Blessed...

I know, I know... You might have thought we would never be back. It's been funny to hear some of you politely remind me that my blog has not been updated since September 10th! I can't really explain why. I seem to find so many other projects, playdates, and places to go! So here I go in an effort to catch up on what we have been up to the last 4 months.

We are so incredibly blessed! Our Fall was filled with fun times, great friends, and sweet family. Anna has become my little running buddy. We have our regular kept appointments each week, but always allow a little time to do nothing with friends and lots of time to be at home catching up on life. I love it!

These days Anna is changing and accomplishing new small milestones each day. Literally, each day! She crawls just about as fast as I can run, and she is pulling up on everything. Walking around the coffee table time after time has become an old trick. She is showing some interest in walking and thinks it is the greatest skill ever, but I think we still have some time. (Thank goodness!) She is more playful than ever and has her own little acts she thinks are hillarious! I have noticed lately that her "talking" has improved so much. She now says dada, mama, ya, baba, eh ooo, dee doo, etc. (You get the idea :) Anna has never been one to snuggle, but just recently has started showing a tad bit of affection towards Casey and me. As far as activities and toys, well, they are simple. Her favorite things to do are play with shoeboxes in my closet and wait at the front door when someone is coming over. (See pic below in light blue dress). She loves to press her nose and mouth up against the glass and then giggle really loudly. So if you are ever planning on coming to visit, please call about 30 seconds beforehand so Anna can greet you. Her favorite toys these days are potholders, dishtowels, and an empty 2 liter coke bottle left over from NYE. I know... Needless to say, this child is not neglected. We have plenty of toys, but she would much rather roam around the house dragging a huge 2 liter bottle with her, stop to gnaw a minute, then keep on trucking. She makes us laugh!

Take a look at some of our highlights from the fall...

Parental Dedication at PCBC- a very sweet day. Anna LOVED standing at the front of the church with all eyes on her. :)

We spent several afternoons at the Arboretum pumpkin patch with friends. This is one of the few pics I was able to capture where Anna wasn't trying to eat hay or lick the pumpkins. I love this girl!

Could this be any sweeter? (That's cute Griffin)

Now, this is pretty sweet! Davis and Anna working on something. They're so serious!

This is one of my very favorites. This is Anna with her Papa. He was giving her her first driving lesson. She giggled so hard!

Freedom!!!

Happy Halloween!

Sweet little bee

Griffin and Anna at the Arboretum- Are they not the cutest???

Anna's first sight of a Christmas tree!

The Broyles Family- L to R- Ben and Jen (getting married in June!!!), Casey, Anna, and me, Mom, then Sam and Christina (with baby boy due in March!!!) Lots of excitement happening in 2010 for us.

Bebe :)

Here she is- waiting for someone to arrive!

Let's skip back to Thanksgiving for a minute... We had so much fun visiting with lots of family in Fort Worth, Bullard, and Palestine. It's so nice to be able to skip around and see everyone.

ooooh!!! Anna likes Nana's pretty things at an early age! :)

Playing in Nana's kitchen

The Thurmond Family - It was great to be together on a happy occasion. We lost Granddaddy in September, and we all miss him so much. Nana fixed her annual Thanksgiving lunch that was, of course, delicious!

Cute cousin Coleman

The Gurganus Family- I love this picture! (Don't know why it is so small) L to R- Katie and Trey (due in May!!!), Liz, Brother, and Coleman (with an exciting few years ahead as they move to College Station for Brother to complete an intense program in Engineering), Felder and Kelley (Gigi and Papa), Natalie (graduating from PHS this year and headed to Aggieland), then Anna, Casey, Carroll.

Now back to Christmas...

Anna's first encounter with Santa. She didn't scream and she didn't smile. She just sort of curled up her lip at him and waited for the moment to be over. I liked this picture because she was actually interested in his beard.

The Greens came up before Christmas so we could celebrate together. We miss them so much!

Beautiful Christmas nightgown from Gigi. :)

Uncle Ben reads to Anna...

An afternoon at The Arboretum to ourselves (pretty much)

Learning tricks from Uncle Sam. Watch out!

Here we are in front of our house on Christmas Eve. The snow was blowing like I have never seen it. We came home from church to find everything covered in white!

Christmas morning!

Happy New Years! We spend New Year's Eve with a few other families who have small children (or one on the way). Anna loved having friends over to her house! She followed Campbell around everywhere he went. He was a really good sport about it.

Here is sweet baby Sam. Poor Sam had Anna right in his face from the moment he arrived. Sorry, Sam!

We love to watch Anna on the monitor. It's so fun to see her play with her animals, talk to herself, and just climb around. Here is an attempt to capture what she does each day.

And here she is! :) Spunky, fun, and full of smiles!

We are so blessed!