Thanksgiving 2006

Dear Lord, I've been asked, nay commanded, to thank Thee for the Christmas turkey before us...a turkey which was no doubt a lively, intelligent bird...a social being...capable of human affection...nuzzling its young with almost human-like compassion. Anyway, it's dead and we're gonna eat it. Please give our respect to its family... Berke Breathed, "Bloom County Babylon"

Red Barn Tree Farm

We enjoyed our morning with our friends Paul and Susan and their daughter, Jasmine at the Red Barn Tree Farm. Since I'm not pregnant this Christmas, I took longer than thirty seconds to pick out a tree. Last year: 30 seconds, 12 ornaments, one string of lights. Not priceless. Probably worth about $5.75. It was funny to open the boxes I packed away in the attic. You can tell I was one tired woman this time last year. Surprisingly, I'm much more rested this season. We're so excited to celebrate this first Christmas with Anali.


Note to concerned mothers of the world: The candy cane is in the wrapper.
Ani will have no sweets...ever! Until I cave, at least. But since she can't talk, she can't talk me into it! She can have candy, if she doesn't mind sucking on it through the wrapper. Then her dad eats it.

 

Five Months Old

Mind you, she doesn't do this often. Hence, a picture-worthy event!

We let her unwrap her Christmas present early!

 

First Snow

Anali was so tired after our ten minutes in the snow, she wiggled her hat just so and promptly fell asleep.

We had a beautiful day yesterday! Saturday afternoon, Brandon thoughtfully brought home two pairs of snow shoes and a child carrier for an adventure on Crystal Mountain. We were excited to introduce Anali to her first snow, and our merriment was evident in the serious overpacking we did. You should have seen our 18-gallon Tupperware filled with scarves, hats, pants, socks, boots, gloves, coats, vests, granola bars, extra scarves, extra hats, extra socks. And that was just for Brandon and me. We packed three different fleece outfits for Anali alone, in addition to the one she was already wearing! We wouldn't be left out in the cold!

It wasn't until we were bundling up at the lodge on Crystal Mountain that we realized we had left the only truly essential item back home in our kitchen: the diaper bag (No, not our baby. I know you tried to go there, but really, Who does that? Not us...yet!). That glitch dampened our plans a bit. We recognized our fault - without needless blame-shifting, I might add - and made the best of our adventure. And anyone with a baby and no clean diapers knows that's an adventure. I can see that as the next big reality show. Survivor: Dirty Diaper!

We walked up the hill a bit to give Anali a taste of the snow, and she loved it! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun! It was windy and cold and perfect! We snapped just enough pictures to keep us oohing and ahhing for the rest of the winter at the precious moment Anali discovered God's beautiful, sweeping snowscape.

Crystal Mountain

20 Weeks Old

She is actually eating his hair!


She's getting so much better at sitting up.
Still a bit tippy, but she likes to play with her toys while sitting.


When Anali was first born, I couldn't wait for her to be four months old. It only took me a moment, of course, to realize that in the difficulty of the moment, I was wishing away days I would long for again. I learned quickly that each stage is my favorite. She is so active lately. It's great fun to play with her down on the floor.

Anali's new tricks include rolling over, scooting (inches, mind you), screaming (with glee, though sometimes I have to be looking at her to realize she's happy), passing toys from one hand to the other, and somehow always managing to smell like vanilla muffins. I'm trying to teach her to recognize her own name, but I'm having a hard time referring to her by the name we gave her and not as "Muffin."