So Big!

Anna's learned a couple new "tricks" lately. The cutest one is that when we ask her, "How big is Anna?" she has learned to put her hands up to show us "so big!" I love it. Of course, when you ask her almost anything she does that too. She'll also start clapping when you ask her to do Pat-A-Cake, so that's something. Her noises are adorable, and the "Oh, wow"s are one of her favorite exclamations right now. She can also wave and say, "Bah Bye," which is super cute. I'm loving my time home with her, but it's very quickly coming to an end. Oh well, that's life, I guess.

Her two little bottom teeth are slowly making their way up, so at least she won't be celebrating her first birthday with a toothless mouth! She's having tons of fun playing with her new toys, and she especially loves to throw them (much to my delight). Grammie got her this wiggly worm that dances to music when you push a button, and Anna pushes it over and over again. At least it's a fun song that I keep hearing over and over! She also points to everything now and jabbers with such meaning, it really makes me wonder what she's trying to tell me. Still no walking yet, but she can stand for a few seconds without holding on, she squats and stands back up with no trouble, and she gets around beautifully. Once she remembers how to sleep nicely in her crib through the night again, everything will be perfect!

So This is Christmas...

Anna's first Christmas was very busy and very fun! We started it off on Christmas Eve at Uncle Mike and Aunt Emily's house up in Crystal Lake. We had a lovely brunch and opened lots of presents! There were too many presents to actually list, but they were all good. There was enough time that we all got to rest a little bit before heading to the cemetery for the second part of the festivities. The weather was pretty yucky - cold and rainy - but it at least let up for the outside portion of the day. Tim's family always gathers at the cemetery before they start celebrating, because his cousin Paul was killed in a car accident several years ago. We listen to some tuba Christmas music (he played the tuba) while sharing some memories and a prayer. I hope that when Anna gets older it will help remind her to bear in mind that Christmas is an important time to think about others, especially God and family. Back at Uncle Mike and Aunt Terry's house, the Kniola family gathered for a huge feast of homemade Bohemian/Polish goodies, including pierogies, mushroom soup, many kinds of breads, ham, and roast beef - yum! Anna was a big fan of the cheese pierogies, that's for sure. Then there were even more presents, and then it was pinata time. It was getting late, and it's a long drive home, so we had to leave shortly after that. It wasn't a fun drive home for Tim, because the rain was just pouring down at that point. Not very Christmasy!

The next morning Anna got to open her presents from us and Santa. Santa brought her a big Radio Flyer wagon! She loved the box :) I got Tim an Ipod Touch, which I'm pretty sure he liked a lot. Then we headed over to the Lyczaks for more presents and fun. Anna got a ton of new toys, included her first rocking horse from Auntie Loonie, and her first riding toy from Grammie and Grampy! She also got her very own remote control, which she absolutely loves! We had a nice breakfast, relaxed, went to church, played with our new stuff (I got lots of new Beatles goodies!!), then ate another feast! We managed to watch Christmas Vacation without falling asleep, and then it was time to go. At this point, the rain had turned to snow, so we did actually get a White Christmas (just a little late, that's all). Anna seemed exhausted, but she was just too excited about everything to fall asleep once we got home. She stayed up, played more, then finally fell asleep with Daddy.

Anna had a wonderful first Christmas, and I'm glad everyone did such a great job of making it so memorable. She is at such a perfect age for it too, because she was able to help open her gifts, she got excited when she saw them, and then she was able to play with them too! It was the best Christmas in a very long time for me, that's for sure, and it's just the beginning for Anna!!

11 Months!

My little girlie is 11 months old today! It's hard to believe that it's been almost a year since she came into our lives. What a difference she has made too; she adds such spirit and happiness to our home. We didn't do anything particularly special today. It was snowing a lot, so we had to forgo our walk, and I got a bit of cabin fever. We went to the grocery store, which was packed, but luckily I knew what we needed and it didn't take forever. I don't like grocery shopping much, but it is more fun when Anna's sitting in the cart, squealing and babbling at the top of her lungs! Then when we got home Anna finished her vegetables that she didn't finish earlier and took a long nap. By the time she woke up, Daddy was home! Now they're playing together (or rather Tim is playing with her Mozart cube as she crawls/cruises around...) while I update her blog.

Some fun things about Anna right now: when she crawls, she smacks her hands down really loudly on the floor. It's so cute, and you always know when she's coming!

She discovered my foot massager today; she loves how it spins around and lights up.

Her new favorite thing to do is open cabinets and take things out. What a fun game to play, especially since she has a knack for favoring the cabinets with the most dangerous products in it. Might I point out that I have had installing the cabinet locks on Tim's to-do list for over a month now. I guess I'll have to go out and get the easy-to-install kind, since he's a slacker.

