It's Christmas tree time!!!

This is Anna as I was telling her about the Christmas tree and how it's decorated with lots of lights and ornaments and stuff... You can tell she was very excited about it. Ok, maybe I'm stretching the truth a bit, but it makes for a better story for these cute pictures. :)

So she made a new friend. I didn't expect it, but she was much more interested in the snowman than the tree.

They were introducing themselves to each other, but I'm not sure what Mr. Snowman said that made Anna make this face...She looks a little concerned about something, but that feeling soon passed as she moved on to eating his leg.

I just love that child.

Happy Thanksgiving.....yesterday!!

I'm running a little behind I guess. But better late than never, right? Anyways, here's the Thanksgiving princess. :) If she could talk (in a language that we could understand), I believe that she would tell us that she is thankful that she was able to participate in the Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. She really enjoyed herself with all of the new foods. It was definitely more interesting this year than last. This is all she did last year...
Wow, things sure have changed. :)

It's a birthday party!!

Here comes the birthday girl!!

Opening presents is too much fun...

That worm has SOOOO many legs...
Wonder what's in this big box?
"Mom, are you sure it's ok if I rip this paper?"

"Is all of this mine!?!"

"No pictures, please."

This is definitely the way to go...

Two peas in a pod. Aren't they the cutest!?!

Aunt Sandra can come back anytime and push little miss Anna around.

I would have to say Anna's first birthday party was a big success. The little girl had so many friends over, got lots of awesome stuff, had lots and lots of cake, and played with her new toys until she couldn't hold her eyes open any longer.

1 year old

It's hard to believe Anna's already a year old. She's grown from this...to this...and from this...

to this...

and from this...

to this...

and from being the only grandchild...

to being one of the two...
This little girl is so excited to be one!!!

Anna will be one year old before the milk expires

Last year at this time, I was VERY pregnant. I remember making a trip to the grocery store, much like I did this past weekend, and when I grabbed the gallon of milk, I thought to myself "this expires AFTER Anna is due to be born." At the time, that was so exciting to me. I remember it like it was yesterday. Feeling the excitement that she would arrive before the milk had a chance to sour. That I would be smelling poopie diapers before I would smell bad milk. I know, it's ridiculous, but I was excited about it. But this year is a different story. I bought the gallon of milk that expires after Anna's birthday. There is some excitement. Excitement for her first ever birthday party and her first taste of birthday cake. But I'm also very sad. I know I've talked about it here before, how it's hard for me to grasp that she's growing up. But wow! No one ever told me how much they grow and change in the first year. Or maybe they did, I just didn't realize the extent of the growing up. I know it's only been one year, but it seems to have flown by. Anyways, I just wanted to share the milk story even though it is totally irrelevant to all things. It's just one of those things that I think I will always remember about being pregnant. Maybe I'll share another story soon. I know you will all be waiting in anticipation.

Of all the insects in the world, I love only these two!!

I thought it was funny that Anna and Katie both happened to be insects for their first Halloween. Anna was a great ladybug, and Katie was a killer spider!!

I think in this next picture, Anna was asking mammaw, "what's a ladybug?"

And then she probably asked, "why can't I just go back to wearing the pumpkin shirt? It's much more comfortable."