My Dear Analayne

My Dearest Daughter,

Another year has flown by and my how you have grown. You are 4 years old now! I am constantly amazed by you and your spunk, creativity and sweetness. Watching you grow and learn is a blessing. I feel so blessed that God has entrusted me to be your mommy and honestly that is not something I take lightly. I truly feel that motherhood is God’s calling on my life and despite our most difficult days I still cherish it all. Sometimes I think about how much I love you and I am still amazed that Our Heavenly Father loves you even more than I could ever imagine.

I remember the day you were born just as if it had happened yesterday. I remember the long (oh so very long natural labor) but my most vivid memory was when they placed you in my arms with your eyes fixated on me and your mouth wide open. I remember the first night in the hospital after you were born; it was about 2:00am and suddenly I awoke and headed to the nursery to check on you. There you were wide awake, laying in your bassinette with your gigantic blue eyes scanning your surroundings. You were just a few hours old and nonetheless you were already embracing life, taking it all in.

This year your baby brother, Leighton has entered our world. My how you love him, watch out for him, try to protect him and in your own way you advocate for him. Just the other day as I was bathing you both you said, “Mom, Leighton told me a secret.” I replied, “Well, what did he tell you?” You said, “He wants some pudding and some ice-cream.” I thought to myself, why yes… I am sure he does. The next day as Leighton was napping you said, “Mom, I don’t like to sleep. I like it when the sun comes up and we get out of bed.” Once again, I thought to myself, why yes… you certainly do! However, in my sleep deprived way I love that about you. You love life and you love people. You take life on full heartedly and I love that about you. You don’t want to miss a moment and I don’t want to miss it either.

I love being your mother. Some days I am challenged and stretched more than you could ever understand but the happiness and joy that you add to my life is worth every bit. I love you. Happy Birthday!

(letter written July 2009)

A Horse is a Horse...Unless of course its a Donkey!

Have I ever mentioned that my daughter likes horses? Let me re-phrase that...my daughter loves horses. For what seems like forever she has been infatuated with equine! She even has a stuffed horse that she takes almost everywhere with her (his name is Bulls Eye). This summer the Ellington Agricultural Center has had some special programs where families could come and visit and learn about horses and donkeys. One Saturday they even had a program where the police horses were available for the children to interact with and I must say that has been a big highlight for Analayne! The first Saturday program we went to was all about horses. The next Saturday the focus was donkeys. I forgot my camera on the first outing so I only have pictures of her with the donkeys. However, for her birthday Mimi and Popa have given her a gift certificate for a horse back ride so rest assurred as soon as we go for this adventure I will post some new pics!

The Future is Bright...

Lately Analayne is really into playing doctor and beauty parlor --- ON Leighton! He is such a willing (uuuhhhh...forced) patient/candidate. Occasionally, she will use her doll in addition to Leighton, but in all honestly Analayne tries hard to be a very gentle big sister! Leighton is SO intrigued by her. Leighton rarely takes his eyes off of Analayne (not sure if this is for entertainment purposes or because he feels safer knowing her whereabouts!) In general, he just lets her do her thing and he typically smiles and coos at her. Yea-- for a relatively easy going baby. I am just glad that she put the cotton in the baby dolls mouth instead of Leighton's!

The Secret Is Out...

Those of you that know me well understand my "germ phobia" and "organizational methods." Really, I have had these "issues" for nearly as long as I can ever remember. However, I have adapted my personal methods for dealing with them, especially since having my children. I still carry sanitizing wipes in my purse for the public restrooms and a small bottle of hand sanitizer for the wee little hands that must touch everything, but most of the other random issues I have are slowly diminishing. For instance, my backyard is fenced in and I have several toys that are for the "yard only." At one point in my life I would have commented that it is tacky to have stuff strewn across your yard. I don't so much care about that anymore! Well, recently Analayne took a drinkable yogurt outside and apparently her curiosity got the best of her because she decided to pour her drink down the tubes of one of her toys. A few days prior she and her friend poured sand down the tubes so you can only imagine what it looked like when I walked out the back patio and saw what she had done. Whew--Hoo... sand and yogurt all mixed together in the 100 degree heat! The old me would have taken it apart and got the hose out and sprayed the toy clean. The new and too tired to really care "me" gave her a bottle of cleaner some paper towels and let her do her best to clean it herself. In addition, I saw that a storm was on the horizon so I instructed her to drag it into the yard and told her we were going to let the rain wash it off. She thought that was a cool suggestion so once inside she stood at the door and watched the yogurt get washed off her toy. I ended up with a clean toy and a child that was entertained during the entire storm! Shhhh... don't let my secret out!

Mothers Day 2009

I am one PROUD and Happy Momma!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Iv'e Got 3 Words For You....Spirited, Tenacity & Spunk

I love Analayne. I love the way she lives life with spirit, tenacity and spunk. She embraces each moment, lives freely and she has FUN. Analayne wants to "feel" everything! Don't get me wrong...she needs some down time but "less is more" for Analayne (unless of course you are serving up ice cream).

You see I first realized that Analayne would be the type of child to want to "capture" each moment and embrace the day about 7 hours after I delivered her. It was about 2:00 in the morning, Russ was asleep in our tiny hospital room and despite my 18+ hours of NATURAL labor I could not sleep. Analayne was in the nursery and I just wanted to see her. I walked into the nursery and quickly spotted her bassinet. There she was just a few hours old, lying there beautiful as she could be...with her eyes wide open, looking around. I thought to myself..."I thought a newborn would be asleep?" I then quickly eyed the other babies in the nursery and saw that they were indeed ALL asleep and it was at that moment that I thought, this girl is full of life and I was RIGHT.

At almost 4 years of age I see my daughter living life to its fullest. Happy, singing, talking, dancing, being silly, never meeting a stranger.... LIVING each day with anticipation and tenacity! This is just Analayne's personality. She is a "people person." Analayne gets up early and likes to go to bed late. She can outlast and outplay both me and her daddy! She inspires me and I love how God gave us a daughter that is SO very different from me. As her mom, I get frustrated with her energy sometimes but in all honesty I want to to bottle up some of her cheerful spunk, tenacity and spontaneity for myself.

Well, that is after I contemplate the idea for a week, think through all the pro's and cons and then make a list of all actions involved in accomplishing the aforementioned task!

Enjoy some of our latest pics that capture just a glimpse of the REAL Analayne!

How many nick names can you give a baby?

Sweet Pea, Doodle, Baby, Cry Baby, Little Buddy and Crank are all "names" we (I) use when referring to Leighton. Don't you just love to make up names to call a sweet little baby? I think my favorite might just be "little buddy" because that is the name that Analayne started using on her own and it is just sheer, sweetness to hear her talking to Leighton and refer to him as her, "little buddy." Crank is the nickname that Mimi started in reference to Leighton's funny cranking noises he makes as he gears up for a good cry!

Analayne still gets confused and says things to Leighton like, "Hi, sissy." I then say, "Analayne you are the "sissy" he is your brother." She knows she is the sister and therefore would correct herself. However, lately I think she is giving up on being so gender specific because I noticed she is now just going up to him and saying, "Hi little baby."