You never know what you might find when you wake up from your nap.

Anna's first time playing in the snow

Who needs collagen...

...when you have lips like these?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was Anna's first Thanksgiving! We had a great time hanging out with Bryan's family in Lansing.

Playing with Uncle David...

... and Uncle Mike!

Anna's holiday feast

Anna always loves to hang out with Junior

We had a little birthday celebration for Anna with the cutest cake ever.

Anna and Junior had a great time riding in the wagon in the basement.

Anna's first professional pics

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Today we drove to Lansing to be with Bryan's family for the holiday. Grandma Van Hal offered to set up an appointment for Anna tonight at Portrait Innovations, a photo studio in Lansing. Anna ate dinner in the car on the way there. She seemed to think that was pretty neat. When we got to the studio we had to wait nearly an hour for our turn, but Anna was entertained by some toys and watching the other children. When it was our turn Anna was absolutely perfect. We had lots of great shots to choose from. Thank you for bringing us, Grandma Van Hal!

Practice makes perfect

I've been trying for awhile now to get a good video of Anna practicing her walking skills in her crib. I was only able to get a short one, but you get the idea.

Mmmm... graham crackers!

Baby on the Move

Anna does not like to stand still for any length of time. Here is a video of her wandering around the library (at 4x speed) .

Ear tubes on Dec. 5th

On Friday Anna and I were back at the pediatrician's office where she was diagnosed with another double ear infection. She's had infected ears for about 6 weeks now, so the pediatrician recommended we see an ear, nose & throat doctor as soon as possible. Over the weekend Anna seemed to be in pain and rubbed at her ears a lot. We saw the ENT first thing this morning. Anna's infection has improved a little but both ears still have fluid in them. The doctor said that Anna would be a good candidate for ear tubes and we decided to go ahead with them. Anna has had some loss of hearing in each ear but it should return to normal after the procedure. Although we hate the idea of our little girl having to go under anesthesia and have surgery, we are very relieved that there is an end in sight. We've had it with the antibiotics (Anna started her 4th course on Friday) and we're ready for Anna to start feeling lots better. Here is some information about the procedure she is having.

Party time!

It's party day! We planned an informal pizza & cupcake party to celebrate Anna's first year. Anna is a very lucky girl this year- this is the first of three celebrations. Next week we'll have a little party with Bryan's family since they could not make it to this one. On her actual birthday the three of us will have our own little celebration.

After the party Bryan and Anna took some time to wind down.

A story

My parents are in town this weekend and they brought some old things for me to go through. Last night we were going through some school papers from elementary school. We found this essay that I wrote in the first grade. It was too funny not to share.

People
These people are Lillion and Bill and Harry and Robert. They are going to Florida. They are talking about getting married. A tornado will come during their visit.

A day with Grandma and Grandpa D.

Anna's Grandma and Grandpa D. are visiting this weekend so they can attend Anna's birthday party tomorrow. They were originally coming for Anna's dedication as well, but the church cancelled it. Anna and I started out our day by visiting Grandma and Grandpa at their hotel to eat breakfast with them and try out the pool. Normally Anna loves to swim but today she was decidedly unsure about it. I don't know if this was because I didn't come in with her like I normally do or if it was because her ears were bothering her.

Later on at home Anna tried out a new winter accessory- mittens!

Playgroup at the mall

A trip to the gardens to see Santa

Frederick Meijer Gardens hosts an annual event called Christmas and Holiday Traditions Around the World. Each year they display dozens of Christmas trees, each decorated to represent one country. We decided to bring Anna to see it at one of the special member events, which also includes snacks, carolers, and Santa Claus. I don't have as many photos to share as I had hoped as the lighting was poor and Anna moves very fast these days. As you can tell from the photo, Anna was not a big fan of Santa.

Self esteem

Little Miss Curious

Feeding herself

Anna has recently decided it's time to try feeding herself (read: crying if Mommy will not give her the spoon).

Anna is practicing a new skill

Snow!