Annierae's 3rd Birthday!

Annierae celebrated her 3rd birthday today. She was really excited to see the Candy Land cake mommy made for her. Of course she loved all the pink on it, as she reminds us daily that pink is her favorite color.

We had a little party with her Grandma and Grandpa from Vermont and her friend Bryson and his mom Raquel. Her most special gift came from Grandma & Grandpa. It was a hand-made wooden box to hold her favorite rock collections and other assorted treasures she has. It is absolutely beautiful and she will cherish it for many years to come (she was also quite enamored with the bubble wrap it was packed in too!)

Here are few photos of the day's events...
(click on any of the images for a larger view, then use the back button to return to the blog)

Annierae's Second Professional Photo Shoot

Annierae went to her second professional photo session with our friend Dawn Wiltzer of Dawn Wiltzer Photography today. This was almost two years since her first session. It's amazing how she has changed in that short time. Dawn did another great job of capturing the many faces of our little one. She took a lot of pictures and it was difficult to narrow down to the best of the best. A few of our favorite pictures are below (click on any image to enlarge it)

(Note - all photographs are posted with the permission of the copyright holder, Dawn Wiltzer Photography)















If you're interested in a photo session with Dawn, check out the contact page on her website.

Ben & Jerry's

Day 4 of our trip to Grandma & Grandpa's included a tour of the Ben & Jerry's Ice cream factory in Waterbury, VT. Annierae had a great time taking in all the sights & sounds, but by far her favorite part of the tour was the tasting area. The flavor of the day was Mint Chocolate Chunk (Mint Ice Cream with Fudge Chunks) - and that is now one of Annierae's new favorite flavors.

Below are a few pictures taken on the tour (click on each picture to see a larger version)...

More pictures tomorrow from our Thanksgiving day celebration!

Halloween 2007

Annierae had a great time on her second Halloween.

Unlike last year, she walked (ok - ran) the entire way as opposed to being carted around in her stroller. Of course the witches hat and magic wand were promptly handed over to be carried after the first house. She was focused on the bag-o-goodies!

We made it around the neighborhood in record time (which was a good thing because it began to rain about 10 minutes after we got home).

Dad had the honor of accompanying the little trick-or-treater while mom stayed home to hand out candy and photograph some of the cute & creative costumes that presented themselves at our doorstep.

Here are a few pics of the night before pumpkin carving results and her "scary" witch costume...

Playground Fun (and a Favorite Photo)

Hi All,

Just wanted to share a few photos of Annierae having fun at a local playground. The first photo is one of my all time favorites! I took it shortly after I got my new Nikon D40x camera a couple of weeks ago. I liked the way it turned out so much that it's the photo I keep of her on my desk at work. It's had to believe she is just a little over 2 1/2 years old in these shots. She had a ball at the park this afternoon, and certainly did not want to stop playing to go home and take a nap! I eventually got her off the swing with a promise to come back again soon.

(Click on any photo to see a larger version, then use the "back" button to return to the blog)

My favorite shot of Annierae!


This was the original photo that I used to crop and create the close-up in the first picture


Swinging away - happy as can be


Selling me some beautiful bark chips :)


Taking time to pose for a picture on the slide

Fabulous Photos!

Some dear friends of ours, Louann & Benny, came to visit this weekend and we were fortunate that Benny brought his very cool Nikon digital camera with him. As we enjoyed each other's company, Benny was on the lookout for great photo opportunities. He found many! Here are just a few of my favorites:

















Thank you to our friends for the wonderful photos (and getting me hooked on photography)!

Easter 2007

Annierae had another great Easter this year. After an early morning visit from the phantom Easter Bunny, family & friends came over to share in a wonderful dinner, and afterwards an exciting Easter egg hunt ensued. After all was said and done there were enough chocolate bunnies and jelly beans to feed an army (although I don't think they will last all that long - I hope Annierae gets some of them)!

Here are a few pictures commemorating the day...

Curly Hair!!!

On Tuesday Annierae's orphanage sister Isabel came for a visit and had the cutest hairdo of curly pony tails. When I asked Julie (Isabel's Mom) how she made the curls she told me she used foam curlers. So I bought some small foam curlers and last night after Annierae's bath I put the curlers in while her hair was still damp. Greg didn't think her hair was wet enough but I told him no big deal if they don't set and her hair isn't that curly. So this morning When she woke up I took the curlers out and was amazed at the results. I called Greg and was laughing so hard he could barely understand what I was saying. I told him to come home at lunch to meet his new African-Chinese daughter because Annierae was now sporting an Afro. I have to say it made me want to adopt a little African-American girl because the hair was too cute. Enjoy the photo's below of our sweet little princess. Later I spoke with Julie and asked what went wrong, she then informed me to use larger curlers and to only put in a few at the bottom her hair. Oops better luck next time.

Annierae in Cabo San Lucas 2007

Hi All,

Well Annierae (and family) made the annual trek to Cabo San Lucas Mexico to enjoy some fun & sun in the middle of Winter. Our little girl had a great time hanging out with everyone, swimming, watching (and talking non-stop) to all the people, swimming, eating, shopping, swimming, playing on the beach and oh- did I mention swimming?

She did great on the flights to and from Cabo, even though we left really, really early on the way there and didn't get home until really, really late on the way back (thanks to bad weather near Chicago).

All in all it was an enjoyable time for everyone and she's already talking about wanting to go back (especially to be with Grandma and Grandpa).

Here are a few pictures of her adventure this year: