Swan Lake

Grandma, Anna and I enjoyed the fresh air too while watching Shelby ride around. Happy girl.

While walking towards the back of the barns there were swan coming and going and making their beautiful noise. I got lucky with this shot! They are such elegant birds.
Swan Lake in the back field! They didn't even care that I was there. They are such a joy to watch and Anna finds them very interesting. It is funny when the monitor is on and they fly over Anna's window in the morning because I can hear them over the monitor.

Papa and Shelby?

Today was a beautiful day to be outside enjoying the sunshine. So Papa and Shelby had a plan for the afternoon.....riding the Baha. Shelby and papa have been practicing so it was really quite a show! Go Shelby!
Shelby was ready to go helmet, gloves, and a little help from papa and she was on her way!

She doesn't look like she is having any fun! She did such a good job! She looks like one cool biker chick! Way to go Shelby!

Rock A'baby....

Grandma Shirley has a special song that she sings to all the grandkids when they are baby's and it always puts them to sleep. Anna even likes to baby talk while she is singing the song and it is so sweet. Once that thumb is in it is time for sweet dreams. Rock a'baby, rock a'Anna....

1st Christmas Photos

Well the other day I decided that it was now or never time to get Anna's First Christmas Card made. Wow! I have such a new respect for people who do these types of pictures for a living. I must have taken 50 pictures and these are just a couple that of course did not make the cut but are still so cute!

I think she is ignoring the bear and doesn't even know it! Such a funny girl! But in the end we got just the right shot and she never got upset! Two very good things!

Lacking Attention?

After Troy got home from the football game he met Anna and me over at my parents where mom was fixing a delicious meal for dinner! So Anna, for some reason recieved a lot of attention!

Playing a game of Soooo Big with Grandma put a smile on her face!

More football on the tv so everyone was watching the game! As you can see though there was a little distraction in the center!

Papa doesn't like it when his "little precious" gets upset so he picked her up and soon after this picture was taken she was back to smiling!

This was actually before leaving for the game. Daddy likes to get a little quality time in as much as possible and Anna loves it!

Time to Go!

Yesterday morning while I was getting Anna's breakfast ready she decided to give me a wake up call! See, usually I put her in her vibrating chair while getting her breakfast ready and then attach her favorite bar with stuffed toys that hang from it! Well she decided that just wasn't going to be enough yesterday morning and she started to use the bar to pull herself up. Not Good! Even with her belt on she nearly fell out! Mommy ran and saved the day but needless to say the chair is in storage!

It is cute to look at the pictures because it looks like she's doing her daily chin-ups! Very athletic at such a young age!

And then she gives me one of these smiles and what can you do or say! I will miss this chair just as much as she will because it was the first thing she played in. Every month it was something different that she would learn and it would sooth her into sleeping for long periods which all parents enjoy! Thank you again for the wonderful vibrating chair Shar and Jon! It has served Anna well!

Our Neighbors

Almost everyday our local neighbors fly in close to sit in a tree. Just so happens that this tree is right outside our front door. They are looking out over the river and they are a joy to watch but a pain when you are trying to keep a puppy around. They kept a close eye on Jack while he was small but now there are no worries so we enjoy them. These are the same family of Eagles that have their nest near our back yard. Enjoy!

I like to play find what's in the picture games like, "Where is Waldo" books.(Courtesy of my Neice Shelby) So this one is our family that live near my parents front yard. There are 3! Mommy, Daddy, and baby. There are so many hawks and Eagles in our area and we are so fortunate that we can actually watch these bird grow and make families! Hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do!

A Generator Evening

After all the excitement of the early evening the power went out all over the island. Luckily Anna was napping when it happened. When Troy came home from work he went and picked up the generator and had our home lit up before Anna new what was going on! Way to go DAD! She was very fussy after waking up from her nap so we all cozied up in Daddy's den. She had her favorite stuffed animal (Carrie) and a good football game on and she was set! (Plus some Tylenol and a bottle.) Check out the blanket Haley!
I enjoy lighting all the candles in the house but it was sure nice to have that generator to help keep us entertained once Anna was awake!

Before Anna!

I realized today while visiting with the ladies from the corp that I haven't taken any pictures of our dogs. They were our children before Anna came around and believe me they still are. So like any proud parent here are Jack and Zeke! They are wonderful but they keep us on our toes. Jack is the puppy, 1 year old and Zeke is a rescue dog, my dog, about 6 years old.

Our Beautiful Mountain!

