Trip Up North

On Saturday we made a quick trip up to the Akron area to visit with Ben's family. Most of them hadn't seen Anna so his Aunt Debbie had an open house for family and friends to come by and visit. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time seeing his family. It was a whirlwind trip, but it was a lot of fun and we really wanted Ben's Grandpa to see Anna! Thanks Debbie for opening up your home and for all the great food! We really appreciate your hospitality!

Grammy with Great Grandpa Shepherd (her dad!) and siblings John, Shari, and Debbie (not pictured: sister Mary, who lives in Washington state).

Papa & Anna

Uncle Ton & Anna. Uncle Tom knows all about girls... he has two girls himself!

By far, the highlight of the trip for Claire was playing with Aunt Debbie's 3 dogs, Maggie, Shelby and Cookie. She is still talking about Cookie (a 4 month old Beagle/Border Collie)! She was soooo cute and Claire loved her!

Aunt Diane & Anna

"Welcome Anna" cake

Aunt Linda & Anna (husband Tom pictured above!)

Aunt Debbie hosted the open house... THANK YOU!!

Aunt Shari, daughter Samantha & Anna

Great Grandpa Shepherd with two of his three great granddaughters!

I love this generation picture!

I just had to add this cute picture of Claire looking at flowers at Grandpa's house! Papa let's her pick flowers!

Anna's 4 Months Quilt Pictures

On April 21st, Anna turned 4 months old. She had a 4 month well check and is doing great. She weighed in at 13 lbs 12 oz (55th percentile) and 25.25 inches long (75th percentile). Her head circumference is up to the 50th percentile. Anna is rolling from back to tummy and tummy to back. She reaches for objects and has a strong grip now on her toys. She continues to be the happiest baby I've ever seen. She rarely cries and gives us the cutest baby smiles! She is just such a sweet, content baby. Sometimes I feel like she is neglected because Claire demands so much of my time and energy right now. I know she doesn't get the one-on-one time Claire received at this age, but she definitely seems to be thriving and she sure does get a ton of stimulation from Claire!! Claire is so good with Anna and I have not seen one moment of jealousy or meanness from Claire. I am so thankful for two sweet girls!

I had to add this picture of Anna with her hand in her mouth because this is her favorite thing in the world to do right now! She really loves her hands and recently found her feet! Now she is torn... hands or feet?? Such a hard decision!!

The classic "Anna Smile"

As I mentioned, she is definitely intrigued with her newly found feet!

Look at those ham hocks!

Ohhh... too be so agile!

It is very hard for me to take pictures of Anna when Claire is around because she insists on being in the pictures. I literally was using my leg to hold her back when I was taking Anna's 4 month pictures! I finally let her up on the couch when she started crying. It broke my heart! So here is a picture of Claire with her "Big Sister Claire" t-shirt on! She really is a proud big sister!

This is a pretty typical scene in our house... Claire in Anna's face. I'm sure she was talking loudly in a very high pitched voice. I worry about early hearing loss for Anna. Really...

Hibachi Table!

Over the weekend we went out to eat to a Japanese restaurant and we sat at the Hibachi table. It was quite an experience for Claire! At first she was terrified by all the fire, loud chopping noises and clanging & clambering involved in preparing the food. There is quite a lot of theatrics that go into it! She quickly warmed up to our chef. He was very nice and talked to Claire and even showed her how to use chop sticks. We had a great time and the food was excellent. Claire definitely seemed to enjoy her Hibachi adventure!

Mommy, Claire, Daddy, Papa and Anna at the Hibachi table.


Several of the waitresses sang Happy Birthday to Ben. We got a delicious, free dessert out of it too!



A picture of the flame when our chef was making our food.


Claire learning how to use chopsticks.

Grammy & Anna

Award Ceremony

Just a couple pictures from the Forty Under 40 award ceremony last week. It was actually a really nice dinner and ceremony at the convention center. Ben and I went as well as Ben's parents and several of Ben's co-workers were there to support him. My mom & dad watched the girls for us, so it was a rare evening out alone! Ben got a really nice plaque/trophy. Ben joked that he wanted it prominently displayed in our house and wants to buy a little spotlight to put on it! I guess it's kind of like his little Oscar!!

Happy 31st Daddy!

Today is Ben's 31st birthday! We celebrated on Saturday with my family at our house. We grilled out and enjoyed the beautiful weather! Sunday we had a little party at Ben's parents house after church. We had a nice time hanging out with our family over the weekend. As a side note, one year ago today we also found out we were having another baby! I surprised Ben with a positive pregnancy test for his 30th birthday! We will never forget Ben's 30th... that's for sure!

Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you so much. Thanks for all you do for our family!

T

Congratulations Ben!

Just a quick note to congratulate my wonderful husband on being a winner of Dayton's 40 Under 40 award. The Dayton Business Journal has a panel of judges that reviewed nominations from members of the business community and selected the forty winners under the age of 40 based on three main criteria ... business leadership, community leadership and career path. Ben is not going to like me posting this, but I am so proud of him and all the hard work he does at his job and in the community. He is on several charity boards in the area and is very generous with his time and money. Most people don't realize that about him! Plus, he is just really good at his chosen career and a great leader in the community!

If you want to read the article from the Dayton Business Journal, the link is...

http://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2008/03/24/daily8.html?ana=from_rss

Good job babe! You deserve the award for all you do!!! Your "girls" love you!

Anna's Quilt

In the beginning of March, Anna received her quilt from Great Grandma McDowell. If you remember, Claire also received a quilt from Grandma and she had her picture taken on her quilt every month for the first year. Anna didn't get hers until she was about two and a half months old because my Grandma got started a little late and also her arthritis has worsened since she made Claire's 18 months ago. I didn't care when we got it, I'm just thankful she was able to make one for Anna. I know it is a lot of hard, tedious work for her, but there is truly nothing she could have purchased for us that I would rather have in place of this quilt. I know Claire and Anna both will treasure this handmade gift for all time! I love the fact they will always have a piece of her with them and maybe some day they can pass it on to their kids! Thanks Grandma! We LOVE the quilts!

Grandma McDowell & Anna with her new quilt!

Claire was not very cooperative with the picture taking!

Claire & Anna on Anna's quilt!

Anna's 3 Month Quilt Picture

A very rare picture of Anna... she's crying!! I thought it was cute though and you all can see a different side to her than the usual Miss Smiley!

Anna's 3 Month Pictures

Yesterday I had Anna's 3 month pictures taken at our house by Kelly Graman. My friend, Jeni, told me about Kelly. She photographs her kids and I saw her work on Jeni's blog. I am so happy with the way these pictures turned out! Kelly was so nice and very patient with Anna & Claire. We will definitely be using her again! Thanks Kelly and Jeni!