New tricks!

Anna Kate has two new tricks that I caught on video yesterday afternoon. The first one you will see is her saying "hi" when someone says "hi" to her. Or maybe it's just baby excitement, but it's still cute! The second trick is giving five. We've been working on that for a while and she just started getting the hang of it this week! Enjoy!

Cousin videos!

Here are a couple videos of the little ones. The first is their very first few moments greeting each other. The second is of the babies swinging!

Cousins!

As I mentioned in my previous post, two of Anna Kate's cousins (Wesley and Cooper) came to visit so that they could be here for her dedication. It was so fun to get the babies together and watch them interact. I took over 100 pictures of the little ones, but here are some of my favorites!

Sweet swinging babies!

Such a big boy!

Mommies and our babies enjoying the fountain

The daddies wanted in on the photo shoot too!


Sunday afternoon, Sarah and I took the little ones to some antique shops downtown and found a courtyard with the sweetest bench and swing. We had to take some pictures!


Cooper taking care of his little cousin!


Sarah and Cooper

Patty and Anna Kate

Too sweet =)

And this is what the boys back home were doing while we were out! Wesley was sleeping too, but if any of you know Wesley, you know that if he's taking a good nap, you don't risk waking him up for a picture!

Here is an "action shot" of Wesley after he did wake up from nap...notice it's blurry...that's because he's fast. And I think the blanket was a superhero cape of some sort!


Thanks for coming, Sarah, Dustin, Wesley and Cooper! You're welcome here any time!

Anna Kate's dedication

Yesterday was a very special day in our family because we had Anna Kate's baby dedication at Malvern Hill Baptist Church. It was such a neat time where we were able to commit to raising her up in the nurture and instruction of the Lord. We are also so thankful for a church family who has committed to supporting us in that huge task! In addition to our wonderful church family, many of our family members were able to come to be there for the service. Luke's parents and sister as well as my sister and her husband and two little boys were there to represent both sides of the family! Thank you so much for making the trip and to all those who couldn't be here, you were missed! Here are some pictures of our morning, and a video of a little bit of the dedication.

Organizing the nursery...

So, I have the hardest time cleaning/organizing/generally getting anything done in Anna Kate's room because I usually do all of my housework while she's sleeping...and I can't work in her room while she's sleeping. So her room is not usually the most neat room of the house, but today it just had to be done. So I set her in her crib (which had no sheets because I was washing them), and she didn't think that was very fun. But then I tossed in all the stuffed animals I could find and she thought it was hilarious! So...I had to take a break from working to take a cute picture! Enjoy!

A Day at the Zoo!

Anna Kate and I spent the morning at the Riverbanks Zoo with some good friends from church. We had a great time looking at all of the animals and enjoying a slightly less sweltering day than it has been lately! Anna Kate was so much more observant and excited about the animals than she was the last time we went, so that was really fun to watch. Here are some pictures of our day!

Both kids intently watching the flamingos

We fed the birds and boy did the little ones think that was fun!

Anna Kate loves tigers...real tigers, statues of tigers, Clemson Tigers...

Aren't they cute?

We had to take this picture because we took the exact same shot back when we went to the zoo at the end of March. Here's a link to that post: 1st trip to the zoo. It's hard to believe Anna Kate has changed so much in just a few months!

Anna Kate with the gorilla (6 months)

Anna Kate with the gorilla (2 months) - look at those skinny little legs!


I have never been so close to a giraffe before! He wasn't too pleased that I didn't have food for him either...

Speaking of food, Anna Kate needed a snack, so she enjoyed a chunk of a banana while strolling around the zoo...what a life!

I think it's safe to say that this was Anna Kate's favorite exhibit...she thought this monkey was hilarious!

The gorilla was pretty neat too! (Don't worry, there's a big piece of glass between the kids and the gorilla!)

We had a great day and are excited to go back sometime soon!

Do you see what I see?

I see a naughty little girl who is NOT sleeping during naptime! (Click on the pictures to make them bigger if you need to)

Smarty-pants

Lately Anna Kate has had quite the fascination with books...specifically her little three page soft Baby Einstein animals book. When we are playing on the floor she will make a beeline for that book, regardless of what other toys may be more easily accessible. Watch for yourself!



What can I say, the baby likes her books!

Look what I made in Sunday School!

One of the things we absolutely love about our new church here in SC is the wonderful children's ministry! Anna Kate has such a great time each Sunday and Wednesday because even though it's "just the nursery", the volunteers work really hard to make it a loving and nurturing place for the little ones. This morning Anna Kate even got to do her first craft! Her teacher told me that getting her handprint was not the easiest task, but I think it looks great! I tried to take a picture of her holding it, but all she wanted to do was eat it, so I resigned to taking two separate pictures. So here she is in her pretty church dress, and then you can see her Sunday School paper!

It's already up on the fridge!

Anna Kate would like to say thank you to Ms. Erin for helping her make such a pretty picture!

Who am I?

