I was reading my preganancy journal and thought I'd post what I wrote almost one year ago: February 26, 2007. Anna was only 19 weeks old in my belly. It really helps you to see what kind of miracle took place in such a short amount of time.

"We got our ultrasound last Wednesday! Like a proud parent, I took your pics into work to show you off. I thought our ultrasound experience would be so special and so much different. Don't get me wrong, it was such a neat moment shared between me and Matt but I guess I thought it would feel like I was really looking at you. Instead I felt like I was staring at an optical illusion and that I was the only one in the room who couldn't "see it."

Daddy was really good at recognizing things. I could hardly recognize anything. We saw your little heart, brain stem, kidneys, legs, arms, fingers, toes, eyes, and mouth. You are such an amazing miracle! We are so thankful that God chose us to have you! What a blessing you already are!

I was so excited to have your little foot, arm and face captured on film. Unfortunately we see your bones on the picture. So daddy called your picture "Skelator." We have to admit that it's a bit creepy. Sorry baby, it's just that we can only see bone.

The ultrasound tech said you look very healthy - 10 ounces! You were so cute because you were moving so much. You even grabbed your feet while we were watching you! What a precious moment to witness! You are so amazing and growing and developing so much and so quickly. Now when I feel you move, I keep thinking you're grabbing your toes and exploring. Daddy was excited because he thought you were stretching and so you must be a runner!!"

Hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our little now-17-pound Anna's life one year ago....it's TRULY a miracle, isn't it?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

With about three inches on the ground outside, Indi thought she'd try to recreate the scenery inside. She has a love-hate relationship with squeaky toys. She tears them apart until she literally gets the squeak out. It's so funny to watch because she can have the thing torn apart in less than 5 minutes. This particular toy is a doggy that uncle Jonathan gave her for Christmas. We saved it for a special occasion - tonight was it. Basically, I just wanted to keep Indi occupied for a little while. As you can see, it worked. Thanks Jonathan.

On Monday, Anna and I had a meeting (not a "date" Daddy) with Courtney and Hudson. They were very cute together and it was so funny to see them interacting. Anna's not quite ready to "play" but Hudson was defintely interested in Anna's toys she brought. He kept crawling over and taking them and then Anna would pick up one of his toys and chew on it. Then Hudson would crawl over and take that one away and the afternoon continued the same way. We can't wait for the "mine" phase - combined with walking - won't that be great? =) (These pictures would be so much better with captions attached!)

Look At Our Big Girl!!!

From two new toophers to sitting to jabbering all the time, this little girl is growing so fast! Her first tooth broke through in the beginning of January and then the second a few weeks later, but it seems now that little Anna has some real teeth. Those teeth are no indication of her readiness to eat solids though. Although the banana-eating video is quite adorable, we haven't had many more moments like that. She just doesn't seem too interested anymore. Oh well, we'll keep trying!

Little Buddies
Anna loves visiting her Hypno-baby friends every week. We meet up at the Blue Manatee children's bookstore once a week and have been doing it pretty regularly since September. It's so much fun to watch the babies grow up - it's so weird to think that we knew all these babies when they were only in their mommy's belly! Since we all took the class in preparation for our birth, most of our babies are within one month of each other. Andrew is next to Anna and they actually share a birthday and Milo is a few weeks younger. I've been so thankful to have all of these new mommies as dear friends in my life and value their advice as we go through this experience together. It will be so wonderful watching them all grow up together! (There were 10 of us and although everyone can't meet all the time, we do stay in touch via email almost daily.)

The Bumbo Seat...
Times alone are rare these days. We have to get more creative about entertaining the babe when we need time to ourselves. The newest creation is putting Anna in front of the mirror in her Bumbo seat while I dry my hair and get ready. She enjoys looking at "the baby" and is quite chatty while playing with her toys.

Happy Valentine's Day Anna!

Daddy sent his baby girl her first Valentine...a baby rose bush, balloon and teddy bear. (Mommy got some red roses too =)

A Super Bowl Birthday!

Daddy-Daughter Dances
Practice for high school father-daughter dances.... You know, Anna has a legacy to follow at Notre Dame if she goes there. Her Grandpa Blaze was Father of the night as nominated by his favorite daughter. Big shoes to fill Anna! This picture was taken at midnight on Saturday as Matt celebrated his first birthday with his baby girl. (No, our daughter does not really have much of a sleep schedule. It works for us.)

Uncle Johnny changed his first diapie and fed his first baby! Anna loves when her uncles visit!

Okay, so we obviously can't resist these terribly cute pictures of Anna eating. But the cutest ones yet have to be these.....you always hear that a full belly makes a baby sleep better. We just didn't know it happened so quickly. I fed Anna, washed her dishes, and she was literally "out".

Thank goodness we got the reclining highchair! (We wondered why they made it to recline!)