8-31-11 - Apparently the dogs are getting accustomed to Anna Claire...

Its taken a year, but apparently the dogs are getting used to Anna Claire.  Louie nearly knocks her over every time she's near him, and maybe that's why she prefers Joey.  Or maybe just because he's smaller.  Regardless, they are adjusting to one another and that's good.  But they aren't coming back inside! 

08-30-11 - Day of mischief....

We are into everything these days - including mischief!!!

Pics say it all:

(YUCK!!)

8-28-11 - 1st ride in big girl carseat

Today Anna Claire got to face forward in her brand new big girl carseat! She liked it!  (She looked so pretty in her church dress too!) 

08-27-11 - 1st birthday party!

Anna Claire's first birthday party was a happy day!  We had to do it today, instead of on her birthday so that everyone could join us!  We were just going to go to dinner, because, after all - she won't remember her first birthday party, but then Cathy Massey offered to make her a fabulous cake, and we thought - why not celebrate with some friends - after all, Anna Claire is worth celebrating!!

Donna Granberry was nice enough to take some photos of the day - here's just a tiny sample!

  

What a sweet face!  She loves having company!

And what a cake it was!!!  Yo Gabba Gabba is her FAVORITE and Cathy Massey did it justice!!

  

She wasn't too sure about being sung to, OR to having her own cake.....

But it didn't take long for her to figure out what the cake was for!!

I think it turned out to be a nice party - Nana and Pawpaw came, David, Donna, Davidson and "Aunt" Marilaine Granberry came, "Uncles" Josh Watford and Trevor Thigpen came, "Grammy" Kim Tate, Jeanna Monk with Jamie and Alex, Matt and Jenny Gluck brought Ian (he is ADORABLE!!  If only we could betrothe them....), Jim and Cathy Massey with their kids, Rachel and Jacob, Hannah Madrie and her almost-fiancee, JP, and Keitha Madrie.  We had hamburgers and hot dogs, cake, cookies and got to swim.  Happy, happy day!

08-26-11 - Playing with Baby in mirror

Today we had Anna Claire's one year old pictures with Wendy Jones.  WHEW - that was exhausting!!  It wasn't the most fun session we've ever had, mainly because she was just too busy to cooperate.  Wayyy too much to look at or examine to be bothered with looking at Wendy or smiling! 

It WAS fun however, watching her in the "get ready room" playing with the baby in the mirror.

Then later we went out on a family "date" to TGI Fridays - somebody liked the dessert!

8-25-11 - 1st haircut

Well, the 1st haircut was a breeze!!! Ms. Chasity gave Anna Claire a lollipop and that was the end of that! No fussing from her! (if only the eat piercing had been so easy!)

8-24-11 - 1st birthday!

Wow!  Today is Anna Claire's 1st birthday!  I think both Andy and I have been extra-reflective today.  I mean, what a milestone!  One year ago today, our lives changed in the best possible way!  That being said, it's been a "day".....whew!

First off, the birthday girl was grouchy.  We went to Ritchie B's for lunch, and then decided that today was the day to pierce her ears.  I had called in advance to make sure that two people would be working, so they could do both ears at once.  THAT, at least, was a good call on my part.  So we take her to get her ears pierced, and Andy sticks ME with holding her down for them to mark the hole (and the piercing too, for that matter) and she DID NOT APPRECIATE being held down.  That was much, much worse than the actual piercing.  The piercing was over and done with quickly and with no problems.  It was the holding her down that was horrendous.  I can promise you that if we have another little girl we WILL be piercing her ears early and not waiting until she's a year old!!  But they are adorable - little diamond studs - and she looks beautiful with them.  :)

Tonight, she was STILL ill, so we didn't go to church - that would have been a disaster.  Andy got home just as she was getting a bath and she was playing so good in the tub!  So, as he walks into the room, I turn my head to say hello, but when we looked back, she was holding something brown and looking it over.......ewwwwww!!!!!  Yep, she pooped in the tub, and then wanted to play with it.  What a day!!!  Things are never boring with a baby around!!

08-23-11 - 1st guitar lesson from Daddy

8-22-11 - Bro. Ricky - the bad "uncle"

Every time we are with Bro. Ricky, he insists on giving Anna Claire some food she's not supposed to have! It doesn't bother me though, he's great! :-) Even though he does this, she still hasn't warmed up to him....maybe because he's a large man, who knows. :-)

8-22-11 - First boo boo

It's amazing she hasn't had anything worse with all the running around she does! She has fell and bonked her head, but this is the first skinned knee....first of many more, I'm sure!