Tonight was a rare night to actually catch such a beautiful moment. Our awesome mountain, the lovely moon coming up and, if you look closely our local family of eagles in the tall tree. I'm actually talking about the nest. This is our back yard and we are so thankful for these views!
After the corp left my dad brought his scraper implement over to smooth out the loads. What a busy evening in our backyard!

Flood Help!

Well, here we go again! Flood season! Thank goodness it didn't get as bad as predicted. Standing in this picture is one of the lovely ladies, Cathy, who is in charge of one sector of the Army Corp of Engineers. She and a her crew are the same people that came to our rescue 2 years ago during our bad flood and organized 100's of loads of rock to build a burr that helped save our home and our island that we live on. They are a great group of people to know and it was nice to see them again under better circumstances. Today they were able to top off our dike with loads of gravel to help prevent difficult driving for trucks during our next flood. Thank you for all your hard work!

Here was the first of many loads that were brought before they had to shut down. Cathy directed the trucks as they arrived!

They are quick and efficient. They used their time well and were able to complete their final task before they no longer considered the river a threat.

Their Back!

Our wet days are back and so are the beautiful swan. I couldn't count how many families were out in this field but there were quite a few. In this local field they are feasting on cow corn kernels left over from the harvest and hopeful the nut sedge weed we'd all like to see go away. Enjoy!

Conquering the Sippy Cup!

Tonight we were working on the sippy cup. I bought the sippy cup Sunday afternoon and it is designed for first time users. We work on it after meals while I am cleaning up. She is so excited to get it to work!
Not only does she completely enjoy the sound of the water as she shakes it! It is so much fun watching her work at getting it into her mouth. She actually succeed in getting water out of it after I loosened the stopper. She was so happy to get that cool water in her mouth. She is so much fun now that every day there is something new to try or something to get better at! Keep it up Anna your doing great!

Check out the grip!

Fall Leaves!

I went over to watch the kids while my mom went to town and the kids talked me into letting them rake up the leaves. I wonder why they were so eager.... They earned the fun since they raked up 3 decent size piles to, of course, jump in!
They worked very hard to get just the right size and Ryan informed us that he was the piler. We didn't care what he called his job title as long as he was having fun! Nice pile guys!

Now jump in! And boy they did. They came in with wet feet and leaves sticking everywhere. Good thing Grandma has spare clothes for all the kids. They got warm in a jiffy! Thanks for the fun afternoon kids!

Grandpa Ed

Yesterday afternoon Anna was paid a visit by her Grandpa Ed. Her face was full of amazement that he was there. He was able to help feed her her lunch and afterward they cuddled up and watched some football in the den with daddy. As you can see on her face she is so happy to have her grandpa stop by and visit. After this picture it was time for her bottle and she fell asleep in grandpa's arms. So sweet!

Anna's Nap!

When Anna wakes up from her morning naps I swear it is her happiest time. Smiles like this one are constant along with her lovely bable. She is such a joy and you can see why! I must add that she wakes up from all her naps this way and don't worry I am knocking on wood and am very thankful for this. My little love bug!

Rain, Rain Go Away.....

When Anna woke up this morning I got her dressed and heard tractors running so I thought someone was in the field next to her room. I dressed her and planned on showing her the tractors as they were working but they never came. When I finally got Anna settled into her morning bottle this was where the noise was coming from. The view is from our den window.

Since it had rained so much the poor farmers were trying their best to get thoughs potatoes out of the ground and get them ready to be shipped. Rain doesn't stop these guys but it certainly didn't make it any easier.

They had tractors pulling trucks and they had a tractor on road sweeping duty to keep the roads safe. I counted a total of 5 tractors trying to get this job done! This rain can go away for a while so this doesn't have to be the case for these farmers whenever the market demand fresh potatoes!

Picture Day!

Today we went over to Auntie Ally's house and had our (all the grandkids) pictures taken for Grandma Shirley. It is our Christmas gift to her and we hope something came out looking good. A little chaos for the family but we survived. Grandma Patsy came up to help out and brought Anna her very own boppy cushion. She's been borrowing baby Jacob's when we come to visit and loves it! So now she has one of her own! Thank you Grandma Patsy I love it and the squeaky blocks! I must say she looks alot like her daddy in this picture!

After a short cat nap Anna found a smile for her grandma's! It was a long morning for all the kids and mom's but it was worth it!
Happy little Anna working on sitting up in her bumbo seat! Practice is fun, isn't it Anna! Keep up the good work!

Cousin Time!

