AnnaBug BananaBug

And, Sister . . . oh, sweet, sweet Sister.  This tiny love of ours (and, I say “ours” because William walks around talking about “my baby” and Hudson perks right on up when this little love peeks her head around the corner into his bedroom) is getting so big, so fast!  Sister started walking last weekend when she and I were away on a girls’ weekend, and I am loving watching her toddle about!  She takes several steps, stops to clap for herself, and she falls down onto her bottom.  She is precious!

  

I took Annabug to the doctor last week for her one year check up.  She did great, despite having infections in both ears that I didn’t know about!  Poor little love!  She is still 75% for weight (almost 24 lbs) and 50% for height with a nice, big Reppard head.  She did lots of chatting for the doctor, too.  Anna’s very favorite things to talk about (aside from Da DA DA!  and Mama) are birds (burr), balls (everytime we get her out of her crib, she talks about the “balls” or pom-poms that we have hanging in her room), balloons (bayoons), and her most recent and most frequent word:  brub-ber.   She can also squeal and scream with the best of them—Sister is loud and not afraid to show it or point out what she wants!  Hilariously, she has taken to calling Charlie “baby” (ba-ba) . . . which, seems appropriate since he calls her Baby and she matches him in weight despite the fact that he is one year her elder!  The pediatrician and I talked about how Anna reminds us of another little Reppard chatterbox . . . oh, how I wonder if these two will just talk incessantly to one another?  or, will they make their sweet brother Hudson (and their father) totally bonkers? 

Hey there, Pumpkin!

This next series of pictures are some of my very favorite.  This girl loves her her Daddy, and he adores her.  These are just so sweet!  (Please excuse my poor photography!)

CHEESE!

Bug loves playing with her brothers, crawling or walking around the room, and loving her babies.  (Note:  Baby is normally not welcome at the dinner table, but she received a special invite this particular day.  Neither are tractors—just trying to keep things fair, you know.)

She does not love the nursery, so her lovie and paci go along with her as her special friends to help her persevere.  ha!  She really, really loves to sing and dance.  Music class is her favorite, and she enjoys singing songs in the car and bopping along anytime she hears music . . . although, the boys “Tractor, tractor” song and the “Duck says quack” both tend to be some of her very favorites!

While hairbows were in for a while, she yanks them out faster than we can find them . . . and she is not a fan of her pretty silver bracelet, even though she is obsessed with mine!  This morning, Little Love melted my heart:  She woke up crying, so I went in to give her a bottle (yes, she still takes two bottles a day—I know I cut the boys off when they turned 1, but I am having a hard time imagining giving up the snuggle time with Sis . . . and I like her to sleep, you know!), and when I picked her up out of her bed, she fell fast asleep in my arms.  We just snuggled and snuggled together before I took her back to her bed.  Oh, how I love this little lady!  She is so sweet—she adores her Daddy and her brothers, she loves her “baby” cousin Charlie, she talks and dances and walks and sings . . . and we are just so thankful for her.  She has such a precious personality and is so flexible (although she will surely let you know when she is not willing to be flexible!)  We love you lots, Sissy Loula Belle, and we thank Jesus for you every day!  I cannot believe that this little lady is already ONE!  My, how time really does fly by . . .

overheard

must go to bed, but I have to share this:  I have decided that almost-3-year-old boys are made up of equal parts wildness (think rebellion, screaming “NO" and running, etc.) and HILARIOUS things that come out of their mouths.  just a few quick ones to share on this lovely Monday evening—I know I am forgetting some . . .

Hatch and I were hugging.

William:  Daddy, you are TALL.

Mommy, you are LOW.

***

Hudson:  It was named Rock Dog and it was a Robot.

(I have no idea what we are talking about here.)

***

William:  I am going to catch you, Chicken Hudson.  I am going to catch you, Chicken, and I am going to cook you!

(I later learned this was a reenactment of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, which their father watched with them this weekend!)

***

Anna:  HO-LA!  HO-LA!  HO-LA!

(Yes, my daughter has learned to say Hola, and I love it!)

*** William:  I call Mommy “Mi Mi”

Hatch:  Yes, I know.