08-21-11 - Continuing to learn and explore

Today she dropped the remote behind the mattress and said, "bye-bye." 

Then Miss Impatience didn't want to go AROUND the loveseat to get back to the living room, she decided it would, in fact, be quicker to go OVER the toys to get back.....not a great plan, as she got stuck and then got MAD!

Learning, learning, learning!

8-19-11 - Vacation to Lake Seminole

Oh what a great week we have had!!!  After the craziest, busiest summer of our married life, we were all so ready for a getaway!  God blessed us with a free lake house at Lake Seminole, owned by some church members that let us stay there for the week, and it was just what the doctor ordered!  Lake Seminole isn't too far away, but it's far enough away that you can't get caught up in doing anything - Donalsonville is the closest town, and that's not saying much! haha!!

We decided to drive down Sunday night, because we were just soooo ready to start our week off.  This was both good and bad.  The bad:  Charles Johnson CANNOT give directions and we ended up in the middle of nowhere with no idea how to get to the house.  Enter The Hero: Timothy Taylor, who at midnight, went to the church to get the house address for us.  WHEW!!  (We owe him soooo big!)  The good of going was that we got to wake up bright and early and already be there!  That was nice. 

Throughout the week, so watched LOTS of movies and LOTS of Yo Gabba Gabba!

 She was a SERIOUS Daddy's girl all week though!!  I guess with him being so busy all summer, she'd missed him - and she sure made up the time this week!  They played together lots!  (See their "tent" below.) 

She was his little shadow! Broke her heart when he'd have to do something without her (like go outside to grill).
 

Every morning when we woke up, I would open up the back wall of blinds and it opened onto a beautiful view of the lake.  The lake is currently covered in lilypads (ugh!) but in the mornings, the lilypads had beautiful white flowers open on them.  So pretty!  From what we were told, the Army Corps of Engineers are coming in the Spring to clear out the lilypads, so that the lake is usable to the residents again.  That would be nice, I think. 

We took the paddleboat out several times, which was very difficult at first (because of the lilypads), but we figured out how to manuever through them and we enjoyed getting out on the water for a few minutes.  Anna Claire liked it too - she would eat her cheerios and just sit and be sweet.  Precious time together!

Every day we had an outing - nothing big, just a nice way to get out of the house.  Monday, we ran to Donalsonville to buy groceries for the week.  We grilled steaks and they were YUMMY!!  (Makes me want to do it again!!) 

Tuesday, we went to the State Park and had a picnic beside the lake.  It was nice - except for the gnats. (I promise, I do not understand why God created gnats!!)  We had to keep chasing Anna Claire to keep her from eating random debris on the ground, but it was fun to eat outside.  Then we went and *tried* to feed the fish from the dock.  Unfortunately, there were no fish to feed. :( 

Wednesday, we did some local exploring, and ended up heading back to the State Park to go swimming in the lake.  It started out as a DUD because Anna Claire was grouchy, but she warmed up to the experience and ended up enjoying the sand.  I think she likes being able to walk in the water too - of course, at home in our pool, she can't ever be free in the water without us, so that's a nice change for her. 

Thursday we did NOTHING, which was nice, but we were starting to get a little stir-crazy, so we packed up that night so we could come home on Friday because Andy had a research paper due by Sunday.  I had really hoped to stay until Saturday, but hopefully we'll be able to go again sometime.  The house is owned by James and Rupel McInnish and they are a sweet older couple in our church.  They just do not know how they blessed us by letting us use their house! 

Every day I cooked, and Anna Claire ate "real" food all week - which was a messy, but pleasurable experience!  She likes everything - such a great eater!  I'm so glad she isn't picky.  She tried steak, and she ate spaghetti (wow....), but man, oh, man, does she ever love pork chops and potato salad!!  She ate until her belly was so tight I thought it might pop! :) 

The house is nice - but very dated.  The decor is straight from the 60's/70's - with the orange countertops and gold cabinets and furniture.  The microwave had a "power" button and was probably 3.5 feet wide and 2 feet tall - it was HUGE!  :)  They had the cutest little hand-held mixer, that looked like Holly Housewife would have used it in the 50's - super cute!!

