She's Getting It

I walked into our foyer last night and found this sight.

Me: "What are you guys doing?"

Anna: "The little girl is not being nice, so I had to put her in time out."

Me: (stifling a laugh) "Oh! She needs to be nice, doesn't she?"

Anna: nods

Then Will watched her bend over and shake her pointer finger in the doll's face. (I didn't know I did that!) At least we do know that she's starting to understand why she goes to time-out sometimes!

"I Love Boys!"

What a day Saturday was! Will and I had nothing planned and so we decided to let Anna sleep as late as she wanted. We rolled over at 8:45 and had not heard a peep out of her! It was wonderful...until my mom-brain took over and started thinking bad thoughts. Why do we do that? I went upstairs and found her in her bed, still peacefully sleeping (and breathing). I scooped her up and carried her downstairs and put her in bed with us. She never goes back to sleep when we do this, but it's so much fun on lazy mornings.

She was showering us with hugs and kisses (the best thing ever!). Then she leaned over and put her little head on Will's chest and proclaimed, "I LOVE BOYS!". We both looked at each other with that Oh-no!-please-don't-tell-me-we-have-to-deal-with-this-already look.

Well, if this wasn't enough, my sister called and she was keeping her friend, Sherry's, little boy William. Sherry is due Thursday and Sarah offered to help her and her husband, Tim, get some much-needed couple time before the introduction to two kids happened. Sarah wanted to know if she could bring William over to play. But of course!

Anna and William were so cute playing together. The funny part was that Anna couldn't keep her hands off of William. Normally Anna is the hands-off, don't touch me type of child when she's with other kids. Not anymore! Here are some pics from their big play date.

William loved Anna's tea set...sorry Tim:)!

Sharing the love...

I just had to get this pic of their matching Nalgene bottles.

Having a dance party to the Leap Frog Fridge Alphabet music...

A big hug for William before he went home.

Thanks for coming to play, Sarah and William!! It was so fun!

The Collins Zoo Grows

My brother, Jeff, called me Friday night. Now this, in and of itself, was special. I usually get a phone call around my birthday and maybe once or twice more a year (yes, in a year). Jeffro just doesn't much care for communicating through the phone--he'd rather see you in person. Which is why my first thought was that maybe he and his girlfriend, Johnna, were in town (her family lives here, too) and wanted to stop by. So, we chatted about Anna's awesome toy box that he made for Christmas. Then he asked me if I still loved being a parent. Uhh, yea! Of course, I do. Then he asked if I thought I would like being an aunt. Huh?

Dead silence...............................................................WHAT?! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME??

Johnna is pregnant and Jeffro is going to be a daddy!!! He was so precious--he could barely control his excitement. So, the Collins Zoo will get a little bigger come October! How exciting is that? I can't wait!

So Funny

The other night, Will and I were watching Wake play Georgia Tech (we've all but given up on our Heels). Anna was watching with us and kept yelling things like, "Get the ball!", "Come on, guys!", and "Good shot!", totally mimicking the comments we were making. If that wasn't funny enough, they replayed one of the plays in slow motion. Anna looks at us and says, "Those guys are playing so slow." She had her little nose scrunched up, as if to say, "What is wrong with those guys?". Will and I cackled!

Why is it so hard?

Anyone who knows me will confirm that I am a complete Type A personality--a perfectionist that likes being in control at all times and is willing to plan everything to the "T". Well, I'm pretty sure God laughs at us Type A's on a regular basis. Why is it so hard for me to let go and understand that it isn't all up to me? Why is it so hard to trust in His plan and stand back out of His way so it can happen? I'm having a really hard time with this right now...pray for me, please.

The Second Big Snow of Winter 09-10

While I was away at the conference, Anna had a fantastic time with her Daddy all to herself. They had a blast playin' and playin' and playin'. Although it snowed, Daddy reported that Anna liked it for about 20 minutes and then was done. Here are some pics from their grand time...

Anna SO excited about being in her snow gear;).

Anna standing beside her first snow angel!

You gotta go swinging, even in the snow!

Women of the Word Conference

My mom asked Sarah and me back in October if we were interested in going to this Women of the Word Conference in Myrtle Beach in January. Myrtle Beach in January?? Spending time with my two favorite women?? Yes, please. Plus, the keynote speaker was Joanna Weaver, who wrote Being Mary in a Martha World, which is a fantastic bible study (for those who haven't done it). So, we registered and forgot about it. Then, Halloween, Thanksgiving, wedding, and Christmas happened. I had totally forgotten about the conference until a couple of weeks ago. It was the end of January already!!

The funny thing is that as Sarah and I were preparing for the trip to Myrtle Beach, everyone in the Triad was preparing for snow...again. The last time we headed to the coast was for Greg's wedding...and it snowed while we were there. This is not funny anymore...

Anyway, the conference was really good. Although Joanna Weaver is a precious person, we decided she was a better author than speaker. The praise music was phenomenal and we got to see some dear friends from Wilmington while we were there. The small sessions were our favorite part. We went to one on unity in difficult relationships, which was very much needed.

After the conference ended Saturday, we headed to the outlets in the rain and had a great time shopping. Then my dad drove down from Wilmington to meet us for dinner in Calabash (he had been pouting because my mom was getting to see us sans husbands and he was jealous).

Sarah and I were a little nervous about driving back with all the snow that had fallen, but luckily I-40 was pristine all the way home. And Will was quite happy to see us since he had been stuck in the house with a 2 and 1/2 year old and a dog for almost 3 days! Gotta love girls weekends!