Gettin' Girlie

Anna's hair is finally getting long enough for bows! If she would only leave them in....








Many thanks to our friend Emily for making this cute bow for Anna!

Interview with Anna

Our little walker

This video is a little bit long, but I love how Anna can't decide what to do once she realizes she's being recorded.

Mother's Day weekend

Ben's parents came for a visit the week before Mother's Day. We had a good time, and Anna really bonded to her grandparents. Just to prove it, she started walking under Grandpa's coaching. Sadly, I got very few pictures during those two or three days, though I think Grandma probably got one or two.

Their visit coincided with a family wedding in Cincinnati, so we all traveled up to witness cousin Brad and Lanette's wedding. It was beautiful.




Here is the first dance. Aren't they a great couple? We were so happy to be there with them, and we wish them all the best in their new lives as husband and wife.

And here are some family photos from the weekend:

Grandma


Aunt Katie


Cousin (second cousin?) Tommie, only 8 weeks old!


And here we are on Mother's Day with Ben's parents and his sister and brother-in-law. What a great weekend of catching up with family. I couldn't have asked for a better Mother's Day.

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

About a month ago (I'm just a bit behind on blogging here), Anna and I joined our playgroup for a visit to the Knoxville Zoo. We had a great time! The weather was wonderful and it was a weekday, so there were no crowds. Just us and the animals.







The little ones, worn out after just half the morning!


This is a little infant crawl area inside a larger "Wee Play" section of the zoo. Anna is crawling in a fully padded, enclosed square of maybe about 36 square feet. She loved it. The larger "Wee Play" part looks like a lot of fun for older kids. It's set up like a miniature zoo with play stations, so kids can pretend to work in the cafeteria, or prepare food for the animals, or be a vet. There's also a pretend mini farm. This used to be a temporary exhibit, but it was so popular the zoo brought it back. I hope it stays long enough for Anna to grow into it.



Here was one of the sheep, or "Baa-baa" as Anna calls them, at the petting zoo.

I didn't get pictures of it, but we also rode the carousel and got right up close to a gorilla behind glass at the monkey house. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go again. We're thinking a year long pass might well be worth the money.

A Tennessee spring

It's blossoming and beautiful here. Here are some pictures from out and about.

First, some pictures from the apartment. Our downstairs neighbor has done a beautiful job with the front garden:










She told me she planted one hundred daffodil bulbs. I can believe it.

We also have a few things blooming at our new home.

In the front,




and in the back.




The tree in the front is a cherry tree of some kind, I believe, but I don't know about this one in back. Any ideas?

Home sweet home

On March 31st, we became homeowners for the first time. Here's the new place.


You can't quite see it in this picture, but it's a two-car garage.


Here we are during the final walk through on the 30th. Anna properly inaugurated the house by taking her first step while we were in the kitchen. Naturally I didn't have the camera ready, since that wasn't what I was expecting!


Photo from the back deck.


The yard backs up to a farm, so it's a very nice view.

We are also very happy with the neighborhood. It's a new development with many young families, plus a park and a library within walking distance. The new location should also cut Ben's commute time to Greenville. (He is still working out the ideal route). We'll be plunging into cleaning and painting and getting the place the way we want it for our final move-in shortly. I'll put up more pictures as we go.