9 Months!

This little girl is only 9 months but she looks and acts so much bigger!

At her 9 month checkup she weighed 24 pounds and was 29.5 inches, so she is still topping the charts.

She is into everything these days...

and so proud of herself. She is quick, too. Clearing this bookshelf took maybe a minute. One of her favorite places to play in is the bathroom. The other day I heard water splashing and went to find where it was coming from. She was reaching into the toilet and had water everywhere! Anna never would have thought to do such a thing. :)

As you can tell from most of these pictures, she doesn't like to sit for very long and prefers to stand most of the time.

She started walking with the stroller, too.

She likes to let go and stand by herself and we have fun cheering her on (can you tell by the expression on my face?).

It is funny because when we make a big deal of Haven's new developments, Anna is quick to let us know she can do those things too and wants us to watch her do it. Anna will stand with her arms out like Haven, wobble around and fall to the ground. Such a first born. :)

Although we've only had this "sweetie girl" (as Anna calls her) with us for 9 short months, I can hardly remember what our family was like without her. She has been the perfect addition.

Cowtown Half

Run half-marathon after second baby...check.

I trained with my friend Mindy. She is a personal trainer and without her persistence and encouragement, I'm not sure I would have gone through with it.

The first mile or so we got to run behind Elvis and a cow!
One thing I love about these races is getting to run through parts of town that you can usually only drive through. I thought it sounded fun to run through the Stockyards. Until I got there halfway through the race. It smelled like, well...the stockyards.This is the best picture Brad could get of me as he was trying to take a picture, hold Haven, and keep Anna from joining the race.

I was so happy to see them at the end. Knowing I would see them soon got me through the last 2 miles. I think it would be fun to do races like this with them one day.

Ballet Magnificat!

This weekend I took Anna to her first ballet and Gigi came too. One of the special privileges of having a little girl. I was not a dancer when I was little. I took ballet/tap for one year, got through the recital and said never again. BUT, what girl doesn't love to watch ballet. It will be interesting to see what the girls' passions are and if it is dance, I will support it. It's even in writing now so I guess I have to be held to that statement. :)

We watched a few ballet youtube videos a few days before we went, so Anna was practicing some dance moves before we left.

Ballet Magnificat is a ballet company "committed to presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ through dance" and let me just say, it was beautiful so see God worshiped in that way. Anna sat quietly through the entire two hours, taking it all in and loving every second of it.

Such a sweet mother, daughter memory that I am so thankful for and never want to take for granted.

3 Valentines

My poor husband has not one, not two, but three girls to please on Valentine's Day now. :) On the flip side, he gets three girls who love him and think he is the most important man in the world. Since he got Anna a card and treats last year, on the eve of Valentine's Day I asked him if he was going to give the girls something this year. It was late and he was so tired from a very long day at work and he just hadn't gotten to it. Five minutes later, at 11 o'clock he was out the door, headed to the grocery store to get the girls carnations and balloons.

He stayed up until past midnight making their cards BY HAND! (made me tear up)

I read a girl's blog who filled out one of those "about me" questionnaires. She answered that her favorite memory was getting a Valentine from her dad every year until she was 21! It is my prayer for our girls that because of their father's love, they will grow into confident and secure women who feel deeply loved.

Feeling Like an Adult

A couple weekends ago, Brad and I spent a whole Saturday doing fun things that weren't kid related. I'll admit that as much fun as it is to take the girls to places like the zoo and children's museum, the adult activities were a breath of fresh air for me! We went with Giam and Karri to a local microbrewery for a tour and tasting. I'm not a huge fan of beer so I picked the lightest beer they had and drank a few sips. It reminded me of being in Austin because there was live music, food trucks and a laid back crowd. We always enjoy supporting local companies.

I don't remember the last time the four of us got together without at least one kid being with us!

That fun without kids continued that night when Brad and I got to go on our Valentine's date. It's funny because this year, nobody that I know actually went out on Valentine's day.

Thanks to the grandparents for making it all possible!

Faces

The other day I was taking these messy food face pictures of Haven...

when Anna asked me to take some pictures of her face. She started making all kinds of silly faces (I gave her a couple of the ideas). She has never been one to really pose for the camera and has never even asked me to take pictures of her. By the end, we were both laughing out loud. It was such a fun little moment at the dinner table which, during this season, is usually a stressful place to be. :)

(Love the big gap in her front teeth from thumb sucking. One day braces will close it up and it will be gone, so for now, I love it.)

LOVE this precious face.

L-O-V-E

My girl loves to party and loves to have friends/cousins come to HER house (I think most little kids do). Gathering people together has never come naturally to me...I prefer one-on-one interaction. In a book I highly recommend called Loving the Little Years, the author challenges parents to discover their children's gifts and encourage them, even when they are different from their own. In the end, both the child and parent grow. So, we had a little Valentine's party at our house.

And made these little lovebugs

with Lucas and Marcus

And pigged out on (at least I did) this red velvet cheese ball and animal crackers

with our friends Hungry (his name is Henry and Anna can say Henry but prefers to call him Hungry so I call him that too), Camille and Elliot

love his big eyes

and Ashley and Emilynn who is always dressed for the occasion.

Who needs a nap when you are having fun?

Since we've gotten into the Valentine's spirit, Anna made some Valentines of her own. I found this idea somewhere in the blogosphere where you tape a doily to piece of paper and then paint over it. I found some doilies at the Dollar Tree.

Anna striking an artist pose

The City of Cowboys and Culture

I recently heard that Fort Worth is called the city of cowboys and culture, and I think that is a perfect description. We went to the stock show to experience the cowboy side of things which is actually a culture in and of itself. Especially to this city girl! I mean, they were doing things like styling and drying cow's hair with blow dryers that looked like vacuum cleaners.

I think Brad fit in the best with his cowboy boots and mustache.

Haven had on cute little boots too.

Loved having this little monkey on my back so I didn't have to deal with a stroller in the crowds.

Anna loved seeing all the animals, especially the mama piggy and all her babies.

Anna was so excited to ride the pony because she heard that her friend Andrew got to ride one. Funny side note...see the bright pink pony behind Brad? While we were in line, I told Brad "whatever you do, don't let her ride that pink pony!". Luckily, some other little girl jumped on it first. When we were leaving the stock show, we asked Anna what her favorite animal was. She replied "the pink pony, I want to ride it next time". Brad and I looked at each other and laughed out loud, especially because she hadn't said one word about the pink pony until that point.

Anna got to ride on her first carnival ride. Riding the teacups with mommy seemed the most appropriate since we have tea parties almost everyday. She was a little cautious at first...

and seconds after the ride started, LOVED it!

We even rode it with no hands.