Christmas

We had a wonderful first Christmas with Anne and Santa definitely thought she was a good girl this year. 

The three of us traveled to Alabama for a few days to spend some time with my family.  We had a great time with everyone and loved seeing the kids. 

We made it home the evening of December 23rd with only one minor meltdown on the return flight.  Anne was completely exhausted and there was nothing we could do to make her happy, except get off the plane.  As soon as we stepped into the Austin airport she was happy as a bird.  We, of course, were ready to get home. 

On Christmas Eve, Mrs. Gladys and Mr. Norman joined us for the Candlelight service at church.  Afterwards, we had barbecue and put Anne to bed. 

Could they look anymore alike?

Saying goodbye to her elf, Addison

Santa's cookies

This morning, we went downstairs to see what Santa brought.  Anne opened gifts and spent the day in her pajamas playing with her new toys and enjoying time with her grandparents.

It was a wonderful day and we are certainly grateful for a wonderful year!

10 Months!

Our baby girl is one month older and has changed a lot in such a short period of time.

At 10 months, Anne is:

- crawling
- pulling up
- waving
- eating most things that we eat for dinner
- taking slightly longer naps
- cruising a bit

Her top left tooth broke through this weekend as well.  Each day I realize I love her more than I did the day before.  She's our world and we can't imagine our lives without her sweet little smile.

Here are a few photos from our quick monthly photo shoot:

And She's Off...

Today was a big day.

It started with me waking up to this sweet face.

 And after a new diaper and morning bottle, this happened...

And then she made her way to this...

After a busy morning of working up an appetite, this baby ate an entire waffle and piece of bacon. 

She's a busy bee and quickly finding her way to anything she sees.

Watch out Aunt Shea, we're coming for your stuff!

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

We are taking advantage of the cooler temps with a lovely fire. A fire brings back many fond memories of my childhood and I love the sound of wood popping and cracking. While I love our house, gas logs don't provide the same experience and I miss the sounds of a real fire. It is convenient and nice that we don't have to grab wood frequently and "juug" the fire. (That's what my dad called poking the fire).

Sadly, I think it will be 70 again this weekend.

Happy Nine Months!

Anne is nine months!  It's happened, I've officially had a baby the same amount of time I was pregnant.  Like every post before this, I can't believe how quickly the past nine months have gone by and how much she has changed and it seems like every week she is learning something new.  It's been an incredible journey and she lights up our world. 

At nine months, Anne is:

• babbling - saying da da, ga ga. It's the sweetest noise I have ever heard
• eating pieces of fruit and still loving cheerios and puffs
• moving from sitting and into the crawling position but has yet to start crawling
• turning in circles while lying on her stomach
• pulling up into the sitting position
• moving around in her walker
• making noise with her music instruments
• clasping her hands together

Friday, we head back to the pediatrician for her 9-month check up.  I can't wait to see how much she has grown.

Here are my favorite photos from the 9 month shoot:

A Special Thank You!

During one of my recent posts, I failed to say a special thank you to my dear friend, Tina.  Tina is an amazing lady who I'm fortunate enough to call a friend and co-worker.  She's an incredible person, a wonderful judge of character and someone I have a tremendous amount of respect for.  She's also an Aggie, which makes Matt like her even more.

As Matt and I were pulling together final versions of our legal documents, Tina was gracious enough to notarize each of them.  She took time out of her work day to help us and I can't thank her enough.

Tina, you're the best and thanks for helping us!!