Sweet Angel

Anora and I had a wonderful morning this morning. I awoke to her crawling next to me to cuddle and get warm. You see she sleeps with us and it is the best part of my day especially now when she would much rather run around and play than hold still for hugs and kisses. I love having her cuddle in next to me and lay there quietly until she falls asleep. She will snuggle into the crook of my neck and I can feel her breathe against my neck. And then just before she falls off to sleep she sits up and ask for one more kiss. It is the best thing ever. I truly treasure this time as I know it won't last forever. Can you see why it is the best part of my day. I get to hold her and cuddle with her first thing in the morning and last thing at night.

Anyway as I was saying after our few minutes of lying there and trying to talk our selves into getting up we crawl out of bed. I'm carrying her on my hip while I get her breakfast and my breakfast and my pills (she won't let me put her down.) We head over to the table to sit down, I put her in her booster seat. She begins to cry again and lets me know she needs more cuddle time. Okay no problem. I put her on my lap and begin eating my breakfast as she eats hers on my lap. I tried to give her a blueberry waffle but she has requested what Mommy is eating a Cherry Pop Tart. Okay so we have pop tarts together. Daddy calls to on my phone to make sure we are awake as he does every morning. And as Anora does every morning she shows whatever she is eating to the phone as if Daddy can see her and then she shows him that she has milk to drink as if he can see this as well. She then leans into the phone for a kiss "mmmmmmm" and a hug she pretends to hug it and then says "byeee" and waves to Daddy. It is all too cute and sweet. After I finish my Pop Tart she puts hers down and turns around in my lap to face me and look into my eyes smile give me a kiss and hug me. I melted. So what if I am late getting ready for work if she wants to have a little more time with me so be it. This too won't last forever. I have to grab these moments when I can as they will become every so assuredly more and more spaced apart. Anora then gets down from my lap takes me into the bedroom and wants to get back into bed. So I spent the next few minutes lying in bed with her stroking her hair and telling her I loved her more than anything else in the world.

I only hope she stays as sweet as she is now. She is such a love bug and sweet hearted little girl. I hope that never changes. I would like to think it is because she is surrounded by tons of love. But I also think it is just who she is.

I love you so much Tink and I hope you continue to be so loving and warmhearted. And just know that Daddy and I will always be here for the hugs and kisses.

THE Halloween Costume

Okay for those of you still with me, forgive me it has been awhile since my last post.

I shall give you some insight into my crazy, crazy mind. Sit back relax and laugh.

I have known for sometime what Anora's Halloween costume would be. I had it picked out in early August.

So I purchased a cute little treat bag to coordinate with her costume.

Then I had these shoes special made on Etsy to match her costume.

Now drum roll please...............

THE costume.

Isn't it just magnificent. I mean really could it be any stinking cuter? Okay so I put off buying the actual costume until October the 1st when technically they went on sale. Previous to that you could only pre-order. Well I got my first taste of being a parent and not realizing that you have picked the most popular item on the planet for your kid. October 1st came and everyone, and I mean everyone everywhere was sold out. Only a few places were still even taking pre-orders "just in case" they got another shipment. No guarantee. My heart sank. I just knew how adorable she would be in this costume and I suddenly felt like I had failed her. Now I know she has no idea about Halloween or what it means she is only 21 months old for cripes sake, but that didn't matter. I was set on seeing her in this costume and having everyone else see her in this costume.

So as I said I put in an order for a backorder paying just as much in shipping as I did for the costume itself, just to give myself more time for the costume to come in and get her in time. I crossed my fingers and prayed.

In the meantime I went out and got her another costume that I am not at all that pleased with. It is some fairy costume, but I bought it on the off chance that if THE costume came through then this could be used for dress up throughout the year.. I had to do something, I mean she could not NOT get dressed up and go trick or treating right??? Then of course I had to buy a coordinating treat bag. I couldn't very well use the one I already had. It has paw prints, Hello paw prints and fairies DO NOT mix. Then I had to buy coordinating shoes. Did you see the poodle on the high top tennis shoes people... High top tennis shoes don't go with a fairy costume either. Not too mention if i put her in that hodge podge outfit I felt like someone might figure out my dirty little secret. I felt it SCREAMED "I screwed up and am not a perfect Mom".

As most of you know I finally got the costume this week on October the 26th. The day it arrived I opened it in front of Anora and as soon as the box was open she gasped and said "CU" which is how she says cute. It was the moment I dreamed of. I took it out of the box and handed it to her still on the hangar. She turned and showed it to Grandma and said "cu, cu". I am still beaming; she loves it as much as I do. Then I take her to the bathroom and stand her in front of the mirror so I can put the hat on her. She is so excited and keeps saying "cu, cu, cu, cu over and over again. I stopped myself there because I wanted to wait for Daddy before I tried the rest of it on. I didn't want him to miss any more of this. So I went back to work dreaming about the 2 of us coming home to share this magical moment when we put her costume on and she runs around the house all happy and we hug and beam at our "fricking adorable" baby. Well for anyone who has had kids knows they run hot and cold. So for the entire night I keep asking her to put it on and she says "uh uh", she is cranky and I fear that if I struggle with her to put it on now that she will not want to wear it on Halloween so I back off....a little anyway. I asked her the next night for about an hour and then let it go.

