When do you know you are a big girl?

When you eat your very first corn on the cob...




And when you use your potty correctly for the first time (A #2, nonetheless)!!!!
Hooray Anna!
Hooray Potty Pal!

And by the way:
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY GRANNY AND GRANDPA!!! WE LOVE YOU!

Things that will break your heart:

An overwhelmed daddy.

And an angel crying.

Everyday pics

Dad, I'm really tired of smiling.

But I don't mind showing off!

But sometimes I just want a nice book with my friends Sophie and Michelle.

After a nice, long bath (complete with punk hair).

CONGRATS CURT!!!

Hooray for Curt's (finally) decent raise!

Now we can go out to eat!
(Every once in a while...)



(With coupons...)

:-)

Everyday Anna

Today, Anna is making sure I get my daily allowance of water as she stands at the sink, water at a trickle, playing.
"Nana", she says, indicating it's her turn by taking a drink.
"Mamma", she'll say next, handing me a cup.
Then when I sneak around and give her a kiss on the cheek, she'll smile through her concentraion on pouring, drinking, trickling, etc.

And at breakfast, she was just so good at communicating. She asked politely for more "dipt" (dip=syrup on her pancakes).
Then when she was done, instead of fussing for attention like she used to, she said, "Hands? Hands?" and wiggled them in front of me to let me know it was time to wash her hands.

Also this weekend while in Chicago, she was so proud to show us she could say "mouk" for milk instead of just using her hand signals. So she's say "mouk", "mouk, "mouk" long after we told her we got the picture loud and clear.

Another word that's relatively new = "bubbules". (That one is self explanatory.)

I'll try to talk more about Everyday Anna more often. But for now, I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our life!

Local Woman Torches Yard

Local Woman Torches Yard
From the Jefferson City Press.

Emergency crews responded to the 1100 block of Peyton Dr. earlier today after neighbors reportedly sighted a yard on fire. One neighbor was quoted as saying, "Darndest thing I ever saw! I always thought she was a little wacky." The man was referring to his 29 year-old neighbor who allegedly poured gasoline on her flower beds and set them on fire.

When interviewed, the resident stammered, "Flower beds... too many... no mulch... asked for mulch.... no mulch..." as she stood -twitching- in her blackened Kermit the Frog PJ's. The motive for the fire is not yet clear.

Police are still looking for the woman's 18 month-old daughter, who a neighbor spotted walking away from the house wearing a baseball cap and dark sunglasses muttering, "I'm outta here." Police are asking residents to call with any information regarding the girl.

A thorough investigation will follow this incident, especially to clear up the big question: why would a grown woman wear Kermit the Frog PJ's.

More on this story at ten...

So how did your weekend in Carbondale go?

For ANYONE watching the news this weekend, it went like this:

Carbondale Rocked by Storm
and
Franklin, William, and Jackson Declared Disasters!

We drove south through Illinois, watching with growing concern the purpleish/greenish clouds building to our right (coming from Missouri - THANKS, Missouri!) Everyone but Michelle (who was hiding her face) and the girls were warily scanning the sky for funnel clouds as the radio said over and over "IF YOU ARE ON ROUTE 13 (we were) stop immediately and take cover (we weren't)."

Finally, we stopped and dashed out of the car into the grocery store trying bravely to ignore the air sirens and the beeps from the weather radio the store clerks were huddled around.
Luckily, the weather quickly turned into a gentle rain and we loaded up, happy to be over the scare and on our way. We pulled up to Dave and Lauren's duplex, saw her waving in the kitchen window, and prepared to enjoy the rest of our weekend. We HAD planned to stay in their half-empty rental duplex in downtown Carbondale (they live in Caterville), eat at good restaurants, hike The Little Grand Canyon and go to the wineries.

BUT
WAIT.

The TV kept showing scary (I mean scary) views of the radar that looked eerily like radar views of hurricanes. We ignored it all and watched the three girls play: Sohpie (21 months), Anna (18 months), and Autumn (13 months). Anna was WAY past her nap time and I took her upstairs to Dave and Lauren's room to nurse her.
BUT
Anna had no interest in nursing because through the open window, she was fascinated by the trees. Which were blowing. And bending. And crashing. I heard the house pop and creak and ran downstairs, trying not to empty my bladder along the way.

Did I mention we were in a duplex? With NO basement?

So the moms grabbed the girls (including poor Sophie who was still upstairs sleeping) while the men began ripping stuff out of the STUFFED closet under the stairs. The moms and babies crammed in and the girls began screaming. (Why is it that babies are oblivious when you want them to pay attention but when you want them to ignore you - like when you are TERRIFIED - they can sense everything?) The guys took turns running from window to window. Dave took some video, which I'm hoping he'll share. That is, IF he ever gets his power back. We hid in the closet for 20-25 terrifying minutes. During that time, I had to chose to either stay safe and lose my dignity in the closet, or risk a dash to the bathroom (along the outside wall) because my bowels turned to jelly. I chose dignity. Anna chose to scream louder while I was gone.

