horsie

Anya loves 'horsie' from Nana and Grampy. It was a Christmas gift and she can finally get on and off all by herself. She also can rock and turn on the sound by pressing on his ears. She loves him :)

checkin' out the scene

Justin and Anya chit chatting to eachother about what is outside yesterday. Looking outside after our friends had just left this afternoon.

visiting auntie and uncle

We had a blast visiting my sister and her husband, Marty, over the weekend. Anya's favorite part was seeing uncle Marty. She also loved playing, where is Schooner the cat? I am thrilled to announce that Dwight and I are going to be an aunt and uncle in October. Jill and Marty are expecting a baby!!! We couldn't be more excited!!!! On Sunday we headed to an indoor botanical garden. Anya had so much fun looking at the plants, flowers, fountains, and pools of fish.

We found out that there is a carousel and little quarter rides there as well. Anya was in her glories, of course. She said, horsie horsie, all day.

Before we headed home we stopped for lunch. I love this picture of Anya and her uncle Marty..

I ya you

Oh wow it has been a week since I last blogged! We have been having internet issues this week with a slooow connection. It has been a fun and busy week. Anya's newest thing is calling me by my first name. She calls for Olly at times and I just can't help but smile. She also has learned how to say, good morning. She likes to leave her bedroom and come back in saying, Hi! Good morning! She will leave a few seconds later to repeat this same thing. :) She has also started not only saying, I ya (love) you, back to us but also saying it on her own. I heard her say, I ya you daddy, to Dwight without any prompting. I am sure she isn't really sure what love means, but it is still breathtaking none the less. She likes to pick up a toy phone and talk. I love listening to her toddler talk. I have heard her say, Hallo.. Nana.. Auntie.. Barty.. Ta tu (thank you).. you welcome.. bye. This is a complete sentence from her on the phone by the way. It is just too much fun. I love this age. We are at the fun age that happens before the 'terrible twos start. I am eating up every moment with her right now. I know we could possible be in for it soon.. but this age just rules.

Anya and Meredith reading books together

St. Pattys Day

HAPPY ST. PATTYS DAY!
Anya insisted on bringing out the umbrella today although it was 60 degrees and sunny. It was such a beautiful day!
We were lucky enough to attend a St. Pattys play date complete with green beads, kiss me I'm Irish tattoos, a leprechaun hunt, and Irish snacks including Irish soda bread!

We had corn beef and cabbage for dinner and Dwight and Anya made a leprechaun trap. I wonder if we will catch one tonight??

one last day of skiing..

We had a blast. Dwight also got in one last day of ice fishing over the weekend. We had our fun, now we are ready for you SPRING :-D

daddy's girl

Dwight brought home a bucket of fish to ice fish with this weekend. Anya loved them!! She would stand over the bucket saying fishy fishy fishy!
I got a picture of her in Dwight's boots...

Those are pretty big shoes to fill :)

blowing bubbles all by herself!

My sister, Jill, and I brought Anya to a science center today. The best part for all of us was when Anya showed us that she can blow bubbles all by herself!

my daily entertainment

~Snack time sillys~

I took these pictures of Anya showing off for my mom the other day. My mom was on the phone and Anya was doing anything possible to make her laugh.

cone head ice cream

Wow, what is this? It has eyes!
Can I eat it?

This rules. I love ice cream.

March walks

There is still snow on the ground.. quite a bit actually. I am through with waiting for it to melt. I have decided to start bringing Anya for walks again. This has actually been our second walk of the winter. It feels wonderful to get out into the cool fresh air and get exercise.
I was right, I was getting sick on Sunday. It hit me bad on Sunday night and I was pretty miserable yesterday. The good news is I am feeling so much better tonight. I am done with winter.. I am done with illness. Bring it on spring air, green grass, and playing outside. We are ready for you!

weekend recap

I just can't get enough pictures of Anya sleeping in the car :)

We met up with Anya's grammy for lunch on Saturday. We had 'uncle Eddie' over after for a visit. Anya loved spending time with the family.

We ended the weekend at a party for our friend's daughter, Emily. I took this picture of Billy and Anya getting a look out the window of the restaurant :)

Anya is 100% better now... however, I am not feeling great this evening. I am hoping that my body can fight it off for the week ahead..

A Wednesday play date

To keep our friends from getting Anya's virus we stayed home this morning. Every Wednesday we usually see our friends for a play date. These pictures were taken 2 weeks ago at Steph's house... :)

It's so cool to see the kids playing together now instead of just next to each other. They get excited when a friend arrives, it's so cute.

sick little one

They should teach you about this in birth class.. or something. How to care for a sick child. How to calm your nerves as she presses her hot cheek to your neck in the middle of the night. How to tell yourself that she will, in fact, be okay. When to call the doctor and when to go on instinct. It is so scary to have a little one fighting a high fever, or throwing up, or hacking up a bad cough. It is frightening to see pain in their face.. or the sad/sick mommy help me face. You would give anything for them to feel better. You would take on the sickness yourself any day if it meant a smile and a lowered fever.

The good news is that the fever has subsided. That was the scariest part for me. At one point we hadn't reached the 6-8 hours that the ibuprofen bottle tells you to wait and her fever inched back up to 104.5. Scary. I was that mom that shed tears on the phone with the nurse yesterday. I am guessing she is a mom herself as she said bless your heart before she hung up, after she got me an appointment.

At the appointment we found out she is fighting a virus and a minor ear infection. Anya hates the taste of Amoxicillin, which makes things a bit trying. This morning the fever is pretty much gone but the runny nose and cough are hanging in. She doesn't have her usual energy and is spending a lot of the morning on the couch with me, watching Tinkerbell.

When your little one is sick, you realize just how much you love them. Your heart aches with love. It's scary to think of all of the moments in the future that will be just like the ones in the past couple days. This wont be the first time I rock her in the middle of the night while praying she is okay. It certainly was the first of many fevers. Each time our children are sick we have our past experiences to go on. We know that the cold washcloth doesn't work, but the lukewarm bath does. We know what comforts our babies the best. It's the scariest when it is the first time. We don't have the experiences to go on. We are learning with each decision, stumbling along while trying to hold in our tears. The thing that makes me feel better is that each time she is sick I will be better at caring for her. I will know what works and what doesn't. At least, I hope I will.