Catching Up: All our exciting news!

Before moving on to many of our December activities I thought I'd better get a couple of big things posted. Most people reading this more than likely know this stuff but I wanted to get it posted anyway. I've been soooo behind and that is the only reason I haven't posted yet!

We are excited to announce that our little family of three will become a family of four this June. I am due with Baby #2 June 14th.  The first trimester was pretty rough but similar to last time. I think it just felt worse because I couldn't just nap or rest whenever. At 16 weeks I'm feeling pretty good (for a pregnant person).

I found a doctor in the Kansas City area that we like and so far everything is looking great. There is no reason to think that I will have the same issues with the placenta that I had with Anna but as a precaution they will be checking my fluid levels at every appointment starting at 24 weeks. As long as everything continues to go well and I go into labor on my own I should be able to try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean) which I am excited about. It may not end up working out which is okay but it's nice that I have an experienced doctor who enjoys and supports VBACs.

16 weeks pregnant. 

We have our anatomy ultrasound scheduled and will hopefully find out the gender of this little one at the end of January!

Our second bit of exciting news is that we found a house that we liked, made an offer, and it was accepted! Currently our closing date is set for January 27th. The house is located in Olathe, KS and is only about 10-15 minutes from where Kevin is working. I will eventually post pictures of the interior once we get settled but here is an outside photo.

We look forward to eliminating Kevin's commute and getting moved in our new home. We are so incredibly grateful that Kevin's parents have allowed us to stay with them for so long and we will never truly be thank them enough for all the help we've received in getting back to Kansas. I'm sure they are ready to have their house back!

1 Year Old!

This is going to end up being more of a 13 month old post since I'm severely behind but I didn't want to skip the post. We finally managed to get these 1 year pictures taken so I'll try and get updated so I can get caught up on other posts too.

Month 12 was a big month for Anna in terms of teeth. After only having two bottom teeth for several month we now have 4 teeth on top! It makes her look so much more like a toddler.


At the beginning of November Anna started using the sign for "more" that we'd been trying to teach her. Over the summer I had been trying to teach her several signs but had sort of stopped when all of a sudden she was doing it. Since then I've started trying to teach her a few more basics like "please" and "thank you". Not much luck yet but we will see if she eventually picks some up. 

Around the same time Anna began nodding her head "yes" a lot. At first it didn't seem like it meant anything but over the last 6 weeks it's pretty clear she is nodding yes with intent. A few weeks after mastering "yes" we started getting the "no" head nod. Anna can also say no and will do so with gusto when she really doesn't like something. Sometimes I have to hide a smile when she purses her lips, shakes her head, and says "no no no no no". 

Another less fun thing Anna has begun doing are have little mini fits when she doesn't get her way. They typically don't last a long time but she certainly is turning into a toddler. Anna received this little doll wagon for her birthday from Grandma Patti and absolutely loves it. While not meant for real babies to be put inside we of course have done so and pushed/pulled her around. She'll say "wee wee" as she goes for a ride.  Anna LOVES this. So much in fact that we had to stop putting her in it for a while because every time we took her out she had a meltdown. She's better about this now and also enjoys pushing the wagon around the house. She'll laugh and smile. It's pretty entertaining to watch. 

Last month Anna also mastered climbing up the stairs which she also really loves to do. Of course we are right there behind her to supervise her. Anna is also pretty good at going down the stairs but prefers climbing most of the time. She's also climbing over lots of things to get to where she wants to be. We haven't had to lower her crib to the lowest setting quite yet since she is still pretty short but that is likely to happen in the near future since she does like climbing. 

Anna's 12 month appointment at the beginning of December went very well. She's right on track developmentally. Anna weighed in at 19 lbs 13 oz (50%) and her head was once again at 100%. For her height they measured her at 27.75 inches (9.2%). This made us laugh because that is the exact same measurement they had for her at her 9 month appointment and by the number of pants I've packed up since then I know she has grown. The doctor said most likely the last measurement was off because at this age it's very difficult to get the height accurate all the time. Either way though...we have a shorty on our hands :) 

I think I mentioned in the last monthly update that Anna was saying her version of dog. She has said a few other words here and there like "bye" and "hi" and "dada" but really jabbers all the time. She started saying "ding ding ding ding" and does so all. the. time. Not sure if it means something to her but we enjoy it. It's always hard to know for sure but with the way she's trying to repeat sounds it seems like more words are just over the horizon. 

We've seen a ton more imitation from our little bug over the last couple months as well. It's so fun seeing her start to communicate with us more and soak in the world around her. 

Less than two weeks ago Anna took her first couple of steps! She has since taken up to 5 little ones and I think she could do more but prefers crawling. We keep trying to get a picture of it or a film but she sees the camera and camcorder come out and just wants to crawl to it. Hopefully once she gets more steps going I can get a good video to post. 

The last couple months have been so much fun as Anna becomes more interactive and is playing with us more. It's still crazy that she is over a year old. We love our little bug so much and look forward to watching her continue to grow and develop. 

Happy Thanksgiving

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked from Anna's first Thanksgiving but I did manage to get a few.

The night before we headed over to the Copp household to do a little celebrating. We weren't going to be making it out to the farm this Thanksgiving so Grandad and Grandmom came in for dinner so we'd get to spend some time together.

A little lasagna before the turkey began.

 Since it was also Anna's actual birthday we had cupcakes and decided to see how she'd react to the cake business without so many pairs of eyes staring at her. She was a little unsure about it at first...

Somebody warmed up to it after a bit though.

A little after dinner playtime with Grandmom.

Some coloring fun. It was hard to get her to let go of that crayon. She had a pretty tight hold on it.

For Thanksgiving day the Kent household was a packed one. Grandma Patti had her sister, Connie, and their whole family over. It was great getting to see Kevin's cousins and all of their kids. We ate tons, had a chance to catch up, and just really enjoyed the day. It's so nice being able to be back for the Holiday's!

Happy 1st Thanksgiving Anna!