BIG NEWS!

Anna has cut her first tooth! YEA!!!

Christmas in Fort Smith

We headed up to Ft. Smith on Sunday to have Christmas with my family. For now, Anna is the only grandkid so she got the hookup! (And I say "for now" because I'm ready for my sister Rachel to have a kid! Remember Rachel, you get to play with the toys when you have a kid.) j/k

We had a really good time seeing everyone and we appreciate all the gifts. Thank you so much for all that you guys do. We are grateful to have you.

Here's Anna with her Poppy, who just had a birthday. Happy Birthday Poppy!

 Anna got this cute little pink pony from her Grammy and Poppy. When we got home on Sunday night, she kept crawling on it wanting to ride it. She cracks up laughing when she's on it.

 Here's Anna in her sea of presents!

Happy Birthday Lindsey

Saturday, we celebrated Lindsey's 8th birthday at the roller skating rink. We had a great time and even Anna got in on the fun with stroller skating! I can't believe my little niece is 8!!! We love you Lindsey Lou! Thanks for being such a great kid and a wonderful cousin to Anna. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Here's Lindsey taking a few laps.

 Here we are Stroller Skating! It was a ton of fun!

 

 

 

Here's Anna eating some ice cream and cake. Yummy!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDSEY!

Eleven Months

Anna turned 11 months old last week! She is growing so fast and learning something new everyday. She is such a joy to be around. She hardly ever gets fussy and she always has a smile on her face. This may sound sappy, but Kevin and I are so thankful for our little Pooter Head. She has changed our lives for the better and she's shown us how much love our hearts can actually hold... and it's a lot! Happy 11 Month Birthday Poo's! We love you so much!

 

 

My Buddy and Me

Anna has a favorite toy. His name is "Mr. Hippo" and she carries him everywhere. I just think it's cute how she already has a favorite.

 I can see why she likes him... that smile would make anyone happy!

I love my pets!

Anna's getting some love from her pets. Here she is with her dog Abby. Abby loves Anna, but sometimes she forgets how big she is and we have to pull her off of Anna. But Anna just laughs!

 And here she is with Houston. She's figured out that Houston works on his own terms, meaning if he wants your attention he'll come get it. Otherwise, stay away. So now instead of crawling after him , she lets him come up to her and give her kitty kisses. She's even learning a new word... "kitty kitty". It sounds more like "tee tee" but I know what she means.

Crawling

Anna's made some improvements in her crawling abilities lately. She can now crawl on all fours, instead of the belly scoot she's been doing since she was 8 months old. It's so cute to watch her little booty crawl across the floor. 

Anna's First Thanksgiving

We celebrated Anna's first Thanksgiving with Kevin's family this year. We went to his cousin Danelle's house and enjoyed lots of good turkey and dressing. Anna even ate some turkey too, but it was all the desserts that she really enjoyed!

 Our little turkey eating turkey!

 Chocolate Face!

Laurie, Lindsey and Greg (Kevin's brother)

Anna with her Granddad and Aunt Kay

 ...and with Uncle Ron

Getting Ready for Christmas

I got a little eager this year and put our Christmas tree up a week before Thanksgiving. I know, I know, but it's Anna's 1st Christmas and I'm excited! I've decided we're having two trees... my "fancy" tree and the "family" tree. Anna doesn't know what to think with all the decorations and lights. I CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS!!!

Here's Anna with the Family tree.

 And here's the Fancy tree... well, as fancy as it can be with an 11 month old crawling around.

 Now bring on the snow! We're ready!!!

Happy Birthday Jacie!

 My niece Jacie celebrated her 3rd birthday this weekend. She had a Princess Party! Last year, when we sang Happy Birthday to her, she broke out in tears. This year, she only quivered her lips a little. I guess we're making progress. The picture below is of her holding back her tears. :) Too cute!

Jacie and Avery

 Jacie with her toys and Christian trying to get in on the fun.

 Anna with her Grannanny

 Anna eating some birthday cake. This was practice for her Big Day coming soon.

 

Happy Birthday Jacie! We love you!

Two Major Accomplishments

It seems like overnight, Anna has made some major accomplishments. The first is pulling up. She's been trying to pull up for a week or so but now she's a pro. This morning I walked in to get her out of bed and she was standing up hanging onto the rail. I guess it's time to lower the mattress!

 Our second accomplishment is eating! We've progressed past the Cheerio diet and moved on to "real" food. We've been working on getting her to eat solid foods for a while and she always refused... until this week. I picked her up from daycare and they said she ate chicken strips, mashed potatoes and green beans all by herself. Oh My Goodness! So that night, we thought we'd try it. We gave her chicken ravioli, peas and carrots and apples and she ate it all! Woo-hoo! Mission Accomplished!

 With both of these accomplishments, it makes me realize how big she's getting. She learns something new everyday and I'm amazed by that. I love watching her grow and I love seeing that big smile on her face when she does something new. I love you Bananas!

Ten Months Old

Anna Baby is 10 months old now and she has a lot of new tricks. She's finally started feeding herself. She only likes dry things like Cheerios or toast, but it's a start. Unfortunately, she likes Cheerios so much that she never wants to eat anything else. Trying to feed her anything else is like World War III. She crawls everywhere, still the army crawl. She can now go from a crawl to sitting up. She recently started pulling up but hasn't made it all the way yet. She likes to go at her own pace, I guess. She loves to play patty-cake. She waves too and says "hi". Everywhere we go she's waving and saying hi to people. She's very friendly. Kevin and I look forward to the next few months celebrating her first major holidays, and then the big birthday is just right around the corner! We love you Banana!

 Funny Face

 

Anna's First Halloween

It was Anna's first Halloween and she dressed up as "Anna Banana". She wasn't a big fan of the costume but she kept it on long enough for me to take a few pics. We didn't go door-to-door this year. Instead, we sat in our driveway and handed out candy to all the kids. Anna had a lot of fun watching everybody in their costumes but as predicted, she was in bed asleep by 7:30. 

 

 

 

Anna's First Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins this past Sunday and I think they turned out pretty good and Anna had a lot of fun. We got 4 pumpkins this year... a big one for daddy, a medium one for mommy, a small one for Banana's and a tiny one for her to play with. I think this will be our new tradition.

Playing with her Baby Pumpkin.

 Looking cute in her Halloween Shirt. It says "Mommy's Under My Spell". Isn't that the truth!

 Here's Anna with her First Halloween Pumpkin.

 

 And here they are... the Yarbrough Family Pumpkins. Kevin made the scary one, I made the cat and Anna's is the cute one with the tooth. (I probably should have made it with no teeth since she still doesn't have any.)