Annie's coming to town!

Andrea was excited to see daddy last night when he got back from training. We pulled up in the driveway and she spotted him on the top of the stairs opening the front door. Her eyes twinkled and she got this cute little grin on her face. Annie is going to be with us from August 1st through the 10th. Four of the Netters together again, since Ortega is still here too! Hopefully this will really help our family out so I will have someone to hang out with as John takes the first part of his CPA exam. Yesterday was the 2 week mark (August 6th at 12:00 p.m.)! After the 6th, John will still have plenty of time to spend with Annie too before she leaves. Fun times of scrabble and movie marathons on the way!

Lyla! Lyla!

When Andrea plays at grandma's house now she calls for Elijah, saying, "Lyla! Lyla!" She likes chasing him around and hanging on him. She even likes giving him treats, except for the occasional knock down by the doggie when he gets too excited. Anyways, this word has transformed into every animal possible now. We are on walks and the squirrels and cats are "Lyla" too. On "Praise Baby" (The best video for infants with soothing music and pictures for babies and mommies. Thanks Aunt Gina for the suggestion!) the rhinoceros and giraffe are, as you guessed it, "Lyla" as well. Elijah never knew he could be so loved.

Annie Loves You!

"MMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAA!"

Officially Walking

Andrea is walking now. She prefers it to crawling. We love watching her stumble over things and yet somehow manage to stay on her feet. She insists on carrying her blankie around with her everywhere so she adds an extra obstacle. I took her outside yesterday, thinking she would hang onto me on the uneven terrian. No, she was ready for the outdoors. We walked to the doggie and down the driveway and to the doggie again. As she went down the driveway she would pick up serious speed and I would have to grab her arm before the face plant. Then she grabbed the stroller and pushed it around. The stroller would start going quickly, pulling her instead, and I would have to catch the both of them. John and I feel we will have some serious injuries heading our way soon as our curious little dare devil gets braver and braver. I will post a video soon!

Our Little Monkey

Andrea loves to jump on the bed. Whenever we start saying, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed," She pops up on her knees and starts bouncing like a wild monkey, making sound effects as well. When we ask her, "Are you a monkey?" she shakes her head no or starts making oohing and ahhing sounds like a monkey. I guess she decides each time whether she's is one or not. Then while I was changing her one day. I pounded on my chest like a gorilla and then on hers. Now she beats on her chest and says, "AHAHAHAHAHA!" It may be awhile until we get back our little girl from the jungle.

Cruising Around Now

Andrea is taking 5 or 6 steps at at time now. She kinda bounces herself up to her feet, gets her balance, and off she goes. I had to stop putting her in cute dresses this week because whenever she would stand to walk she got frustrated as she would constantly trip over the front of her dress. She is as playful as ever. When John gets home from work now, she goes crazy. (John is staying late at work to study for the CPA exam right now.)She's missed him all day so she starts giggling uncontrollably and crawling out of the room, expecting daddy to come catch her. She'll do this for at least an hour if he'll keep chasing her. Then he lies on the ground, usually collapsing, and she climbs on top of him to give him big hugs and cuddle. She rode on his back like he was a horse last night and loved it. She started bouncing on his back to make him move faster. Isn't it funny how every kid automatically knows how this game works?

Our Out of Town Guests

Patrick, Jackie, and Naomi came to celebrate the fourth of July with us. Their trip also gave them a chance to see our NET teammate Chris Ortega as he is a seminarian at Holy Trinity this summer. It was so nice to have part of the team back together again. We laughed and sang. We shared about what had changed over the years and how God was using our lives each in a special way. It so encouraging to be around such holy people. We love you guys! We will have to come to Atlanta to see Christopher West and celebrate Naomi's birhtday.

Fireworks Extravaganza

Andrea was adoreable as she cuddled with John to watch the fireworks at Fort Gordan. We thought she would be scared of the loud booms, but instead she would clap as each one shot off and shouted, "Wee! Wee!" It was so nice that most of the Rose family could be there to celebrate the 4th together.

Andrea's First Birthday Party

Andrea got to eat yummy chocolate cake and share it with everyone.


She held it out to each person as they walked by to have them try a bite. She must have been thinking, "No really try it. It's so good!" It was a great day to have the party outside. The adults played bocce ball and the cousins played with bubbles. Andrea says thank you for all of her cute clothes, books, and of course her pool and froggie pool toy!