Well when I was home today for lunch she was in a great mood so I tried and she let me put it on. She was excited and happy to see it on. She wanted to put it on in front of the mirror so that she could see. I had to take pictures and video since Daddy wasn't there. Sorry Daddy I couldn't pass up the oppurtunity. I hope you forgive me >

I know not a great pic but its with my phone so I can't really hold still enough.

And now for some video...

And now her shaking her butt so that the tail wags.

Keep your fingers crossed she is in a good mood on Sunday and I get a picture perfect Halloween.

Well thats all. I hope you laughed a little along my long winded journey.

Love,

Craigslist find

I have been on the hunt for a preschool climber for Anora since she has started with the climbing. Daddy has been checking craigslist everyday for this climber most of the time people wanted $400 dollars for this thing USED. I know it retails for $600 but come on she is only probably gonna use it for 18 months 2 years tops before we get her a full sized swingset. Anyway we found this one for $200... much better I can live with that even though I still think it is way too much money. Anora loved it and we almost couldn't get her inside for dinner.

This is my favorite picture of her that I got that day.

Just chillin on the bridge

She liked sitting on the stools in the little kitchen clubhouse.

Too cute she is standing on her tip toes playing with the fold down table.

Thinking about going down the slide.

Fun with my hat

Anora found this hat in her closet from last winter. Obviously it was too big last year but I think it will be just great this year. Too fricking adorable!

Sorry no pictures

I felt I needed to put up a new blog but I have no pictures as I can't get my new laptop to cooperate with my camera. I will figure it out soon though. Anyway wow how time is just flying by, she is such a big helper and has gotten almost all of her teeth. She has been on a teething spurt as of late and when she does they just come in one after another. I guess its good on one hand because it is over faster and not so drawn out. On the other hand it means she doesn't eat very much nor take very long naps all of which lead to a very cranky baby.

She helps with everything now, laundry, putting her toys away, cleaning up, sometimes she gets a little over zealous and does things that mommy and daddy don't want done.. like turn the fan towards the wall, something Grandma does at naptime. She sees you do something one time and she is ready to jump in and help. Like I was putting my clothes in the hamper and Anora started rounding up any piece of clothing she could find and putting it into the hamper. I tried to explain to her the diference between dirty clothes and clean clothes but I believe it went over her head as evidenced by the blank stare on her face.

I have much more to update but I really like to post pictures so I will try to get them uploaded soon.

'til then

Fathers Day Weekend 2010

Anora playing in the sprinklers

Time out to play with Duke and Daisy next door. I think that is Daisy sticking her head through.

Anora asked Papa to read her the fairy book, he ate it up.

Pose for a picture guys.

Fun with Grandma

I came home yesterday to find Grandma had dressed my Tink in this crazy outfit. It is a top that has a cute pair of capris to go with it but Miss Tink got her lunch all over them. So Grandma put her in a diaper cover that said "Princess" of course and her fuzzy muckluck boots. It was 95 degrees out yesterday. She was just so cute in her fur boots and bare legs I just left it. After all it was 75 degrees in the house which is where we were gonna be hangin out.

Family

We had a long overdue visit from Papa and Grandma Patty this weekend. Grandma Patty hadn't seen Anora since she was born. Her and Papa both graciously offered to stay in our room that night and take care of Anora. They saw that we were so exhausted from no sleep the previous night that there was no way we could have cared for her that first night. If they had not have stayed she would have had to have been put in the Nursery and been away from us the first night of her life. Thank you both so much for that you will never know how much that meant to me.

Anyway back to the visit. It really was nice to spend time with them. They live too far away to see them as much as we all would like but that just makes the times that we do all get together that much more special. Papa and Grandma Patty brought Anora her birthday gifts since they weren't able to make it in to town for her Birthday, they got snowed in. Anora loved the gifts from Papa and Grandma Patty. Thank you!

Sarah, Kielyn and Donovan came over to hang out with the fam. I miss them too. Donnie and Anora always have a good time together playing and Kielyn is so good with Anora they have some special bond. Poor Sarah, all she wants to do is scoop up Anora and hold her and love on her and Anora is such a poop she cries every time. I do belive Aunt Sarah got to hold her once or twice though.

Kielyn and Ray made the best batch of Chocolate Chip cookies while we all watched Avatar. That is a really good movie, long but good. I did laundry and hung around in my jammies all day. You can only do that with FAMILY.

We love you all and wish we could do it more often.

Mothers Day 2010

Happy Mothers Day to all you momma's out there.

I had a wonderful Mothers Day. Daddy and Anora spoiled me and let me take a 3 hour nap. It was amazing. I got a Kindle bookreader from Anora and Daddy. Don't get much time to read books any more but have been reading alot on my phone lately while Anora is watching Sesame Street. I love the Kindle I think it is going to be used very much. I love the idea of not having to store the books until I read them or after I read them. Good job Daddy and Anora. I love you both so very much. Thank you again for a wonderful weekend.

