IT'S A GIRL!!!

We went to Dr. Madden a week ago today and found out what Jimmy and I had already known (or guessed, is more accurate) - our new little baby is a girl! We are so thrilled to have two beautiful little girls in our lives, and couldn't possibly more happy with the news. Dr. Madden says she is going to be tall - she's already got long legs - and looks very healthy. She's not quite as active as her big sister was in utero, but I have a feeling with time, she'll be rolling and kicking with the best of them!

Here is the ultrasound pics from two months ago, back in January:

And here are the ones from last week (the top one is her long leg outstretched):

Isn't it amazing the vast difference in two months?

Speaking of the vast difference two months can make, our Anna Banana is growing, both physically and developmentally, in leaps and bounds lately. She is now standing up on her own, babbling constantly with all sorts of new consonants added to her vocabulary, and is always on a new adventure - whether that's trying to figure out why the refrigerator vent is so dusty (and what dust tastes like, I might add) or how many DVDs she can pull out of the entertainment center with one swipe. It's so much fun to watch her discover. Here are some new(er) pictures of her - I promise to update this soon with more recent pictures.

Anna's 1st Year, So Far

Big News!

There's big news for the Wrights - Anna's going to be a big sister! We are all so thrilled to be adding a new member to the family. I am about three months along (as of last Saturday) and everything seems to be going great. I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and had an ultrasound. Mimi and I got to watch the baby twitch and move its little hands and feet. Dr. Madden says we both look perfectly healthy!

I keep intending to scan the ultrasound pics we got so that I can post them, but with everything else going on, I just haven't found time. Promise I'll do it soon.

In other news, we had Anna's 9 month pictures taken this last weekend in Austin. As always, they are absolutely beautiful - is it even possible that there's a prettier 9 month old in this world?! (Okay, I know I'm biased, but she's gorgeous!) Check them out at:

www.rachelparkhurst.com

Click "Enter Site", then go to the "Clients" tab. The password is "annagrace".

Bookachila

If you're wondering what the title of this blog is about, "book-ka-chi-la" is Anna's first official word!!! (I crack myself up) All day today, she has been repeating this. I think she's just figuring out that she can string all these random noises she's been making together to make a new, interesting noise. It's pretty fun - and if you just pretend a little, it actually does sound like she's talking!

Actually, the point of this blog is to post two videos demonstrating Anna's newfound sense of humor. She's been laughing and smiling for a long time, but in the past few weeks, she has really blossomed and finds so many things funny. She's also discovering that she has a sense of humor that she can use to make us laugh - as you can see from the "blowing bubbles" video. This isn't the best example of her abilities of blowing bubbles, but I love how mischeviously she smiles when she realizes she's being funny.

We're also having a blast at Musikgarten, which we started last week. This week, Anna regaled the whole group with lots of squeals and attempted clapping - she loves to "sing" and "dance"!

Pops!

After much begging, pleading, and non-stop "popping," Pops has finally gotten his wish - Anna is saying "pop!" Here's a video to prove it - and congrats, Pops!

Holiday Catch-Up

As I hope it's been for all of you, the Christmas and New Year's holidays have been a time of excitement, happiness, and non-stop insanity! We had a wonderful time with our friends and family, but I have to admit that I'm glad we're back to our normal routine today.

It has been forever since I posted, so I'm going to create a giant post this time with lots and lots of pictures from the last month.

Mimi and Anna looking pretty for a holiday party

Our Christmas Angel

Earlier in December, we decided to take swim lessons as a family - she loves the water, and is a great paddler!

Daddy / Daughter snuggle time

Opening Christmas presents at Ma and Paw-Paw's

Mid-splash in her rubber ducky bathtub

We love our tub time...

...because we frequently get very messy!

"Making" cookies for Santa (hey, I took the easy way out this year!)

Coming in to see what Santa brought. I wish I had taken a picture of everyone crowded around to see this event - there were about 15 people in our living room, all with cameras!

Getting ready to jump into the loot

With our new ball and pound 'n roll

All those toys, and all she wants to play with is the pieces of flooring!

I promise to post soon with videos of Anna talking, crawling and pulling up. She is now saying "bwa," "ba," "da," "ma," "fa," "ca," and making lots of razz sounds. As far as crawling, she is now so adept at it that we are constantly finding her in rooms that we didn't leave her in - this morning she followed me from her room to the bathroom to my bedroom to the kitchen, all without me helping her at all! Pulling up is her new thing, and she has mastered the safety gate on the playroom, her crib rail, and the walker Ma and Paw-Paw gave her for Christmas. Pretty amazing for a little girl who, just a month ago, was only saying "ma" and scooting around!

Thanksgiving in Ruidoso

We just spent four wonderful days in Ruidoso at my parent's cabin with Will, Audrey and Keegan celebrating Thanksgiving. We all had a great time relaxing, snow tubing, shopping and eating, but the best part of the trip was getting 5 inches of snow on Friday night and Saturday morning. Ruidoso looked like a winter wonderland Saturday morning - how fun for the kids and for us!

Hanging out with Don Will and Donna Audrey

Reading with Audrey

Snowflakes in her hair

It's cold!
This is the view from the cabin - wow!
Don't you love her giant puffy snowsuit?
We were lucky to get snow in Midland this morning, too - so we made a cowboy snowman