New Blog Link

http://anna2ndyear.blogspot.com/

For all interested...We have started a new blog....see link above.

Pics at the Hospital--Anna's first couple days

Anna's First Birthday

Today started off with a bang. For breakfast Anna enjoyed a sweet serenade from her Mommy and Daddy (Daddy over speakerphone). The song of choice was Happy Birthday. Anna enjoyed a nice "healthy" breakfast of pancakes with white chocolate chips.( Yes, we put the candle in the pancakes for the serenade.


At daycare Anna enjoyed another mini birthday with her friend Brookhanna.
Mommy was able to get off work a little early and had planned to take Anna to the lake to see the geese but it was pouring down rain. So instead we spent a little quality time together. For dinner we went over to Alex's house. There we sang happy birthday, had cake and opened presents. I would say Anna had a good first birthday.

This year has flown by as I am sure the following will. Anna has taught me a lot but I think one of the most important things she has taught me is "you never get this moment back, reflect on yesterday, prepare for tomorrow, but live IN today".

I can remember a year ago...anxiously awaiting the arrival of my baby girl. I was so nervous. I remember being so scared as they rushed me in for an emergency c-section, praying that God wouldnt take my baby. I kept myself calm by singing "you are my sunshine"

I remember worrying about what would she be like, what would I be like as a mother. Would I be good enough. From the moment I held her I didnt want to let her go. She was (still is and will always be) so precious.

I remember the days when she slept all the time and I would just sit in my chair and hold her as she slept curled up on my chest. I remember thinking how much I loved her and not imagining how much more I would love her the next day. I remember as she got older and didnt want to sleep in my arms, as much I needed to, how I wouldnt/couldnt put her down when she did fall asleep sitting with me. I remember sitting in my chair at night knowing it was getting late and that I needed to get chores done or get ready for work or bed. Yet, I still sat there and held her because it hurt my heart to lay her down.

Anna has been an angel. Yea, she has started to throw little tantrums but she is still an angel. I cant ever recall her throwing a tantrum out in public. She is my angel because she is a major inspiration for me to be a better person, to be her role model.

I love how friendly and outgoing she is. I love how she says "hi" or "hey" to 90% percent of the people she see's.

She amazes me on a daily basis as it seems she is always learning something new.
So far her vocab consists of:

act---cat
dog---dog
hat---hat
hi---hi
hey---hey
ball--ball
there---there
dat---dat
baph--bath
bell---belly
book---book
alec---alex
mama---mommy
dada---daddy
book---brookhanna
ap---apple
look---look
baw---balloon
duck---duck
ear---ear
da do---thank you
boooo-shoe
ba ba---bottle
up---cup
boo---blue
buh bye---bye bye


I am sure there are a few more that I will think after this is published. But that vocab list amazes me. It also amazes me that she knows what the word more is in sign language. She will sign more whenever she sees food that she wants. She hasnt gotten any other signs down but that still amazes me.

I am so proud of her. I love the fact that she is active (although, I am sure it will be challenging). I love the fact that she loves books and will sit with me as I read or as Daddy reads via a video (we did that so she could see Daddy reading to her while he was deployed).

I love how she cries a little when I drop her off at day care (only cause it makes you feel good to know they want you) but I also love how by the time I hit the front door she is happy with her provider.

I love when I pick her up from day care she gives me the best hug and makes a grunting sound like she is trying so hard to squeeze me more than she already is. I love the smile on her face when she sees me first thing in the morning or even when I open the car door to get her out.

I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH ANNA! Daddy and I both love you for so many more precious reasons. Thank you Anna for being the person you are! You are amazing, unique, precious, beautiful....I could go on and on.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY ANNA!!!! We cant wait to see what the next years bring us (ok...
we can wait...but only because we want to make sure we enjoy every moment possible!)

Anna's First Friends

Just wanted to show off who Anna's first friends were.
This is Brookhanna.

Anna attends daycare at Brookhanna's house. We have been told they get along great. They play, laugh, whack each other but all in good fun. I love the fact that they are so close in age and get along so well. I believe Anna tries to say Brookhanna's name but it comes out sounding like "book". '

This is Alex. He lives in our neighborhood. Anna and Alex get to spend quite a bit of time together. They go on stroller rides, shopping, out to eat, play dates at each others house. Anna loves to say Alex's name.

Whats in store for Mommy...

