Annalise Turns 3!

In November Anna turned 3.  I cannot believe that at this point she is halfway to being 4!  Anyway, we just had a very small party this year.  I am already planning for her next birthday party though because I am excited for an idea that I have about a theme.  Other than her birthday party, which was after her birthday we also celebrated on her actual birthday by taking her to Toys R' Us to pick out a new toy - - she picked a talking Jessie cowgirl doll, and dinner at her favorite restaurant, Friendly's (which was also mine when I was a little kid).   Runs in my mind that her birthday is on Thanksgiving Day this coming year so we won't be going to Friendly's this year =).

 Annalise wanted a butterfly cake this year.  This was my best attempt at making them.  I made two because I made one as back up in case I messed the first one up.  I didn't, so then we just ended up with two cakes....of course.

 Anna was going in for the icing!

Some of her gifts stacked in her new shopping cart.  That cart is so cute!  It actually looks like a real cart!

A Birthday Party

Last Saturday Annalise went to her cousin, Samantha's, birthday party.  They had it in the basement of their church and Anna really enjoyed playing with the toys and roaming from room to room.  I think it is safe to say she also really enjoyed the cake and ice cream!

 Annalise and her cousin Hannah that she talks about a lot!  Sometimes she calls her Uncle Hannah..... she's a little confused on that one!

 Annalise and her cousins

 Enjoying some delicious party food!

 Playing with balloons on the couch

 Some reading with Uncle Dave

 The book was "The Three Little Pigs".  Annalise talked about the Big Bad Wolf coming after that.

 Her sweet ride for the party

Mmmm....cake and ice cream!

Anna's 2nd Birthday Party

On November 20th, we had Annalise's 2nd Birthday Party at the Lighthouse social hall of our church.  In addition to the enjoyment of celebrating Anna's birth, it was also great to see some friends and family that we have not seen in awhile!  This year it was also great fun including her on some of the decisions for the partya and shopping!  Anna specifically requested peanut butter ice cream for the party (how she even knew about peanut butter I have no idea), so on that day that is what she got.  She seemed to like it but interestingly she has not even mentioned it since and she was mentioning it daily before then. In any event, Annalise really enjoyed playing with all the other kids, and of course the cake and presents!

 A view of the adult guests --- all the kids were over playing in the other part of the room at this point!

 Scoping out the cake

 Getting a closer look!

 Enjoying the cake and the peanut butter ice cream

 Mr. "Tato" Head from Rammer, Shira and baby James

 An adorable outfit from Jason, Kristin, Caden and Abby 

(Anna loves clothes as much as she loves toys if not more so!)

 The awesome tent from Emmy and Mike!

 Hanging out with baby James after the party

Annalise just loves him and talks about seeing him all the time!

Anywhere Chair

For Anna's birthday, Stan and I got her an "Anywhere Chair" from Pottery Barn Kids.  Friends of ours have one for their son and over the summer when we were at their house, Annalise loved sitting in his chair.  I decided then that we were going to get her one for either her birthday or Christmas.  Fast forward to this week when Annalise received her own chair.  It was honestly one of the best purchases I think I have ever made.  The quality of it is well worth the price.  The foam insert is really firm and the best part is that the slip cover comes off and can be washed.  Okay, so maybe that's not the best part --- the best part is that Annalise loves that chair!  It is just perfect for her to sit in and look at her books!

 Not really what I was after as far as posing goes, but at least you can see her name on the back!

 Apparently the chair is also useful to practice stretching, LOL!

 Another gift that Anna received was this little tea set from Gram and MG.  She really likes it and has spent quite awhile already serving Stan and I "tea and toast".

 The Anywhere Chair box was also amusing =).

I had to try out the chair for a minute.  I really wanted to just see how firm the foam insert was.  It passed my squish test and was surprisingly firm!

A Tent and A Tunnel....

...provide hours of amusement!  One of the awesome gifts that Annalise got for her birthday this year was a tent with a tunnel attached.  On Monday, Stan said she spent a good part of the day playing in it and that evening all three of us got some amusement out of it.  Annalise thought it was great fun to have us in the tent with her.  Crawling through the tube is a little tricky for me, but I can do it.  Stan on the other hand got stuck part way through and had to stand up with the tunnel still wrapped around is body to push it off!  It was way funny but of course I was laughing to hard and didn't have the camera within reach at that point!  There is no doubt the tent is a hit with all three of us (even though it does take up most of the open space in the living room -- Em! LOL!).

 LOVE this picture other than the red eyes!  Grrr! I am sure that I mentioned before that my camera and I do not get along very well!  If you use the red eye reduction it seriously takes the camera forever to take the picture and by that time the moment is long gone!  I really need a better one!