13 Months!

Happy 13 Months!

Somebody was awfully sleepy though and ready for her
Mama to stop taking pictures:

Oh Mama... enough already.

- Big news!! You are officially a walker now! You took your first steps on Christmas Day, but you waited until the day of your 13 month birthday to really take off! (Ignore the fact that I am posting this a good two weeks late!)


- You are totally off your bottle and have been for a couple of weeks now. It was tough on you to give up your morning bottle, but the rest were no big deal!


- You have a few tricks... "How big is Anna??" and you'll respond with both hands high above your head! "How old is Anna?" and you'll show me one tiny finger (this one is less consistent!)! "Give me five!" - so fun!


- You like to stack things on top of each other (bath cups, tupperware), fill up containers and then dump them out, and you are trying hard to put lids on things too.


- You like to give me a heart attack constantly - every time I turn around, you are standing on top of something...

- You are such a little carnivore! You eat everything very well (tomatoes we have found are not on your list of favorites), but you will always pick out your meat and eat it first...


- You have moved up a new class at school. :( You LOVED Ms. Cherie (and so did Mommy) - we were lucky that you were able to have her for 8 months! You have adjusted well to your new class, and you are transitioning to one nap a day at school. You aren't ready at home just yet, so you are still taking 2, 2-ish hour naps / day.


- You are still in 12-18 month clothes, but you are getting very close to 18-24! Most of your pjs are 18-24 months. I can't believe you are getting so big. :(


Love you!

One Year Pics!!

Monkey See, Monkey Do...

The morning of Anna's birthday party, she woke up not feeling quite herself. She was lethargic and had no interest in her bottle... not my girl! So, daddy loaded her up and took her to the doctor...

This doesn't look like a girl that had a double ear infection AND bronchitis, does it!!?

Thankfully after a dose of medication and a breathing treatment, she was a brand new baby who wasn't ABOUT to miss her first birthday! We were thrilled that she perked up in time for her party, and despite warning all of our friends that she was sick - they all came anyway!

Not quite sure what to think about that candle!

Testing the waters...

She's all in!

Whoa, that's some good stuff!

Here's a peek at more of the action:

Thanks to all of our sweet friends and family who came (and those who weren't able to - we still love you too!) and celebrated Anna's FIRST birthday with us! I can't believe my baby girl is ONE!

Whirlwind Christmas!

The Christmas preparations began BEFORE Thanksgiving (much to Ryan's chagrin) in the Sims' Household this year, and I feel like we did not STOP for a month... As soon as Christmas was over, the decorations came down, and the birthday party planning began (more on that later!). Christmas was awesome, but I. Am. Exhausted.

Yaya and Boompa arrived the day before Christmas Eve and unloaded a truck load of gifts (literally!). They didn't even have a chance to get settled before Avery demanded Yaya's undivided attention! She was attached to Yaya for the week that they were here...

On Christmas Eve, we headed to church. I love, love, love the children's service at our church - the pressure is off since there are more kids than adults in the sanctuary! We sang lots of Christmas carols, saw a living nativity (well, semi-living since some of them were stuffed) and heard the Christmas story. Then, we headed home for a tamale dinner- a Christmas tradition!

Christmas morning started early! Anna was the first one awake, and wasted no time finding the toy that Santa left for her!

Avery came down the stairs to an audience awaiting her reaction... she was very excited to see the "painting thing" that Santa brought. And of course she decided she needed to paint her first masterpiece right away.

Santa also left a princess tunnel for both girls to share:

Avery spent most of her time opening her presents:

And Anna spent most of her time begging for some homemade Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls:

These shoes were a big hit - shoes that squeak when she walks! SO wish I would have video-taped her jumping around and cracking up!

This was by far our favorite Christmas! Avery was finally old enough to understand what was going on, and there is just nothing better than seeing seeing her excitement as she opened and played with each gift (and Anna's excitement over all of the paper and boxes!)!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

'Twas the night before Christmas...

Christmas with Pops & Jannie

Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with Jannie, Pops, Cooper, Rizzo & Gonzo! We had a great time, ate yummy food (hello chocolate pie!) and the girls opened some fun gifts! Thank you Pops & Jannie for a wonderful time! We love you!