More Pictures

New Pictures

We have been very busy and I have just been too lazy to sit down and write anything. Anna is doing quite well. She has been using words sporadically for the last 1 1/2 months and she is now establishing quite the vocabulary. Anna had a great time during her first Christmas. At first she didn't grasp the concept of gift opening, but as she became more familiar....she wanted to open everyone's gift. Nina was a great help with teaching her destructive gift opening techniques. Now that we have a computer in the house, it should be a little easier to keep this thing a bit more current(like taking my laptop out of my bag qualifies as difficult). So, I won't ramble on today...Here are some new pics!

Been a while

The first picture is "what happens when you give an 18mo. old a box of powdered sugar donuts"

As you can imagine we have been very busy. Busy with work, holidays, Anna, football watching etc. So many things to do and never enough time. We all seem to be more susceptable to getting sick. So we have had two rounds of colds, flu's and sore throats. The recent World Series victory by the Phillies allowed Anna to enjoy her first parade. And based on the sports trend in Philadelphia...possibly the last for a very long time. Kim's office is on the 2nd floor of Market St. and we were all able to gather there to enjoy some food fun and the best view of the parade. Despite all of that, we did manage to get Anna out for a short time for Halloween. She was dressed as the most adorable Lady Bug. Although we did not visit many houses and get much candy she had a great time. She has also in the last couple of days started to say a few words. We never know what its going to be, but she has said Nina, Doug, Doggie, Down & Ball very clearly...and of course her favorite phrase is Ut-Oh. She wil get to "enjoy" her first OSU-Michigan game next weekend and after that its off to Ohio for Thanksgiving.

Flashback to June

Last night our friends Jim & Cathy from Wisconsin emailed some pictures that they had taken just moments after we were given Anna. We didn't really have any photos of the event so I was so surprised and happy that they were able to give us such a precious gift. It made me think of how that day unfolded, the heat, the rain, the flight and the bus ride to where we first met her. The anticipation and uncertainty were overwhelming, but now it seems like she has been with us for some time. Watching her learn, grow and develop her own personality is a wonderful experience. Its seems like it was so long ago that we were in China but it has only been a little more than 3 months. We are very lucky to have each other. Anna started in daycare a few weeks ago and she has adjusted well. Her teacher, Miss Pat is very good with kids and has a great passion for small children. Today when Kim picked her up she had a few grass stains on her pants, grass stains=having fun. All three of us have had a cold for the last few days so we are all anxious for this weekend to get here. Since the weather has turned cooler Nina is able to go for long walks so we all benefit. Hopefully this weekend we can take them both to the woods where Nina can run off her leash and Anna can throw rocks and experience all of the things that come with roaming in the great outdoors. Our Saturdays have been mostly filled with watching the Buckeyes and other football games. I keep waiting for the day that Anna starts talking but she seems to lack the desire right now. Halloween is right around the corner and Anna has a couple of costumes to choose from. I'll keep you in suspense. Kim and I still have to come up with some really good costumes for the big Halloween party in two weeks. We are really leaning towards Mike and Carol Brady but that isnt solid yet. It will be hard to top my Magnum PI costume from last year. Gotta roll.

1st day of school

Well, Kim goes back to work on Monday, so today was Anna's first 1/2 day in daycare. Of course the drop off created a few tears (all from Kim). But the teachers said that Anna cried a little bit andf otherwise was pretty good. When Kim showed up at noon, Anna noticed her from across the room and screamed out her usual greeting of " UHHHHHHHHHH" very loudly and knocked over kids, table and chairs to get to Kim. Anna & Nina are getting along very well now and Nina gets an "Air Kiss" every night before bed. Looks like tomorrow includes a trip to the zoo and taking Nina to the woods where hopefully she gets to see the pet billy goats again. Here a a few pictures that were taken last week by a professional photographer.

New Pictures

Rattlesnake in the House???

The Labor Day weekend started out with an exciting Friday night at home. We did the usual, pick up a pizza and watch a crappy football game. As we are eating in the kitchen, we could hear a pretty loud rattling noise coming from the sunroom. I had the TV kind of loud so I ignored it the first time, thinking it was something with the TV. When it happened the next time, I looked at Kim and said"that sounds like the rattle of a rattlesnake, seriously." So thinking that I would need all of my energy to fight the snake, I finished my pizza then went to get my snake fighting gear(a big long pole and my running shoes). Kim held Anna and held back Nina and I went into the sunroom with the worst case scenario in mind, realizing that if it was a snake we were going to have to put the house up for sale and go to a hotel that night and probably never reclaim any of our personal possessions. I also remebered being a young boy and one of our neighbors found a snake in their cupboard. If you don't know already, Kim & I are more afraid of snakes than any two combined people that I know. Screaming and running are commonplace when we are working in the yard. I even bought hip waders a few years ago so that when I am weed-wacking or hillside that one can't slither into my shoe or up my pants. Anyway, what better place to look first than under the couch, so as you can envision I gently lifted the skirt of the couch with my stick and saw nothing except a few balls that Nina put under there. Then to the baskets and the big trunk. Still nothing. I have heard that snakes will eat dog food so I lifted up Nina's food bowls which sit on a wooden box. I was certain that the only other place it could be would be in the couch cushions or under a pillow. I held my breath and checked. No snake anywhere. We have like eight windows in that room, could it possibly be in the curtains? No...what I did find was a small bug that looked similar to a grasshopper that was making this incredibly loud rattling noise..so I scooped it up and put it outside. I don't know what that thing was, but we have named it "Rattle Hopper".

Last night we went to the neighborhood block party, and I will say that Anna had a really good time. There was a DJ and Anna loves to dance, she danced until 10pm and we had to pull her away from the party. She slept until 10am this morning and only woke up because I made her get up. She was cranky. She is walking and even doing a little running. She has quite a few bumps and bruises but she is pretty tough. We have seem a number of face plants on the hardwood floor but the crying usually last less than a minute. She fell halfway down the steps once when I was teaching her how to do steps. My reflexes need a little work.

Well, summer is over and for Nina what better way to close it out than to have a nice refreshing Frosty-Paws on a hot summer day. I was holding the frosty paws for her and an ant was walking by her foot, rather than move, she shook her paw and ate the delicious treat on three legs.....she is very smart. Good thing I stepped on the ant..I didn't want to see what would happen if the ant went to her other foot.