Anna got her first boo boo from falling today (Sunday 31 May). She was playing in the living room and fell over my leg as she was trying to get to her coveted corn puffs. (I know I should have moved my leg-but she was quicker than me). Well...she fell and got rug burn and a cut on her chin. She cried for a bit but less than 5 minutes later she was ok.
Ok...today was an adventure. (Sunday 31 MAY) Anna showed Mommy what she has in store for me. In less than 1 hour she dove out of her play house (the one outside)...twice. The first time I thought she used my chair (we have to put it next to the door so she doesnt push the door open) to pull herself out because she ended up sitting in the chair. (Yea, that was a surprise. I had put her in the house and put the chair there so I could clean up the lawn table from lunch...imagine my surprise when I turned around and saw her sitting in my lawn chair.) However, the second time as I was sitting there watching her she leaned over the door (like she was looking at the grass) and BAM!...out she tumbled! Luckily she didnt get hurt.(below is a pic of the house)

Next she climbed on her music table and sat on it...three different times (ok...the second and third time I didnt let her sit on it but she was trying to climb back up on it). THEN she tried to sit on her red rider turtle, turtles head and finally she sat on its back...ON HER KNEES! AND SHE ISNT FULLY WALKING YET!!!!
She did really good at walking this weekend. In the house she would let go of things and take 3-4 steps to get to something else. We also spent alot of time walking around the yard and to the mailbox. I would hold her hands and stand behind her and let her lead me. SHE LOVED IT!!!!


OH!!! Something else...I have been meaning to mention. For the past couple of weeks Anna will get excited and say "ALEC" whenever she sees her little friend Alex. Its amazing, she even knows when we go to his house, if she doesnt see him she will ask "Alec?" and when she sees his mom she will say "Alec?". How cute is that? Oh...and she knows the word hat. Today when I took of my beret (army hat) she grabbed it and sad "hat". She also says thank you. She doesnt quite have it down but I can tell that is what she saying it sounds more like "day do". I know she is saying thank you because she repeats it when I say it. Whenever she sees her bath cup she will say "up" and point to the cup!

Busy Bee

The past couple of weeks were very very busy. Daddy came to visit before his deployment. The first week I had to work so Anna and Daddy got to spend a lot of quality time together. I think it was great. She took right to him, like he never missed a beat.
Grandma and Grandpa Shoemate also came at the end of the week and spent some quality time with Daddy and Anna. Then Nana and Poppop Durrette came!
On Saturday 23 May. We celebrated Anna's birthday with a cookout. Although it was a

little early we couldnt pass up the chance with everyone there! It was great. Anna at first wasnt too happy about the hat! But quickly took to opening presents. It was adorable. She is already hitting that stage of excitement when she see's her gift. She would open something (with Daddy's help) and look at it, then point and say "look!" If you didnt acknowledge her she would say it again or if she really liked the gift she would say it again! After presents it was cake time. Anna really enjoyed her cake and let us know by saying "mmmm!", "mmmm!" However, she did have some kind of reaction to the cake. We think it was the blue coloring in the frosting because her cheeks (which had frosting all over them) were bright red for a couple hours after. I am really glad that everyone got to be there. Oh...and me and Anna will do something small on her real bday!

On Sunday 24 May we all went to church where Daddy and Anna were baptized. I was so proud standing there beside my husband and baby. All the grandparents were there to witness this occasion which made it even more special.


Then on Monday we went to the zoo! Anna loved the zoo. She kept pointing and saying "look"! Anna even got to ride a merry-go-round! I wont lie in the beginning it was tricky. Anna almost slid off the side of the elephant when the elephant went up (I was almost too short to hold her on). I am soooooooo happy that we went while Daddy (and Nana and Poppop) were here.


Anna has started walking more...ok...trying to walk more. She will be playing across the room and hold something out to me. I usually say "bring it to mommy", she will smile, step away from what she holding onto and attempt to walk to me. The most steps she has taken at one time is 7 steps. She is really trying. If she is standing up facing away from me and sees something she wants, I will let go of her hands and she will try to walk to it. I can tell she is still nervous...or maybe she just gets so excited because when she gets close to whatever she was walking to, be it a toy or me, she will just fall forward and laugh.
Anna has started a new thing in the bathtub. She will take the cup and put a little ball in, still holding the ball (and only the ball) she will turn the cup over. I will then pull the cup off and she will giggle her little head off. Tonight she tried cramming the rubber ducky in the cup. However, she wasnt so happy when it got stuck.
I dont know where she gets it from but she has the most outgoing personality. She waves and says hi to almost 90% of the people she sees. Its so cute, walking thru the store holding her, all I hear over and over is "hi! or hey!".
We have gotten rid of the bottles...ok...not completely rid but she doesnt get them unless she is going down for a nap or bedtime. Now she only gets water in the bottle. Somedays she does really good with the sippy cup...somedays, well, she throws the cup at me...yea...we are working on that one.
Oh...and I have figured out that she thinks that anything bad is my fault. If she gets mad at something she will come over to me and hit me! YEA, we are working on that one too!