We finally got out, to this scenery:

Dave and Lauren's duplex:


Roof tiles in their yard:


The neighbor across the street:

He used his ancient, white van to pull trees out of the street. How cool is that?

Their neighbor's yard:


Their street blocked one way:


Their street blocked the OTHER way:


Looking off their back porch - you can't even see the house behind them:


A backyard view:


Another backyard view:


Their neighbor's buckled fence:


A cool tree in a graveyard: (can you spot Michelle, Sophie and I?)


Here's me climbing in the tree:


The street on the way to the other duplex:


The duplex we WERE supposed to stay in:


Well. Without power or running water and unable to leave (they closed the highways and enacted a curfew) we did what anyone does in a disaster: got some beer and grilled what we could. We slept ALL OVER Dave and Lauren's duplex to the eerie sound of chain saws and generators. We made scrambled eggs, bacon, and instant coffee on the fire in their back yard the next day and got the heck out of town.

We stopped in St. Louis at Granny and Grandpa Sides' for some much needed food and leg-stretching.

You can see how affected the girls were by their ordeal. This is taken on Curt's camera - so there is no sound:

I do solemly swear:

To stop my incessant whining that I don't have enough time to blog,
To keep you better informed of Anna's life,
And to finally post about:
-Easter
-Photo shoot
-Recent Anna happenings
-Everyday stuff

...But not right now. I'm leaving for a weekend in Carbondale, IL in the morning with Michelle, Sophie, and Tim (which I WILL blog about)...


so I don't have time!
:-)

A response from mom to my wasp post:

From mom:
"I am sorry that you were stung… I know it hurts. Wasps especially.

Your memory is quite right on both accounts. You were little the first time and I thought I hurt worse than you when I saw your confusion and hurt. You were so little and I was watchful for a bad reaction because Marilynn was so allergic. I was so frustrated that your innocence was taken by that darn wasp. The second time I was so proud that you had taken care of yourself so well and not panicked."

To Emily:
Ha ha ha ha ha I remember SOME things right! :-)

Wasp Rememberings

Last week I got stung by a wasp. It made me SO MAD! I went outside in the pouring rain to empty the water bucket due to a gutter issue that my newly retired father-in-law has now fixed (hooray TOM!) and felt a breath-sucking prick when I grabbed the bucket.

I dropped the bucket, half fell down the porch steps, and saw the little bugger flitting around in a puddle. After gleefully stomping him and annihilating his nest (located in the bucket handle) with a stick, I danced around in the rain holding my finger and saying not nice things as Anna watched me through the front door with a look that said, "I really hope none of the neighbors are seeing this!"

I got back inside and moaned and carried on as best I could, expecting at least a little sympathy from Anna and getting none. Then I called Curt for sympathy and to have him google wasp stings to make sure the pain three inches ABOVE the sting wasn't a sign of acute blood poisoning. For added sympathy, I made sure to call my mother-in-law Becky, whom I'm sure was instrumental in the speedy gutter fix after that!


All this made me remember, for the first time in many, many years, the two (to my knowledge) other times I've been stung. My family accuses me of making up memories but these two are CLEAR in my head! Severe pain will do that!

The first was at my Aunt Pat's house. I was either coming in or going out of the side door in their kitchen and was stung on their side porch on a really, really hot day! All I remember of that one is sitting on their couch in the living room (which is still in the same spot today) being nursed by mom and Aunt Pat.

The other time I was a little older and I was by myself at Camp Wawbansee sitting on the life guard stand by the lake. I can't fathom why I was by myself as it doesn't happen very often at camp. It must have been one of those few years we helped "run" the camp with my mom and were there before any campers were. I remember having a very existential moment on that life guard stand and I'm sure I was thinking very deep thoughts :-). I was just contemplating going back when I heard a very quiet buzz. I remember being scared right away, as if some primordial danger alarm sounded before there was a hint of danger. Then one ominous looking wasp floated up from the front of the stand, hovered a second or two, and dropped. My thoughts were two-fold: "whew" and "I need to the the ___ out of here before he brings friends". Sure enough, I put one little girl scout-y foot on the top rung of the stand and I hear multiple winged demons fly up from under the stand. Before I knew it, I leapt off the top of the stand, but not before one or two little beasties got me. I'm pretty sure I got stung more than once. I tore down the path towards the big lodge where I was hoping to find mom AND the camp cook who kept homemade popsicles hidden in the freezer. I don't remember much other than a small feeling of pride and bravery when I told the first adult I saw that I had been stung... multiple times... by wasps and lived to tell about it! (With only puffy, watery eyes and sniffles left as evidence of my true state of mind as a tore off down the path.)