Anna's Frog

Most of you may know my Aunt Lou and Uncle Lee are a very important part of my life. My Aunt Lou carved this tree frog for Anna out of wood. She makes carousel horses and actually carve the baby giraffe in Anna's nursery.

Anna loves rocking on the frog and has the best time. She is very grateful to Aunt Lou for the many hours spent making this for her and I know she will treasure it forever.

Anna turns the big 1.0!

Anna turned one (1) on Tuesday November, 3rd. We waited until Saturday, which was my birthday and then had a 1st and 4oth party. She turned 1 and I truned 40. Patty and I can not believe how fast this first year has gone. We are so blessed to have Anna and everyday seems like a miracle. Her are some pics from her birthday party.

Harvest Day Parade at Open Arms Daycare

Anna dressed up as a pumpkin for the Harvest Day Parade at her day care. She actually wore the costume without much fuss, although it was a little difficult for her to walk in. Patty got some great pictures, but in the end, Anna finally just laid down on the floor because being a pumpkin is hard work.

Poor Ben.

Now that Anna is walking, she has found her favorite "toy" to play with is our dog, Ben. For those of you who do not know, Ben is our 11 year old yellow lab. Ben came with Patty when I met her and his brother Zach is Patty's parent's dog. He is very gentle around Anna and I wish I could say the same for Anna as you will see in the video.

She walks!

Two updates to share with everyone regarding Anna. She now has two bottom teeth, which I can not get a good picture of and she is walking.

She has been walking for about a week now, but I can never catch her on film. We went to the Smyrna park today and she took off chasing a boy with a soccer ball. Here are our pictures from a day at the park.

Anna like to swing.

We bought Anna this little swing at Target and she loves it! We hung it in the garage and she just laughs every time she gets on it. She also has two bottom teeth coming in.

Byrd Family Reunion

We went to Gatlinburg, TN for the Byrd family reunion this past week. There were 18 of us. We spent some time driving through the Smokey Mountains and even came across a few bears. This was the first time my aunt and uncles have met Anna and she was a big hit.

Anna takes swim lessons.

Patty has enrolled Anna in infant swim lessons at the Cobb County Aquatic Center. She loves the water and has become very comfortable around it. While she is not setting any Olympic records yet, she is building the foundation for years to come.

First Trip to the Beach

Anna got her first trip to the beach this summer on our annual family vacation. We went to Orange Beach, AL for some much needed rest and relaxation. If only Anna knew what "sleeping in" meant.

We took some really cute family pictures on the beach. Anna doesn't really know what to think about sand. She justs stares at it.

She got in the ocean, but enjoys the calm of the kiddy pool more. We had a great time and look forward to doing it again.

Anna makes a choice!

Anna has made an early decision as to who her favorite is. I tried it twice and both outcomes were the same.

James Family Reunion

Each year, my mother's side of the family has a reunion. Since all the syblings from her generation have passed, it has now been passed down to my generation to carry the torch. The responsibility for planning and hosting rotates each year among the cousins. This year was mine and Patty's. We had family from Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessess and Florida all travel to Red Top Mountain State Park for a two day picnic. We could not have asked for better weather and everyone enjoyed themselves. Here are some pics from the reuion.

Anna's Pool

For years I begged Patty to let me install an above ground pool with no success. Now when Anna wants an above ground pool, she gets one, thanks to Patty's friend Miranda.

Remi and Anna have something in common...

They both can fetch!

She stands!

Ladies & gentlemen, I would like to introduce the Standing Anna. Just 1 day shy of 7 months and Anna can pull herself up and stand by herself. It caught us off guard as we put her by the crib and turned to see her standing. Time to lower the pad in the crib.

Anna bath time

Here are some pics of Anna at bath time. She loves bath time, just like her mom!

Weekend at the Lake

We spent the first weekend in May at Lake Sinclair with Daniel and Emily from our small group at church. Our friends Vince and Amber were coming, but the headed west instead of east on I-20 and ended up in about 50 miles into Alabama. Once they realized their mistake, they decided to just go home. Their daughter Olivia is only about 8 weeks old and that would have been too long of a day of travel for her.

Anyway, we had a great weekend and Anna got to put on her first swimsuit although it was too cold to swim. Daniel drove us around on the pontoon boat and we enjoyed the beautiful weather. Here are some pics from the weekend.

1st Easter

For Easter each year we travel to Chattanooga and have lunch with my Aunt Lou, Uncle Lee and sister Kathy and her children. This year was especially nice because my Uncle has been recovering from a long hospital stay over Thanksgiving and Christmas at the end of last year.

The weather was awesome and we got some great pictures outdoors. My nephew BJ (15 yrs. old) and I (39 yrs old) went on a clue driven Easter egg hunt all over the front, side and back yard. My Aunt hid clues on little pieces of paper hidden throughout the yard and we had to solve before we could go the next clue. In the end, BJ found the prized egg (usually containing cash).

We are very blessed to have family close enough to visit.