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!

Recent pics

Just a smattering of recent pictures of our Anna Banana...she's almost 11 months old!

Sittin' pretty

Getting kisses from Baba
Easter weekend at Steven and Lindi's
Look at me! No hands!

Mmmm...pickles, my favorite

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.