A very Merry Christmas

Anna had quite a first Christmas--here are some of our favorite pics...

Anna with her first real baby doll (a Madame Alexander, as is our family tradition, from my parents--"Grammie and Grandpa")

Anna with her cousin, Sydney, in rocking chairs that Kelly and I used to use

Checking out what Santa delivered

At the park on Christmas Day...although August in Texas is tough, we make up for it by having beautiful Christmas Days where we can get outside and enjoy the weather!

Opening presents--bows were a bigger hit this year than the wrapping paper (and often than the toy itself!)

Playing with her cousin, Finn--we were blessed this year to have Clint's mom (aka "Nana"), sister (aka "Auntie Lees"), brother-in-law (aka "Uncle Shawn"), and cousin come visit for Christmas. Finn and Anna are 6 months apart, and had a wonderful time getting to know each other better and playing, playing, playing!

Spending some quality time with Nana--it was so great to have her here with us for Christmas this year!

We're back...

Sorry for the long layoff between postings...we've been semi-comatose from too much Christmas food for the past 10 days or so. Now that we've recovered/digested, we'll catch up with a few pictures from Christmas.

As evidenced by the pic, she's been gaining a lot of confidence pulling up and standing. Here she is, a few days before Christmas, pulling herself up on a toy crate. But I think she's also trying to make the subtle point to Mommy, Daddy, and Santa that her toy crate is empty!

Ho, ho, ho...

Anna had her Christmas Party at school today, and had such fun seeing Santa and having some "baby hors d'oerves" with her friends! There was too much excitement in the room to get her to focus on the camera for the Santa shot above, but I guess at least she wasn't screaming in the shot! (We hear to expect that for next year...:-) )

Here Anna is enjoying some bananas and mini Nilla wafers with her girlfriends Ava, Caitlin, and Kara, and showing off her classroom and teachers to Daddy!

Is that a fish in our tub?

Anna's hair is finally getting long enough to play with...here she enjoyed a little fish-do while playing in the bathtub (her new favorite activity now that we finally figured out how to sit her up in her tub...we're a little slow at this "parenting" thing).

Tis the season for some mischief

As we put up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend, we decided it would be ok to sit Anna on the floor by herself for a few minutes (since, at this time, she was still fairly immobile except for her normal scooting/rolling routine which takes quite a while to actually get anywhere). Well, she decided it would be a fine time to show off her ability to crawl backwards, and she backed herself up underneath our stereo table. She seemed quite proud of her accomplishment.

Bring on the turkey!

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!! Sorry this post is a few days late...I somehow forgot to post this over the holiday weekend.

Anna had a great first Thanksgiving...first, her Grammie and Grandpa came to visit, then she had her first taste of "real" turkey (not that silly jarred stuff), and then the Aggies "beat the hell outta" t.u.!! Whoop!! A happy Thanksgiving was had by all...

Beenie baby

As we were preparing to brave the cold weather of the North on our trip to Michigan, I was trying hats on Anna. As a pregnant lady this time last year, I got hit with the "nesting" bug and decided to knit Anna a hat (seen here). I tried it on her in the hospital the day she was born, and it covered her whole head (face included). So, I assumed we would wait and use this hat this fall/winter. Yeah...maybe not. Although Anna's petite little body keeps her in the 10th percentile weight-wise, she does have a 95th percentile head. Smarty pants.

Four generations of Baggermans

In the final posting of our trip to Michigan, we had to capture this wonderful picture (the photo's not great, but the moment was!) of FOUR generations of Baggermans!! Pictured here are Lisa (aka Auntie Lees), Finn, Grandpa Baggerman, Grandma Baggerman, Clint (aka Daddy), Anna, and Pete (aka Grandpa).

We are family...

Anna had such fun hanging out with the Baggerman family in Michigan! Here she is at the dinner honoring Grandma Baggerman's 90th birthday with (l-r, t-b) Auntie Lees and Uncle Shawn, Uncle Thom and Aunt Laurel, Melanie (Clint's cousin..Anna's second cousin), and with us and Grandma.

Kissin' cousins

Anna truly enjoyed getting to meet her cousin, Finn, on our adventure north last weekend. Given her limited verbal skills at this age, she decided that the most appropriate way to express her love for him was to just grab his head, lunge at him, and plant a big wet one on his forehead.

Luckily for her, Finn's a bit of a lover himself so happily accepted her affection. In his zeal to return this kiss, a few teeth kind of got in the way and he gave her a bit of a nibble. Oh well...I think she understood what he was trying to say.

He did attempt to make amends the next day with a peace offering (no pun intended).

Bonding with her great grandparents

Anna had such a great time meeting her wonderful great grandparents in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Here she is at Grandma's birthday dinner (top) and at Aunt Mary's house (middle and bottom).

These boots were made for walkin...

...or, at least for attempting to crawl.

While her affection for these boots was short-lived (we didn't even make it out of the state of Illinois with them still on), she definitely liked them at first! We didn't quite get the snow we were expecting so the snow boots may have been a little bit of overkill, but they were cute just the same!

Executive breakfast

In our effort to streamline our packing, we (of course) did not pack a travel highchair for Anna. But, she was able to make do just fine eating her meals in the "executive" chair in the hotel room. I think we may have a future CEO on our hands...

First flight

Anna went on her first "cross-country" trip this weekend...to Michigan (by way of Chicago) to meet and visit Clint's family for his grandmother's 90th birthday celebration! It was such a great weekend that I'll be posting pictures/anedotes from the weekend for the next few days. These are just the first of the pics!

This is Anna in the airport security line, and then with me on the airplane. She was a trooper for the whole flight! She slept for about an hour, and then just played and ate the rest of the trip. She got a little agitated at the end, but that was most likely because of her little ears and the pressure changes. Overall, she was a great flyer! (At least for the trip to Chicago...we won't talk about the trip home...we're trying to make that part of our distant memory...).

Too much Halloween fun...

After joyfully greeting about four groups of trick-or-treaters at the door in her monkey costume, Anna quickly came to the conclusion that the Old Navy infant costumes are in fact made for northern babies where its cold on Halloween. That monkey costume was a bit warm for our Texas climate! So, she was none too upset when we decided to strip her down and let her eat dinner au natural.

Happy Halloween!!

Our little monkey wishes you a swingin' Halloween!

Pumpkin Patch

Ok, here are the requisite "baby in the pumpkin patch" pictures that every child must have. Don't worry...there will be the requisite "baby in the bluebonnets" pic in the spring...:-)

Seriously, though, Anna had such fun "helping us" pick out a few pumpkins at our local church. We waited til the last minute this year so didn't quite get them carved into jack-o-lanterns...maybe next year...

Bloom where you're planted

This is the Halloween costume that didn't quite make the cut. But, I thought it was too cute to not at least get a photo before I returned it...

Baby on Board(walk)

Anna had such fun this weekend with Grammie and Grandpa here to visit! We went to the Kemah Boardwalk to celebrate Grandpa's birthday (pic above), did a little shopping for a winter coat (photo to come soon!), and did a lot of hanging out around the house...

Fall Carnival

Anna had such fun at the Fall Carnival at her school this Friday! Here she is enjoying the festivities with her teachers--Ms. Teresa, Ms. Sandra, and Ms. Teresa. She was so happy to see them (I didn't work on Friday so she had been at home all day)...they have made such a difference in making this whole "leaving Anna at school while I go to work" thing successful!

Kickin' the khakis

I don't know why, but I just love Anna in her little bitty khaki pants! Here she is showing off not only her stylin' trousers, but also her new favorite position as she tries to transition from sitting up to crawling. She hasn't quite yet mastered getting from the sitting position to her hands and knees, but she's getting closer and closer everyday!

