Scrub-a-dub sisters

As was evidenced by my last posting, I'm trying to catch up on some pictures that I've been meaning to post for a while...so, bear with me on the outdated photos for a little while...

In early February, we decided Kate was probably old enough to ditch her "baby bath" and take a regular bath with Anna. Oh, they were both just elated with that decision! They have been having so much fun taking--as Anna refers to them--"Two Girl baths" together...

GI Kate

Ok, I decided I needed to go ahead and post these pictures before they become completely obsolete...

Whether its because of her generous girth, a personal preference, or just a good way to stress her worrying mother out, Kate's primary means by which to get from Point A to Point B has been a sort of one-armed Army crawl. While this does of course worry me constantly about her physical development, truthfully its kind of cute.

And, just as the pedi told me it would, this too did pass. Kate's now slowly but surely giving up the Army crawl for more traditional crawling. As much as it stressed me out in the past, I might miss that little scoot...

These pics are pretty outdated (from mid-February), but I just couldn't help post how pleased Kate was at learning to pull herself up and stand up like a "big girl"...

Ride 'em, cowgirls

One of the best parts about living in Houston in the springtime (other than this fab weather we've been having) is the Rodeo! We've loved taking Anna there since she was a tiny tot, and now got to introduce Kate to the tradition.

I was so excited that this year they had this very realistic-looking stuffed longhorn that we could put the girls on to take their picture. So, I promptly paid my fee, sat Anna on the "prop", went to sit Kate in front of her, and the longhorn MOVED. Yep, that's right--this city girl didn't realize that the longhorn was REAL. (I obviously still proceeded to leave the girls there and step away far enough for Clint to take a picture. I'm a great mom. Let's just hope CPS doesn't check this blog...)

Anna had such a blast getting to go to the rodeo with Mommy AND Daddy...

Kate definitely had the best seat in the house for the majority of the adventure...

Anna's favorite activity is always taking a pony ride, so we of course made sure to do that again this year. When we went back to the rodeo this past week (a week after our first trip), she promptly went up to the ponies and said, "Look, there's the one I rode last time." And, she was right. Where does this girl get this bizarre-o memory from?

The petting zoo is definitely this germ-o-phobe mom's least favorite part of the rodeo, but its of course one of the girls' favorite parts! So, I indulged them...

I had full intention of just carrying Kate in there with me and letting her look (but not touch). But, she just squealed and clapped with such incredible glee whenever the animals would come anywhere near her that I just couldn't bring myself to not let her pet them. I know, I know...yuck. But, she just loved it SO much...

Anna of course loved it too. Now let's just hope they don't request one of these goats as our next pet...

Birthday morning

Ok, one last posting on Anna's birthday...

Birthdays are SO important to me, so I definitely wanted to make a big hoopla out of Anna's birthday on the morning of her big day, before we headed to the Museum for her party. So, we went ahead and did our family celebration that morning, and let her open her presents from us. Her most coveted birthday gift--a pig "pillow pet"--was the first thing she opened, and still her favorite gift, I believe. It hasn't left her side since its arrival!


And, she had so much fun decorating her new "cupcakes" while Daddy and I got everything ready for the party...

Party pics, take 2

So, with even more guidance from Whitney, I'm now able to share even more pics of Anna's party! (Yes, I realize this was her 4th birthday party, and not actually her wedding. Whatever.)

If you're partied out, please feel free to disregard these photos--we understand! But, if you need just one more Strawberry Shortcake fix, here you go...

(These photos courtesy of my dear friend Melanie--thank you!!)

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Party pics

Ok, so my friend Whit is not only a fabulous photographer, but also a brilliant blogger! She taught me how to add this pictobrowser to the girls' blog, so now you can see all the fab photos from Anna's big day! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did...

(If you're not familiar with the PictoBrowser, just click on the picture and it will advance to the next one...)

Happy Birthday, our dear Anna!

It is with both joy and disbelief that we wish our precious little Anna a VERY Happy 4th Birthday!! FOURTH?? She's really FOUR? As cliche as it sounds, it seriously seems like just yesterday that we were bringing her home from the hospital! And, maybe its just me, but "four" seems SO much older than "three". But, she has repeatedly assured me that "big kids are still sweet", so she's convinced me to let her turn four. (She also assured me that four year olds don't throw fits or "freak out" when you tell them no...not sure I'm buying that, but we'll take it while we can get it!)

We had a wonderful day at the Children's Museum yesterday for Anna's party. She loved having all of her friends, and her Grammie and Bucko there, and had just a fantastic time!

Kate also thought the festivities were a blast...

It was wonderful to have Grammie and Bucko there to celebrate with us (both during the party, and for the "pre-party" and "post-party"...they were total troopers!)...

Anna (and we) just love the Children's Museum. Can't you just see her getting smarter while she's playing?? :-)

It is absolutely impossible to capture or describe the total chaos associated with having 25 toddlers/preschoolers (+ parents) in a 20' x 20' party room...whew!

While Anna was the "lady of the day", Strawberry Shortcake played a close 2nd. Anna just loves her, and had so much fun having a Strawberry Shortcake party...

I have to give a seriously HUGE thank-you to my dear friend, Whitney, who beautifully photographed the entire event. THANK YOU!! These are just a few of her fabulous photos, but I'm going to try to figure out the blog "PictoBrowser" thing so I can post more of her gorgeous photos...

Adventurous Anna

While Anna's size sometimes limits some of the physical things she can do, it certainly hasn't limited her adventurous spirit! One day after a trip to the library, we ventured across the street to an older park that was certainly not designed to "today's safety standards" (read: its like the parks we used to play at as kids--lots of metal equipment with few safeguards other than common sense to protect us.) She thought it was absolutely fabulous, and insisted on climbing to the top of this rocket.

In addition to not being designed to today's safety standards, this equipment was also not designed for parental chaperones to accompany the children on their adventures. So, I couldn't even fit through the little holes on this rocket to go up with her if I wanted to! She was completely unphased (maybe relieved?) by this, and proceeded to climb to the very top of this rocket (that I would guess was ~40' high). Oh, my tummy was in my throat the whole time! But, we both survived it...

She also had fun climbing on the little UFO and boat. Both of these would normally have made me want to hold her hand or otherwise be there to catch her if she slipped, but I tended to just stand back and watch since she had braved the rocket without my help. I think this "adventure" was as good for Mommy as it was for Anna...