Shoes and Kisses

As Anna brings me my shoes now and proceeds to place them on my feet, I am amazed at this little person that blooms in front of me every day! She does and understands so much more than we give her credit for. She is such a sweet baby. She's very into giving kisses. She even tries to give Jack kisses. She's figured out the full pucker, kissing sound, and to lay it right on the lips! She bent down to Jack's (our cat) level yesterday and tried as hard as she could to kiss him right on his lips. Terrifying experience for a cat, I know. She'll walk up to me now and kiss me anywhere she can reach....an arm, leg, knee, shoulder, back, face, etc. She is just such a lover! She loves to smile and wave at people in the store, reach out for anyone to hold her so she can say hello. She gives full wraped arms around the neck hugs now and she can certainly melt her daddy's heart. I am in awe today of our sweet baby girl and what a blessing she is to us daily!

A Blogger Slacker....and a Random Post

So, the last few months have been insane, what can I say? I haven't had much time to blog recently thanks to a very busy 13 month old who is into EVERYTHING! So, a quick update on what's new since the last post. I believe I left off at we were house hunting.....well.....we found the cutest house in the whole entire world and are absolutely blessed beyond measure to call it ours. It is the cutest little white house with an amazing red front door in just the right shade. It has all the original hardwood floors and old Chico charm, and is just a minute away from work. It couldn't have been a better find. We were able to save quite a bit for a larger down payment than we were even shooting for with the graciousness of my in-laws letting us crowd their house for 4 months while we shopped and saved. We moved in February 25th this year and have done some changes so far. Painted, moved the washer and dryer down into the basement, and sprused up the yard a bit. I'm not big on the yard taking care of and if my thumb was a color it would be brown, certainly not green. But, I am trying. After a long discussion with the nice lady at Osh, I learned that my azelea's, camelias and hydrangeas need a certain type of food. Who knew? So, I fed them with this special food and after much hymming and hawing, my azelea is still not blooming. I had my dad, an agricultural genious look at it and he assured me it will bloom and to just be patient.

Patient is just one thing I am not. If there is one thing that I can continually work on it's patience. So, I am praying for patience daily in life with being tired, stressed, over worked, a cranky toddler at times, and for non-blooming plants that should be blooming. As I have been busy doing all this, I have been meaning to catch up on this blog but am just now finding the time.

On to the toddler, Anna is quite the lady these days. She is running everywhere, finding things in nooks and crannies, loving whole milk, crackers, rice cakes, and broccoli. She is also in a stage where she is very picky about meal times. She eats a huge breakfast of usually 2 eggs, a whole piece of whole wheat toast, and usually a type of fruit (1/2 a banana, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, a mandarin). Then for lunch, she is just a grazer and I am lucky if she eats! Dinner is becoming the same story. I guess she'll just eat when she's hungry but as a first time mommy....do I just let her eat when she's hungry? She is just too into playing to sit down long enough to eat. Although, she is a solid 21 lbs and is certainly not wasting away. Today, for lunch I made her whole wheat Annie's macaroni and cheese and she wanted nothing to do with it! She spit it out. I mean what kid doesn't like mac and cheese? So, she wouldn't touch the mac and cheese but ate about a 1/2 a cup of broccoli. At least she loves her veggies.

Anna is loving small wooden puzzles and is very intrigued by how things work and go together. Mia K. (Peter's mom) says she's just like Peter was when he was little. She loves going up and down stairs, and has figured out how to back down stairs and steps. She's pretty smart our little one. She's also starting to get some words. Currently she consistenly says Mama, Dada, Jack, Duck, "nigh nigh" (for night night when she's tired) shoes, hat, Papa, bye bye and "ju" for juice. Not to mention her amazing ability to fit in with the farm animals by mooing when she sees a cow. She also says Meow and Woof when asked what a doggy and kitty say. She is so fun right now! Exhausting but fun. It's amazing seeing her put things together and beginning to understand. I can also ask her to find her shoes and she'll get them and bring them to me turn around and sit down in my lap and put her feet out. It's just too precious! She is also turning into quite the lover. She blows kisses, gives real hugs down and loves to cuddle when she's tired. She is quite the fish in water. We've started swimming lessons, hense the picture above with her sporting her new suit and is loving each week! It's been fun to go do something together as mommy and daugther finally.

It's been fun to watch her and Peter and their relationship grow. He is so into her these days. He loves taking her outside into the yard to play and explore, he loves taking her to feed the ducks and to the park. He is loving this stage more and more as I long to hold my little newborn that was so cuddly and just a ball of warmth. The time flies so quickly but with each stage there is something just magical to watch and see. Not to mention learn in the meantime. More updates to come!

No Fear

Anna has been cruising around now for about a week or so. She will take about 6-8steps now with reckless abandon. I was expecting a cautious nature from her but the word cautious and Anna just don't mix. She definately has her Dada's personality which just makes him adore her all the more! She will let go of the coffee table, couch, cabinet, chair etc and just go for the steps until she falls or crashes and begins crawling again until she can pull up on something. It's so fun to see her be so adventurous but it makes me nervous at the same time for what is to come. She's always ready to go! She is such a joy, she's started belly laughing when we tickle her under her chin and it's so fun to get her to laugh and grab her belly. Just about the cuteset thing I've ever seen for sure! She got one more tooth on the bottom so one more needs to come in and we can go see the dentist for the first time (: On another note, planning will be underway here shortley for her first birthday so we'll keep you all posted on that process!

We are finally in escrow on a cute little house on 11th. We should close sometime next week and are ready and anxious to move in. It's exactly what we were looking for and Peter is already planning out all the things he wants to do to make little improvements. The list includes painting, plumbing the washer and dryer into the basement, expanding the garage, and putting in a bedroom upstairs. So, we'll see! I am just hoping and praying between working full time and sleeping and being a mommy, I can get the house to a semi-decent party atmosphere by March 1st (Anna's birthday). So, the race is on.

Peter starts today at Butte College teaching a part-time CAD drafting class which he is super excited about. The Lord is so good and so faithful! Peter has found a job at least for now, we're moving in to an amazingly cute house with neighbors we'll know, we have a beautiful healthy baby girl, we are both healthy, we have friends whom we love, and a family who is just amazing at loving us. We are so thankful to be back in Chico!

A Step....

Moving Day in Truckee....



An Anna update: I am just not ready for this little lady to start walking! Yesterday she was holding on to the coffee table and I had a toy in my hand and I put my hands out for her to grab them and she took two steps toward me to get the toy! I was shocked! She has been happily cruising around the coffee table, along walls, and the couch for about a month now, loves walking with her new push toy (thanks to Mia K.) but still seems unsteady on her feet. She'll stand on her own occasionally but only for about 20 seconds so I figured walking would wait for a little while longer! But, the steps have begun. She did it about 4 times yesterday too, not just a one time thing.....Crazy!

For Peter and I: We continue to loose houses daily. It seems we find the perfect one, and there is always another offer that beats ours down by a small amount. Our offers are always soooo close to what the bank accepts! It's getting frustrating and a little discouraging. So, we continue to pray that the Lord would provide the perfect house, not just any old house, and hold on to the truth that he is good and loves to bless us! Still no job on the Peter front, he continues to seek employment but the economy is just not the place to provide manufacturing jobs at the moment. I am still LOVING my job at Enloe, I had forgotten that the ER is truly the place for me.....I love the people I work with, the doctors, the patients, and mostly just being in Chico near our friends and family. Being back full time is trying, I feel exhausted most of the time but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. Anna is flourishing being home with her Daddy and I am loving working and being home with the two of them 4 days a week!