Super Anna

Not sure where she first saw this (maybe from her cousin Seth), but Anna has been loving swinging "superman" style in the backyard lately.

Super cute. Super fun. Super Anna.

Buh-Lay

As most of you know, dance was a huge part of my life growing up, and it was something I really loved. I look forward to the day when Anna is old enough to take some classes to see if she loves it too. Even if she doesn't, that's okay, but if her dancing around the house is any indicator, I think the outlook is very favorable :)

She wasn't old enough to enroll in classes last fall, but she did have her very first ballet class this weekend at her friend Peyton's ballet birthday party! I think she did a really good job of paying attention and doing what was asked of her, and I know she had a really great time (which is the most important part)!

I took the picture above of my little first-time ballerina in that cool chair as we were leaving the dance studio as a memory of the day. Hopefully, there will be many more dance classes in her future.

Yipee!

One of Anna's pictures {originally blogged here} was posted on the MJC blog today!

I Heart Faces - "Collage" Challenge

The theme for the challenge over at I Heart Faces this week is "Collages", so I couldn't resist using this one that I just created of my little monkey in the bluebonnets!

Check out the other collage entries or enter yourself over at I Heart Faces!

Bluebonnets

I'm not a native Texan, but my daughter is, so I figured I owe it to her to follow some of those Texan traditions - like bluebonnet pictures!

Last Friday afternoon after work, MawMaw, Anna & I set out in search of some bluebonnets. My parents just moved to Houston in the last couple of years and my mom had never seen a bluebonnet. She was cracking me up on the ride over there, because she kept calling them "bluebells." Made me laugh. . .then crave some ice cream!

We finally managed to find a really beautiful field, but we got a later start than we intended to, and not only was it overcast, but we were losing daylight fast. Here are the few I was able to salvage. . .

We warned Anna that she wasn't allowed to pick the blue ones, so she spent all of her time finding and picking a nice little bouquet of the yellow and purple ones, as you can probably tell from the pictures!

I'm hoping to make it out there again with Anna one afternoon this week before the Bluebonnets are gone and hopefully have some better light!

10 Things I Love About You

Dear Anna -

Every day you are changing, and doing and learning new things. So before you start doing and learning something else and my memory fails me, here are 10 things that I love about you, right this minute:

1. How you think that everything you eat turns your tongue a color, and you constantly stick it out when you're eating and tell me to look at it. Then I have to pretend that grapes turn your tongue a really cool shade of green or that bananas make it yellow.
   
   
2. How you have heard your daddy tell me "no makeup" before we leave for work in the morning so many times, that you think it's the natural companion to "goodbye" and "I love you" - and how you've used it recently on both Daddy and MawMaw much to our amusement.
   


3. How any injury can be cured with a kiss, a bandaid, or a baggie of ice. Sometimes all three if it's a real tragedy.
   
   
4. How sometimes, you just spontaneously give me a huge, tight hug and say, "I love you, Mommy" with such emotion, for no reason at all.
   
   
5. How when you sing certain songs at home, they are immediately followed by, "Can I have a sticker now?", just because you get a sticker when you sing them at school.
   
   
6. How every time we read a story or watch a movie, you're always asking me, "What happens next?", no matter how many times you've heard or seen it.
   
   
7. How you have to bring at least one of your "babies" everywhere we go, and how you make us put them in a seatbelt when riding in the car.
   
   
8. How when you do things yourself, you are so proud and say that you did it "by my own."
   
   
9. How you are obsessed with matching, and are constantly pointing out ways that we "match" - if we both have necklaces on, if we are both wearing sandals, if we both have a sticker on our hand. And if Daddy makes your milk in a sippy cup with the wrong top, you refuse to drink it until he finds the top that "matches".
   
   
10. How every night before we say our bedtime prayers, you make us all dip our hands in imaginary holy water before we make the sign of the cross.
    

Can't wait to see what I'll love about you next, baby girl!

All my love always,

Mommy

What Lies Beneath

What lies beneath my little girl's sweet smiles is one tough cookie (not always a bad thing!)


This was the back-and-forth between Derek and Anna at dinner tonight.

Derek: "Did you go to time out today?"

Anna: "No Sir!"

