Recent pics

All wet after a dip in the poo-pool (I don't know the actual name for those play pools - that's just what I used to call it when I was little)
Despite being my daughter, Anna seems to love all girly things - especially necklaces and makeup. Here she is wearing my faux pearl necklace around the house.
All dressed up - though you can't see it, she has an eyeshadow brush in one hand and a bottle of Clinique face wash in the other, while wearing the pearls. Isn't she adorable?
Mimi and Pops have been letting us have weekly date nights before Megan's arrival, so this is from one of those evenings. Anna just loves her baths!
Mimi and Anna, post-bath

Well, we are officially T-minus 2 weeks and 4 days for Megan's due date - so keep your fingers crossed that I magically start going into labor on August 3rd (my sister is home and Dr. Madden is back in town that day, so that would be perfect). If that doesn't happen (and my guess is, it won't!), our "plan" is to induce on either the 8th or the 15th, depending on circumstances. We can't wait to see our new little girl very soon!

Austin, Baby Shower, and 4th of July

As I'm sure is true for all of you, we've had a crazy few weeks here in the Wright household. This weekend coming up is the first weekend in over 6 weeks that we haven't had any plans. I can't believe it! Of course, since we don't have plans, we'll be painting the nursery to get it ready for little Megan Elise. Never a moment of rest for the weary!

Speaking of Megan, this blog has been solely titled for Anna up until now, but now we have a new title - no new address, since that's too hard to make everybody switch, but a new title at least. :)

Below are some pictures of our trip to Austin for the fantasy football league (and for Anna and I to spend some quality time with Audrey, Keegan, and Avelyn during the week), Megan's baby shower, and our visit from Jacob, Amy, Nate and Zach this past weekend over 4th of July. What fun we've had the past few weeks!

A quite serious look for someone covered in birthday cake (we celebrated Anna's b-day with the O'Neills a few weeks ago)

Keegan is not as serious, thank goodness!

Looking pretty for Megan's shower

The adorable Mrs. Tony's cake

Anna, Parker and Maci playing at the shower

Me at 33 weeks

This is a great picture - Keegan has his eyes closed, Anna is trying to eat Avelyn's head - only Jimmy looks normal!

You have to look closely, but Anna's toenails are painted - she just loves painted toenails!

Anna and Zach playing in the pool

Anna and Nate playing in the pool - the three of them have so much fun together

12 month pics

Hey all - Anna had her 12 month pictures taken a couple weeks ago, and they're now posted on our photographer's website. So beautiful! Take a look at

www.rachelparkhurst.com

Click on the "Clients" tab, then input the password: anna1

Enjoy!

N. Ireland

On Thursday, we got back from our 12-day visit to Northern Ireland to visit my sister, Melissa (a.k.a. Auntie M). Meliss is working as a missionary for the Presbyterian Church in Belfast since August of last year. What an amazing trip! More than anything, it was wonderful to get to see Meliss again and spend time with her. We also were lucky to take a side trip to London and York with her while we were over there. Though we have many, many stories from our trip (you'll have to ask to hear them), it's better on the blog just to post the pics. So, here they are...

Happy reunion at the airport

In front of Queens College in Belfast

The tulips of the Botanical Garden in Belfast

All of us in a booth at Crown Liquor Saloon

Melissa liked the Children's Museum more than Anna, it seems :)

This picture is for Keegan - we saw a lifesize version of your puzzle at the Belfast Children's Museum!

This is just one of many drinking pictures Melissa and Jimmy have - ah, I remember the happy time when I used to be able to drink... :(

Ice cream at Harrod's in London

Picnic at Clifford's Tower across from our hotel in York

Melissa trying to stuff an entire profiterole in her mouth in one bite - you be the judge on how successful it truly was!

Too cool for school

York Minster

On the train back to London - Meliss entertained Anna the whole way by beatboxing, a skill no one evidently knew she had!

If you look closely, the rocky cliffs of Cave Hill in Belfast look like a giant man's face, which inspired Jonathan Swift to write "Gulliver's Travels." Being an English nerd, this was about the coolest tidbit I learned on the trip.

The view of Belfast from Cave Hill, where the Belfast Zoo is

I will post our videos soon - we have several that are great, but for some reason I can't get them off my camera today. Anyways, thanks for the great trip, Auntie M - we love you and are so proud of you!

Happy, happy birthday baby

Anna Banana had her first birthday party yesterday, which was a ton of fun! We celebrated with Nunny and Gramps, Mimi and Pops, Ma and Paw-Paw, Todd, Parker and Scott. Anna was beautiful in her birthday tutu, and she loved the cupcakes (although she wasn't too wild about ice cream - she'll learn! :) Here are some pics from the day:

Pretty in her tutu
I was rather proud of my cupcakes :)
The decorations for the party
I just love what the blue tutu does to those beautiful blue eyes
Laughing with Paw-Paw

Anna was so happy to have Parker at her party!

Getting ready for the cupcake

Oh yeah, it was very messy - but totally adorable

We do NOT like ice cream
But we love our new swing set that Daddy made!

3D pics

Another blog I've been trying to post for awhile is our 3D pics of Baby Girl Wright that we did a few weeks ago. Jimmy and I had such a blast getting to see our little girl suck her thumb and move around. It's absolutely amazing that we already know that she's going to look a lot like Anna, based on these pictures!

Welcome to the world, baby girl!

Okay, so this is a few weeks overdue, but I've now tried three separate times to get something posted, and every time something goes wrong...so, here it goes again...

We welcomed our goddaughter, Avelyn Christine O'Neill, into the world on April 17th. She is absolutely beautiful, as you can see from the pictures below, and she and her mom are healthy and happy. Jimmy, Anna and I had a great time getting to hang out with Keegan while Will and Audrey were at the hospital, and we loved getting to be there when Avelyn came home for the first time.

The proud big brother - I love that smile :)

Daddy and Anna in their blue at the hospital

The new family of four

Jimmy, Anna and Keegan at the children's museum in Austin

Getting ready for Keegan's big brother party. Poor kid - we had to wake him up from his nap to begin partying. He enjoyed it once he got a little more awake!