He has a Name!

We have decided on a name for our new baby boy! Jim had a wonderful, special relationship with his Granddaddy, who passed away when I was pregnant with Anna Lee. Jim is the last male in his family with the Litton name, and it there has always been discussion about how we would (hopefully) someday have a little boy to carry on the name as well. Well, we are excited and thankful that that day is soon to arrive. As the day has been getting closer, we have spent a lot of time talking about what to name this little one. Jim's Granddaddy has always been a big part of those discussions. He was an amazing man. He had one of the most giving, servant hearts of anyone I have ever met...we learned even more about this after he passed away, from all of the people who came and told about how he had helped them in some way. He was a true patriarch of the family- and Jim's family is an amazing group of people who love the Lord and each other in extraordinary ways. It makes us sad that Granddaddy won’t be here to meet this sweet little boy, but we know he will be smiling down from heaven.

Jim's Granddaddy's name was JD Litton (just the letters- it didn't stand for anything), and Jim has his initials too. We have decided to name our little one James Davis Litton, and will call him J.D. after Granddaddy. We hope that someday our little boy will have a servant heart and love for the Lord and others that Granddaddy had. We pray that we will be able to teach J.D. where his name came from, and why it is so special to us. We can’t wait to meet him, and for you all to meet him too!

Randoms

It feels like Anna Lee is growing up and changing faster than we can keep up. The biggest thing that I think has changed about her lately is her language. It is amazing how much she is talking and how fast it has changed. She is putting longer sentences together now, and it is fun to be able to have full conversations with her. It is also funny to hear some of the things she says. She is quite the child of reasoning. If she does or doesn't want to do something, she gives you all of the reasons why or why not. She has a mind of her own! She is making so many new connections everyday.

Yesterday, we were at the alterations place getting some of my pants altered. We had to stand in line to pay, and while we were in line, we watched all of the people getting their clothes pinned and measured for their alterations. Anna Lee was very interested in this and wanted to know what they were doing. I told her that the lady was "fixing their clothes." A few minutes later, both of the platforms were cleared of people and Anna Lee said, "My turn now, Mommy?" I said sure, not knowing what she was going to do. Anna Lee had brought along her little Sleeping Beauty doll and she set her up on the platform. She began fluffing her dress as she was squatting down on the floor. I asked her what she was doing and she said she was "Fixing Sleeping Beauty's clothes." The lady who worked there loved it.

Anna Lee is one of the sweetest kids I have ever met. She is extremely loving, kind, and sweet. She tells me she loves me all of the time, and Jim and I are never lacking for compliments, love, or self-confidence...until the other day. Anna Lee and I were playing with her new farm magnet set (thanks, Rachel!) and Anna Lee got very focused on this scarecrow magnet. She looked at it for a long time and then said very clearly, "This is Mommy." WHAT??? I asked her to repeat herself and she said again, "Look. This is Mommy." Hopefully I look better than this scarecrow!

Anna Lee is fascinated by all of the Disney princesses right now...make that "obsessed." She got Cinderella for her birthday, and has since then gotten to watch (portions of) Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid. I had forgotten how scary those movies are! Anna Lee got this princess luggage set for her birthday, and it is one of her favorite things to carry it all around the house. I particularly liked this picture of her...with her fuzzy crocs on too. (Her "Bradley Slippers" as she calls them, since they are from her friend, Bradley)

I have mentioned before how much I love getting to spend time with some of my good friends from college now that we live in the same town. Anna Lee loves their kids now as friends of her own. These next couple of pictures are from some of our fun times together. (Maybe someday Anna Lee can have hair as long and as beautiful as Clare's!)

Too cute.

One more rewind...to Christmas

Well, I realize Christmas was almost a month ago, but I am just now getting around to posting my pictures. We had a great Christmas holiday with our families, and it was so fun to watch Anna Lee. It was such a joy this year to spend time with Anna Lee teaching her about the Christmas story and the birth of Jesus, and why we celebrate Christmas. (She still confused Baby Jesus with Baby Moses, but we are working on it.) It was also fun to see her excitement over gifts she was given or was giving.

We started everything out the week of Christmas with a trip to see Santa on her birthday (the night of the 21st). She did so much better than I expected! I had anticipated her crying and refusing to sit in his lap, but she was more than willing to go and see him. Afterwards, she got a "reward" of sorts by getting to ride the carousel with Daddy. She loved it!

Christmas Eve, Anna Lee and I made cookies together for Santa. I don't think she quite understood why we were making them for him, but she had fun doing it!

They were not the prettiest Christmas tree shapes you have ever seen once they were finished, but they were the best we could do.

Anna Lee especially enjoyed putting on the icing. I think more ended up in her mouth than on the cookies.

Modeling some of her Christmas pajamas before she headed to bed.

Santa brought Anna Lee an assortment of fun toys, games, and books. But his biggest present was waiting in the backyard for her that morning. We don't have a very big backyard, so this little set was perfect for it...and for her. She hadn't been feeling very well that morning, but this surprise did wonders to liven her up.

Yes, I actually got in the little house with her....pregnant belly and all...by request. But the amazing part is that after I was in there, Anna Lee wanted Jim to join us. It was a tight squeeze, but a memory I don't think I will ever forget!

After opening Santa presents, we headed down to San Antonio for Christmas with my family. This next picture is one of the gifts we framed and gave my parents. It was amazing how many attempts it took to get a good shot!

One of Anna Lee's favorite gifts this year was her new doll, Emmy. She lugs that doll (and all of her gear) with us everywhere. Conveniently, Emmy fits in the diaper bag she got with all of her stuff. We are a little afraid, though, that we are going to find our baby boy shoved in his diaper bag at some point because of how we have carried Emmy around.

Mom was a fan of her new purse. I just loved this picture of her.

Anna Lee with her new glasses, princess chair, and Elmo panties.

Kasey gave her this fairy princess tutu set. She wore it all around the house. My personal favorite was the headband.

Santa showed back up to surprise Anna Lee Christmas afternoon. She didn't quite know what to think...until he pulled out lollipops. She was immediately sold.

I loved this picture.

After San Antonio, we went back home for a day and then went to Jim's sisters to celebrate with his family. We had a great time there too! Anna Lee especially enjoyed seeing her new cousin, Ryan.

We attempted a cousin picture all together. I have a million of these with all sorts of faces and Santa hats pulled down. These were a couple of the best I got.

Does she look like she's in the Christmas spirit, or what?

The new dollhouse was an immediate hit....and still is!

Her cousins gave her a new Pooh treehouse set. They liked it as much as she did! As they were all playing with it together, I looked in and found Anna Lee 0n the floor like this. Christmas makes the need for a good nap!

Once Anna Lee got these shoes from GranDee and Pops, she didn't want to take them off...along with her necklaces, bracelets, and purse.

Aunt Lacy and Anna Lee working on a handprint gift for GranDee. Anna Lee was concentrating hard.

We had such a great time sharing Christmas with our families and with Anna Lee. Hard to believe there will be another little person in our family for Christmas next year.

Rewinding a Bit...Back to an Elmo Birthday

Anna Lee turned 2 years old the week of Christmas. It is hard having a Christmas birthday! It feels like all of the celebrating gets squished together. But it was still fun! We had an Elmo party for Anna Lee at the Little Gym, and she had a great time with all of her friends and family. Anna Lee has taken little gymnastics classes at the Little Gym all semester, so it was fun to get to be there with all of her favorite people.

Two things I loved about this picture: Anna Lee's curls and Avery's smile at her

Taking a quick break from the action to go love on Baby Maggie

We had dinner with our families after the party at our house. I love when Anna Lee gets to be with both of our families at the same time. It was a bit cramped with all the kids in our small living room, but it was great to be together. Anna Lee felt grown-up getting to sit and eat with her cousin Brynlee.

GranDee and Pops gave her the kid size of the rocking chairs we have on our front porch. Now she won't steal our seats when we are all rocking together. She loved the chair!

She also had to give a ride to the doggie she got from Kara.

Her first pair of dress-up shoes from Kasey. They were worn so much, they were broken within the first several days. This birthday introduced Anna Lee into the world of girly accessories. She is quite the fan...shoes, necklaces, earrings, purses, you name it. If it is pink with sparkles and/or feathers, she is wearing or carrying it. She leaves the house fully accessorized at all times. She takes longer to get ready now than I do!
She also got a new tricycle from Mom-Mom and Grandad. It has been a hit so far! My favorite part is the adult handle bars for steering.

After a fun day and night, we found Anna Lee finishing off some Sesame Street cookies...in her princess dress. We couldn't help but laugh.