Visiting the Farm

Grandma and Grandpa babysat for two days this week while Dave and I were at the teachers' convention.  They took Anneke to see Uncle Matt's cows.  Apparently she was a little scared and would not pet them!  Here's some pictures:

Autumn Fun

Dress-up Round 2--Our "Charlie Brown" child.

 If ya can't ride'em, push'em!

 Fun in the leaves.



Growing Up: Reading and Dressing Up

Our baby is growing up!  Here are a few pictures to show what she's been up to lately.

She loves the chair she got for her birthday from Uncle Matt!  And is really enjoying all the new books she got!

 And here's an example of some of the heavier reading we've been doing with her.  (For those who can't read the title it's "The Hobbit".  Tom, we're getting a lot of use out of your book!!!)

 And today while I was sitting on the couch she brought over her red shoes, wanting me to put them on for her.  Once those were on she went back to get her winter hat.  So I guess dress-up is the next stage!

Birthday Bash

Our beautiful little pumpkin has turned ONE!!!!  We had a small birthday party for her on Saturday; here is a small montage of photos from the day.

 Balloons and ribbons were quite a hit!

 She got to spend lots of time with Grandma and Oma!

 A cupcake....looks interesting.  But I don't really like it.....

 Opening gifts:  She was more interested in the tissue paper and in climbing on the colourful boxes than with unwrapping the boxes.  Once they were unwrapped, however, she loved playing with all her new toys!  (I thought it was about time Tom and Sarah made it on our blog!)

 Here's our big girl! 

Anneke, you have brought so much joy to our lives!  We love watching you grow and learn new things.  We are so blessed to have you in our family!  Thank-you for all your smiles and hugs!  We can't wait to see what exciting things the next year will bring!  We love you as big as the sky! :)  ~Mommy and Daddy

September Whirlwind

September has felt like a whirlwind.  All three of us have been thrown into totally new situations, so it has been a huge transition.  But we're all surviving!  Dave is enjoying school.  His class is good (so far!), the drive isn't too bad yet, and the staff there is great!  So we're glad he's feeling welcomed and that things have started well.  My job seems to be requiring more brain power than I have some day and I often feel like I'm totally confused most of the day.  There are a lot of new things to learn in Resource, and French is a lot of work too.  But I'm hoping that once I figure out how everything goes it'll settle down.  Anneke has been doing well at the babysitters.  She cries every morning when I leave, but the last couple days it only lasted a couple minutes!  She has several other kids to play with and they all love her, so we're glad that she's fitting in there!  It was pretty heart-wrenching to drop her off that first morning, but it's getting easier every day!

Anyways, here are some pictures from the last few weeks:

"There's no place like home!"  Anneke got these shoes from one of the teachers I work with and they fit now!  So I took some pictures to show her and thought I'd share.

 Daddy was racing her around the living room in the laundry basket, very fun!

 But now Daddy left, and I want out....how to get out.....

 Success!

 The laundry basket is a pretty cozy place to watch baby einstein from.  By the end of the movie she was totally leaning over sideways with her head on the side!

Mischevious

Well, she found it--the tupperware cupboard.  She discovered she can open it on her own and clear it out.  It provides great entertainment, multiple times a day!

And unveiling her newest "trick", as well as her newfound awareness of when she's being funny:

Adventures with Daddy

Some people from our church gave us their front-riding bike seat.  I think Anneke likes it (and so does Daddy)!