Pray for Ava

While we typically use this blog to share fun, light-hearted updates on Anna, we have a very serious request for all of the friends and family of Anna that visit this site.

One of Anna's friends, Ava, was recently diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, and is undergoing treatment at Texas Children's. She has bravely endured two brain surgeries to date, and is facing extensive chemotherapy and radiation over the next months/years in order to beat this cancer.

Ava is the daughter of friends of ours, Amy and Jeremy, and is also one of Anna's classmates at "school".

While Ava is in the hands of some of the most gifted medical professionals in the world, the real key to her overcoming this challenge is PRAYER. Please please pray for sweet little Ava, and please pass her story on to your friends, family, prayer groups, etc.

Here is Ava's story:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/avabrae

Also, please sign the guestbook on her site if you have a chance. While Amy and Jeremy may not know all of you, they are so strongly supported by seeing the number of people praying for and caring about their little angel, Ava.

Slippery

Darn those slippery little babies....

(For concerned grandparents/onlookers, Sydney--Anna's cousin--did not drop or come anywhere near dropping Anna. This was just the product of our camera batteries being low and the exposure time being too long. But, it was a funny shot, and a funny testament to the relative energy/motion of a 4- and 1-year old v. a 60+ year old grandpa...).

Party Time!

Wrapping up the week-long celebrations, we had Anna's first birthday party on Saturday. She had so much fun! She was quite entertained by this hat--hats are her newest form of entertainment these days.

She also loved hanging out with Grammie eating a little bit of red bell pepper. Isn't her party dress so cute?? Grammie made it for her!

Happy Birthday, Doodle Bug!

Our little Anna Banana turned ONE YEAR OLD today! Can you even believe it?? In some ways it seems like just yesterday that we were counting time between contractions and making "false alarm" trips to the hospital, but in some ways it seems like she's been part of our life forever!

We just can't believe that our teeny little baby is now a "toddler"!! Toddler?!? That sounds so old!! As sad as we are to see these baby days go, we are quite excited about her entering a new phase of discovery and interaction.

We had such a great day with her today...

We started out with a candle-clad waffle for breakfast. I mean, what says "celebration" like organic flax waffles, right? She at least thought the candle was cool...

Clint was able to take the afternoon off of work, so we took our maiden voyage to Galveston with Anna. She really loved the beach! It was of course too cold for the water, but we were able to walk along the seawall and a pier, and take her on a walk in the sand. She was a little intimidated by the feeling of sand in her toes at first, but quickly warmed up to it and was thrilled to get to walk around in it.

Even though her official "first birthday cake" will be at her party this weekend, we thought it was be unfair for her to not have cake on her birthday. So, we let her "steal" one of the cupcakes that we're taking for her party at school tomorrow. She was definitely interested in the cupcake, but not that thrilled about it once she touched/tasted it! She did find the frosting to be an interesting adhesive, and spent a few minutes sticking pears and meat sauce to the ladybug. Oh well...

And, in a move that warmed her nutrition-conscious parents' hearts, she turned the cupcake upside down, and returned to eating her fresh pears. That's our girl...

Snow Bunny

While up north, we had a chance to take a quick sledding run. This was the first time sledding for both Mommy and Anna, who both seemed to enjoy it. The bunny hill was tackled this time...we'll eventually progress to the black diamond! Seen here is the trip up the hill...much more slow and mundane than the trip back down...and harder on Daddy.

And check out Anna's fancy hat, knitted for her by Mommy!:

Trip to See Nana

We headed up north to Cleveland, OH last weekend (Anna's second trip on an airplane) to visit Nana! We had a great time...Anna was thrilled to see Nana again. She got to show off her latest almost-walking skills, see snow, and experience a little grandparent spoiling!


Also, Nana's house had something which is just about the coolest thing in the world to a near 1-year-old...carpeted stairs...: