A Taste of Nice Weather...

...well for January anyway. The other day it the temperature made its way into the upper 30's and the sun was shining so we took the oppurtunity to take Annalise for her first walk in her new wagon. She loved it! We have "practiced" enough in the family room that she finally stays seated in it. Can't wait for spring to come!

Annalise and I.....Stan didn't tell me that I was in the picture or I would have looked at the camara!

Riding along

Stan taking a turn

Lovin' it

My...I mean Anna's Water Bottle

Lately Anna has taken a real liking to this stupid water bottle. I take it to work with me each day. When Annalise and I get home we have a regular routine that we follow and one thing that we do is unpack the bags from the day. She rushes to get to that bottle and then walks around with it for quite awhile each day. She will walk off with it and find her toys and put the bottle right next to her and start playing. She will move it from place to place with her and will periodically try to drink from it. If you try to take it when she is looking she gets upset so I usually have to sneak it away from her. I don't really know why we spend so much on toys for her when the things she seems to like most are not toys!

The lovely water bottle

Trying to drink from it.

Carrying it over to put it next to her toys to start playing.
Of course the water bottle has to stay in her sight at all times!

Christmas at Grandpa's

In the beginning of January we had one last Christmas celebration at Stan's dad's house.

Opening one of her gifts

Helping Aunt Lisa open a gift

and helping cousin Samantha open a gift

and helping Sylvia open gift....she is very helpful isn't she??

Bailey likes to help open gifts too!

Stan opening a gift

Hannah "combing" Anna's hair with Anna's toy comb from her purse.

Lisa pulling out Michell's tooth with our new fireplace tongs (are they even called tongs??)

Annalise getting a little attention from her cousins.
This picture cracks me up.

Anna in her new wagon that she got from Grandpa and Sylvia.
She loves we. We pull her around in the family room and I cannot wait to take her for a walk in it in the spring!

Cousin Hannah and Annalise in the wagon

Anna and cousin Jen

Stan with his dad and two sisters

New Year 2010

We usually travel to Honesdale to visit with our friends for New Year's Eve, but this year we did not go because one of our friends had a cold and I didn't want to risk it with Annalise. Sooo, the three of us spent had our New Year celebration at home this year. Anna still went to bed at 8:30 but Stan and I rented a movie, snacked and then watched the ball drop. We we thinking back to our 9 years together and we think that this is the first time we EVER stayed in together on New Year's Eve!

I bought these lovely paper hats for us to wear to bring in the New Year!
Yes, I made Stan wear his when it was getting close to midnight and no, there are not pictures though to prove it. Annalise had to wear hers before she went to bed that night.

Cuteness

I do have more Christmas pictures to post and I will get to them sometime. I had a VERY productive weekend though so I am glad for that! I finally feel like I have everything sparkling clean and organized after the holidays! Yay! Just thinking about it makes me feel so happy (I know I a weird, but I am OK with it =) ). Plus I wanted to try a new recipe this weekend so blogging kind of took a back seat. Anyway, I just wanted to do a quick post about two cute things that Annalise did this past weekend before I forget about them.
**On Friday Stan was showing me the back of his arm (don't remember why). I was sitting on the floor so he was kind of bent over weird trying to show me. We looked over at Annalise she was staring at Stan and she was trying to bend and stand like Stan was! It was so cute. Also, last night I was squatting down and wrapping the cord around the back of the vacuum. I looked over and Anna was watching what I was doing intently and squatting next to me. Again, really cute!
**The other cute thing that sticks out in my mind was on Friday. It was my mom's birthday and we all went to dinner at the Pine Barn Inn. Annalise was staring to get a little antsy in the high chair so I took her into another room to walk around for a little bit. After awhile I decided to head back to the dining room. As we were walking in, Anna started to loudly babble and I quietly made the "Shhhh" sound to her and whispered "quiet voice". Anna promptly looked up at me with a smile and went "Shhh" "Shhhh" Shhhh"....and then continued to babble.

I guess we are just so used to her being in the baby stage that when she comes out with something unexpected it really surprises us and makes us laugh. This stage is the best one yet (especially in clean/organized house)!

Christmas Day

On Christmas after we opened gifts at home, Annalise, Stan and I traveled to Easton to visit with his sister and her family. Annalise had a blast opening gifts. I can honestly say that she doesn't really seem to care too much about what is inside of the gifts, she just loves to rip off the paper. As soon as she gets the paper off, she wants another one! Once there are no more to open she gets interested about what is inside each one.

"This stack is almost as tall as I am!"

Losing her balance

A cute smile

Anna and I opening gifts.
Notice the cookie thief is also in on the action...he also loves to steal bows.

Just like her birthday, gift opening is very serious business =)

Tearing through the paper

In addition to opening gifts, checking out new toys is also very serious business.

Santa dog in Easton
I LOVE this dog!

Profile shot

Anna also loves this dog...probably a little too much

Let me at 'em!

Annalise opening gifts with her cousin Jen, Aunt Lisa and I

A little spider book..so cute!

A cute little mouse that goes with her If You Take a Mouse to the Movies book.

Another Christmas on Saturday

Since we went to Easton on Christmas day, we had celebrated Christmas with my mom, MG, my brother and nephew at our house on Saturday.

Annalise and her cousin Andrew.
See? Anna is not the only tall child in the family! Andrew is only 12!

Andrew and his Dad -- my brother Ben.

Anna wearing Uncle Ben's hat.

Anna wanting nothing to do with me at the moment.

MG and his new hat.

Miss Annalise Olivia

Anna and Stan playing with her some of her new toys.

Christmas Candy Lane

On Sunday, Anna, Stan and I went to did some shopping at the Hershey Outlets (got some great deals) and went to Christmas Candy Lane in Hershey. We had a great time even though it was really cold! Stan and I have gone to Candy Lane for at least the past 6 years so it is kind of a tradition for us (we did miss last year though because Anna was a newborn). I think that Anna's favorite part was looking at Santa's reindeer. For as shy as Annalise can be around people, oh how she LOVES animals - no matter how big or small! She had the hugest smile on her face the whole time we were in front of the pen, waved and clapped for the reindeer, at one point was trying to climb over the rail to get into the pen and when we walked away she started crying!

Some blurry lights (I really need to learn how to use out camera better)

A little better....less blurriness...

Annalise and I by the carousel

Anna looking at Santa's reindeer

Annalise's beloved reindeer

Anna and Mommy

Annalise and Daddy