Here comes Santa Claus!

We took Annie to meet Santa Claus last weekend at the clubhouse in my parents' fancy schmancy neighborhood.  We had a great time watching all the other kids coming up the stairs, smiling at Santa on their way to the room with cookies and animal crackers, waiting in line, and having complete meltdowns when they approached Santa to sit on his lap.  Complete meltdowns. 

So it was pretty funny to watch, except that all the crying finally started to unsettle Annie, and it was also like having a window into the future.  Besides, Annie has not been particularly thrilled about being held by strangers lately, so we started to get more and more nervous the longer we waited.

Things started out pretty well.  We hadn't tried to dress her up in frilly clothes or make her wear the (super cute) bows or santa hat that Grandma brought along.  The following is a recitation of what I believe Annie was thinking throughout the morning.

Annie:  This is pretty cool.  Grandma and Grandpa are here, and Grandpa seems very excited by those little crackers shaped like animals.  It is a beautiful day and there are lots of big kids to watch. I wonder why Mommy looks worried?

Annie:  Okay, what exactly is going on here?  The big kids are screaming like this is the flu shot clinic.  Am I about to get a shot?  I was told I wouldn't need any more shots until my 12 month visit to the doctor.

Annie:  You may be walking me backwards over to the big crazy man, but I know whats going on.  Just because I can't see him doesn't mean I can't tell that he's back there. And why did Daddy take my socks off?  It's December, and even if it is 70 degrees, it is supposed to at least LOOK cold.

Annie:  Grumps, what are you doing here?!  I thought you were still in England!  What, you're not my Grumps? Well you look like him, so you must not be too bad.

So we hightailed it out of there with nary a tear shed. (And doesn't Annie look cute in the sweater I wore when I was a baby?)  Victory!

Recent photo roundup

I forgot to post the pictures we took of Annie on her 8 month birthday - so here they are, plus a few recent bonus pictures.


Annie and Daddy horsing around, as always...

Note that Toby dressed Annie for her 8 month birthday.  Yes, that's a Metallica top.

Last weekend we enjoyed what will surely be one of our last warm, sunny days of 2010.

Snuggles in the early morning.  Annie has been getting up at 5:15 lately, and still isn't sleeping through the night, so we need extra love to make it through the day!

Being Thankful for...

1. Toby, even when he's out-parenting me.
2. Annie, even she's crying at 1 a.m
3. Our home, even when it's dirty.
4. Our jobs, even when we're working late.
5  The fact that we have access to more healthy food and clean water than we could ever consume, even when I'm still hanging on to extra "baby" weight.

We have it made in the shade, and are prone to forget how lucky we are to have a strong marriage, healthy baby, healthy bodies, and no unmet needs.  Feel free to remind me the next time I'm complaining about 1-5 above.

Eight Months!

Annie turned 8 months old on Tuesday and celebrated by getting her first tooth!  I'm actually a bit sad - her toothless smile is so precious, I don't want it to change!

We took a few snapshots, and I'll post them soon.  Our resident photographer is down with a really nasty bug, so it may be a few days.

Introducing Peyton!

Congratulations to Edie and Justin on their birth of their sweet baby boy!  Peyton arrived this morning, weighing in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces! 

Nightly ritual at our house

You might not be able to see the baby food in her hair, in her eyebrows, on the highchair, on her hands - pretty much everywhere except in Annie's mouth.  I won't even see it all when I'm trying to get it off her.  But by tomorrow morning, it will be cement.

Happy 4th birthday to Hannah, Travis and Tristan!

We took Annie to Houston to celebrate the triplets' birthday last weekend.  It was really cute watching Hannah, Travis and Tristan trying to play with Annie - and trying to share their potato chips.  They got bored very quickly when they realized that Annie couldn't talk, follow simple instructions or chew. 

Annie did very well on the flights.  Our flight down left at 6:00, conveniently close to her bedtime.  She was asleep by the time we reached 10,000 feet and didn't wake up until we were deplaning.  It was great!  She did, however, cry all the way from the airport to Bill's house.  We were just so thankful that she waited until we only had Mom and Dad as a captive audience, and not a whole plane full of people.  The return flight was a bit more challenging, she waited nearly an hour to fall asleep and was fairly wiggly. 

Anyway, we had a great time in Houston.  I can't believe the triplets are FOUR years old!  We went to the aquarium and the park, and had a birthday party with Thomas the Train cupcakes.  Big fun.

Here's Travis at the park in his Halloween shirt.  He never slowed down, just ran ran ran!

Tristan slowed down for about five seconds, so Toby was able to get this cute shot.  Tristan was not to thrilled about the wobbly "bridge" at first, but was very proud when he went across on his own.

 Hannah is such a beauty.  She was also very happy to chase other girls around making friends.  I would, too, if I had two brothers!

I love this photo of Bill and the boys.  Potty break!

Unbelievably, we managed to get them all in roughly the same area at once for a picture.

And again at home!  It should be clear that (1) none of the kids wanted to be in the picture, and (2) Annie and Travis kept the whole house up the night before...we look tired.   I bet it is rare to have a picture where half the subjects have their hands in their mouths. 

A great time, indeed!