Looking Back

I LOVE Christmas time, and always have. Really Matt and I both do....were like kids. I was thinking about the past 2 Christmas' and how much we have enjoyed them as a family of 3 (well 4 with Biz). I've been thnking latley about how fast my baby is growing up, and of course like every other mom....how sad it makes me. However, every new stage is better than the last, I guess because we love her more and more everyday. I count my blessings daily and realize this holiday season what a true blessing my family is to me.


Our 1st Christmas with Anna Claire





2nd Christmas

Getting ready for Christmas

We love Christmas around here. We put our Christmas tree up this weekend and decorated the house. I can't wait for Christmas....it's my favorite holiday!

Day at the fair

1st Haircut--but so much more!

We went today to have our haircut! This was Anna Claire's first and she LOVED it. I knew she was very ummm let's just say girly, and now she is even more prissy. Since her aunt is her stylist (I've learned that's the correct term), she got the special treatment including rollers in her hair, sitting under the dryer like the "big girls" (her words) and taking home rollers for her baby's. I'm quite sure the mini pedicures aren't going to cut it anymore. I think were in trouble with this one. She cried when we left and wanted another haircut and more rollers in her hair.

So since we got home all she has done is play beauty shop. It is so cute, I could watch her all day.

Daddy is so tough

Matt will probably kill me after this, so this may be my last blog entry.

Anna Claire has a way of making daddy do anything and everything she wants him to and it usually involves him wearing hairbows and lots of pink things. This (below) is a very typical look for him around here......

Happy Halloween

Our little fairy princess had so much fun trick or treating with all of her friends. This was her first time and I think she got the hang of it! :) She was eating candy (surprise) constantly (per the pictures with chocolate all over her face) and walking up and down the sidewalk screaming "Trick or Treat" before even getting to the door of each house.


Of course Biz didn't miss a thing!


We went back to some friends house for dinner afterwards which was lots of fun.

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Carving

We had fun carving our pumpkins. Anna Claire thought that was the best thing on earth!!!!

Rain rain, don't go away.

My child really does love the rain!!! I can honestly say it is one of her favorite things to do. I don't know what I'll do when it is cold and rainy because she will want to play in it anyway.

Some random photos

Getting ready for Halloween

We are gearing up for Halloween around here. We are undecided what Anna Claire is going to be....It's either a ballerina or a princess. She loves both, so I guess we'll decide soon. But she loves all of her Halloween/fall clothes!!!

Fun Trip to Las Vegas

We had a great trip to Las Vegas to visit my brother and his family. Anna Claire loved playing with her cousins, Blake and Kyle. That is all she has talked about since we got home. Mom, Anna Claire and I went on Sat and came back last night. We played with the kids, ate lots of really fabulous food and of course did lots of shopping. We had such a wonderful time, and were sad to leave my brother and his sweet family. I wish the 3 cousins lived closer to each other, but were making it a priority to keep them close even though they live so far away. Blake and Kyle have got to be the coolest little boys I have ever met. We will go back in December :) YEAH!

Uncle Stephen, Blake, Anna Claire and Mom
Anna Claire seriously snacking on the plane
Anna Claire and Kyle

GO LSU

Flower Girl

Anna Claire was the flower girl in Bonnie's wedding Saturday.
She did really well until she couldn't spot anyone she knew or just got freaked out by all the people and started crying. She almost made it all the way down the isle. (without the ring bearer) She looked very cute anyway and had a GREAT time at the reception dancing the night away.

I can't get the link to go directly to the webpage--but here is the link to the wedding announcement.
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/dclassifieds?Dato=20060827&Kategori=LIVING05&Class=1&Type=CAT1060&Lopenr=608270167&Selected=2

Beach Trip

We had a great trip to Ft. Walton Beach for 6 long days! We played in the sand, in the ocean, and did lots of swimming in the pool. Anna Claire and Daddy made TONS of sand castles that Anna Claire enjoyed stomping on!!! I think her favorite part was playing in the waves even though they continuously knocked her over.

Update

In preparation for our trip to the beach, Anna Claire, Granny, Mamaw and I went to get pedicures. This was her first and she loved it! She was pampered and couldn't get enough! The sweet lady rubbed her feet, trimmed and painted her toenails, and then her favorite part was having her feet put under the dryer like Granny.

This is the link to Anna Claire's webpage that I started when she was first born.

http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/4/4104/

It's been a busy couple of weeks since I've updated our blog. Here's what's been going on:

-- We have been doing a lot of playing inside! It is really hot so we've tried to keep busy inside playing dress up, dancing, coloring, painting, watching movies, etc. Anna Claire is loving these long summer days and spending time with her friends.

-- I have been blessed to be home with Anna Claire a lot more lately. I will only work one day a week now (was 2). I know it doesn't seem like a big deal, but I am excited about it! My little girl is growing up too fast and I want to spend lots of time with her at this very fun and energetic age!

-- I took Anna Claire too see her first movie a couple of weeks ago! Holly (my neighbor who told me about blogging) and her 2 kids went too. The kids did really good. I think we'll be going back to the free movie again soon, it's a great thing to do to stay cool--oh and it's free!

-- We are getting excited about going to the beach in August. Anna Claire has been asking about it over and over!

A few more pictures from the 4th!

Playing in the water with Granpa

Getting ice for the 10th time at the hotel.


Two weekends ago we went to south Louisiana to visit Billy, a friend from school and then went to Baton Rouge to see Blake and Kyle, Anna Claire's cousins. She had a blast with them.

The following week, Matt had some business in Monroe, so Anna Claire and I went along for the ride. We had fun swimming at the hotel and playing in the hotel room. You can imagine the way it looked by the time we left. The only thing in walking distance was a mall with a train that we (yes I rode the tiny train) rode numerous times.

The 4th of July weekend was long and fun!! Anna Claire spent the night with her Grandma and Grandpa Saturday night. Aunt Laurie came in town from South Carolina and brought Bethany (cosin) and Jamie(friend of Bethany). Anna Claire loved playing with "the girs." We took Anna Claire to play in the water downtown (picture above). Grandpa, Matt and I all played with her like kids in the water. Daddy ran in the 5K race on Tuesday morning, Anna Claire stood with me at the finish line waiting for daddy to come through. We went to some friends house and swam and cooked out and then popped firecrackers with Noah, Anna Claire's first love later on that night. She had such an exciting weekend!