Ready...Set...

Here are some pictures of Anna's first race. She had a blast! Curt, Maria, Michelle, and Tim ran the 5k earlier in the morning and Sophie and Anna (after much practice running as you will see in the pictures) completed a 100 yard dash.

Anna was so cute, as soon as the gun went off Curt (who was at the finish line) said she got a big smile on her face and zoomed the whole way down and the proceeded to high five strangers. (Sound like someone else? :-) Poor Sophie was a little more bashful and Tim and I had to walk her down part of the way.

All the 5k racers did a fabulous job and Curt finally beat me in a race!!! I forgot how enjoyable these small races are without the big mental battle of finishing mile after mile.

The funny story of the race was that in her excitement after the finish, Michelle blurted out, "We finished! And YOU'RE pregnant!" (Revealed in a future email-hence the delay on this post.) We happened to be standing in the shade of the ...ambulance. Sure enough, both EMT's eyes shot straight to my belly then straight to my face. They kept checking in on me (as only a wonderful EMT would) and eventually the guy casually strolled over to the cab of the ambulance, turned the key, and blasted the AC. Then he so gently stated, "Miss, why don't you just sit right down here in the cab for a bit. I don't like how red your face is." At first I thought, "Oh man! Michelle totally called me out!" but after about two minutes in the chilly air I was so grateful. I sat back and basked in the air while everyone else (including Saint Mimi who woke, dressed, fed Anna, got her to the race, and stood with us in the sun) baked in the 120 degree shade.

To tell you the truth I was having a little trouble cooling down on my own but I'd never admit that. Oh no!

Funny thing was, since an EMT asked me to sit there, I assumed I had to wait till he told me I could leave. It got so cold in there I started shivering. He finally noticed and said, "You know you can get out whenever you want!" Well no. I didn't know that. Thank you!

Anyway, it was on to Anna's race and home for a serious shower and nap! Saint Mimi even kept Anna all the way until dinner time! Instead of napping, Curt shot guns with Tim and RyRy. Silly boys.

Enjoy the pictures:

Father's Day 5-K

Anna versus the cousin-who-not-be-named

So here are a few differences between my little Anna Banana Pants and her cousin-who-will-not-be-named.

This cousin-who-will-not-be-named at Anna's age or younger would routinely lay on the ground with his trains and play quietly for HOURS! (OK. Probably only twenty minutes, but still.)

Here is what Anna will do for 20 minutes in a row.
-Watch TV (he he)
-Play in or with her baby bath tub (preferably naked)
-Play in her bean bucket (a Xmas present from Auntie Em and the kids)
-Jump on the couch and into her "ball pit" (the couch cushions) (Preferably naked)
-Run in a circle around the house "ekercizing". We are lucky to have a small house with a circuit in it. She really will do this for 20 minutes. Straight. We've timed it. No kidding.
-Play hop on pop - jumping on or smacking Curt. Funny to watch. I'll be happy to sell tickets.

God love her. I love her. Everyone who knows her loves her.

Music Class and friends

Anna has been in a music class for about a year now. She loves it and has learned how to sit still, pay attention and wait her turn. She'll even sing a rhythm when it is her turn.
And that sweet girl has also learned to wait her turn when a basket of instruments comes out (major excitement in 2 year old land) until after the "babies" pick theirs!
She took some pictures with her friends Carissa and Sophie for the music teacher and to have pictures with her friends.
(Sorry for the Sears logo. I borrowed them from the website!)


















Aren't they a bunch of cuties?

And yet...

She forgave Baby Charlie Mae for attempting to kill her last week.

May Days!

In May there is a lot of rain.
When it rains, dirt gets wet.
When it gets wet, it turns into mud.
When it turns into mud, Anna discovers it.

Here are pics of the first time (to my knowledge) Anna discovered MUUUUUD!







Here is Anna sleeping today.
Here is Baby Charlie Mae trying to kill Anna while she sleeps.


And last but not least, handstands in the living room.
Our friends Mira and Lily were over for dinner (sketti night, yum!) because their daddy
was out of town and Anna's daddy was out of town.
It was a fun night.
(And it ended early enough that I could do some serious blogging finally with my night alone!)

Nastics!

Anna finished her last "nastics" class this week. Here are some pictures from the beginning of her class:


Look at that strong girl!


"Yet me do it adin!"


Airplane arms on the balance beam.


Her favorite activity = jumping in the ball pit.
One of these days she will bite off that tongue!


A perfect landing!


She even stretches with that tongue out!

Cute story= for her last class, I worked hard on getting her to keep her tongue in on the trampoline. She tried. She really did. Here's how it went:
bounce
"Anna, stick your tongue in!"
tongue in - bounce - tongue out
bounce
"Anna, stick your tongue in!"
tongue in - bounce- tongue out
bounce
etcetera

Final note = Anna was the ONLY kid who passed the class! The next class is for kids who can do the class without their mommies there!
(Ahem. Shouted in my head, "Heck yes! That's my kiddo!")

We celebrated the proper way - an ice cream cone for Anna and a mini fudge brownie supreme for mommy! (Anna discovered my dessert half way through so I had to eat it quickly!)

Conversations continued...

Anna will often say, "Div me pivacy" (Give me privacy) in the bathroom. It makes me smile every time.

An speaking of bathroom topics, Anna has decided that her bear, Scruffy (Tuffy) is a boy. This morning she said, "Tuffy has a yong (long), yong bottom on his bottom!" Thanks for clearing that up Anna. And what's with the sudden focus on bottom parts? ;-)

On a non bathroom-related note, today Anna decided to start telling me what the rules are. "Mommy, top at a wed light and wait yewr tuwn. Dat's de rewl (rule) OK mommy?" "It's your tuwn on gween, dat's de rewl."

And the other day (5/19/2010), Anna didn't want help at breakfast when she stated, "I want to foke (fork) dos eggs all by myself."
When I asked for help she told me, "I want you to hewp yourself out!"

What a silly, independent and wonderful girl!