Good laughing

Anna Kate has such a great sense of humor, toddler humor, that is. She will crack herself up! She changes/adds just one word to a song or a sentence or a story, and just laughs and laughs. Then, of course, she repeats it over and over, laughing all the time. It's great.

The last few days

Doesn't she look like such a "big girl"? She loves that coat from Aunt Emilie and Uncle Chris, and I totally understand why . . . she looks hip and cool.
With more teeth on their way (up top, who knows how many?), we finally captured the bottom two - if you look really closely.
We went to the WinterFestival downtown today. We actually had snow before we left and a little while we were there, but it didn't stick. Nevertheless, winter gear was in full force! Lucy didn't like her really warm hat, so we finally removed it and went for the less-coverage, happier Lucy-with-just-a-hood. Right here, they are watching sheep . . . Lucy thought they were hilarious. Anna Kate has seen them before!
And after dinner, the girls are dancing. With Lucy getting steadier on her feet, Anna Kate is involving her in some physical play. "I want her to dance with me." Around and around they go at Anna Kate's direction until someone falls down and gets hurt!

Christmas morning favorite: Lucy climbing on a box

And, on another note, Anna Kate had her three-year check-up today and is 36 inches tall and 31 pounds!

Merry Christmas!

Here's a peek at Christmas morning at our house. Once we began, we realized we were not "ready" - Megan had to run for a trash bag for wrapping paper, Dave needed to go downstairs to get all sorts of tools (the wire cutter was the most vital in getting those toys out of their boxes) . . . We don't have nearly the peeks at Christmas morning we wish we did! We also realized it's really a challenge to keep Lucy into her own presents, Anna Kate waiting for her turn, countless other things, and take pictures. But, here's a few . . .
Anna Kate with her stocking . . . she was so ready to go!
Lucy still drinking milk! She is always ready to go, even when she doesn't know where we are going!

Daddy and Anna Kate helping Lucy open her new pink princess phone from her stocking! This was the big hit of Christmas for Lucy.

The girls dive in to presents. Lucy, of course, needed help, and surprisingly Anna Kate wasn't too interested in opening Lucy's presents.



Other than the cell phone, this was how Lucy spent most of Christmas! She loved the box that Anna Kate's Little People farm came in. She used it to reach things on the couch, as a stage, as a stool . . . she just wanted to be on top of it - sitting, standing, climbing. She didn't really care which of those things!

Christmas Eve

Here are my best attempts to get a picture of the girls together on Christmas Eve. You can see that I didn't succeed, really. They even had matching outfits - pink skirts and cream-colored tops with a matching pink flower. They are cute!

Anna Kate's birthday

Here's a sampling of the day! Enjoy! We missed everyone celebrating with us, but Anna Kate certainly felt your generosity and love throughout the day.

This is especially for the Chapas!!

Anna Kate is three today!

Here is the first installment of Anna Kate's third birthday. We kicked it off with waffles and a round of presents. Later, Anna Kate and Daddy will go out for a date - just the two of them. We'll finish off the day with dinner, cake and more presents!!!

Hair Cut!?!

Well, we did it! Anna Kate finally got a hair cut. We didn't cut much, just the ends of those baby locks! (I like the ease of a pony tail, so I want it long.) We worked up to it, talked about it a lot, and Anna Kate went after Daddy in the chair. She did great! And already is talking about another one. whew!

Lucy is walking!!

A Great Hymn

Anna Kate is singing "O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing" . . . just in case you can't get all the words: O for a thousand tongues to sing, my Great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace."

Double the fun

We couldn't resist capturing this on film. We were shopping in Target for a tree stand, after choosing our tree, and tried one of the carts for two . . . the girls were all bundled up! Amazingly, everyone rode well in this cart.

Getting our first real tree

Aren't these great? It was cold and rainy when we went to pick it out, and Anna Kate had insisted on wearing that elephant costume! Who knew an elephant bundles so well?

I've Been Working on the Railroad

Anna Kate is such a little care taker. And her imagination is great! Here she is holding "Emmy" (her cousin) and giving her medicine (she often uses a nebulizer to take Albuterol).

Thanksgiving

We took a great walk to buy a newspaper and then around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful day - just a little wet!


Here we are having dinner! Lucy ate some cranberries, but that was about all that she was interested in. Actually, that was probably more than Anna Kate was interested in eating . . . she was not crazy for turkey this year.

helping in the kitchen

We really enjoy the layout in our kitchen. This counter which Lucy is sitting on - "helping" - is in front of large windows that face a neighbor's and there are no cabinets, so the counter is really deep - perfect for little helpers to sit on!

My Elephant

Well, this was supposed to be for October 31. After wearing this for about a week before then, October 31 came and went without an elephant in the house. But, tonight, Anna Kate is sleeping in her elephant costume! Here are some pics so you can see what a great elephant she is (thanks, Aunt Hillery and William)!

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

back by popular demand . . . . more singing!!!

At the Park with Aunt Kelly

We continue to explore Albany, so with Aunt Kelly we went to the Hudson River Walkway. Anna Kate was delighted to come upon this play area! Lucy was pleased, too!




Lucy really liked the slide and, with a little help, was going both up and down!


Anna Kate is a pro at all the ladders, stairs, and everything to climb!

Lucy is busy

in Troy NY

One night while Grandma Sheehan and Aunt Hannah were visiting we went across the river to Troy. We walked along the Estuary and then to a new favorite brewery for dinner. Some pictures are better than others!
(Doesn't Lucy look great in an outfit Aunt Sarah gave her?)
From the walk . . .

Here's Lucy showing how helpful she is - carrying Anna Kate's hat on her head, as well as her own.

Jumping

Anna Kate loves to jump on her bed! This is only a peek at what she can do. She will literally get going jumping on her bed and keep jumping forever (or so it seems!) . . .

Lucy plays peek-a-boo

On our way to a hike at Thacher Park, Lucy started playing peek-a-boo. She loves this game and can just keep going!

Young National Review Readers

Grandma Sheehan arrived in Albany with a stack of National Reviews for Daddy to enjoy. Looks like some others in the house are getting to read them first!



(Bruce, hope this warms your heart!)

Lucy enjoys some warm fall weather

We enjoyed the warmer fall weather yesterday at lunch! Lucy likes the leaves and grass. We just have to make sure she doesn't eat it!

matching pjs

Anna Kate loves to "match" items - usually items of like color. Here are our girls in their pjs - "They match!" (well, kind of . . . )

Bath time - look at this hair!

Our bathtub in our "new house" is great. It seems deeper than most . . . there is plenty of room for both girls to bathe together. Although, Lucy really prefers to be right next to Anna Kate, regardless. Lucy's bath seat doesn't stick in this bathtub, so she's learning to sit!

"Jesus loves the little children . . ."

Listen to Anna Kate's favorite song to sing these days . . .

Boots

We bought Anna Kate some boots. She was a little hesitant at first, but now she loves them. So, when we unpacked them, she wanted to put them on immediately. She modeled them for me and even stood close to Lucy for an "up-close" picture of her boots. She is also modeling her favorite thing to wear - pjs. We wear them most of the day, even changing out of clothes once we get dressed, and putting pjs back on for more of the day. And some days we wear more than one pair of pjs.