Anna Belle's Almost One

I did a little photo shoot of Anna Belle today, in honor of her forthcoming birthday (March 5th). Here's her first encounter with the cake... not the thrilled expression I was expecting.

She prefers to use the fork.

...and here I asked her how old she is, and she put up that sweet little finger. What a doll.

Even as a stay at home mom, who let her baby sleep and nap at her side for all that time, I feel like the first year went by too quickly. There's nothing quite as precious as those first moments with your babies.

Winds of Change

I think this marks the first time that I have uploaded iPhone pictures to the blog. I really need to bring my camera with me more often. I guess we have spring fever around here, because we're getting ready for pool season. Here's a picture of my baby girl in her swimsuit for this year.

Anna Belle graduated to a big girl car seat. Where did the first year go?

Katie Beth and Anna Belle go to church together Sundays and Wednesdays and they're at the Y together. I love how they really recognize one another, even at this young age.

We're also in home improvement mode. This bed is my great great grandmother Russell's. Taylor's parents gave us the monogrammed sheets and mattresses and my mom let us borrow the art... so we have a guest bedroom!

When we first moved in, we had to have three dead palm trees removed from our back yard (Fannie Mae didn't tend to the landscape during last years drought and/or freeze prior to our purchase). This year we're replacing them with a canary island palm and a medjool date palm. The first 2 pictures are the medjool and the last picture is the canary. They'll be installed on March 8th. I always feel sick when we spend money, but I know they'll be beautiful.

So long 20 somethings...

I turn 30 on Mardis Gras this year. To celebrate, my family got together at City Centre for lunch today.

Brady couldn't understand why Papa wouldn't want to share a lollipop.

... so he gave up and offered it to me.

Grammy and her favorite baby girl.

It was too cold to eat on the patio of Ruggles Green, so we had lunch at Yard House. They sat us at two booths and we divided into the boys table and girls table. Brady and Luke L-O-V-E playing with Sam... Why does it take a photograph to make me realize how badly Brady and I need haircuts?

Part of the girls table

Grammy, Pappaw and Megan gave me Ikea gift cards which enabled us to buy a chair for Anna Belle's room. After lunch and before our dinner with college friends, we went to Ikea to pick it up. We were excited to assemble it tonight. Here's the latest pic of Anna Belle's room reno.

I honestly feel good about turning 30. I feel afraid of how quickly the next 10 years will fly by, but I'm really happier than I've ever been. I feel extremely blessed to have such a wonderful husband who loves us and provides for us. I have two beautiful, charming, healthy children. My mom visits frequently, loves my kiddos and is truly my best friend. I feel like Anna Belle's mommy attachment extends to her Grammy. My mom and sister love and help watch the kids, so Taylor and I can get away every now and then. Brady adores my sister and the way she brings magic (and "the force") into his life. What more could a girl ask for?

Happy Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day, Taylor and I went to Cirque du Soleil with the Dachs. It was Michael Jackson themed, which was really fun. Yesterday, Taylor got Brady a new video game and matching TOMS for Anna Belle and I. I love that Brady and Taylor wear matching tennis shoes and Crocs. Now Anna Belle and I can match too (as soon as she grows into an infant size 4).

Since we moved to the "new" house, we really haven't done much with Anna Belle's nursery. It looked okay in the townhouse because the kids shared a room. Anyways, here's a before picture. We still have a ways to go, but I think the paint really helps.

...and after.

Sheer Joy

A few of my new years resolutions are to spend more time outside and to spend more time reading to and/or teaching Brady and Anna Belle. Brady recently got a new bike, so we walk a lot more. We made it out to Coles Mill, which is a WONDERFUL walk from our house. We go through green belt, a wooded path, past a fishing pond, and a duck pond on the very short walk. The best part was seeing these joyful faces from my kiddos.

This makes me giggle every time I look at it.

This is Brady's face when he calls someone a silly goose.

Angel

The fam came over to our house to celebrate Grammy's birthday. The cousins' new favorite game it to chase and wrestle with Sam. At Papa's house, they run in circles. At my house, they dart around the trampoline. Sam's a trooper.

A random afternoon art project with Brady.

I am VERY pleased to announce that Anna Belle slept in her crib last night. After almost 11 months of nursing through the night in our bed, I was delighted that she transitioned into her crib last night. She slept from 8:30 pm to 5:30 am with NO CRYING! Praise the Lord... I didn't think it was possible. I hope we can keep up this new schedule. I'm so used to not really sleeping at night, that I couldn't sleep. I slept from about 9:30 pm to 2:00 am, and then couldn't get back to sleep. I'm sure my body will start catching up soon.

Video Ketchup : )

Here's a video I took today when we went to have lunch with Papa.

This video was taken a few weeks ago of my precious children playing together. Anna Belle has become a lot more interactive with everyone in the last month or so. She laughs a giggles a lot! She also tells us exactly what she does and doesn't want.

Ranch Part II

On Sunday, we had lunch with Taylor's parents at the Salt Lick in Driftwood.

Brady playing with his favorite car, Finn McMissile.

Anna Belle chewed on lamb bones on Friday night and pork ribs on Sunday. This girl likes her meat!

Daddy and his two favorite kiddos.

Late 2011 Family Album

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