Derek: "Who went to time out today?"

Anna: "Lane."

Derek: "Why did Lane go to time out?"

Anna: "Because he hit me!"

Derek: "What did you do after he hit you?"

Anna: "I told him no hitting and then hit him back!" (showing a closed fist and letting out a big "errrrrr!")

Not sure if it was true or not, but I have to say that I strongly suspect that her daddy was secretly proud.

The Grand Inquisition

Anna has been asking for a "baby sister" - a lot, and for quite some time now - so we've had lots of conversations about it. At one point, I think she even gave up on me and decided she wanted to have the baby herself, so I had to explain that she has to wait until she gets big and gets married like Mommy before she can have a baby.

Well, like most things do when you have an inquisitive toddler, that came back to bite me this morning. We were on our way to her school, and this is the little voice I hear from the back seat:

Anna: "Mommy, are you still married?"

Me: "Yes, Mommy & Daddy are still married."

At this point, I was very unsure of where this was going, and wondering if maybe she had overheard anyone recently talking about the concept of divorce.

Anna: "Then I want a baby sister!"

Of course! I'm married, hence I should have a baby. Preferably a girl one.

Me: "Well, Mommy and Daddy plan to have another baby one day, but even if we do, we don't get to decide if it's a sister or a brother."

Anna: "Why?"

Me: "Because God gets to decide."

Anna: "Why?"

Me: "Because God makes the baby, and puts it in Mommy's belly."

Anna: "How does He make a baby?"

I didn't know what to say, but I was pretty sure that she wanted to know how He does it so she can use the same technique to make her own, pronto!

Me: "God makes everybody. He made you, and He made Mommy too."

Anna: (Not letting up) "How?"

And then we walked into the school lobby, and I was saved from the grand inquisition. For now.

Ever feel like every answer you give leads to 10 more questions that you don't have the answer to?! And I know her questions are only going to get harder. . .

Hugs for Layla Grace

Today, we went to "Hugs for Layla Grace." It was a fundraising event for the Layla Grace Foundation at Anna's daycare center.

I thought it was a really neat idea:

Noah's Ark Workshop (think "Build-a-Bear") was there, and kids were able to come and choose their own animal friends to stuff. Not only did all of the proceeds go to the Layla Grace Foundation, but you could also choose to stuff an animal to donate to the patients at Texas Children's Hospital.

So Anna chose to stuff the monkey to donate to Texas Children's. And she chose to stuff the panda, which she named "Oscar", to take home with us.

Anna got to make a birth certificate and a beaded collar for Oscar. Then, she got her face painted, and did some coloring. She got to see some of her friends from her class, so that was fun, too!

A fun morning for a great cause!

Somebunny

Somebunny had a really great Easter this year!

Anna really wanted to see the Easter Bunny when he came, but I explained to her that he only comes when little boys and girls are sleeping. She wanted to know why, so I told her it was because he is "sneaky." She liked that, and told anybody who would listen about the "sneaky" bunny.

The first thing she said when she woke up was, "Did the bunny come to my house?" So we all went out into the kitchen, and boy did he come!

He ate all of the carrots she left for him on her special Easter Bunny plate (from Too2Cute), and he left her quite an impressive spread of goodies!

After letting Anna play with her loot for a little while, we jumped in the car and headed to Louisiana for our traditional Easter whirlwind. . .

First, an early morning Easter Mass in Baton Rouge. Then, off to my family's park gathering in New Orleans. Anna and her cousin Seth got to blow bubbles, play with sidewalk chalk, play on the playground, and score a ton of eggs in the egg hunt! Then, it was on to the crawfish boil at Tio and Mimi's house, where Anna got to play with her cousin Caroline and do another egg hunt, and Daddy got to get his annual crawfish fix!

She had an absolute blast, and was nice and worn out for the (pleasantly quiet) drive back to Houston.

Freebies

Here are the shots from the "free" micro mini session we got with Mackenzie Wheatley of Chubbyfoot Photography! Isn't that chair so cute? Love the chandelier fabric! And I'm definitely loving my smiling Anna and that Matilda Jane!

Thanks Mackenzie! It was a bit of a drive for us for a weekday afternoon, but it was worth it :)