I was just looking at Anna Kate the other day and all of a sudden I could see in my mind a picture that I had seen of myself at 6 months old, and a picture of my mom at 6 months old that my mom kept right next to each other in a photo album. So I called my mom and asked her to scan the pictures to me. Just as I thought, I can definitely see a lot of similarities! What do you think?

Things I love about being a mom...

Getting to play fun little games with a precious little girl!





Having a little helper with me in the kitchen while I bake a cake!


And watching her sleep when playtime is over...sweet dreams!

Sweet peas for my little Sweet Pea!

We've been sticking with bananas for about a week, but since that was going well, we thought we would venture into the world of vegetables and try sweet peas this morning. I'm not sure her initial response to peas was quite as favorable as her response to bananas, but she warmed up to them after a few bites!

First taste...

Not too bad after all!



And, the video...

6 month check-up!

Anna Kate had her 6-month check-up today and everything went great! She was such a little trooper since the only appointment we could get cut right into the start of her naptime. But she was all smiles and giggles for the nurses, the doctor, and anyone else she could get to look at her! The doctor couldn't believe how happy she was and when he was done checking her over he picked her up off the table and joked that if he could pick one baby to take home, it would be Anna Kate! He said that Anna Kate looked very healthy, and when I (worrying first-time mom that I am) asked him if he thought I was feeding her enough, he said, "Well, seeing as how she has dimples where she's supposed to have knees, I would say she's getting plenty!" After that, the nurses came in to give Anna Kate her shots and she took them like a champ. Only a few little tears and then she was all smiles again for the ladies at the check-out counter! And for those of you who want to know her stats, here they are!

Height: 26 inches (50%)
Weight: 17 lbs. 13 oz. (75%)

And here's a picture of our chubby little girl! Poor thing got her first mosquito bite under her eye when we went for a walk last night =(


And here she is happily playing once we got home and she took a nice long nap!

First solid food!

Well, Anna Kate had her first taste of solid food this morning, and I think it was a success! I pureed a ripe banana with a little bit of her milk and she thought it was pretty good! Here are a few pictures of the occasion:

Before...
During...

After...

And of course, a video!



We'll probably stick with bananas for a couple days, but sweet peas are next on the agenda, so check back for some slightly more messy pictures!

Mini-vacation!

We have had such a busy summer and Luke has been working really hard at his new job, so we decided to take a little vacation and go for a long weekend to Unicoi State Park in northern Georgia. Luke's parents and brother met us there and we had a great time enjoying the outdoors! Here are some pictures of our weekend.

Starting off on a 3-mile hike (it was pretty humid and dewy!)




A pretty little mountain creek

Anna Kate and Luke with Uncle JD

We found some great swings at the campground!

"Hmmm, Papa lets me do a lot more than Mommy and Daddy ever would!"

We sure had a great weekend, but it's also good to be home!

6 months old today!

Happy half-birthday, Anna Kate! 6 whole months! You know, as fun as it is to watch you grow, I have to admit that I'm a little sad that we've reached this day because it means you're closer to being a big one-year-old than you are to being my tiny (or not so tiny!) newborn baby. In fact, until today I've still been telling people that you are 5 months old when they ask, just because part of me wants you to stay little forever. At the same time though, your daddy and I love watching you grow and develop into the sweet little girl that you are. Here is what you are up to this month:

~ You are crawling! You had just started scooting a little bit last month, but you now have quite a developed army crawl going on. You always stick your little bottom up in the air and drag yourself with your forearms. You have been known to go three or four feet at a time! And you crawled to Mommy for the first time the other day! Before that it had just been to your fun brightly-colored toys
~ You are sitting up all on your own! You can't get to a sitting position yet, but if we put you there, you will be perfectly content to sit for long stretches of time and play with your toys. It still makes Mommy nervous though, especially with our hardwood floors, so we still sit with you or put pillows around you!
~ You're starting to wonder where things go when you can't see them anymore. For example, when you drop your rubber ducky out of your bathtub, you now look over the side to see where it went.
~ You absolutely love your new sippy cup and are getting very good at holding the side handles and tipping it back so you can get a drink. You've tried your first taste of water on hot days going to the park and you're definitely interested!
~ One of your new favorite things to do is the "Chicky Chicky" dance with your daddy (maybe a video to follow?!?)
~ You are still teething and drooling a lot, but so far no teeth yet...still waiting on that one!
~ You have started to incorporate consonant sounds into your babbling (usually a hard "g" sound) and you talk a LOT!
~ You love to give big open-mouthed kisses to anyone who will let you...what a sweet girl!
~ Another one of your favorite things to do is to take Daddy's glasses off his face every time he holds you. You think it's funnier than he does!
~You usually wake up about 15-20 minutes before Mommy and Daddy are ready to get up, so we always go get you and let you snuggle in bed with us. Sometimes we fight over who gets to hold you because we love that special time so much!

Anna Kate, you are such a joy to your mommy and daddy and we hardly remember what life was like without you. You have changed so much over the last six months and we are so excited to see what the next six months will hold. Never forget how much you are loved today and forever.

And here are your pictures!

One month old

Two months old


Three months old


Four months old


Five months old

And I couldn't pick just one for 6 months, so here are a few!