Happy Birthday Anna (July 31st)!

There's the Birthday Girl! About 2 weeks before her birthday we started telling her about her birthday and so whenever she heard the word birthday she would say: "My birthday, comin' up." Then if you asked her how old she was going to be, she would say: "2 (sounds like "dew)!"


Here is Anna's cake! I have quite a bit of freedom with the kids' cakes because they don't demand specific designs. I have tried to make ones that I truly feel they will love... This one was too cute to not do. Anna has been practicing (without much luck) her animal sounds. Usually when you ask her, every animal will either "moo" or "meow." Maybe her cake will motivate her to learn some more?!


As Thayne carried the lit cake over to Anna, I held my breath... I LOVE how the cake turned out, but structurally, it's not as sounds as it looks...


She knew just what to do with the candles... Although her little breaths were ineffective!


Daddy lifted her a little closer to the candles to get them blown out!


Birthday Princess got first pick of what piece of cake she wanted. She wanted a pig cupcake! She went straight for his big marshmallow snout!


Samuel wanted the sheep cupcake that was covered in marshmallows..


Evelyn got the cow cupcake.


Hyrum also got a pig cupcake.




She loved her presents and made sure everyone knew they were: "uh-mine."

ANNA's Favorite things:

Favorite Color - Pink ("Peench") and Purple (Puh-Puh)

Favorite Show - Dora (I'm still not sure how she was introdauced to Dora, it wasn't here, the other kids have mostly outgrown her... anyway, she is obsessed with her!)

Favorite Food - She LOVES all fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, and grapes are probably her favorite. She also has started asking me for Tacos. I'll ask what she wants for lunch, or what to make for dinner and she'll say "taco" - she is my daughter!!

Favorite Book - "Kiss the Cow"

Favorite Songs - I am a Child of God, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam!, Rock-a-Bye Baby - - sometimes, thanks to the baby monitor, we can hear her singing to herself when she's supposed to be napping... LOVE It!

Her biggest accomplishments include: putting on her own shoes, getting herself dressed, and becoming potty trained!!

Anna was a potty training dream. The first day was terrible. She must have peed every 5 minutes in her panties. But by the second day, she hated having accidents and freaked out about them. Poop scared her quite a bit, but she would rather poop in the toilet than in her panties, so she has become less and less scared and it's not really an issue anymore. Over the first few days, accidents became fewer and fewer. AND, she tells me when she has to go!! So Ii don't even have to set a timer. Today she has gone over a week with NO ACCIDENTS during the day, during nap, or at night!! Way to go Anna!!

For the first time in 7.5 years, we are diaper-free!!


Here's Anna's first time on the potty back in April. She pooped and when she saw it in the toilet, she panicked, and refused to even sit on the toilet again. After that, we just backed off till the day before her birthday, and she has done great!! HOORAY!

Two more quick stories about Anna. Today (August 29) I asked Anna to put away 2 cans that needed to go into the pantry. She refused. So I told her that she could put them away or go to time-out... she chose TIME-OUT! (I still made her put them away after time-out!)

Also today, we were watching TV and one show on PBS Kids had ended and previews to other shows were playing. Anna runs into the kitchen, looks at the stove clock, and shouts: "Wild Kratts!" She thought it was time for Wild Kratts! - She always sees her older siblings running and checking the clock and telling how much time till Wild Kratts (They all love watching WIld Kratts)... Guess they're rubbing off on her :o)