Anna's New Boyfriend

We got to watch our friend's little boy, Max, while they went out on a date. Let me tell you, he is adorable. We just couldn't believe how friendly he was. Anna would never go to someone like he did. Max just acted like he knew us. It was a blast. Anna had been having an absolutely awful day and Max definitely cheered her up. They just played and squealed at each other the whole time. I think he intrigued her. We had a fun time watching them. It made us excited to have two kids. It will be nice once our kids are old enough to play with each other. Hopefully they will play together and not fight.

Doesn't her hair look super curly? It doesn't usually look that curly but I guess that day it did.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful moms. This is the part where I get to brag a little. I have the most wonderful mom in the world, hands down. She has always been my best friend. She has always been there for me, and now that my family has grown, she loves Josh and Anna and our little baby to be with all of her heart. Her example has meant more to me than she will ever know. Now that I have Anna, I think about how I should raise her and what I should do to help her along the way. I often get my answer from thinking about what my mom would do and what she did for me. She has been a great leader for me and I adore her. Josh's mom is a special person in our household. She passed away when Josh was eight years old, but her love lives on. I love hearing Josh talk about her and how kind and gentle and loving she was with him. He remembers feeling lots of love from her, as only a mother can give. She was a very special woman and we're sure she is happy on the other side looking down on us. Mother's Day is a great time for us to really reflect on her life. We love her dearly and are excited for the day to reunite with her again. This is a picture of Lynn holding Josh when he was just a baby. Our little Anna Lynn is named after her.

Linda is Josh's stepmom and is a wonderful woman. We both love Linda very much. She has been so kind to us and shown us so much love. She is a great example for us to look to. She is always thoughtful, sending us cards and calling us often. When we went to visit the Lees in California for Christmas, it was amazing to us how hard Linda works. She really keeps the house running and does it with a happy face. She makes everyone feel welcomed and loved. So, Happy Mother's Day to everyone!!

I had the BEST Mother's Day ever!! Josh made me feel so loved and so special today. As you can see, he gave me the royal treatment. I got beautiful roses, a Mother's Day balloon, and a delicious breakfast in bed. Not to mention, some great new maternity clothes and my favorite candy. He really did good this time. I know it's Mother's Day but I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful husband who treats me so right. I just love him.

I don't think I could love being a mom more than I do. I can't imagine my life without my little Anna. She's got me hooked. I adore her. I love that I can be her mommy and stay at home with her. It is such a blessing to be a stay at home mom. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. There is just no love like the love for a child. We've realized that more and more. Even when it's really hard, we still love our baby girl with all of our hearts. She just brings us so much joy. This time next year, we'll have two children and we can hardly wait. I am just the luckiest girl in the world.

This is the first of many pregnancy shots. Josh bought me a new Sunday dress for church. All of my maternity clothes I had with Anna were winter. Now I'm going to be big and pregnant in the summer so I had to go shopping. I didn't mind that too much. ;-)

I had lots of people ask me today if I was expecting so I guess I really am showing. Now that I know it's obvious, I feel like I can embrace the maternity clothes.

Our Little Power Ranger

Do you see any resemblance??

Anna thinks she is so tough! She's really just a softy.
We take walks with Anna around our complex several times a day but half way through, she must be carried or else. So, this is Anna and Daddy looking cute!

Grant's Farm

Anna and I went to our church playgroup today. It was a blast! We met at Grant's Farm which is a petting zoo. It was amazing. They had lots of great animals there. We went in to see the baby goats and they started eating us, literally. They were chewing on my shorts and attacking Anna all over. Anna screamed so we didn't get any pictures, but when I have Josh there, we'll try it again. This is really the only picture I got of her. It's hard to take pictures when you're the only one watching her. She, of course, loved the ducks. When we went to go see them, the duck stuck it's beak through and tried to eat her. We quickly moved away! The best part of the day was that the park was free!! We love St. Louis. These are our friends feeding the camels. Those animals are amazing! I just can't understand how people can ride them, at least not comfortably.

Anna's Coat

Yesterday, Anna begged me to put this coat on her. She found it in her closet, grabbed my finger and brought me over to see it. My parents bought her this little jacket for her birthday but I bought it in a size for next winter. I've been buying her clothes for next year while they've been on sale. I've bought 24 month items and this jacket is 24 months and it almost fits her perfectly. So, by next winter it probably won't fit. Now I have a huge stack of 24 month clothes that I'm afraid will be too small before winter gets here. I guess we're going to have a lot of kids so at least one of our children will benefit from them. I just don't think it's going to be Anna.
She loves to look at herself in the mirror, especially when she has something new on. She sat in the sink for several minutes making faces at herself. This picture below is not exactly adorable, but I thought it was funny that she was making faces at herself. Isn't the coat just so cute? I love polka dots.

Chef Anna

Anna is a STRONG willed little girl. It is simply amazing to us how much personality, spunk, and determination can come out of a 15 month old. Yesterday, Josh was holding her during dinner and she started with one of her tantrums, so he stood up to take her off his lap. When he did, she immediately tried crawling back on the chair so we popped her on it by herself. She started squealing!! All she wanted to do was to sit there by herself, hold her spoon and be a big girl.

When I take her places during the day, she promptly lets me know that we are not on my agenda but on hers. She leads the way all over the store. She loves pushing the buggy too. She'll push the bottom bar while I steer from above. You've just never seen someone so happy to push a buggy until you've seen this girl.

She also won't let us cook without her. And I mean not even for a second. If something is on the stove, she has to stir it. When we use a hand mixer to mix mashed potatoes, guess who's holding it? When we're pouring things in a bowl, she's directing us.

She LOVES cleaning too. I thought she would die this morning if I didn't pull out the vacuum. She kept pulling me over to it and pointing and making it very clear that she was ready to clean. There was no getting out of it for me. As soon as I turned it on, she laughed and squealed like you wouldn't believe. This girl has got a personality and a strong one at that....and we wouldn't want it any other way.

Anna the Cook from Josh Lee on Vimeo.

Lately

We haven't been up to too much lately, just enjoying one another's company. Anna and I have really been enjoying the beautiful weather. We take long walks every day, and she loves it. I think that she could live outside if we would let her. We had a doctor's appointment for her this past week and it went really well. Her weight really shot up and now she's in the 80th percentile. Last time we went to the doctor, three months ago, she was around the 40th percentile. I guess that's what you get for eating real food instead of baby mush. I just love her little chunky legs. I can't help but squeeze them all day. She's just so loveable.

Anna decided that she's a hard core BYU fan. She loved wearing Daddy's hat.

Anna loves eating Raviolis but she has to be in nothing but a diaper, as you can see. It's amazing how messy one little girl can get. Isn't she darling though?