May, Part 2

Well, that busy month is over!  It was lots of fun, but I would be lying if I said I wanted to do it all again.  Let's see, after Anna's birthday bash, Anna started out her week-of-appointments.  Before that, though, we got to welcome a healthy, 8 lb. 14 oz. new addition to the family on the 20th, baby Danny!  Jimmy is a big brother!  Danny is adorable and we can't wait to meet him.  Actually, Daddy already got to meet him while up in Boston for a conveniently-timed business trip on the 23rd and 24th.

But, back to Anna's traumatic week, because we are all concerned about that.  She went to the dentist on Monday the 20th and did pretty well.  She managed to hold herself together for most of the exam, until the dentist tried to look in her mouth.  Then the screams erupted.  She really did a good job for her first time in a strange place with scary equipment.  I was proud of her.  If that wasn't bad enough, she went the next morning for her 3-year checkup at the pediatrician!  I was very proud of her there because she cooperated for the height, weight, and vision screen and had a nice talk with the nurse practitioner.  She only cried when the stethoscope came out, and then managed to get herself back together.  She checked out good, weighing in at 34 lb. 2 oz. (80th percentile), 39.25" tall (93rd percentile!), and 15.6% BMI (46th).  For hardly eating anything compared to Erin, she is sure managing to grow!  Thankfully, she didn't need any shots, and we were out of there.

Erin had her yearly checkup at the developmental pediatrician that Thursday (the week-of-appointments continues) and managed to talk herself out of an actual exam.  He talked to us for a few minutes and then called me the next day.  Erin was on cloud nine the whole way home.  Sneaky!  We had pizza with our neighbor friends on Friday night, and Daddy got home later that night.

Last weekend, Daddy ran in a 5k early in the morning, then went to pick up a free play house that we snagged for Erin's class.  We girls went to the Y and the grocery store.  That evening, we went out for BBQ with neighbor friends, then to a park to run off energy from a dual-nap day.  Sunday, after church, donuts, playing outside, lunch, and rest, we went to Lake Wheeler to the playground, then rented a paddle boat!  You might guess which nature-loving kid had a ball and which mall-loving kid kept asking to leave.



Then we went to Matthew, Caroline, and Joshua's house for hot dogs, and we all went to Porter's Farm for ice cream.  Yum!  Monday morning was Mommy's long-awaited window-washing day while Daddy and the girls went to the Y, ran errands, and had lunch at Chick Fila.  We got out our kiddie pool and water table after rest time and played in the backyard.

This week was calmer with our usual things, Cole Day, etc.  Anna had her 3-year portraits done at JC Penney yesterday and did pretty well.  We ladies went to the pool after school and had a great time.  This year I can finally take them by myself, which is great.  Today was a failed playdate at a park after our trip to the Y...for some reason, Anna did not want to be there!  That rounds out our month.  We are looking forward to the next weekend or two of nothing planned...just trips to the pool and enjoying summer!

Happy birthday, Anna!

Our little girl is 3 years old now!  She had a great birthday weekend, full of fun with her family and friends.  It started on Friday when she went strawberry picking with Erin's class, and then we girls hit the neighborhood pool for the first time, where she loved jumping off the side of the pool.  Saturday morning, she opened her presents from us.  That afternoon was her big birthday extravaganza, complete with princess balloons, Rapunzel spaghetti, games, bounce house, princess cupcakes that Grandma A. made, and lots of fun!  She had the best time and has been talking about it constantly ever since.  Big thanks again to all who came!  The fun didn't end there, because Logan, Ansley, and Ben spent the night at our house after the party and Anna and Ansley stayed up giggling and playing for awhile.  We all went to church on Sunday, then they went home.  We played with all her new toys for awhile, and then Daddy took her and Erin to the observation park at the airport while Mommy went to Ms. Kate's baby shower.  After that, we all went to the new Tijuana Flats in Holly Springs.  Anna had a wonderful birthday weekend!

She also got to move up to the preschool room at the YMCA nursery today, and was very excited about that. They get water with their snacks since they have a lower risk of spilling, so that's a big deal.  They also have a "big kid" table for snacks and crafts and all new toys to check out.  After the Y, she had her first-ever dental appointment.  That was touch-and-go, but she really tried to be brave.  Her teeth checked out fine, and she got to cash in her bravery for a new Rapunzel doll at Target (because she just doesn't have enough new princess stuff from her party).  Tomorrow morning is her 3-year checkup at the pediatrician.  That may be a little more intimidating than the dentist, but we'll see.  At least there is less scary machinery there, but there will be more poking and prodding...but hopefully no shots.

Anna is our social, talkative, inquisitive child.  She NEVER stops talking, asking questions, and stating her opinions - solicited or not!  She is now becoming ok with going outside since the weather is warmer, but she really does not like to wear shoes anytime.  Her main interests are princesses, princesses, and sometimes more princesses.  She went through a dress-up phase over the winter where she would not leave the house unless she had a full dress-up getup, including high heels and tiara, on over her clothes.  Thankfully, that isn't required now that it's warmer!  She is feisty and does not hesitate to pick fights with Erin for no reason.  She is artistic, and got a big kick out of painting our cardboard castle for the party.  It's good that she will be going to preschool in the fall, because I just don't have the creativity to come up with a lot of art projects.  Her favorite pastimes right now include playing board games, jumping on the trampoline, baking, and playing imaginative games with her dolls.  She is potty-trained, only needing a diaper at night and at naptime (which, by the way, only happens about once a week now, much to my dismay).  I really never thought the day would come when they were both out of diapers, but my prayers have been answered!

