This child can't wait to turn 2.....

Update on Upcoming Babies.....

We found out that we have a new nephew on the way! Daniel & Tori are announced last week they are expecting a boy :P!!! Yeah! So we know Anna Kate will have a least one boy cousin come March.


Now, Ryan and Kapi are waiting to find out what they having. Kapi did share the ultrasound pictures. It's kinda hard to tell, but we think it's going to look more like Ryan's side of the family. It's amazing what the ultrasound can pick up....

See what I mean? Looks like it's going to take after his/her daddy huh?

Pictures to make you smile....

How to eat a cup of yogurt, Anna Kate Style

Happy Birthday, Kapi!

We hope you have a great day! Happy birthday!

What a week!

I have been a bit behind in posting. Anna Kate is keeps me busy! This child will not let you think of anything else (like morning, err, all day sickness!) but herself. Too much to go see and do! Two weekends ago, Mike took Anna Kate to a local fire station's Open House. They had a great time! Anna Kate still wears the plastic fireman's hat around the house.... The last picture is capturing Anna Kate's first taste of cotton candy. Needless to say, it didn't last long....she loved it!

Her therapists both agree that Anna Kate has recently turned a corner just in the past 2 weeks in her therapy! We are hearing new words left and right! Her attention span has greatly increased and although she still has sensory overloads, her tantrums are not as intense and is able to better deal with them (that would be her mama :P). This weekend alone she had three new words: Baby, Ball and Bye-Bye. This was huge for Anna Kate because before now, she didn't have any "B" words. She has also picked up the sign for "yes" and uses it appropriately! Woo hoo! It might not sound like a big deal, but for us, it just shows that the hard OT and speech Anna Kate has endured since July is paying off! She's still behind somewhat for her age, but definitely on track for her 6 month goals.

We are slowing getting Anna Kate's "big girl" room ready. Hopefully by January, everything will be set. At the rate Anna Kate is sprouting, it might be sooner! We are within an inch, yes one inch, of her outgrowing her crib! She will attempt to throw her leg over the rail, but can't quite make it over (thank goodness!) We do have her toddler bed in her new room, but it's not any where near ready for resident Big Sister!

I go next Monday for my next checkup and blood work (ouch...). Two weeks later we will get the big news of either boy or girl! Have you voted yet? I have my hunches what this is, but not saying just yet! We do have a boy's name ready, but both Mike and I are clueless for a girl's name. I think I had Anna Kate's full name picked out before Mike was in the picture (he didn't stand a chance in that category :P), but this time, we have tossed a few names around, but nothing clicks yet. Do you have a name to share? Email or leave a comment! Not sure if we are going to wait to figure a girls name out before hand or wait until we know for sure.

Speaking of baby news, later this week Mike's brother Daniel and his wife are finding out boy or girl! They are about 2.5 weeks ahead of us in the pregnancy process. My brother Ryan and his wife have a lot more patience and willpower than I do....they are waiting until delivery to find out!

Check back shortly for more pictures. Now, where did that camera transfer cable go.....

New Favorite Toy

At therapy, a favorite toy for Anna Kate is the ball pit. There, it's a large box on wheels, so not only does she get to rustle the balls around, her therapist push her! Ok, so this one doesn't have wheels (not the moving kind at least), but I figured she would like it the same. And Anna Kate approves!


Found this Cozy Coup ball pit at Target and added the extra bag of balls to make it extra full! She dove HEAD FIRST into when she saw it after her nap. I have to point something funny out. Anna Kate has a love-hate relationship with ball pits. She loves it, but doesn't like her feet to touch. This is part of her sensory issues...tactile defensiveness. Same thing with alot of other textures....sand at the beach. This ball pit is small enough where she can keep her legs on the edge of the 'car'.

Ok, so it's not the cookie jar....

But I did find Anna Kate's hand in something! We had made some banana pudding the other night, and look whose fingers have been in the bowl!! I should mention that Anna Kate loves to play with the items in the door (salad dressing, juice bottles, etc), but this time she found something alot more tastier! She also likes to sit on the bottom ledge of the frig--it seems to be the perfect height for her! Oh, my crazy child!

On the Farm

Earlier this week, Anna Kate and I went to a local farm with our playgroup. Here's a few pictures of our day.

I was very surprised that Anna Kate loved riding the pony! She didn't want to get off the horse when it was over. She balanced herself very well and didn't really need me to hold her (although I did!)

The last picture is Anna Kate trying to pet some turkeys. They were quickly little suckers and every time she slowly bent down to touch them, they were spooked by some of the other kids running around. Anna Kate kept signing "gently" to them. Very sweet!

We also rode a train, hay ride, had the chance to milk a cow (passed up on that one!) and got to feed some baby goats and sheep. It was a fun day and Anna Kate slept very well on the way home!

Eatin' like a big girl....

Anna Kate didn't want anything to do with her dinner from Crispers the other weekend. She wanted to eat off Daddy's plate with a fork. And she did a pretty good job, too! Daddy ended up eating her chicken fingers and she finished his......

You mean this isn't fun....

Most of the time, Anna Kate doesn't even realize that her speech and OT is actually therapy...it's just fun and play to her (thank the Lord!) Those few occasions, sometimes I think it punishes mama more than it does baby! But to prove she does have a good time, here's a few smiles.

Cole sees Ms. Marcia right after Anna Kate (when she has her speech session), and on this particular day, she was rather upset that Ms. Marcia was working with Cole and not with her. So, rather than fighting it, they decided to make it a joint session :). The sweetest part was their laughter. Cole would laugh to hear Anna Kate laugh, and then in turn would laugh at him (laughing at her). This went on for about 5 minutes and was definitely the highlight of my day.

New favorite word....

Anna Kate has added a new word to her vocabulary earlier this week: No! with a funny southern drawl! And boy, does she use it! Right now, everything is no, regardless if she wants it or not. I should add that she's also saying "GO!" as well. We play a "game" of stop and go with traffic when we are in the car waiting for the light to change. If she's in her car seat, she'll throw her hands in the air when she says go. It looks kinda like the sign for go, but we know what she's signing and saying.

The picture was from our moms/kids playdate yesterday. The weather has been so pleasant here....although it's in the upper 80s, the humidity is very comfortable! It was alot of fun!

Mama's BIG girl

Anna Kate loves to "help" in the kitchen. If she's not standing where she can see (on the stool) she wants me to pick her up. Oh, and yes, that's one "aquafeet" beach shoe on her foot. She is infatuated with shoes, typically just one of them on her feet!

Like Father, Like Daughter....

I think Mike's side of the family can relate to some of these pictures. Anna Kate loves to lay on the floor and scoot around. This time, she was on her back, and her feet were on Mama K's hutch. At least she was not kicking it!

Prayer of Thanksgiving!!!!

We heard the best news today!! It's been a long road for Mike's dad "Grandpa Sonny" since being diagnosed in January with stomach, lung and colon cancers. So many of our family and friends have kept Frank in their prayers. And for that, we thank you.

And tonight, I am happy to say that Frank has made wonderful progress with his surgery and chemo! After recent tests and scans, the doctors said that the colon tumor has "sunk significantly" and there is no sign of the stomach cancer (the lung tumor was removed in January). The doctors are surprised by the tremedous progress that Frank has made and knows that it wasn't by medicine alone---prayer works!

Although he has surprises all of us, he does have a journey to continue to be cancer free. We just celebrate with him in the wonderful news that through prayer, Frank is healing and beating cancer!

Please continue to keep Frank in your prayers for a full recover and remission!