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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.
Darn those slippery little babies.....JPG)
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.
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...
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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...
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. 
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!
For whatever reason, I'm beginning to get a little concerned that Anna isn't walking (yes, I need to calm down and back off...I'm going to quickly become a "helicopter mother" if I'm not careful! The horror!). So...we decided to have "walking bootcamp" this week and set up some chairs with some of her favorite toys on them to encourage her to walk along them. I'm not exactly sure what I thought this was going to accomplish because she's already cruising very well, so these chairs are pretty useless. Oh well...seemed like a good idea on a rainy, cold day when we were looking for some entertainment!
Yesterday Anna helped me bake some cookies for Daddy...who knew she was such a little chef? She's tending to enjoy playing with "our stuff" as much if not more than her toys these days...apprarently a wooden spoon and brownie pan are much more exciting than maracas that vibrate and light up and sing in both English and Spanish! I actually think its pretty neat and endearing...call me old-fashioned, but I'd much rather her be playing with this "real" stuff than all of the electronics toys.
Anna is going through a bit of a "mommy phase" right now, which I can't say I'm all too upset about! Its kind of nice when the mere act of entering a room elicits a smile, squeal, and arm waving... :-) I think Clint is a little hurt by her recent preferential treatment, but I keep telling him to just wait til she's age 12 through 17 when my popularity will take a certain decline and his will likely stay nice and steady. Ah, adolescence. Oh well...I'm soaking up the snuggles as long as I can get them!
While Anna's primary mode of transportation is still crawling, she is certainly enjoying walking behind the new push toy that Santa brought her. She mostly cruises from one side of the playroom/dining room to the other, waving and smiling as she goes. I think she's practicing for her future homecoming float debut...
Anna with her cousin, Sydney, in rocking chairs that Kelly and I used to use
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! 
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.
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!
