Snowball Fight!

A classic with some new faces. We needed two more people for this one, so I asked Anna, "Who else should we put in the video?" She said, "Aunt Melissa and Uncle Jed." Looks like the rest of you should come up with some big gifts this Christmas.

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A Leitsch Family Christmas

Check out how the Leitsch's put up a Christmas tree:

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"That's Enough, Daddy!"

Anna was in rare form tonight. She's usually pretty animated, but tonight she was particularly silly at dinner. Jimmy was being funny cooling his food down, and out of the blue, Anna said, "That's enough, Daddy!" She got a kick out of herself, as you'll see from the video. She then proceeded to crack up as she watched the video about twenty times after that. We sure enjoy our budding comedian!

Fall

We enjoyed a beautiful fall day last Saturday, spending most of the early afternoon with Eric, Melody, and their kids at Young's Jersey dairy in Yellow Springs. Anna and Cate got to feed goats, see cows, pick their own pumpkins, and eat the biggest ice cream cones I've ever seen. It was a great day!

The next three pictures are from this afternoon --- I got to leave work uncharacteristically early and was able to spend an hour exploring a new park by our place. The playground was packed, so Anna and I had fun "climbing trees" and playing in the crunchy leaves. I love this first picture ... it totally captures how Rapunzel is a constant companion. (P.S. I know she's wearing the same outfit ... trust me, I washed it Sunday!)

"Climbing" trees:

This one loaded out of order --- but here is Anna with our pumpkins!

Finally, here's a cute video from our time at the park this afternoon. It's one of the many rather random conversations Anna and I had today. One woman at the park asked me, "Does she always have this much to say?" "Yes," I answered. "Always."

Princess Chef

Thought it would make a few people's Fridays happier to see some new Anna pictures. Two of her recent loves are princess dress-ups and helping me cook - these pictures pretty much tell the story.

It is not uncommon to have a princess join me for breakfast of toast and bananas (and the princess typically insists on using my knife to spread her own toppings).

I love my cookie-baking helper - here she was very excited about holding an egg:

Enjoying the fruits (or cookies) of her labor at our "movie party":

Ummm ...

Again, ummm ...

Random but worth adding - Anna got to meet Spiderman at the Buddy Walk we did to benefit the Down Syndrome Association.

This is a pretty typical evening - Anna helping me make dinner. Notice the naked Ariel doll next to the bowl:

I love this kid - on our way to school with blanket, "the girls," and her cd lyric book (oh! and her Reds shirt from Uncle Evan) ... that's the way Anna rolls!

More princess ... gotta love the shoes!

Helping me make some scrambled eggs - her favorite. It really is fun to have a little helper in the kitchen - Anna is so eager to learn, and the kitchen is a great place to teach!

Have a great weekend!

One More

My mom took this picture right after Kitty was stuffed. So precious!

A BIG Summer Update

This post's for you, Uncle Jed! Sorry I've been so utterly terrible at picture-posting. Here's an attempt at catching up on Anna's summer:

Anna discovered that eating raspberries like the Murphy kids is really fun!

Backyard pool time with "Real Baby":

Looking so big in her "rainbow dress" from Anissa:

Anna's hairstyle of choice this summer is pigtails ... she loves them and sits still while I comb and fix her hair!

At the zoo ... one of MANY visits this summer:

Anna has also established herself as our resident comedian. Who knew oven mitts made great shoes?!

Helping Mommy make pizza for dinner:

I have no words:

Another cute park shot:

Riding her Barbie car (a generous hand-me-down from my mom's friend at work):

Being a turtle at the zoo!

Another trip to the park:

Making funny chocolate lips with Mommy:

Posing with all her babies:

For Anna's upcoming 2nd birthday, my grandparents took her to Build-a-Bear, something they do with all their great-grandchildren. Anna had A BLAST. She squealed the whole time. Here she is choosing an animal with Mama:

Giving her appropriately-named "Kitty" a bath:

With Mama and Papa:

And here she is this morning wearing Kitty's sandals (as well as her new Belle underwear, which she picked out at the store yesterday, and which she peed in not five minutes after taking the picture, but that's okay):

We've definitely had a fun summer! Anna is growing into a spunky, smart, funny girl. She loves swimming (she jumps right in, kicks, and goes under on her own!), reading (she has a few books memorized and likes to "read" to us), singing (she knows all the words to the Mulan cd as well as "Do-Re-Mi" from Sound of Music and "Good Morning" from Singing in the Rain), and being a jokester. She still loves to play with her babies and play outside any chance she gets. She'll start "school" next week as I go back to work, so this week is all about spending quality time together before the real madness begins!

First Haircut

As promised, here are some pictures from Anna's first haircut. The baby mullet was getting a little out of control, and her hair in the front is finally starting to fit behind her ears, so we figured it was time to get a trim. Jimmy's 'Uncle' Murphy, a dear family friend, owns a salon in Hamilton and gave Jimmy his first haircut. It was only fitting to take Anna for hers!

Before:

Anna was a little timid at first, as expected. One princess cape and a lollipop later, she was one satisfied customer! She had never had a lollipop before, and the thing didn't leave her mouth the entire haircut!
I love her eyes in this one!

Bye-bye, baby mullet!

Thanks, Uncle Murphy!

Mother's Day

Jess took some great pictures at the Trokhan's on Mother's Day - this one's my favorite!

Poor Baby

Anna has recently named all her babies "Baby Sarah" - makes things confusing for Jimmy and me. Yesterday Anna and I went for a little "nature walk" in the neighborhood and made this particular Baby Sarah a dandelion headband. Poor baby!

Happy girl! Check out all the gaps between her teeth!