Every girl needs a favorite pair of jeans...

...and, since mine are still on the "goal-clothes-to-fit-into-once-I-lose-all-this-baby-weight" shelf of my closet, I'm just going to enjoy Anna's with her! She's fully appreciating our first real cool front of the fall by sporting her long-sleeves and jeans--she didn't even know it got this chilly outside!

Breakfast with Nana

We had a wonderful time with Nana during her visit this last weekend. Anna had her first adventures (at Mely's and, pictured above, Cracker Barrel) with sitting in a high chair and eating like a "big girl" at a restaurant! She did fabulously! We don't think she's quite ready for chips and salsa at Mely's yet, but she was pretty content with puffs and pear juice...

Miss Independent

Anna is growing up right before our eyes! She's decided that its much more entertaining to feed herself than for us to feed her. She's mastered the "puffs", and now is taking on the challenge of the sippy cup...

Go Texans!

Anna's enjoying football season almost as much as her dad is! She and Daddy cheered on the Texans yesterday. I don't mean to overestimate the powers of an almost 7-month old, but this is the first week that she wore her Texans outfit...and, its the first week that they won. Coincidence? I find that a little hard to believe...

And, Anna's no fair-weather fan...she loves the Texans even when they're a "little behind"...

Cousins

Anna had a wonderful time last weekend celebrating Grammie's birthday at Grammie and Grandpa's house with her cousins Sydney and Natalie. The girls out on a walk with Grandpa. (Sorry for the fog in this pic...I just thought it was too cute not to post)

Anna getting some love from Sydney...we can tell already that Sydney is going to be the "big sister" to Anna. Anna's a lucky girl...

Babies and daddies...here's Natalie with her father ("Uncle Roger") and Anna and Daddy.

P.S.--sorry for the long time between posts. I've gone back to work now (part-time, at least), and am still figuring out the whole "time management" thing with work and my real life...

Party Girl!

Anna went to her first ever birthday party this weekend! Her buddy (and future prom date) Matthew Broome turned one on Saturday...

The girls--Anna with Melanie (aka "Nanny Mel") and Emily (Matthew's sister)

Anna with the birthday boy himself and Joey (Matthew's proud papa)

The "Super Fly Hoochie Mamas"....now pretty much just "mamas"! Mandy with her adorable little ones--Matthew and Emily...Anna and me...Whitney with her new beautiful bundle of joy, Owen!

Highchair happiness

Anna had her first meal in a highchair today! She's starting sitting up on her own for short periods of time, and sitting with a little assistance really well, so we decided it was time to graduate from having dinner in the swing to the highchair! The first picture is from when Clint first built the chair and let Anna try it out...she thought it was the neatest thing ever! And, the second picture is her first meal in the highchair. She seems to like the chair, and definitely has room to grow into it!

Happy Half Birthday, Half Pint!

"I turned 6 months old today, and all I got was a mouthful of squash?"

Sorry DoodleBug...I tried my best to come up with a cake recipe using your current palette of "baby approved foods", but there's just a limited amount of things you can do with rice cereal, mangos, and green beans! :-) Six more months, sweetie, and you can stick your whole face in your birthday cake...

Go Jackets!

"...if I have a daughter, sir, I'll dress her in white and gold. Bring her on the campus, to cheer the brave and bold..."

(please forgive any incorrect words to that segment of the Georgia Tech fight song...this is the "non-yellow jacket" posting this pic...)

Clint and Anna enjoyed some serious father-daughter bonding time during Georgia Tech's first football game of the season. This has been a much-anticipated event in our house (I think Clint's been counting the days since...well...the end of college bowl season last year...). While GT didn't quite pull out the win against (#2 ranked) Notre Dame, they did have a good showing. And, Anna got to experience the "other Daddy" that Clint turns into while intensely watching sports. The yelling startled her at first, but then she kind of got into it! I think we may have a little sports fan on our hands...