Back to tummy!

After a few weeks of being frustratingly close (frustrating to Anna Kate, not to us...we thought it was kinda cute and pitiful!), Anna Kate can finally roll from her back to her tummy (and get both arms out from under her)! So now any time she is on her back, she goes straight to her tummy...on the floor, on the changing table, in her bath, etc. At least she's having fun! I did manage to catch it on video this evening, which actually wasn't hard since she does it ALL the time. So enjoy!

Oh, and excuse the lack of pants...but at least her yellow cloth diaper is cute!

A Day in the Life

Anna Kate and I are absolutely loving all the time we get to spend together now! We had a great day today and just thought that we would show you in pictures!

First, we explored our little historic neighborhood with Anna Kate in the Baby Bjorn carrier (facing out so she could see everyone and everything)! We walked a total of about 1.5 miles and ended up finding the county library. So we stopped in to get a library card and to check out a few books. Here are our finds!


The little board book is our new favorite...it's called "If You Were My Bunny" and it is a super sweet naptime or bedtime book. We might just have to buy it!

After our long walk, Anna Kate was exhausted, so here's a picture of her conked out for her 2.5 hour nap!

I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but Anna Kate still likes to be swaddled to sleep, but she has to have one arm out to hold her little "lovey bear" blankie!

After nap, we decided it would be a perfect day to go swimming in our little backyard pool.


Here's Anna Kate saying, "Stop taking pictures, Mommy, and get me in the pool!"

Much better!

We had a great time in the pool, then came back in and got dressed and ready for church tonight.

We have had a great day!

4 month appointment

Anna Kate had her 4 month appointment last Thursday and it went great! She was actually 4 months and 1 week because we wanted to wait until we got to our new home so that we could check out the pediatricians in town. Anyway, she did great during her appointment giving the doctor and nurse plenty of smiles! She did have to get two shots which I think were harder on me than they were on her. She didn't particularly like them, but as soon as I picked her up to snuggle her, she was just fine! And, many of you want to know, so here are her 4 month stats:

Height: 25 inches (75 %)
Weight: 14 lbs, 14 oz. (75%)

It seems like she's a very happy healthy girl!

Her appointment actually fell during her naptime, so she was exhausted by the time we got home. Here is a picture we took as soon as we got home...if you look closely you can see the little Looney Tunes bandaids on her poor little chubby legs =(

Thanks for checking in!

Happy Father's Day!

Anna Kate just wanted to tell her Daddy how much she loves him on this special day, his first Father's day! She can't use her "big words" yet, but this is what I think she is saying with that precious little expression...

Hi Daddy,

Thank you so much for loving me as much as you do. You have done such a good job taking care of me these past couple months while Mommy finished the school year. Thank you for working so hard now to provide for me and Mommy. We really appreciate you! Thank you also for singing the "Pretty Anna Kate" song to me...I really like it. Thank you for getting down on the floor with me to play with my toys, and for reading me stories, like Brown Bear, Brown Bear (that one's my favorite). Thank you for all the hugs and kisses you give me every day. Thank you for always praying that I would grow up to worship Jesus. Thank you for being my daddy.

Love,
Anna Kate

Our New Home!

As many of you already know, Luke has accepted a ministry position at Malvern Hill Baptist Church in Camden, SC. His official title will be Minister of Youth and Education. My job will be to stay at home with Anna Kate and hopefully teach private violin lessons.

Well, we moved down here this past weekend after I finished teaching on Friday. We had about 15 people from our church in Wake Forest help us load up our U-Haul, and then when we arrived on Saturday morning, 40 people from our new church were here to meet us to unload and unpack it! We have been so blessed by our church families! Thank you to all of you who helped!

Now, without further ado, here is a tour of our new home. We have plenty of room, so please come visit us!

Cute little cottage!

I have a feeling that we'll spend a lot of time here once it cools off a bit!

View of the big magnolia from the front porch

View of the living room when you walk in the front door (we haven't put up pictures in this room yet, because we don't have any big enough for the huge walls!) The doorway you see leads into the dining room.

Formal dining room leading into the kitchen

BIG kitchen...it is so nice to have this much space! I don't even have enough stuff to fill all of the cabinets!

The "mudroom" off of the kitchen. It was originally a porch that is now walled in as a laundry/storage/whatever we want it to be space!


A view of another corner of the kitchen as you walk back in from the mudroom

Walking back into the living room from the kitchen/dining room. The door on the far right is the front door; the door on the left leads to the hallway with the bedrooms.

The 3 doors on the left are the master bedroom, guest bath, and nursery. The door on the right is Luke's study.


Master bedroom

Another view

Master bath

Guest bathroom

The nursery

Sweet sleeping baby in her crib!

Luke's study. You will not be seeing the inside of this room, because it is still a mess! He's working on it though!


Built-in bookcase in the hallway


And our little family on the front porch!

4 months today!

Happy 4 months, Anna Kate! I can hardly believe it's been 4 months since you joined our family! But at the same time, it feels like you have always been a part of us. We can't imagine life without you! Here are some ways you have changed this month.

~You absolutely love your toys now. Your favorites are your soft flower rattle with the crinkly petals and your soft pink bear lovey which you like to cuddle with as you fall asleep.
~You are just starting to move when we lay you down on your mat or on a blanket. When you're on your back you are very good at spinning and sometimes even moving off your mat! We often find you spun around in your crib when we get you up in the morning. When you are on your tummy, you have just started to pull your knees underneath you, but we'll see how long it takes you to start scooting!
~You are extremely alert now and love to interact with everything going on around you. You smile at just about everyone you see. You also love to "talk" to your mommy and daddy.
~You are easily startled by loud sudden noises, but you calm right down when you see mommy or daddy smile and tell you that it's alright.
~You have learned to take out your paci, but have not quite learned how to put it back in, which sometimes frustrates you!
~You have definitely become our little thumb-sucker, probably as a result of the previous comment.
~You love to play with your toes. You have even figured out how to get them all the way to your mouth!
~When we hold you up on our laps or on a hard surface, you love to "stand" and put your weight on your legs. This makes it really easy to put your pants on!

I could probably go on, but those are your major developments this month. We love you with all of our hearts, Anna Kate, and are so excited to see you grow!

And here are the pictures...

One month old

Two months old


Three months old


Four months old!

This week's happenings

Anna Kate is becoming more and more fun every day! Here are just some cute pictures of what she's been up to these last few days. Enjoy!

Happy girl on her playmat!


Mommy, please turn that flash off!


I told you I could grab my toes!


Lookin' stylish in her first pair of flip flops...and a matching onesie!


Anna Kate also went for a walk in the big stroller for the first time...no more baby seat for her!


And here's a video taken this morning of Anna Kate trying to go places...