Making Progress!

I am pleased to announce that AnnaKate is making great progress with her walking! I was getting a little frustrated because she really did not seem to want to walk. But this weekend she really has started to walk with much more confidence and is taking more independent steps. She will even let go of your finger when she feels confident enough.
Enjoy this walking video.


Signing Progress
AnnaKate's signing or lack of, has really been a sore spot for me. I majored in education for hearing handicap so you would think that I would have no problem teaching signs to my daughter. WRONG! She has had such a hard time picking up new signs. She can sign more, all done, and yes. I try and try to teach new signs and then get frustrated after working on one sign and having no progress. But on Friday she picked up a new sign with little effort. She will now sign "night-night". Even better it is at the appropriate time. It is so cute the way she cocks her head to pretend she is sleeping. (By the way, my sign for night-night may not be the approved sign but it was one that she could do. Disclaimer for Melissa!)
This morning I made pancakes for her and showed her the sign and she got it immediately. (Again my sign was a simpler version...just pat your hands twice) So maybe I was pushing her to sign before she was ready. This is probably a good lesson for me to learn. I need to not push so hard...it only frustrates me and does not seem to help!

Signing night-night while taking a rest with daddy!

Fun on the Farm

What a fun day we had at Dogwood Farm! My cousin's little girl, Elise, had her 5th birthday party at the farm. They had llamas, oreo cows, tukeys, chickens, rabbits, goats, miniature donkeys and lots of other neat animals. We took a hayride around the farm and AnnaKate got to see the animals up close.

None of the animals really impressed AnnaKate but the turkeys.

Elise got to collect the eggs. I loved the blue eggs. Elise on the llama.

AnnaKate was also very impressed by the dogs that keep the coyotes away. Go figure!

An angora rabbit.

Uncle Kinard and sweet Ben.

Believe it or not, this was AnnaKate's first time eating pizza. She just thought it was ok.

AnnaKate really enjoys birthday cake!

We had such a fun day at the farm. Happy Birthday Elise!

As you can tell it was a little bit cold. Now that spring is here, I hope the spring weather finally catches up.

Lucky

St. Patrick's Day is kind of like Valentine's Day to me. A way too commercialized day that sells lots of over frosted cookies and cupcakes. Don't get me wrong...I really like both of these holidays. Valentine's Day makes me reflect on those I love and today I found myself reflecting on how lucky I am.

1. I am very lucky that I have a job that I love.

2. I am very lucky to have a comfortable home.

3. I am very lucky to have found a great person to spend my life with.

4. I am very lucky that AnnaKate was brought into our lives.

5. I am very lucky that I have a wonderful family that lives close by.

6. I am very lucky to have formed relationships through blogging that have enriched my life.

I know there is so much more.

Do you feel lucky today?

How do you eat hummus?

We had some beautiful spring weather this week. It is hard to believe my last post was about snow!
AnnaKate and I spent some time outside this week enjoying the deck and fresh air.

While we were outside we had a snack of hummus and crackers. Yum!

AnnaKate had a bright idea. We ran out of crackers so...

What a smart little girl! (I did take the stick away before any bark was digested...)

The weather is going to turn cold tomorrow...I hope my next post is not about snow again! :)

Kelly

Snow Days!

We never get snow in the south so a March 1st snow was a big deal! We got about 4 inches of really wet snow. The only going out in the snow that we did was to get pictures! :) Our power went out as usual and I was so pleased with my hubby's investment in that generator a few years back. It made life practically normal.

AnnaKate thought the falling flakes were pretty neat until her hair got wet! Time to go in.

See...we don't have very appropriate snow clothes...but they were cute!

My very best friend, Holly, was in town this week from DC with her kids Jackson and Miller. So we had a great play date. Jackson and AnnaKate love to be together. They enjoyed pushing each other around.

The whole crew playing together just fine. Miller is a true 2nd baby and gets right in the middle of things. (Notice AnnaKate's hat...she loves to wear hat these days.)

AnnaKate was left in the room for 1 minute with Miller!

A duet!

AnnaKate finally had her first trip to the dentist. She did great! I was shocked that they were able to clean and floss her teeth without too much of a problem. The dentist asked how flossing was going at home...uh-uhmmm...we will get right on that!

Changed my blog over to a spring design just when it snowed. Isn't that always how it is!!