Thankful

We had a great weekend in Cincinnati for the Thanksgiving holiday. We ate at my mom's house on Thursday; it was yummy. Anna takes a little while getting used to everyone in a big crowd, but once she's comfortable, she runs around and has a great time. My mom's cousin and his family come at desert time every year, and this year Anna fell in love for the first time! When Ben, my 16 year old second cousin, came in the door, she went right up to him and held her arms out to be held. She didn't want him to put her down even to go to Bryan or me. He was the only male (besides Bryan) that she would let hold her. They played a little hide and seek, and then she went to bed. She was so cute, and Ben was so sweet with her. I am thankful for a sweet baby, delicious food, and a great family.

My mom took us to The Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo on Friday night. We bundled Anna up, put her in her stroller, and looked at the lights and a few animals. She loves Christmas lights. We heard lots of 'oooohhhs' and 'wows'. We also had a good time riding the carousel and the train. I am thankful for fun evenings with my family.

We went to my dad's house for a little while on Saturday before heading to my Aunt Donna's for another family get-together. Anna and Jackson don't get to see each other very often, so when they do, it's fun to watch. They give hugs and kisses - so cute. We went to my Aunt Donna's for yummy food and a great time catching up with my cousins I don't see very often. Anna was a wild woman. She was obsessed with my aunt's dog, Betsy. Poor Jackson wanted to play with Anna, but Anna wanted to play with Betsy. I think Betsy would have liked to have some alone time. I am thankful I got to spend time with my brother, sisters, nephew, and extended family.

Grandma Chris, Anna, and Jackson

Uncle Scott, Anna, and Jackson

Lights, No Camera, Lots of Action

We had a great weekend! B's parents came down for the weekend since we are staying in Cincy for Thanksgiving this year.

We ate at Butt Rubb on Friday, and they of course liked it; nothing like a little Butt Rubb to get the weekend started. On Saturday, we watched OSU beat Michigan - go Bucks. Then we went to Target for a little shopping and browsing. We had dinner at Max and Ermas where Anna was L-O-V-E-L-Y. We had plans to go to Southern Lights at the Horse Park, but I was somewhat worried because of her behavior.

We braved the trip anyway, and it was a good thing! Anna talked the whole way through the light show; she thought the lights were AWESOME. Well, then we got a special treat at the end - a petting zoo! We bought animal food in an ice cream cone to feed the goats, camels, llamas, and other animals that I don't know the names of. Anna L-O-V-E-D, loved, feeding the animal from her hand. She had the best time. She was so happy and so freakin' cute. The big sadness - I didn't have a camera since I had no idea there was a petting zoo. Well, I'll remember for next year because we will be sure to go again.

B's parents left this morning to head home after a fun weekend. We were happy to have them here.

Anna update

I've been a little worried about Anna and her lack of words since the Dr. seemed to make such a big deal of it (refresher post). She's been adding more words, and easing my worries. We missed her original 18 month check up because she had the flu. We don't go back until the day before Thanksgiving. I'm super curious what the Dr. will say about her development, speech, and hearing.
Here are Anna's words:

• dada - she's now calling B "dada" when she sees him and when she's looking for him
• hi - like this, hiiiiiii, when she sees us, gosh she's cute
• dog - off and on with this one, and it sounds like daw
• santa - funny right? Santa's on her warm footy jams
• uh-oh - she mostly just says the "oh" part
• moo - you know, like a cow
• ohhhh and ohhh my

Here are some of the funny and great things Anna does:

• gives kisses and blows kisses
• "reads"
• "sings" and does the hand motions for some of her favorite songs - The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and I Caught a Baby Bumble Bee are her top 3
• does chunky puzzles
• shakes her head "yes" and "no"
• does the "more" sign language symbol, especially for snacks
• gets snacks from the cupboard
• loves the bat Stellaluna
• plays hide-and-seek, especially during diaper changing time, and laughs the whole time
• waves at everyone -hello and good-bye
• waves to the school, school buses, middle school kids, and neighbors on the way home
• takes her shoes and socks off the instant she gets in her carseat - she's a little hillbilly
• rubs her head when she bumps it
• loves the moon and lights
• climbs on our lap to eat food that we're eating, especially B's yogurt for breakfast
• runs to us when we pick her up at daycare or come home from work
• makes funny faces
• gives Shelby her treat before we leave the house
• uses a spoon and wipes her mouth when she's eating
• likes to slide and swing
• points to her body parts: belly, ears, mouth, feet, tongue, nose, eyes
• backs up and sits on laps
• loves routines
• she's friendly and loving towards people she knows and feels comfortable with

I love my girl!

A first!

Anna is almost 19 months old, and we just now had our first play date. One of my eating club friends, SS, invited us over to have lunch, hangout and play. Our eating club was invited, but only one other friend, T, and her daughter, S, were able to make it. A church friend of SS also came with her daughter. Anna was shy when we first got there, which always surprises me since she's so friendly. She just had to check everyone out and make sure they were okay. By the end of the afternoon, she had sat on the other moms' laps and made friends with all the little girls.

Anna was the oldest of the 4 babies. I wasn't sure how she would act towards the other girls, so I just watched her to be sure she was being gentle. Even though she can't say "mine", she has the behavior down - Anna has a toy, another baby tries to take the toy, Anna jerks it back and whines, I remind her that we share toys. It was fun to watch her play and interact with other kids; I realized today that even though she plays at daycare all day I don't get the chance to see her do that often because 1) we don't live close to family/cousins and 2) it was her first play date.

We had a good time with some good food. I hope we can do it again soon.

I brought pumpkin spice muffins. A teacher at school brought these muffins last year. They were so yummy, and without the chips, I think they are 2 Weight Watchers Points.

1 box of spice cake mix (do not add the oil or the eggs)
1 15 oz can of pumpkin
1 cup of water
1 cup of white chocolate chips or butterscotch chips

Mix all of the ingredients.
Spoon mix into muffin tins.
I followed the baking temp and time from the back of the cake box. I have the dark coated pans, so I baked at 325 for about 23 minutes. I usually bake cupcakes for 18 minutes, but these are supper moist, so the extra time was needed.
Definitely a repeat-worthy recipe.