Anna Helen

I decided at the beginning of the year to post about each of my grandchildren and my great grandchild on their birthdays. My only trepidation was that I might drop the ball somewhere and fail to do all of them but I decided to try it anyway. I was off to a good start until Anna's birthday which was the 25th. We'd had an unusually busy weekend and house guests that I was thrilled to be able to spend time with and I dropped the ball. Then, our modem or something went out and we haven't had internet since yesterday evening and only intermittently today. I never dreamed that my resolve (along with Comcast) would fail me during the first month of the year but now I'm picking up again where I left off and this post will be all about Anna Helen who turned 7 on Monday.

Seven years ago, Anna's mom, two of her sisters, and I were in Chicago to welcome Anna into the world. Even though it was five weeks sooner than she was expected, no child was better prepared for. Here's a glimpse of her room:

I wish I could include all the nursery pictures but there are too many and then I'd have to leave out pictures of her.

Although, she was five weeks early, she was beautiful and perfect and weighed 5 lbs, 9 oz. Our joy turned to concern though, when shortly after she was born, she was in the NICU and looked like this:

I can still see Beth's love and pain as she gazed at her new daughter for the first time.

Soon, though she was home and perfect in every way:

At one year, she was bright and adorable. You couldn't look at her and not fall in love: (and she already had a baby brother!)

At two, it was becoming obvious just how bright she was because she noticed EVERYTHING!

And at three we realized that not only did she notice everything but she remembered everything:

And at four, five, and six we enjoyed her quirky, cheerful personality.

(And also when she was six, her mother became a photographer and produced beautiful pictures like this one!)

At seven, Anna is a beautiful fun-loving girl with her mother's sense of humor. She's intelligent, thoughtful and loving and she's going to be a big help when her new little brother arrives.

So Anna, even though I've said it before and this one is a little late:

Happy 7th Birthday!