Tomorrow we should be going downtown to visit Grammie and eat lunch, so that will be fun. The weather's supposed to be awful (sleet), but hopefully the weathermen will be wrong.

Santa

I forgot to mention in my last post that Anna went to visit Santa yesterday! We went to Yorktown, because I was a little skeptical of the North Riverside Santa. We had to wait an hour, but the Santa there is just gorgeous - real beard, very sweet and all. Anna did quite well and smiled and everything! When we were discussing which photo package to get, she started to cry, but I think that was only because she thought we were going to leave her there or something. Poor little kid. Anyway, I was happy that the experience was so successful! We got a great picture, so once I scan it I'll be able to post it.

Christmas Preparations

We are eagerly anticipating Anna's first Christmas, and it's just amazing how fast it is approaching! Obviously she doesn't know to be excited, but she can tell that things around her are different. She loves all the decorations, and she somehow has singled out her stocking as being her favorite (how can she tell? I don't know). She's always staring and smiling at it! Of course she loves the tree and all the pretty lights and ornaments. We've done a decent job of blocking it off with presents and the ottoman and all so that she can't pull it on herself, because that really scares me! As for her presents, she is getting some practice with ripping paper, so we'll see what happens on Christmas morning!

We celebrated Grampy's 60th birthday today! We had a delicious meal, with meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn, then he opened all his presents and liked all of them! I think that's unprecedented. He got a scarf from Laura, a neck/shoulder massager from Stephen, a Northface fleece from Mom, and Sharper Image binoculars and reading glasses from us. Then we had coconut cream pie - yum! So a very nice day for him, I think. It will be even better once Dan gets here! He's scheduled to come in Christmas Eve (there's supposed to be sleet and rain that day, so hopefully there won't be issues with his flight) and spend a month with us before heading back to Korea! I'm excited to see him again and finally have him meet his niece for the first time!

Something that has surprised me is that Anna hasn't taken off and started walking yet. I thought for sure that she would have taken her first steps by Christmas, but she is proving to be very cautious about it. For now she is content to cruise and crawl, and I know I shouldn't be in a hurry for her to run around, but I can't help but be a little disappointed. I am, however, very happy that Anna is so careful with her movements; I think it has thus far minimized her tumbles! So we'll see when this little girlie finally decides to take off...

Road Trip!

Last weekend we embarked on Anna's first real roadtrip to go see her Uncle! We drove on Thursday night, and that way we both only took one day off of work and Anna could just sleep on the way. It worked out pretty well, except that we got to St. Robert at 3:30 am! Plus Anna seemed a little unwilling to go right to sleep once we got settled in our hotel room. However, it was worth it when we got to see Stephen the next morning! We got to Ft. Leonard Wood very early, because we wanted to get good seats. It was so cold, and they didn't unlock the doors to the theater until the last minute, so that was a little annoying. It didn't even matter that we got there early, because they escorted us to the third row anyway! Having a dad who's a Command Sergeant Major really pays off! It was so great to see Stephen marching out, looking so young and trim! What a difference a few months has made! Afterward we took some pictures and drove on to Branson, where we went to the Dixie Stampede and ate way too much food. Anna enjoyed the horses (and enjoyed having pork for the first time - yum!) The next day we went to the Titanic museum, which was really really neat and had all sorts of cool artifacts and interactive exhibits. After we finished we were planning on going to Silver Dollar City for the rest of the day, but it was CRAZY crowded. Instead, we decided to go to a cave, and it turned out to be very enjoyable! The property also had some nature trails, so we walked along one of those for a little while and saw some beautiful Missouri mountains. The Ozarks are just lovely, and I bet it would be nice in the Autumn (ha ha). We also played some mini-golf there, but it got way too cold to finish. We ended our day at Lambert's Cafe, home of the throwed rolls! The food was delicious and all-you-can-eat, so it was a great way to end a busy day. The next morning we drove home, but Anna didn't enjoy the long ride very much. We got home at about 8 pm. So overall it was an incredibly busy weekend, but we had a great time and enjoyed seeing Stephen again! Now he's home for Christmas, and Dano should be coming too!

Missouri

Tonight we are leaving on a weekend trip to Missouri! We decided to leave a little late in the hopes that Anna will sleep in the car (one can only hope that that will work). First we will be in Saint Robert to see my brother's graduation from boot camp. We haven't seen him since August, so this is very exciting! Then we will head over to Branson for the rest of the weekend, which is interesting because none of us has been there before! We have lots planned, including the Dixie Stampede, Silver Dollar City, and the Titanic museum. My dad is also super thrilled that we will be eating at Lambert's on Friday. Apparently they throw rolls at you. I will post more - including pictures - when we get back!