Daddy's coming

(first yes that is food on Anna's face...she is practicing feeding herself).

Two more days and Daddy will be here. Anna and I are so excited! I love how Anna will now say bye bye almost on cue. Last night we left Daddy a phone message and she said "buh bye da da". It was adorable. She is so smart. She also knows when i come to day care in the evening that she is leaving. Its so cute because as soon as I pick her up she waves bye bye to the caregiver and smiles. That and the hug I get are priceless. I would want to start my evenings any other way. Last night Anna got adventourus and was standing up on her own a lot. She still used something to pull her up but she would let go and stand there. She would stand so long (about 30 seconds) that she would talk to me. Her stance makes me laugh. She kinda got a suedo half squat and her toes are point out at a forty five degree angle....hey maybe she is working on her leg strength so she can be a catcher like mommy :+). I want to get a picture of it but she would always try to grab the camera if I took a picture.
Ya know it makes you feel so good as a Mom knowing your child is happy (and of course safe) when you leave them with someone. Anna loves her daycare provider. She smiles and waves at her. The best is the caregiver has a little girl about one month older than Anna. Anna will get so excited when I take her there in the morning and she sees or hear Brookhanna. I am going to try to get some pics of them together.

Emergency Rooms

This past week was mostly relaxing up till the weekend.
Anna got sick Saturday morning. It was coming out of everywhere and she had a temp. I felt so bad for her. She was so not herself. She just slept and wouldnt eat. We went to the doctor Sunday night and by the time the doctor came back to see us her temperature had broke. However, she still had the runny poo.
Besides that Anna is doing great. I have noticed over the past couple of weeks something that she picked up from me... I often pat her on the back when i give her a hug. SHE DOES THAT NOW! She did it to Daddy when he was here but it has become even more of a common occurance. Its amazing what children observe. Its a good reminder that you have to watch yourself because they are watching and learning from you.
Ok....so I wrote that first part awhile back...Things have been hectic. Anna got quite sick the following week. She ran a real high fever and had to take her to the emergency room, she wasnt eating and she was vomiting and had the runny poos. Well at the emergency room her temp finally broke, they checked her out and said it was just a virus and if she still was showing symptons to take her back to her doctor in a couple days. Well a couple days went by...she still wasnt really eating (pedialyte) was her staple and she still had explosions thru the diaper. I also noticed her hands and feet were intermittingly turning a shade of purple and getting really cold. So back we went to the doctor. Well the doctor didnt know what to make of her hands and feet. She said it could be nothing (sometimes since babies circulatory systems arent fully in sync this happens when they get sick) but she said it could be something....so....she sent us to an emergency room in downtown Kansas City. She sent us to a Childrens Hospital. Well off we went. Here I am driving down to Kansas City, worried sick that it is something to be worried sick about. Well bottom line they said since all he vitals were good and her heart sounded good they thought it was due to an immature circulatory system. Not to worry and just keep an eye on it. So that I did. Finally a couple days later, Anna was feeling normal and slowly her hands and feet stopped getting barneyfied (purple). I have noticed when she takes a bath they get purplish and cold but go back to being normal shortly after. So that was that week. You can imagine. It wasnt very fun. I did alot of her laundry, clothes, changing bed sheets. Just holding her because she didnt feel good. However, two visits to the emergency room in one week...not good.
The next week Anna was completely better and we had a more normal week.
She is growing so fast. My favorite part of the day is picking her up from daycare. I love the smile on her face and the hug that she gives me. It makes my day...something to really look forward to.
I think I am off a couple weeks. Seeing as how we are a month away from her being a year old and Im not even close to 48 weeks....soooo...I guess I will start titling these differently.