Lots of open space though - and it was all carpeted - and THAT was Anna Claire's favorite part, I think.  She ran everywhere!!  She explored and checked out every nook and cranny of that place!  She loved for us to say, "I'm gonna get you!" and she'd run and squeal!  At home, she will play like that, but there isn't as much room to run, and it hurts if she gets too excited and falls down.  Here, she didn't have to worry as much.  So great!

Andy was great too - we totally shared responsibilities for Anna Claire - took turns changing diapers, he helped in the cleaning, it was so nice!  It was funny to see whose "turn" it was, when a messy diaper came along!  I'm so glad he's such a good sport about those things!

08-14-11 - Sleepy baby at lunch

Church days are so exhausting, her morning nap is interrupted and she plays SO hard.  She loves being around the other kids and having different toys to play with. 

This was her at Rodeo today:

08-12-11 - Table food is SOOOO much better than baby food!

Mmmmm.....Poppyseed Chicken!

8-10-11 - 8th tooth

Today the 8th tooth made it's way in......ugh.  Teething is NO fun! :)  For Anna Claire, or for Mom and Dad.

08-9-11 - 7th tooth

Bottom left (next to her front teeth) if you are looking at her.  Been a painful day - the other side is coming in too - you can see it, but it hasn't come through.

It's been a rough day though - I felt genuinely physically assaulted by an 11 month old.  She just wants to bite anything within mouth's reach, and today it was me!!  She bit and bit and bit and bit and bit.  Not to be mean, but just trying to soothe her poor gums......frozen canteloupe seemed to be the only thing that helped any at all.

08-08-11 - Andy's 32nd birthday

Tonight we had Josh and Becca over to have dinner with us on Andy's birthday.  It was a yummy meal!  Poppyseed Chicken (requested by Josh) with Andy's favorite yummy green beans and the fixings!  Oh, and a Strawberry Shortcake. :)  Anna Claire LOVES table food - she ate her weight in Poppyseed Chicken.  She just kept eating, and kept eating, and kept eating!!  Then she played like crazy in the pool with her Daddy and Josh.  When she came inside and was ready to relax, who did she want to sit next to and watch Yo Gabba Gabba......NOT her Mama and NOT her Daddy......"Uncle" Josh!!  We were jealous! :)

08-06-11 - Lake trip with youth

Today was our annual lake trip to welcome up the new 7th graders to the youth group.  I didn't want Anna Claire to be out in the heat all day without a good place to nap, so I drove down around lunchtime with Donna Granberry to join them.  Boy, did Anna Claire enjoy her outing!!  She splashed in the water, played in the sand, had about a million teenagers to cater to her every whim, and we even rode on a boat. (SCARY!)  She had a BIG day!! 

The boat ride SOUNDED like a good idea to me, until I actually got on there with her.  It was Brett Hutchison's boat, and it's a normal small bass-style boat.  (Probably has a "real" name, but I don't know anything about types of boats! haha!)  Anyway, the low sides and vinyl/leather-ish seats with pulling a skier was just too much for me.  She was squirming like crazy, not liking how tightly I was holding her.....then, when Brett would curve for the skier, my side of the boat would go lower into the water and I would lean.....I only had one arm to hold her with because I had to stabilize myself on the boat itself......SCARY!  I kept thinking about Bill Clayton's story about when Diane was two and fell into the water and he couldn't see her - he would say that he prayed, "Lord, I can't save what I can't see!"  I saw the dark water and felt very insecure.  She won't be riding on a boat again without a life preserver, I can say with certainty - not until she can swim WELL!!  I ended up getting in the floorboard between the seats and that was MUCH better because we were wedged in and I could use both arms to hold her.  Then you know what Stinkerpot did......she fell asleep!!!  Silly baby!!

Andy rode the kneeboard and skiied behind Brett's boat - that was cool.  He spun around on the kneeboard, which really surprised/impressed me!  He's always been a pretty fair water sports person though, much better than I am/ever was!

08-05-11 - We are into EVERYTHING nowadays!

08-03-11 - 9th Anniversary!

My precious husband made me this card for our anniversary today!  He really can be such a sweetie.   We celebrated at Longhorn - a special treat that we don't afford ourselves often, now that we are a one-income family.  :) 

My daughter decided to find the toilet paper today....

We had toilet paper strown from one end of the house to the other!!