William:  Did you know I like to be held?  Did you know I like tiny things?  Really tiny things?

***

The good night ritual of “kisses and squeezes:”

William: 

Big kiss:  MWAH! 

Tiny Kiss:  mwah

BIIIG SQUEEZE:  UGGGGH!

Tiny Squeeze:  eeeh

BIG Es-mo Kiss: nose, nose, nose

Tiny Es-mo Kiss:  eeh!

And, That’s ALL!

***

These are from an October Sunday afternoon where we decided we HAD TO re-hang our front swings!  Daddy’s helpers were ready and willing to work!  William enjoyed the view from above . . .

And, the view from below . . . I’m pretty sure she is thinking: I cannot believe Daddy is letting William stand on the top of the ladder.

The worker bees.  (Please excuse Hudson’s finger in his nose.  Toddler boys are adorable but have disgusting habits!)

Hard at work . . .

I adore this!  He looks like he should be in a catalogue.  ha!

And, up again . . . notice the very end of Hatch’s shoe just a few steps above Mini-me.

nighty night!

Tuesday? Thursday?

Today, in some ways, felt like one of my typical Tuesdays.  We had a very slow-moving morning filled with toddlers refusing to put on underpants and shirts and socks and everything else that normal humans put on in order to both start their day and get out of the door and into the world.  We are doing a little Bible Study/Mom’s Group thing on Thursdays this year, which I am loving, but we are rarely on time (shocking, I know).  We pulled up a good HOUR late (which is fine—these people are moms.  They know that sometimes your children wake up and decide they will not wear pants), and much to both our shock (mine) and excitement (the boys’), there was a HUGE power truck outside of the building that was working on the lines.  The boys were thrilled.  I began to wonder how we were going to get into the door . . . you see, Anna is not walking yet (bless her chubby little thighs) and wrangling two boys in a parking lot while trying to enter into possibly locked doors while strong-arming a chubby, 25 pound baby who would rather crawl or try-to-walk than be held was not sounding lovely to me.  So, by the grace of God (and perhaps some recollection of or learning from Tuesdays past), I decided NOT to haul all of my children into the building right away . . . and I stopped and got out of my car and asked the nice bystanders what was happening.  They informed me that the power was out and something about something needing a repair and windows being painted or something like that . . . I nodded and said mmm-hmmm, and then I asked the amazing question (which I still cannot believe that my semblance of a mother’s brain even managed to conjure up):  So, if the power is out, that means the elevator doesn’t work, right?  My boys’ nursery is on the 3rd floor of this building in the fan.  That means climbing LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of stairs with two toddlers and a refusing-to-be-wrangled yet non-walking, chubby (and adorable) Sister.  They replied:  The elevator does not work when the power is out.  Surely that makes sense.  At that point, I raised my little white flag of surrender and drove off thinking about the freedom of the next 90 minutes of un-planned time . . . and oh-so-thankful that I was not standing at the bottom of three flights of stairs in the dark wondering how to get my kids up to their nursery! 

The following excitement also happened today, on our almost-Tuesday:

Anna stuck her hand in the tinkle in the tiny potty.  I was so disgusted I started screaming.  Hopefully, she will learn never to go near the tiny potty until she is prepared to use it herself.  (note:  the tiny potty was formerly in a location that only the boys could access—not anna.  but, in this location, they could hear the furnace humming and they became such wrecks about the “scary noise” that they would try to move the tiny potty.  and them relocating tiny potty is definitely WORSE.  trust me.)

I was in the kitchen pulling together some snacks, and when I came back into the den, I saw this—for the first time EVER.  The boys got so excited and started cheering and squealing, so Anna turned around and tumbled down about three stairs . . . but I caught her.  She cried a bit, but recovered well.  I am beginning to worry about what my life will look like when she can run from me.  Oh me.  OH MY.

