Little drummer girl

Anna was so excited about her new Alphabet Drum that she couldn't even wait to get it unwrapped before she started drumming on it. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for it!!

She's decided now that she likes the tune of it so much that she'd like to hear it anytime she's playing in the playroom...which often results in her running off and playing with a different toy but telling me to keep drumming ("again! again!"). Remind me again who's in charge here??

Aarrgh!!

This whole toy assembly this isn't nearly as easy as it looks. You think you're done, then you go try it out, and it doesn't work! Luckily, being an engineer, it only took me a few hours to troubleshoot the structural problem with the rocking moose:

Aarrgh...so close!!

Luckily, I found the cause of the problem and we were right back on track!Success! I'm smarter than a rocking moose!

Then, after all that, when Anna first saw the moose, she proceeded to set her milk onto it and go play with another toy. All that work for a new end table for her!

She did finally decide to explore the multitude of functions provided by the moose. You mean I'm allowed to rock on my end table? This is awesome...

"Nanny" time

We were lucky enough to have Nana come visit us for Christmas this year! She escaped the snowy north and came to Texas for some milder weather that included some park time with Anna.

Anna affectionately refers to Nana as "Nanny", and kept asking for Nanny for days after she left. Nanny definitely ensured that Anna had a very MERRY Christmas this year...

Here, Nanny and Anna check out the "pointy trees" in our new subdivision...

Welcome Molly!

We're thrilled to welcome Molly Ann Broome to the world! She arrived on Wednesday evening as an extra special Christmas present for our dear friends Mandy and Joey. We got to visit the Broomes at home tonight, and big sister Emily and big brother Matthew were absolutely thrilled with their new little sister...

Anna was slightly less thrilled with the visual of Mommy and Daddy holding another baby. But, she did quickly warm up to her new little friend, and by the end of evening was smiling and pointing every time she saw "Mo-yee!"

The Toddler Christmas Party Circuit

Who knew toddlers could party so much? Anna has been making the Christmas party circuit this year full force. Cookies? Juice? Santa, AND presents?? Seriously, does it get any better?

Anna was enthralled with the light-up train in downtown League City at our MOMS Club Holiday Party. Do we have a future engineer on our hands?

Good thing our Houston flagpoles don't often have ice on them...

Mmmm...Cookies...

Here's a pic of Anna when she woke up from a nap just in time to help Mommy make some peanut butter squares. Luckily, it wasn't too late to assume her role as the official peanut butter square taste tester. The good news is that Mommy's squares checked out. And as you can see, Anna enjoyed her job!

Under the Weather

Anna was a bit under the weather a week or so ago. She had a bit of a fever, and as you can see, it tired her out. The best cure seemed to be hours on end of Seasame St. (Ernie and Bert in particular).

In fact, Anna is right here as I type this. I'll pass over the keyboard, she wants to include a message:

asdfghkl;

Hmmm...not sure what that means, but it was typed with great care so it must be important. Maybe cousin Finn can translate!

Photo shoot, take 2

Play at the park...another attempt to get pics for the Christmas cards. She was pretty opposed to looking at the camera for these pics, but we still had a great time at the park!

Catching up...

It has been an outrageously long time since we posted to the blog...we apologize! November was a bit of a crazy month, but we're committed to do a better job of blogging in December.

Here are a few cute shots of Anna that we took in our attempt to get Christmas card photos. She was in a bit of a mischevious mood during this photo shoot, so none of these quite made it for the cards but they did capture the fun she was having...