week 43 HAPPY EASTER

Happy 1st Easter Anna! This was an exciting week.
On Thursday when I was putting Anna into the car she pointed at my shirt that was hanging up and said "blue"! I was so proud of her because the shirt is blue. She is trying so hard to talk, so hard to communicate. Its amazing watching her pick things up.
She also started signing "more" this week. The first time she did it was out of nowhere. It simply amazed me...again! I have been working a little on baby signs with her but honestly I was feeling bad because I didnt think I was doing it enough for her to learn anything.
Thursday we picked Daddy up from the airport. Anna did so good with Daddy. I was scared that she would be scared of him but she wasnt. She spent the weekend loving, hugging and playing with him. She would even call for him by saying "da" or "da-da".
Anna also took her first step this weekend. Well actually her first two steps. We were working on helping her stand by pulling her up and letting go of her hands. Most of the time she would just stand still and fall down a few seconds later. But TWO times she took one step and fell. I can barely keep up with her now...I dont know what I am going to do when she starts walking. Its really going to be time to baby proof the house!

On Saturday we went and saw the Easter bunny. We had to wait in the longest line but Anna was a good girl and waited as patiently as a 10 month old baby could be expected to wait. When we got up there she didnt cry a bit. She smiled and lookup at him. When we took her away she just kept pointing at him. We also dyed Easter eggs on Saturday. Anna tried to help...by trying to eat the eggs and knocking over the dye.

Anna really loved all of her easter baskets. She got one from the Easter bunny, one from Nana and Poppop and one from Grandma and Granpa.

We had such a great weekend. Its soooo sad to see it end. Daddy had to leave today but will be back in a few weeks. It was good to see Anna and Daddy spend time together. Hopefully the next time Daddy comes it will be warmer so we can go somewhere more exciting than Target!

week 42

Anna is such a smart baby. I already see that she is going to be so much smarter than me. She loves her books. Another thing I noticed this week was when she was looking at a book she would see a cat, point to it and say cat. If we closed the book she would reopen it and look for the page with the cat. She also knows where our foster cat hangs out and will look for whenever we go upstairs.
Anna is starting to stand on her own. She cant just stand up but once she pulls herself up using support she can let go and stand there for up to ten seconds. Then she falls on her bottom. She hasnt tried to take a step...but she hasnt tried to take a step when I am holding her hands either. I cant imagine her walking she is going to be a mess to stay up with. Its hard keeping up with her now...I can only imagine.
Anna also loves to be flipped....and I have noticed that she seems to be trying to do it own her own. See sometimes I will pick her up and flip her over and have her land on her feet. I have noticed that when she is sitting she will put her head on the ground and rock like she is trying to tumble/flip!!!! Scary!
This week I think Anna is going thru a growth spurt she is eating so much! She has even woke up during the night a few nights wanting a bottle every two to three hours. Oh Anna loves peas, seafood gumbo and scallops! She is soooooo adorable when she eats something she likes she will say "mmmmmmmmm!" I will admit she says it alot! She is not a picky eater by far!
We are excited. Daddy comes to visit this week! We cant wait to see him!

week 41

Our little Anna is getting so big so quick. This past week she showed that she can say "bye bye" and "hey"! I thought it was amazing that she actually knows who she is saying "bye bye" to. For instance, one day when i picked her up from daycare before we even started walking out I told her to say bye bye. She turned looked directly at her day care provider, waved and said "bye, bye"! It amazed me that she knew who she was saying bye bye to and it proved to me that she knew what bye bye meant.
We are trying to get Anna on a scheduled bed time. Im shooting for 830ish...a couple nights she went down ok...a couple of nights she fought it.
One thing I really need to work with Anna on is not hitting. When she gets excited she swings her arms and hits. I know she isnt doing it to be mean but its still not good. So...I have been taking her hand and rubbing it on my face and saying "soft touch" or when she pets the dog I do the same thing.
Anna is getting way better at pulling herself up on things and scooting around. I have even noticed that she loves to dance! She has this one leap frog music table and when she is standing at it and it is playing music she will shake her hips and legs. Its the cutest little thing.
This past couple weeks Anna officially hit the stage with seperation anxiety. Luckily its not real bad. She will just cry a little when I drop her off at day care, however, by the time I reach the door she has stopped crying.

week 40- 9 month checkup

Anna's vocabulary is constantly growing. We went to the docter for her 9 month checkup and she started to get fussy. The nurse offered to make her a sticker "lollipop". Basically they take a tongue depresser and sticker two stickers together at the top. Anna loved it. She kept saying "duck". However, now that I look back she might be saying "that" in an asking manner. So I kept saying sticker...sticker...sticker. Finally out of the blue she said "sticker". the docters mouth dropped. She seemed to be amazed and said that she could tell that Anna was talked to alot. I was soooooo proud of Anna. At her appointment she weighed 16 lbs .8 ounces(which is in the 10% for her age), she is 27 inches long (25% for her age). You I cant how many people that see her look at her feet and hands and say oh....she is going to be tall. Hmmmmmmmmm.....I do think she has long feet but I dont really think she has big hands.

Anna also say's book alot. She loves to look at her books and be read to. She is also know getting to where she will point to things in the book.Sometimes it sounds like she is saying "that?" and sometimes it sounds like she is saying "duck". Anna is also starting to point to real items. Whether it be in a store, outside or inside the house. Again sometimes it sounds like she is asking "that?" other times it sounds like "duck".


Anna will not eat regular baby food any more for me. Instead I have to feed her the gerber graduates stage. Like the beenie weenies, the fruit, the pasta, the cheese doodle thingys. If I even try to sneak the other baby food (the stage 2 or three) she looks at me like I am crazy! Anna also loves to feed herself. I will put two or three items on her little table top (of the high chair) and she will pick them up and feed herself. I love watching her learn.

Everyday she continues to amaze me. My favorite part of the day, well I guess I have to parts of the day that are my favorite. One is in the morning when she wakes up and when she first sees me the smile on her face. The other is when I pick her up from daycare after work. I love walking in and seeing her playing and the minute she notices I am there her little face lights up and she gets the biggest smile. It makes all the headaches from work just dissappear.

36-39 weeks

Man...I am seriously failing in my goal to write once a week for Anna's blog. I feel horrible. This was suppose to be my way of recording her moments for her to read later and...well lately I havent been able to make the time. Recently I got a promotion at my work. Well not really a promotion essentially i was put into a position of greater responsibilty. The bad thing is right now I am doing my old job and my new job. So not only is it jsut the added work load of the new responsibilities its that plus my old workload. Soon I hope I wont be doing my old job much and once that happens I will have a little more time. Anna and I have been getting home so late. Normally I will go pick her up from daycare at 5 and take her back to work until about 7-8. By the time we get home we spend most of the time getting Anna ready for the evening and getting everything ready for the next day. In the limited time that we have together I have opted to spend it interacting with her instead of getting on the computer.
Anna has had an exciting few weeks. Around week 37 she learned the word duck. I am not sure how she picked this up except that she has a duck she plays with a bath time. Only thing...everything she picks up for a while was "duck"! It was cute because it was like she was asking "duck?" and I would say "no...book" or "no block",etc.
In week 37 Anna had her first big experience with snow. We got about 5 inches. I was so excited that I was going to get to use her snowsuit. So I rushed to put her in it and take pictures. Well poor Anna was a little sleepy and didnt do to well sitting up. She kept falling on her back or own her side. She didnt have a problem falling these ways but when she fell on her face....she looked so pitiful. I had to run her into the house and wipe the snow off and she was still crying. It didnt take long for her to get over it but we didnt venture back out.

Anna also got a bad rash on her face this week. I think it was from being at someone elses house. She was laying and crawling on a blanket. I guess she isnt ready for big people laundry detergent.
In week 38 Anna and I had our first experience rushing to an emergency room. Anna woke up with a temp of 104...so off we went. It all started the night before when she had a 103 temp. I gave her some tylenol and called the doctor. The doctor said to wait an hour and see if her temp went down and call her back. It went down to 99 so the doctor said not to worry just to monitor it and if it hit 104 go immediately to the emergency room. Or if it was 101 or higher and wasnt responding to tylenol. Well we ran to the emergency room where they gave her motrin. She wasnt showing any other symptons of being sick and her temp dropped to 100 so they sent her home. But said that if it went back up to 104 to bring her back because that is the temp that babies start seizing at. Luckily it never went back that high. It would get as high as 102 but would drop once i gave her motrin or tylenol. This only lasted a couple days. I am convinced she had a tooth trying to break thru and that is what caused the temp.
In week 39 Anna learned "uh oh!" It was the cutest thing she would say "uh oh", then I would say spaghetti oh" and she would say "uh oh". She loved this game. This Nana and Poppop Durrette came to visit. Anna got to spend all day and night with them (she slept in their arms). Anna also went on her first big road trip to North Carolina from Kansas with Nana and Poppop. They tell me she did really good. I am so glad that she got to visit all the family in North Carolina!
Anna is eating more and more big people food. She loves pancakes and bread!
I really miss my baby and cant wait till tomorrow afternoon when I pick her and Nana up at the airport. I have been like a lost puppy dog the past few days with out her....