Love Letter #3

Dear Anna -

When we walk out of the front door to our house, I love how you always stop at the step and wait for me while I lock the door, usually without even a reminder. Then, as I catch up with you, you always look up at me and reach up with your hand so that I can take it in mine and help you down the step even though you're really big enough to do it by yourself.

I don't know if you don't know you can do it by yourself, or if you just like the extra reassurance. I really don't care why. I would never pass up an opportunity to hold your perfect little hand.

Love, Mommy

Ike

I'm talking about the one that beat up on Houston, not the one that beat up on Tina Turner. Just in case you had any confusion, I figured we'd get that out of the way right away.

In all seriousness, though, because so many people have been sending me emails after seeing news coverage of not-my-neighborhood, I wanted to let everyone know that we are doing okay. We were very blessed to have very little damage beyond a few leaning trees in our yard, and we were only without power for about 12 hours. Derek and our neighbor Danny had literally just setup the generator and were about to turn it on when I noticed that a lamp was on in our house. Considering that there are so many people that are STILL without power (and water for some) with no promise of getting it back soon, we are extremely grateful for our fortunate situation.

It's a bit overwhelming so close on the heels of Gustav, with so much of our family and friends in Louisiana affected. But we are just so relieved that everyone is safe. Maybe a little hot and covered with mosquito bites (where are they coming from?!)...but safe.

Please keep the areas and people affected by Gustav and Ike in your thoughts and prayers.

How We Roll

Here is Anna on our last trip back from Baton Rouge...

...with her blankie

...and her "baby"

...and her paci

...and her Elmo.

See? A girl doesn't need much to be happy in this life.

Monkey See. . .

Monkey Do!

And since I'm sure I'm dancing along the fringe of a serious overshare, I'm not going to tell you which monkey our little monkey saw doing this :)

The Cheapest Toys...

...can sometimes be the richest form of entertainment!

This Chik-Fil-A fruit cup top allowed Mommy & Daddy to have a rare uninterrupted dinner. Thank Yoooooooooou Chik-Fil-A!

Blessed

I'm feeling very blessed because this was my car Friday morning, and I walked away with just a few bruises and scratches...

God was definitely watching over me and everyone else involved, and I thank Him that I was able to go home that day to my family and kiss my Anna.

Time Flies

I can't believe it's now been over a month since my last post. We just get so busy, and time flies.

Anna has been doing and saying so many new things lately.

• Words: Puppy, Paci, Please, More, Bite, Drive, Bubbles, Bath, Outside, Cheese
• Animal Sounds: Puppy (Woof!), Cow (Mooooo!), Monkey (Ooooo, Ooooo, Oooooo!)
• Songs: ABC's, Baby Bumblebee, If You're Happy and You Know It, Itsy Bitsy Spider

She'll say (or at least *try* to say) just about anything we ask her to, and she's usually pretty close if not right on. She's even starting to pick up on some of the sound effects I do when I read to her at bedtime. Particularly with our favorite: "I Love You Through and Through". Now, she does them before I do. It's so amazing seeing how sharp her little mind is.

She also now clearly understands the concept of time out and the fact that she doesn't want to go in it. She'll stop in the middle of a full-out fit to answer "no" to the question, "Do you want to go into time out?" I think any parent would agree...It's a beautiful thing.