We can't stop talking about how special and wonderful our Annie is. She has a light and way about her that adds so much to life. The girl can even make oatmeal a party. Leave it to her to pull an armful of sprinkles out of the pantry to 'decorate' her breakfast!! Love this girl!!
.jpg)
Annie has always loved doing puzzles. She started with the big Melissa & Doug 3-piece wooden puzzles and moved on to their chunky wood shape puzzles. Recently Daddy surprised her with a couple of 24 piece 'big kid' puzzles. She picked up on the strategy pretty quickly and can put together several puzzles in record time! We give her cookie sheets to assemble the puzzles on, as carpet can be a bit frustrating with so many pieces. In the last picture, Annie, Anna Bear, and Tahoe Bear show off all four of her puzzles assembled- Annie had to help her bear friends finish theirs, of course!
Daddy is always bringing home surprises for his little Annie. This huge stuffed monkey is one of the latest gifts Daddy brought home after a day at work. Annie immediately fell in love with the huge 'friend' and named him 'Peter.' She insisted that he join us for dinner and Daddy did a great job adding some animation to the stuffed friend to entertain us all during our meal!! It is so sweet to watch Annie run to the couch and sit down with her eyes squeezed shut tight and arms out ready to accept another surprise gift from Daddy each time he says, "Annie... I have a surprise for you!"
Annie and Mommy were invited to a pumpkin painting party by a friend from our Photography group. Annie, of course, took her painting very seriously and took her time making it look "beautiful." After the painting we enjoyed some delicious fall treats, including the cream cheese frosted spice cupcakes Daddy had made for us to bring. Finally, we took photos outdoors on a cute little Halloween 'set' made by our host, Denise. Annie wore her super cute 'scaredy cat' outfit that Mama Susie gave her for Halloween! What a cutie!
Last week we enjoyed a family date to the Glendale Library story time. Daddy was able to join us due to a late evening of work that allowed him to have the morning free. Annie loved showing Daddy around the kids section of the library and having him there for the songs and stories. She even brought Anna Bear with and insisted that they both wear a "tag" (name tag). After story time and puzzles, Annie and Mommy picked out a big stack of books to check out. Annie still loves books and is now getting into non-fiction books, too. She chose one about Bengal Tigers and one real page turner about syrup and how it is made. She has an amazing ability to memorize all of the words in her library books before we return them in a week or two. Definitely is going to be a reader!!
Benny and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this October 8th. He surprised me with his Mom flying down to AZ from Minnesota to care for Annie so that we could have a mini-vacation. We stayed at a quaint resort in Scottsdale and enjoyed going out to eat at restaurants that didn't even have kids menus, relaxing poolside without lifeguarding, and even sleeping in a little bit. Though we were having too much fun to take too many photos, Benny did snap one of me resting on a bench during a long walk (at 8 months pregnant) and I took one of him writing at the pool/lounge area where we spent a good amount of time. He was writing the first entry to go in our family journal that he gave me for our anniversary. We love to blog-- but also want a hard copy, hand written type of memoir to look back on as the years continue to fly past us. This is really the sweetest gift he could have given me. It means so much that he values the simple things and memories of our family and wants to capture them in such a unique way. It's funny, back when we first got married he asked if I wanted more diamonds added to the gorgeous solitaire that he proposed to me with. I adored the stunning simplicity of the ring and couldn't have picked a better one, but when a girl is offered more diamonds she has a hard time turning the offer down... so I told him that I thought that adding two diamonds on either side of the solitaire would be a lovely 5 year anniversary gift. As this "big" anniversary approached Ben and I both recalled that plan and Ben even did a little window shopping on the internet. But, oddly enough, I no longer wanted more diamonds. Ben has given me two gems already- sweet Annie Isabel and her soon-to-be baby brother Ezra. He has been faithful, supportive, generous, so loving, and super fun -- really a fabulous husband and a man that I am proud of. Two little diamonds got nothing on what I already have. Thank you Benny for the amazing anniversary. I love you. Thank you Mama Susie for the huge gift of being here and caring for Annie-- it was great to spend time with you. And thank you little Anniekins for being more brave than I was for our first full night apart. As I hugged and kissed Annie for the third time before we headed out the door she patted my back and said, "Now go to your wedding with Daddy, Mommy." I'm pretty sure she enjoyed the mini-vacation as much as we did!!
.jpg)
