Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Annalise, I can't believe you are three today. Time has flown by, and I really wish I could re-live a lot of your moments over these past three years. It seems like yesterday that we were all excited about you sitting up by yourself or crawling, and now you are running around, dancing, singing, playing, and chatting away. Where did my baby go? I asked you that last night and you said, "I'm not a baby anymore. Ryan is a baby." You are right, I suppose. But, you are still, and always will be, my sweet baby girl! Thanks for all of the laughs and loving moments over these past three years, Annalise. You have been our little comedienne and the light of our lives. What a wonderful gift we received three years ago today. We can't imagine our lives without you. Enjoy your birthday today, Pumpkin. And, like you and Daddy say "Party like a rock star!"

A Fun Day in Dahlonega

This weekend Annalise and I joined my parents (Annalise's "Nee and Papa") for a day in Dahlonega. Having gone to North Georgia College, I never miss a chance to go there because I love it so much. We had a great time!

Annalise loved the General Store, which, as I said to my dad, offers an amazing assortment of "crap" -- coonskin caps, asian table linens, trinkets of all shapes and sizes, metal Jack Daniels signs, coconuts carved into weird faces, etc . She loved buying marbles (or, as she calls them, "mar-balls"), watching the player piano, rocking in the rocking chairs, and selecting candy. We browsed through different stores (mom & I spent way too long in a children's boutique), had lunch, played on the drill field at NGC, and finished the day with ice cream. The weather was absolutely perfect. I get so jealous every time I'm on the NGC campus. I see the students and I want to go back in time and take their place. I love looking around and remembering different moments from college, both good and bad.

On the way home, we were all exhausted. Or, all except for Annalise. She said, "Nee, wanna play hide and seek at my house?" My mom, wno was totally wiped out, kind of laughed and said, "Annalise how old do you think I am?" Annalise said, "Nee, you three." We cracked up and mom said, "How old is Papa?" Annalise said, "Papa not three, Papa's ooooooollldd" We all died laughing, of course. Poor Papa!

Too many Disney movies...

Today Annalise wanted to play outside, but it was time for lunch. This is how our conversation went:

Annalise: "Mommy, I want to play outside."
Me: "It's time for lunch, Annalise, we can't go outside right now."
Annalise: "Mommy, I want to go play outside the palace walls!"

Hahaha! I think we need to stop watching Aladdin so much!

What will she say next?

Annalise continues to crack me up daily with the funny things that come out of her mouth. Thankfully I've been writing most of them down so I don't forget. So, here are a few of my favorites from this summer:

"Mommy, do you remember me? My name is Annalise!"

(In a sad voice) "Awwww...Mommy, Elmo doesn't have nipples."

Me: "Annalise, in this house we take turns."
Annalise: "Mommy, I want a different house. I want Nee and Papa's house."

Annalise showed our friend Mark a tube of Desitin and said, "Look Mark, this is toothpaste for my pee-pee parts."

"I love you, Laura Darling."

"Mommy, I need to check my e-mail."

Said to my mom ("Nee") this weekend at the beach: "Nee, you need to wear your big, big bathing suit at the beach."

"Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy....I, I, I, I, I, I......I don't remember."

Labor Day at the Beach

We were happy to enjoy one more weekend in St. Augustine before the end of summer. We had a great time! My parents came down and joined us, and Ricky, James, Meg, and I forced both sets of parents to play "The Newlywed Game." It was hilarious! Once again, Annalise LOVED the waves. She is a dare devil! I celebrated my 32nd birthday down there, too. Annalise was super-excited about the birthday cake. Her favorite thing!

Annalise finally felt her brother move!

This afternoon Annalise and I shared a special moment. We were snuggled on the couch together, and Ryan (her baby-brother-to-be) was having an aerobics class in my tummy. He was so active that I could see my belly moving all around. So, I rested Annalise's hand on my tummy and she felt him move (up until now, she'd never been patient enough to wait to feel his kicks). She looked at me with big wide eyes and a dropped jaw, and then she started to giggle. We sat there for about 10 minutes with her feeling him bopping around. When he'd stop, she's bend down to my tummy and say "Ryan!!!" and move my belly around to get him going again. So cute. It was such a fun moment. I can't wait to see her reaction when she meets him in person!

Playdate Fun!

This week we had playdates with two friends we haven't seen in a while. We saw my friend from college, Tera, and her little boy, Ben, who was born only a week before Annalise. Even though we only live just over an hour from one another, we only manage to see each other a couple of times a year. We met at the Mall of Georgia and rode the carousel and had lunch. Unfortunately Annalise was being whiney and not very agreeable, so we had to cut the day a bit short!

The next day we saw our friends Natalie & Lucca. We met early last year at the local library program, but a few months later they moved to Sacramento. Natalie has become my long distance email buddy, a modern day pen pal, I suppose. We were happy that we got to see them while they were in town visiting. We also saw their new addition, Sienna, who is SO cute! They came to our house for lunch, and despite a few sharing/crying episodes, we all had a good time!