So what do you do on a rainy day? You play with your cousins, of course! Tonight Papa and Grandma Shirley got some special time with their two Granddaughters. Anna adores Shelby and Shelby is so good with Anna! Tomorrow is picture day for the Grandkids. Mom wants a new photo to put above her mantle this Christmas since she went from 3 grandkids to 5 in one year!

What Sweethearts!

I'm sure if you looked at my sister's blog you would have seen these pictures but ,I just love them so I'm going to share them on our blog also. I love how willing the older cousins play with the babies. Ryan and Shelby are so helpful and loving to baby Anna! Watch out Jacob they are excited to play with you too!
Ryan got home in time to get one day of school in on Thursday and I don't think he liked being away from his mommy and new baby brother that long. Baby Jacob was asleep in the swing behind Ryan so he could keep an eye on him while he played with Anna! Such a good helper.
We are so fortunate that we all live so close so the kids can basically grow up together. I like that Anna is learning new things everytime she spends time with her cousins. Paddy Cake from Shelby and eating really good at lunch with Ryan! There is never a dull moment when these kids get together!

Working on it!

I'm getting there! Today we hurried our morning a little so we could go over to Grandma Shirley's to help and hold baby Jacob. Auntie Ally and Jacob are sleeping over at Grandma's house while Jeff and Ryan are East of the mountains helping on their other farm for a few days. It is so hard to believe that Anna was just that little yesterday but it is already 6 months. When we were there I was able to put him in his little outfit and feed him a bottle. Such a sweetie! I had to run to town to pick up dad while he got his oil changed. We ran some errands and had some lunch then his truck was ready so back to mom's, since little Anna stayed there to take her nap and have her lunch with Auntie Ally, Grandma, and Jacob.

We also worked on sitting up and she practiced reaching for her toys! It was fun to watch her creative way she would somehow get to them.

She even caught on to the banging on the bottom of her toy can. I don't know how great it will be when she really connects with it but for now it was fun watching her figure it out.

She played for a good hour this way! Singing, talking, grunting, all those good things! Needless to say when she had her bottle shortly after her play time she was out like a light! Good night Baby Anna!

Hunting Season for Jack!

Our 1 year old puppy Jack has been trained for hunting since he came home with us last September. He was so excited and he did a "great job" as Troy put it. He is also our newest hunting/family dog and boy does he have some energy. I am so glad he was able to go out this morning and show off all his hard work. He looks very proud of his work! Way to go Jack!

After they went hunting Troy was quickly moving along to go watch his favorite pro football team. He is a die hard fan! So he left Anna and I to play and kick back around the house. Anna was feeling good after a good long nap. That poor girl and all thoughs teeth trying to come in can certainly change her pace. Here's our happy Anna rolling around on the floor!

Anna was doing a lot of holding her head up today and thinking she was pretty funny! Good job Anna!

We got creative with Anna sitting in her little chair that she usually doesn't like and by no means did this last very long but it started out very exciting for her. Seeing her light up toy in a whole different way really kept her interested for much longer than I thought it would.

So once Daddy got home from the game we were a little stir crazy from being home all day so Papa and Grandma brought home burgers. Troy and I fed Anna and then Anna and I went over for my burger and a little play time with the grandparents. Daddy had to go to bed early so we told him goodnight before leaving. Anna enjoyed her visit like usual and she played so hard and talked so much that she made us tired. What a sweetie! We love you Anna!

Visit with Grandma Patsy!

We were lucky enough to recieve a phone call from Grandma Patsy saying she was available to come up and see baby Anna!

We were busy eating our breakfast when the call came in but we listened to the message on loud speaker so Anna could hear. She loves that! So we quickly called Grandma Patsy back and told her we would love to do lunch this afternoon. Then grandma was on her way!

It was our first outing for lunch and she had a ball! Grandma Shirley and Great Grandma were able to join us so it was Anna's first luncheon with the ladies. So cute and Anna did so well. Grandma Patsy enjoyed watching every bite get swallowed up! And Anna kept checking Grandma's reflects by trying to toss all her toys on the floor and seeing if she could catch them. Anna is quick but Grandma did a darn good job keeping up!

After lunch we stopped by Auntie Ally's to give her the Baby Bjorn front pack she let me borrow for Anna. It seems little Jacob is a cuddler so, Ally is hoping the front pack will allow her the chance to get things done around the house and Jacob will be happy being close to mommy. It was only going to be a quick visit but when small babies are involved nothing is quick. Baby Jacob needed a bottle and soon afterwards Anna needed her bottle. Luckily Grandma Patsy was there to feed Anna! Thanks for all the yummies Grandma Patsy and the cuddles!