07/04/2009 - Happy 4th of July!

We had a great 4th full of watermelon, a parade, good friends, good food and fireworks. To see more of our pictures click on the June/July 2009 pics link.

We don't have very many pictures from June...I was gone for work during the first week and then Eric joined me on a company trip during the second week. Anna Claire got to spend a week with her Nana and King Grandaddy so maybe Nana will share those pictures with me :)

05/29/2009 - May Update

We finally have a May Album! It has been such a busy month. The MacBook is still helping me to update things more easily but it doesn't give Anna Claire a bath or do the dishes, so it's still hard to find enough time to use it!
Anna Claire is starting to communicate with us more and more. She is now saying a couple of words (Daisy, Hi, Bye-Bye, Woah, Yay, Go, No). We walked into her classroom one day this week and she said "Hi!", it was so cute and unexpected! I think she's also understanding the things that we're telling her more. She knows how to walk over to her bookshelves, pick out a book and bring it over to the glider for us to read it to her. It's so fun to see her face when she's walking towards me with a book that she's excited about. We're so proud of her. Enjoy the pics!

04/28/2009 - Pictures from the Weekend

Here are some pictures from this weekend. On Friday, Anna Claire and I played with her bubbles and then Saturday we all went to the park and then dinner downtown. She's walking all over the place!



Thanks to Eric for my early Mother's Day present, a MacBook! It has made it much easier for me to add updates!

I know "No No"

So, I've been trying to get some video of Anna Claire walking and I happen to capture something else. From the time that she first started crawling she has always been interested in Daisy's dog food, which is of course off limits. Any time that she would go near it, I would say her name and shake my head "no". You can see in this video that she's definitely gotten the message! All I did was say her name and she started shaking her head no. Pretty cool!! Just thought I would share this "parenting triumph" and we're still working to get some video posted of her walking!

04/19/2009 - Rounding out Anna Claire's 1st Year

We had 1st birthday party round 2 yesterday and Anna Claire had a great time! She enjoyed playing with her friends, opening presents and eating more yummy cake! Between her birthday and Easter, she has done a lot of celebrating lately! We just put all of the pictures in the Month 12 album, even though she's now officially in her 13th month :( Enjoy the pics!



One really sweet thing that she's doing now (as a big one year old :)) is when we hold her sometimes she pats our backs like we pat hers. It's so sweet. We love receiving her little love-pats!

04/04/2009 - Pictures from Anna Claire's 1st Birthday Party

Here is the link to the slideshow of pictures from Anna Claire's 1st Birthday Party on April 4.

http://www.dianasimpson.com/slideshow/annaclaire1/

Thanks again, Diana! We have several favorites...it's going to be so hard to choose!

04/08/2009 - Happy 1st Birthday Anna Claire!

A year ago today I was sending an email to work saying “I won’t be in today. I’m not in labor yet, I just don’t feel well” and about 8 hours later (after receiving an official “diagnosis” :) of being in labor) we were greeted by a 7 lb 1 oz baby girl with the most beautiful strawberry blonde hair.

She has been such a happy baby with a great nature from the start. “Baby’s 1^st Smile” is the one milestone that we don’t have exactly documented because we can’t ever remember her not being able to smile.

She has always been very aware and a keen observer of her surroundings, like she's just trying to take it all in. Nothing gets past her!

But to say that she's great natured and observant, is not to imply that she doesn't also have a BIG personality.

She is one of the most expressive people we know! Her latest expression is "oooohh" if she finds something interesting or "mmmmhh" if she's eating something good.

We also love (and appreciate!) her independent nature.

And to say she comes by it honest is an understatement since she has it running pretty strongly on both sides :)

Anna Claire, you bring so much joy to your entire family and put a smile on the face of anyone that meets you! We love you so much! Mama and Dada