And, lastly, I ran down to the basement to put some food in the fridge down there (which did take me a few minutes).  And, when I came upstairs, my children were gone.  I realized that they had unlocked and opened the front door and were standing, once again, on our stoop.  For a while, they had been asking before opening the door, but that fell apart today.  They later told me that they wanted to see our neighbors, but my neighbors told me they had been out there a while . . . just two boys and a baby in the background standing on the front stoop.  Regardless of their intentions, it was NOT a good thing.  We had a good conversation about why you don’t go out the front door whenever you want to, but I think I have a new item on Daddy’s weekend to-do list . . . you know, part of our Protect the Rascals campaign.  (other to do list items that have been a part of this campaign have included hot gluing all of the rods into the curtains and shades so that they can’t use them as weapons against each other, and duct taping the door knob cover so they cannot break out of their room or down the stairs without permission!)  Oh, parenting! 

And, as I am writing this (at midnight—WAY past my bedtime), some alarm clock is going off . . . I bet I know who set it!  My elves!  They work constantly and often against me all the day long! 

Okay, nighty  night!

Happy Thursday.  Friday cannot come soon enough!

Overheard

Hudson:  {Insert potty talk and almost 3 year old humor HERE}

William:  We can talk about tummys and we can talk about shirts or shoes or spoons or we can talk about applesauces or plates, but we cannot talk about bottoms.  We can talk about pumpkins or belly buttons or milk or cups, but we cannot talk about bottoms.  Okay?

***

Hudson:  Wake up, Brother!  Wake up, my little brother!

(Me:  laughing)

William:  um, y’all?  Can y’all snuggle with me?  Can y’all come snuggle with me?

***

William:  Mommy, who you talkin’ to?

Me:  Allison.

William:  Allison who?

Hudson:  Allison Hudson.

William:  NO, ALLISON WILLIAM!

***

Mommy:  Who are Mommy’s brothers?  Uncle . . .

William and Hudson:  Uncle Judah, Uncle Chrisferfer . . . UNCLE YAURA!

***

William:  Daddy, I love you.  Mommy, I love you.  Hudson, I love you.  Anna, I love you.  I take care of babies.  I love you, Anna.

***

And, sister’s latest tricks:

She is quite proud of herself!

And, I think she knows she is funny!

What a sweet little messy rascal!  Yogurt all over her, and still a beauty!  I love it!

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! {Round 2}

Despite the fact that I told both myself and my husband that we were going to do a very little party for Anna that would be very low-key, I found myself up the night before working on some of the details of this very low-key first birthday party.  You see, I wanted it to be a PINK first birthday party . . .

And, in keeping with the First Birthday theme of years past, we went the tried and true (and tasty!) cupcake route once again!

Anna’s little friends got to take home a pumpkin for helping us celebrate our littlest pumpkin’s big day!

My friend, Jenny, took this picture for me (among many other great ones) and I am really grateful for it—I love seeing Anna each month of her first year.  It is so amazing to me to see the ways in which she has changed and grown.  Oh, how we love her!  She has such a sweet personality!

Anna’s littlest friend, Miss Hazel, came to join us for the party!

And, Holland, another of Anna’s sweet little friends came to celebrate the big day!  Holland showed off her stair climbing skills and made Anna very jealous!

The big kids played in the yard . . . it was a great fall day! 

I adore this picture of Hudson—it does such a great job of capturing his personality!

Our Littlest Cupcake was very excited about her BIG Cupcake!

But, she dined on a little cupcake instead!

This is an infamous Annabug face!  ha!

Hello sweet birthday beauty!

We tried to get a few family pictures after the party, but . . . it didn’t go so well . . .

Anna loves her Aunties!

Hi my Nana!

Daddy got a special something for his little lady!

Sweetness and her Sugie!

Hudsey checking out his sister’s pictures . . .

And, mama with her littlest love.  She is so sweet and such a snuggler . . .

She loves to give lovies and snugs and I LOVE IT!

Hudsey got some snuggles from the birthday gal, too!

And, it was post-party melt-down mode when we tried to get a picture of our three little monkeys!

Sis loved her tiny pumpkin!

And, using her new prize—her phone!  She loves her newest accessory (which happens to match the cupcake on her dress—way to accessorize your gift, Baby Hazel!), and she calls her DA DAA DAA on it all day long.  I can only imagine what her cell phone bill will one day look like!

The Happiest of Birthdays to you, my sweet thing!

(And a special thank you to Aunt Karen for Anna’s lacy party socks!!)