included the following verse:

“I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.”   1 Samuel 1:27-28

They gave us some wonderful books, a framed picture of Ana Kate with the above verse, and flowers for Mother's Day.

I didn't take any pictures of Ana Kate until after church...she was very uncooperative and the lighting was horrible.  But...I posted the best one I could get.  Our friends Deric and Amanda came for the dedication and Ana Kate was so excited.  They attend our church, but typically go on Sunday morning....thanks guys for being there!   Amanda took some pictures of the dedication and she said she would post them, but warned they might be blurry due to the lighting.  When she shares them I will post them as well.  I'll have to get some better pictures of Ana Kate in her dress later in the week.