Weekend Videos

Anna-Zilla!

CupCup

Here are some pictures and video from our weekend.

Having lunch on Saturday afternoon

Anna goes walkabout

Ladies and Gentlemen, We Have a Toddler on Our Hands!

It's been busy at the Leitsch household this month. Between traveling to Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, Jimmy being out of town for work, and my bad choice to assign lots of writing to my loveable students, I've been doing my best to keep my head above water. Please forgive my absence from the blogging world!

There are lots of pictures from Anna's first birthday party on Facebook, compliments of Aunt Jess, and I hope to have some cute pictures from Erin and Anissa soon that chronicle our big Mish get-together in Cincinnati last weekend.

For today, this video will have to suffice. Nichole and I were both husband-less tonight, so she suggested we take the kids to Chick-fil-a for dinner. Who am I to pass up waffle fries?!?! Watching Anna play in the kids' area after dinner, I was struck by the huge change I see in her --- she's no longer a baby, but a mobile little kid with a mind of her own! She's been talking, walking, and responding so much more intentionally than before. Even in the last week I've noticed changes in her awareness of her surroundings. She's hilarious, sweet, and spunky - just the way I like her!

Birthday Pics

Jimmy and I bought this stroller for Anna months ago ... we gave it to her on Saturday so we could enjoy watching her play with it all weekend. So far, it's a success! She still doesn't get the concept of turning or backing up, but she's having fun walking in straight lines around our kitchen and family room!

Lunch at Merridee's with Aunt Melissa:

Sharing Goldfish with kitty:

Anna was quite content being held by Aunt Melissa while we shopped!

Enjoying her birthday brownie:

Oops - forgot to flip this one!

Aunika, Derek, and Emily surprised us by coming over to wish Anna a happy day. Aunika helped Anna open her present:

Check out these two adorable superhero shirts (from Old Navy, in case you're interested)!

More steps towards Nichole:

Birthday Girl

Yesterday I stayed home from school to enjoy my girl's FIRST birthday - so glad I did! We started the day with some homemade apple-cinnamon muffins for breakfast, then hit up Kroger for a quick bit of grocery shopping. These two sweet older men were our baggers, and they serenaded Miss Anna with Happy Birthday while they bagged - she smiled and waved at the the entire time!

Aunt Melissa drove in from Cincinnati on her way back to Jacksonville, and she, Anna, and I spent the afternoon in downtown Franklin. We had lunch at Merridee's, where Anna had Melissa and I laughing over her incessant raspberry-blowing (she even shot a Goldfish out of her mouth on accident ... it was ridiculous!). Melissa gave Anna a stuffed cat (yet-to-be-named) that she carried around all day - she even shared Goldfish with it! I think it will be a favorite "baby."

Then we shopped around some of the cute crafty shops, getting inspired for future decorating projects ... a fun, girly afternoon!

We had the Naces over for dinner and Anna-sized brownie bites. Anna loved the singing and the candle (as you'll see in the second video). It was a fun night of celebrating our sweet girl.

The highlight of the evening was ANNA TAKING HER FIRST STEPS!!! Melissa and I had been joking earlier, and I had said, "Wouldn't it be cool if Anna took her first steps to you on her birthday?" Sure enough, that's what happened after dinner (it's almost like Anna did it on purpose). Melissa was holding out a toy, and Anna wanted it enough to let go of her death grip on the coffee table and take a few steps towards it. We all got to see it happen! Of course, Melissa and I got all weepy - it was such a special thing to share with everyone and made the night even more memorable. Jimmy was able to get this great video of Anna's second set of steps. My favorite part is how she starts clapping for herself at the end :-)

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Here's a video of us singing Happy Birthday:

We're excited for more celebrating with family in September! I'm going to post pictures of the day in another post ... I was just trying to get the walking video up as soon as I could!

Supergirl, Mommy's Helper

Anna sure had fun figuring out how to drink her water out of this "super" thermos - thanks, Grandma Patty!

She also enjoyed helping me with vacuuming the other day. She pushed the vacuum all around the family room ... hopefully (or maybe not-so-hopefully?!) we'll have a walker soon!

Can't believe Anna's going to be one on Tuesday ... where did the year go? I will be sure to update with pictures and videos from her special day.

Love you all!

Fun Weekend Pics

I just spent a long time putting together a really long post that ended up not saving. Bummer. Here are a few cute pics to tide you over ... hard to believe my girl's going to be one in a few weeks!

Supreme bedhead, Anna style:

"Sharing" a smoothie with Mommy:

"Helping" Mommy in the kitchen:

Love you all!