Summer in Raleigh

The last few days, summer in Raleigh for us has looked like:
Anna-Kate at the farmer's market insisting on wearing her grandma's sunglasses,

and the car reading 108 degrees (luckily it dropped to 105 degrees after we had been driving for a few minutes; otherwise it would have been hot outside).

Checking Off The List

I can finally check a big item off the summer resolution check list! I finished Anna-Kate's baby book! I was very sentimental last night as I finished the last page..... My baby is old enough for her baby book to be finished.

Car Rides

Anna-Kate has been on three 3-hour one-way trips in two weeks. Around town Anna-Kate quickly gets fidgety and cranky. I end up singing. She loves Old McDonald, I Just Want to Be a Sheep, and her two new obsessions Wheels on the Bus and Little Bunny FooFoo. But, on the long car drives, she has been really awesome.
She enjoyed playing with her duck and dog.

I wasn't sure what she was doing here. It was cute whatever it was.

Then she read to us. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see? I see a red bird looking at me." I now know that book by heart.

Welcome to the Eighties!

So, Anna-Kate, what do you think of your mom's old toys?

My sister got this out for AK the last time we were home. Other than getting troll hair in her mouth, AK enjoyed her visit to the eighties.

Girls Beach Vacation!

This week may have been Anna-Kate's favorite week ever! She and I joined Mary-Knowles and Mary-Kathryn at the beach with Mary-Kathryn's mom and sister-in-law Kelly who has a son Thomas that is a week older than AK. We spent our days chasing babies, hanging out at the beach or in their baby pool at the house, and relaxing. It was a great time!! Here are some images of Mary-Knowles, Thomas, and Anna-Kate.

It was so wonderful watching the babies interact. They absolutely loved having each other around all the time! We mommies also enjoyed having extra hands around all the time. Mary-Kathryn's mom even treated us moms to staying at home with the babies while they slept so we could enjoy a dinner out. Life at the beach was nice!

Beauty Parlor

I don't know that this can count as Anna-Kate's official first hair cut, but it was really cute. AK's bangs have been getting in her eyes, as well as not even. Today I went for a haircut. Erin (from Sam and Bills) offered to even her bangs. AK liked the doggie smock, but she quickly figured out that she didn't like scissors in her face. Here is the after picture. If you look close, you can still see the tear in Anna-Kate's eye. Poor girl, she will soon learn the price a girl pays for beauty.

Because of this...

Because of this picture...

...I was able to cook dinner!

Anna-Kate has re-fallen in love with her horse. She has a new confidence on it. She grabs on and starts throwing herself back and forth. The horse neighs, makes a sound like hooves on the ground, and plays "Home on the Range." When the song comes on, she immediately adds a little more gusto to her riding. Actually riding the horse, compared to standing in front of it as we used to do, is Anna-Kate's new favorite thing to do.

Take Me to Your Leader

Anna-Kate and I were just killing time wondering the mall today. We saw some friends. They introduced AK to the wonderfulness of the "rides" at the mall. Who needs to actually spend the quarter when just getting in them is so cool?!!