Anyway, that's Anna in a nutshell.  She is truly a delight and is a very sweet girl (though I may be slightly biased).  She is caring and patient with Erin, but also fights with her and is notorious for stealing her stuff.  She is Mommy's little buddy during the week, and we have the best time together.  We love you, Anna!

May, Part 1

Well, I am a blogging machine these days, up to twice a month!  We've had a busy couple of weeks, and I know the rest of May will be busy as well with Anna's birthday extravaganza, so I thought I could do a quick update now.  Let's see - Erin had field day at school on the 3rd, which was lots of fun for Mommy and Erin.



 We went to a Trish Miller concert that night and enjoyed the nice evening outside.  We went to Concord over the 4th-5th and got lots of cousin playtime in, plus celebrating Daddy's and Aunt Leslie's birthdays, and Mother's Day with Grandma A.  Mommy got to go out to dinner with her neighbor friends on the 6th, which was a nice little treat.  The 7th was Daddy's birthday, which we celebrated in style at the Mexican restaurant, shopping at the dollar store, and with blondies at home.  Daddy liked his new shirt and tickets to the Durham Bulls baseball game, which he went to on Friday night with his friends Josh and David.



While Daddy was at the baseball game, we girls had Matthew, Caroline, and Joshua come over with their mommy to eat takeout BBQ dinners from Anna's future preschool's fundraiser.  The kids had lots of fun together! Saturday the 11th, we went to the Y, Chick Fil-A for lunch, then strawberry picking at DJs with Oliver, Ike, and some big people.  After THAT, we went to a cookout at Erin's friend Owen's house (classmate from last year) and got to check out his fun new backyard setup.  Her friend Ethan from this year went too, and they had a great time!  We had a fun Mother's Day too at church, getting donuts, errands with Mommy and Erin, then kiddie pool time at Nina and Lily's house.  Mommy also got to trim bushes on her special day (it really was a treat for me), and eat Chinese food for dinner.  It was a great and busy weekend!

We will spend this week preparing for The Princess Party on Saturday.  Anna is heavily involved in all preparations for said party and is quite a micro-manager.  I guess if you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself...or make sure Mommy does it right for you :)

April

Whew, that month went fast!  We had another busy and fun month.  Erin was off of school until the 16th, so we really enjoyed having lots of fun with her and doing special fun things.  We had a fun outing at Pullen Park on the 3rd with our neighbor friends, followed by a picnic there.



We went to an outdoor concert that Friday evening at Bass Lake, where Erin cut a rug!  We had a big weekend that weekend, including Erin's dance class on Saturday morning, then going to an NCSU baseball game with neighbor friends and tailgating beforehand.  We had a cookout here on Sunday evening with Oliver, Ike, their parents, Ms. Liz, and Mr. David that was a lot of fun.  On the 10th, we went to the NCSU Farm Animal Days with Oliver, Ella, Ethan, and Mrs. Ellen, Erin's teacher!



We all went to "church playgroup" on the 12th...my attendance was sporadic at best this spring due to our mountain trip and events at Erin's school, but I gave it my best shot.  Logan, Ansley, Ben, Aunt Leslie, Uncle Chris, and Grandma and Grandpa A. all came up that weekend to meet us, Cole, Uncle Dale, and Aunt Maria for the Raleigh Autism Speaks walk, Logan's 6th birthday celebration, AND camping!  It was Erin's and Ansley's first time going, and the report was that Ansley did great and Erin did ok.  At least it wasn't a flop!



We all went to church on Sunday, and then they all went home.  Erin got to join in on a few of Anna's Monday morning "dance" classes that ended on the 29th...thank goodness; I think we were both getting tired of the same thing every week, and not much dance!  She is already excited about her summer dance class that starts in June, where real dancing will take place.  Erin went back to school against her will on the 16th, and is just now not complaining as much about going to school, 2 weeks later.  It takes her awhile to get back in the groove.  We had a fun weekend over the 20th-21st, including Matthew's 5th birthday party at Jumpin' Jax in Garner (a little-known secret for those parents in this area) and a cookout at his house, and Erin and Daddy got to go to a Carolina Hurricanes hockey game on Saturday night with her dance class.  She had a blast, enjoying the inflatable slide in the parking lot, concessions, and the luxury box.  I don't know if she actually saw or cared about the actual hockey playing.  Sunday after church and our now-tradition of post-church donuts with Cole, Mommy went to the Farmers Market to get flowers, and we had Cole and his parents come over to eat spaghetti.  Last week was fairly tame with our usual trips to the Y, watching Cole, and other normal stuff.  Saturday morning we and Laney went to Caitlin's birthday party at Kids Together Park,



then Cole came over and Mommy got to take him home and watch him at his house while Uncle Dale and Aunt Maria went to a wedding!  That rounded out our month...it was a great one, and a busy one!  We are looking forward to more spring fun in May, and summer coming soon!  I thought I heard somewhere that there may be a birthday or two coming up next month...I am reminded of it about 15 times a day by our soon-to-be 3-year old, seen here celebrating her first day having Mommy back to herself: