'Twas the Night Before Christmas

It's Christmas Eve and we're all geared up for our first visit from Santa. Well, technically he came last year but when your baby is 16 days old, it's hard to make a big production out of Santa's first trip down the chimney.

So, we're very excited about the big day tomorrow. We hauled all of Anna's toys out of the living room so she is completely focused on her presents from the big guy. I'm sure we're much more eager than she is -- all she's going to want in the morning is her waffle and apple sauce. Oh, but she'll get so much more with mom, dad, grammy, fa fa and tope eagerly pushing wrapped baubles and bags at her. I'm sure she'll think we're crazy. If only we could know what will be going through her mind.

We don't have our traditions cemented in place, yet, but I'm sure they will come. This year we started simple with donning Santa pjs and setting out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. It's a good thing Gramma Turner sent us cookies, because I kind of dropped the ball there. Without the care package from Florida, Santa would have been munching on microwave popcorn. Anna thought the cookies and carrots were for her and tried to sneak in a few bites.



Tope also is a fan of Christmas, as the photo below shows. I swear she thinks we can't see her when she is under the tree.


Earlier in the evening we went to see our neighbors Bob & Linda for a Christmas Eve get together. They had relatives visiting who are musically inclined and we had a great time singing Christmas carols (even when we couldn't remember the words)...Thanks to Chuck and Evelyn, Anna danced her little heart out.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

CHEESE!

I have about a zillion pictures to download and post, but am finding myself quite busy these days...I promise to get to it soon!

In the meantime, here is a picture to make you SMILE!

Santa Videos

Finally - the video upload worked! Enjoy the exciting footage of Anna and Ryan visiting Santa!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Now that Anna’s big milestone has come and gone, we are in full Christmas swing at the Bergstrom household. We’ve actually been in the spirit for a few weeks – we kicked off the season with a pre-Thanksgiving visit to Santa.

In Atlanta, there is a lot of hullabaloo made about one particular Santa who sets up shop at the “fancy” mall in town. Since this was our first year in the Santa photo department, we (I) decided to see what all the fuss was about. This particular Santa is so popular that you have to reserve an appointment with him in October and there is verbiage on the reservation site that promises severe punishment to anyone found “selling, bartering, or trading appointment slots on Ebay.” Seriously, do people really do that? And I wonder what punishments Santa’s elves would mete out…

Anywho, we booked our appointment and made the Santa visit with my friend Lisa and her son Ryan. Meeting Santa turned out to be pretty anticlimactic and over in 3 minutes – I think we were picturing waiting in a line a la “A Christmas Story” even though we had an appointment. As we entered the photo line the helpers handed Anna a wish list for her to complete so Santa would know what she wanted. Umm, she can’t talk, much less write…fearing we would be reprimanded for not having a list, I helpfully jotted down a few items for her.


Anna sat patiently on his knee and looked at him pensively. We couldn’t entice any smiles from her, but at least she wasn’t crying like the set of twin boys we saw who were petrified. Ryan performed for the camera, flashing several big grins.

So, to sum up, was the Phipps Santa good – yes. He’s definitely authentic with a legit beard and fluffy white hair and his suit is very pretty. Was it worth all of the hype and threat of disembodiment if you missed your scheduled appointment? Not really – in fact, there was a major downer with the event – you don’t get your pictures on site. They are mailed to you after the fact! Apparently the “fancy” mall hasn’t heard of on-site printers. I mean, when I was little we would get a Polaroid immediately after our visit… I tried to post videos of Anna and Ryan with Santa but there are technical difficulties with the blog site...I'll try to get them up later.

Next up on the Christmas agenda was the tree. We headed to Home Depot the Saturday after Thanksgiving and picked out a beautiful tree on a not so beautiful day. Anna also enjoyed playing with the oversized ornaments in the store. People looked at me kind of funny as I was snapping pictures of her in the store…but, hey, I’m always armed with the camera for the blog!


Anna wasn’t much help in the tree decorating department, although she was enthralled by some beads we use on the stair banisters. She played with them for hours. We also unpacked her Little People Nativity Set from Gramma Turner which also has provided many hours of entertainment - apparently Anna is convinced a crab, bunny, and pig were present at the birth of Christ as she insists on adding these three of her favorite toys to the manger party...

Since putting up the tree she has been interested. We put some Anna-safe ornaments on the bottom branches and she enjoys taking them on and off the tree.



Next stop on the Bergstrom holiday train was our neighborhood Christmas party. I gave Anna a break from the dress and tights routine and let her be festive in a red sweater/hat combo made by Grammy Bergstrom. Trusty Funny Bunny joined the party, also. The party was fun – Anna likes watching the antics of the “big kids” in the neighborhood. Of course, the camera batteries died after the first 5 minutes of the party, so we only have these shots…



We love the holidays in our household and we’re excited to watch Anna on Christmas morning. I know she doesn’t get it, but it will be a pleasure for us nonetheless.

The Big ONE.

Slap on the party hats and blow up the balloons - it’s Anna’s birthday! The sweet girl decided to ring in her birthday with a double ear infection, but she’s in good spirits nonetheless…

It sounds so cliché but it feels like this past year went by in the blink of an eye. Where did the time go? I cannot believe Jason and I were welcoming Anna into the world one year ago today (at 12:51 p.m. to be exact). Is there ever another event in life where you have the precise time, down to the minute, burned into your memory?

We celebrated her birthday with a party at home this past weekend. The day was truly fun – the kiddos played, adults talked and ate, and cake was enjoyed by all. I have to give a big thanks to my friend Lisa, who gave me the confidence to make Anna’s birthday cake – she made a baseball themed cake for her son’s first birthday and when I saw it I immediately recruited her to help me. We spent several hours the day before the party elbow deep in melted marshmallows, butter, and shortening. Six pounds of powdered sugar later (seriously, 6 pounds), and voila, we created a shimmery pink polka-dot masterpiece. What Lisa doesn’t realize is she is now on the hook for Anna’s birthday every year…thanks, Friend!

Anna had a great time at the party – I wasn’t sure how she would react with all of the attention, but she took it in stride. She did have a questioning look on her face when everyone surrounded her and sang “Happy Birthday,” but quickly forgot the serenading and attention once cake was placed on her tray. She accepted her cake with a big smile, but instead of diving in and devouring it, she took a very dainty approach and ate small bites.


She also enjoyed opening presents, and greeted each gift with an exclamation of , “Oh!”, and a look of surprise. Of particular excitement, especially to the under 2 crowd, was an Elmo Live doll. When Elmo talks, the kiddos listen.

Anna, (and mom and dad), was sufficiently pooped after the party. In fact, Jason and I turned in at the almost embarrassing hour of 9 p.m. This ended up being a good thing as we were awakened at 2 a.m. by Anna coughing the infamous croup “seal bark.” Sitting in a steam shower and on the front porch ensued through the wee hours of the morning, but that’s a different story for another day.

What an adventure this past year has been. The ups-and-downs, sleepless nights, slobber covered shoulders, dirty diapers, and hours upon hours of smiles, laughs, wonderment and awe. Anna truly is a gift from God and our lives have been enriched beyond measure.

So, a closing wish for my Miss Anna Blythe Bergstrom: May your life bring you as much happiness as you have brought to us.

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Anna
Happy birthday to you!

Terrific Turkey Travels

So, where even to begin? It seems like forever since my last post. We’ve been basking in the sun in Florida for the last week - we headed down to celebrate Turkey Day with the Turner clan.

Anna handled the airport and plane like the mini-frequent flyer she is – the child has been on more planes in her first year than I was on before I was 10. She did have her first celebrity sighting on the trip – we sat across from Rick Ro$$ on the flight. Yeah, I wondered the same thing, “Who in the heck is Rick Ro$$?” Upon boarding we figured the man across the aisle was someone of renown because he had on dark sunglasses, a “don’t mess with me” air about him, and major bling. Oh yeah, and he had a picture of himself on his sweatshirt with his web address on the sleeve (I’m not kidding). So, thanks to his helpful marketing, I was able to surreptitiously google him and determine who he was while sitting three feet away from him. Don’t you just love the internet! Riddle solved – he’s a rapper – not my music genre, but still fun to see someone “famous”.

Upon arriving in Fort Lauderdale Anna settled in quite nicely, although she did decide to be super clingy to mom for the duration of the trip. She enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner, with the exception of the sweet potatoes, which is strange because they had the melted marshmallow top…who can resist that?? We did have a little trouble getting organized around cooking the Thanksgiving meal…we had planned to eat at 1 but sat down at 3:30. Oh well, no one cared because the food was delicious. I did sustain one minor cooking injury (a burn) - what’s Thanksgiving without one kitchen mishap?

Anna did get in some quality playing time with Aunt Maddie and Uncle David. She looks like she is going to be quite the card shark when she grows up…




I had a fantastic time – I even was able to sneak out to see Twilight (awesome) with my sister and Fann, my brother’s girlfriend. It was her first time meeting the family and she held her own – which can be tough to do around our group. We’ll see if she comes back – I hope we didn’t scare her away!

And, Jason really enjoyed himself, too – when we’re at my parents he is treated to an endless array of meat (fajitas, ribs, steaks, ham…), cold beer and hours upon hours upon hours of football. Pretty much a perfect week in his world.

Grandma also threw Anna an early birthday party, which was a lot of fun. She snagged a bounce house from her church for the event and it proved to be a big hit with the kids. Anna had her first taste of cake and really loved it – ahh, the introduction of sugar. Funny, ever since she’s had the cake, she’s been shaking her head “no” to some of her regular favorites…I guess broccoli and brussel sprouts really don’t measure up.



All in all, we had a great trip. The only problem was it passed too quickly!

To get a bit reflective, it really made me thankful that we have such a wonderful, loving, funny family. I hope everyone else had a Happy Thanksgiving.

Grattis på födelsedagen, Fa Fa!

Or, Happy Birthday, Fa Fa!

I hope you have as much fun on your birthday as I did playing with this sign!

(For the non-Swedish speakers (and that includes me)...per the World Wide Web, "Grattis på födelsedagen" is Swedish for Happy Birthday!")

Walkie Talkie 2

I have been remiss about posting - sorry to Bergstrom Babble's avid fans...

As a follow-up to the last entry, I'm including a video of Miss Anna walking without the assistance of her cart. This video is from a few days ago and the progress she has made since we took it is amazing. She now toddles confidently, but still prefers to crawl most of the time. You'll also see Anna spin at the end of the video - a new trick she gets a kick out of.

Apologies in advance for the video being sideways (I forget I can't change the orientation of a video like I can with a picture...).

Walkie Talkie

We almost have a walker! Anna has taken those cautious first steps and is getting braver by the day.

One of her favorite activities these days is to practice walking while pushing a little cart. Each time she walks with the cart I make a car noise (you know, "vroom, vroom"). She has picked up that sound and uses it anytime she plays with the cart - it is adorable but I haven't been able to get it on video yet. She also has transferred the sound to any moving object - most notably a toy airplane...she is a smart cookie. :)

So, Anna is almost officially a toddler. I probably shouldn't be too excited about this because it means more running around for me & Jason, but I am very proud to watch her as she becomes more confident each day. I just hope she doesn't use those little legs to toddle away from me and into her own world too quickly...

Picture Perfect...

We had Anna's 1 year (or close enough) pictures taken this weekend. My neighbor Crystal took them - she is an amazing photographer. Anna wasn't super cooperative -- I guess she was about as cooperative as an 11-month-old can be, but Crystal managed to get some beautiful shots nonetheless. Check out her blog for a preview!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

We are in disbelief because Olivia, our beautiful, sweet, creative, horse-loving, French-speaking, and all-around-awesome niece, is 11 today. Time just goes too fast...

Happy birthday, Olivia!
We love you!

March Stroll of the Penguin

Since there are very few years in which parents get to select their child’s Halloween costume, I decided to take advantage and dress Anna like my favorite animal – a penguin! It was either that or Tope...we opted for penguin since Tope pretty much looks like one anyways...

Anna enjoyed her first Halloween. Our neighborhood has a costume parade each year – the kids march down the street and neighbors line the sidewalk handing out candy. It is the way to trick-or-treat, let me tell you.

Anna didn’t do much candy collecting, mainly because any of the candy that ended up in her basket was destined to be eaten by me or Jason…so, we took only the bare minimum (after all, only someone with significant self-control can pass up M&Ms and Snickers without taking any).

Along the trick-or-treat line one neighbor handed out pumpkin straws, which proved to be a big hit with Anna and Cruz, who joined us for the festivities. At the end of the parade everyone headed to a neighbor’s backyard for pizza.

These days Anna is not a fan of hats, so we were positive the head piece to her costume would not stay on for long…however, she proved us wrong. With all the hullabaloo going on around her, Anna forgot she had the hat on and remained a full-fledged penguin the entire night.

Even though she wasn’t eating the candy, she did enjoy rummaging through her loot when we got home. She did enjoy a box of raisins someone handed out – I’m sure in years to come they will not be a big hit on Halloween night, but this year, she thought they were fantastic.

Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin, part deux

Our pumpkin is now officially a Jack-o-lantern! We carved the big guy up last weekend in preparation for Fontana's first Halloween (Fontana is Jason's nickname for Anna. Or, more aptly, her nickname is The Fontana...as in, "Amy, The Fontana is crying and needs you." He says that a lot). I digress...

While she didn't actively participate in the carving (we felt that naptime provided the ideal pumpkin carving time), she did enjoy the result.

You'll notice a purple witch hat throughout these photos...it actually belongs to the family member in the last photo. But, as you can see, she does NOT enjoy wearing it.




Pre-carving fun with Hayla

Poor Tope...