My Little Helper

Anora has begun the helper stage and I must say I am loving it. Everyday when I come home she picks my shoes up from wherever Mommy decides to take them off and puts them in my shoe pile. Anyone who knows me, knows I always have a shoe pile going underneath my coffe table. Well unfortunately my "Tinker" must have cuahgt onto my bad habit and has realized that this is where the shoes go. She has also begun wiping her own face after meals. If you give her a wet papertowel and say wipe your mouth she does just that. Then when she is done she proceeds directly to the trash can opens it, and drops it right in. Which brings up the fact that the trash can is a locking trash can which she has figured out how to work and because of which we turn it towards the wall so that she can't open it (quite so readily). So it is really funny to watch; she has to go over to the trash can, turn it around, unlock it and then finally open it to throw away the papertowel. The other day when I came home for lunch I had an empty soda bottle in my hand and she was looking and pointing and whining so I gave it to her thinking she wanted it to play with and she went right over and proceeded with her throw it away routine. It was a proud moment for me. I had not even asked her to throw it away. She amazes me and her Daddy every single day with how much she understands. I am not saying she is a baby genius or anything, it is just that when they aren't yet able to vocalize all that they understand and suddenly they show you that they are understanding what you are saying and you had no expectation of that it is one of those wow memnts; for me anyway.

Anora LOVES to feed Marshall

looks black but they play!

Easter 2010

I love the bunny ear ponies I gave her.

Ravioli Yum Yum

I think she loved it. What do you think?

First Birthday

Anora's First Birthday was a hit. Everything was decorated befitting a Princess. Her cake was so beautiful. Really almost to pretty to cut. I don't know how I will ever top it. I think it will always be my favorite.Here she is in her beautiful feathery tutu dress. This drove Daddy crazy....but since she is the princess he still carried her everywhere since she couldn't walk in it all the great.

And her high chair. Oh look more feathers. I had the hat made special for the day. It says Happy 1st Birthday Anora. Oh yeah and it had feathers too. Tehehe daddy was in such a frenzy that day.

She dug right into her cake just as soon as I set it on her tray. I was so proud of her. She didn't get too messy though. We just wiped her off with a paper towel and then gave her a quick bath with wipes and she was good to go.

OMG she is SOOO friggin cute. This is her playing after she opened all of her gifts. She is no longer wearing the feather dress so Daddy did a little victory dance when I said she didn't have to put it back on after she finished her cake. We just left her in the slip part of the dress which was also very pretty. It was a little easier for her to walk in but she still had a hard time of it every now and again.

Anora sitting on her new toy box ahhm I mean throne. It was a gift from Mommy, Daddy and the Hinkle's. Thanks to everyone who was able to join and help us celebrate this special day. For those of you who were unable to make it because of the weather or other reasons please know that you were very missed and we hope to see you again soon.

And on another note.....
Thank you so very very much to Tammy for all of your help and inspiration. I could not have pulled this together without you. Really you are my rock and I appreciate you and your family more than you can ever know. I had so much fun doing this with you we really should think about going into business.

First Birthday Coming Right Up

I have been busy planning Anora's 1st birthday party since Christmas. So as usual I have fallen behind on my blog. I am so excited for her party, Tammy has been such a big help with everything. I love that she is just as excited as I am. She has had so much fun picking things up here and there and spending her wee hours of the night searching the internet for "inspiration" It is coming together quite nicely I think and I hope that the Princess enjoys the party half as much as we have enjoyed planning it. I am hoping for good weather so that everyone can come and enjoy the festivities with us. I wanted to give a little teaser for my followers. Some of you have already seen this but below is a picture of the dress I ordered for her to wear.

Tehehe, isn't it just fabulous!!! Who wouldn't feel like a Princess in this dress.

Long time no blog

Oh my goodness where to start.... I am sorry I have not been as faithful to my blog as I have to my facebook recently. Anora has just been on a whirlwind. She started talking before Christmas. He first word besides "Mama" and "Dada" was "pretty". Grandma kept showing Anora the Christmas tree and saying pretty tree and eventually she started whispering "pretty" and pointing at the tree. Really it sounded like "pt" which was probably her saying pretty tree but we wanted to believe she was far more advanced and decided she was saying pretty. Her next word sounded something like the neighbor boys name "Reed" so that is what we went with. Now of course we had to have her combine the 2 words so now she says "pretty Reed". She started walking on the long weekend for Christmas and she is now almost at a run. She has also learned the words "Bee Bee" for the oldest neighbor girl (Kimberlee). I guess Elizabeth is a bit of a mouth full; we will have to work on that. Oh yeah and when she says "Hi" she opens up really big and say "hiiii". It is just too darn cute. She waves hi and bye. She loves music and will dance to anything. She has just started bobbing her head back and forth when she is really happy. When she is walking and humming to herself she waves her arms from front to back. Really I could go on and on but I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves as too just how darn cute she is.