anna’s birthday was at the end of january and all she wanted more than anything else in the world was to go out to lunch and a movie with two of her closest friends.
lunch: chipotle
movie: hotel for dogs
six year old girl: blissed out
six random facts about anna right now.
1. she is obsessed with a pair of garage sale rollerskates and rolls all over this house in them every afternoon after school. when there is a friend involved they each take one and roll one footed. the obsession with rolling is moving to a skateboard as well.
2. her favorite foods: pickles, cheese, turkey sandwiches, mashed potatoes, broccoli, strawberries, pirates booty, sticky rice, spanish rice, ranch dressing
3. she is forever having “coin-slot” issues with her jeans. she came up with the “criss cross applesauce test” wherein she puts her jeans on and sits down cross legged in front of me. i check to see if you can see her bum. usually you can. she wears lots of long shirts to compensate. (just like her dad!)
4. silkie is still a huge part of her day. silkie is a never worn silk (obviously.) robe that i was given as a wedding gift. silkie is a girl. she is referred to as “she”. anna found her when she was just learning to walk, and toddled through-out our home trailing this long ivory silk robe behind her. you would never know what it was in its former life now. and i think she(silkie) is pretty happy about that. i dont think there is any silk robe out there more loved. i need to blog about the time we almost lost her. good story.
5. her favorite person on planet earth is still me. i hope to keep it that way for a good 10-30 more years. daddy is a really close second.
6. her voice, her giggle, her songs, her dances, her hair, her smell, her teeth, nose, ears, chin, her sparkly brown eyes, her kindness, her sass, her pout, her belly, her sense of humor, her neck…are all things so much a part of my day, so intertwined with my own that often i dont know where i end and she begins. she is everything i ever wanted when i was a little girl dreaming about what my children would be. i often think that maybe she knew. and she waited for us. that she picked us, or was given to us because she is exactly what our family needed. i like to think she was waiting for the perfect time to be born. and the perfect time was jan 24, 2003.
and i will bask in the beam of her sunshine love for as long as i am able.
She sounds like a gem! Happy Birthday, Anna!!
i love her and i want to pinch her tush :-)
#6 is the sweetest thing I have ever heard. If she ever (and she will when she is a teenager) feels unloved, show her this post. That says it all.
I’m glad your back.
ahhh… how absolutely lovely. such a moving tribute to her birthday. i am going to go hug my daughter right now and bask in her. you two are so lucky to have one another! =)
How fun! She is adorable too! Sounds like a dream b-day for a 6 year old, the pictures are very cute too:)
OMG – Miss A is SO much like my niece Miss Erin, who also rollerskates around the house…in flower underwear and Barbie skates. and nothing else.
Those are some stylin’ 6 year olds. Very cute, great pictures and Happy Birthday Anna!
Happy Birthday Anna. six is wonderful, small children should stay six for many years. Six is being able to fend for yourself but still liking someone else to do it for you anyway. Six is so many giggles and hugs and every thing beautiful, the world is still wonderous and new. Six year olds are still young enough to say and do cute things and still be cute doing it but still old enough to know right from wrong. Hold on for six for as long as you can.
oh boy…I have a 7 year old boy she should really meet! He has the occasional crack issue as well…has a bit of a chub butt actually, but I love it! He also is faithful to his big bear “salmon” who replaces his pillow on a regular basis, and lives for mashed potatoes. I must know what pirate booty is?
Love your last few posts Tara…your photos are so real…they capture so much emotion…love them!
I have a January 24th, 2003 baby girl as well! My Jilli. I love this post about Anna. Your love for her shines through.
Just beautiful! I love how you wrote #6!
Hi Tara,
Those words are amazing, I hope you have written them somewhere for Anna as she will treasure them when she is older. I can’t believe she is 6! I remember when Cathy Z came to Oz in 2006 and she shared a mini album (I am pretty sure) of Anna’s first year. Time flies when you are treasuring the babies in your life!
Thanks for sharing
Shannon D
Lovely photos of a lovely girl. I like her little gap in her teeth, it’s sweet.
She is a beauty, Tara, and it sounds like a complete gift to be her mama. Happy Birthday, Anna-doll!
Happy Birthday Anna! You’re a cutie!
Your daughter is seriously SO cute. The one of her clapping behind the cake is precious, she looks so happy!
#6 on your post is beautiful. She will love to read that later. :)
What a wonderful post and beautifully drawn portrait of Anna! Congratulations on turning 6. My daughter passes that same milestone on February 17. I can only dream of putting her very existence into words (and pictures) as you have. Happy wishes all around!
hi tara, i’ve been visiting your blog for a little bit now and always have a smile on my face while reading and looking;) thanks for sharing all your be’s…….
Love these pictures – they always have such a zest for life and your love for you daughter is so apparent in both your words and photos. Thanks for sharing! I think we might make the same cake for bdays only with chocolate icing. Either duncan hines or betty crocker butter recipe with chocolate icing and sprinkles – yummy :o)!
ohhh pirate’s booty is a big time fave in our house, too. I think that when Jack and Anna are 18, we should introduce them. Okay, we can wait until they are 20. :)
She is glorious! She is stunning! Oh, my heart just melted.
So precious, and whee to bloggy updates again!
beth-yep, same cake! we always use cream cheese frosting. :)
dana, jack and anna sounds really quite good together.
Tara – I love you! I’ve been stalking you now for almost six months. #6 above made me teary! I have a daughter and I love how you can capture the emotion of being a mother! I also have to say that I’m so proud of you…two blogs in a row! Welcome back! I missed you!
Anna is so cute, you can just see the joy radiating from her. I love the photos outside the cinema, hope that she had an awesome day
I teared up reading this… but first.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Miss Anna…
My baby .. my only one will be six in september and I am not sure i am ready for 6.. it feels like it is a HUGE leap.. 5 and under is still my lil guy.. my buddy.. but.. 6.. six is feeling distant and older and .. very very big boy. So i teared up.. but… really.. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday Anna.
Just a really wonderful post. I hope she’ll be able to read it over and over again as she grows into adulthood. The love for her is so beautifully expressed. She’s a child who just glows!
So very sweet! Loved reading this, esp since my twins are only a few weeks younger than Anna.
So sweet and so loved!!!! Happy Birthday Miss Anna!!!
happy birthday to Anna!
great pix of three sweet little girls!
what a beautiful post, tara!! it left me in tears. there is not much in this world quite as beautiful as the love and friendship between a mother and her daughter. ♥
happy birthday anna!
I have an Anna also. She is 9. And she is my baby also. Everything you write in #6 about your Anna is also true of mine. Sometimes I think we are truly connected in a magical way.
aww look at those three…looks like a super fun day!!
Happy sixth birthday, Anna!
It’s funny, Tara..I just posted on my own blog about how my daughter, Paige (first girl after two boys..10&5 when she was born) that I believe she is my angel. Exactly how you stated it here. Beautifully put.
I am assuming you have seen the coin slot SNL of Lindsay Lohan..if not, check it out on youtube. I had never heard that phrase before seeing that. So cute ;)
Hi Tara. #6 made me cry. You captured exactly how I feel about Sydney. It is such a gift when you have a little girl like that.
Hope you are doing well. It sounds like it. :)
–Brenda
Cute pics! Love how you use the ‘Happy Birthday’ hat for everyone’s birthdays! Love #6 – made me teary-eyed :) Happy Valentine’s Day to you and your family! XOXO
well a happy belated birthday to miss anna.. it looks like she had a wonderful party with her 2 bestest friends and i love your tribute to her
I had a silkie when I was little. Over the years it was whittled down to a tiny square that I took with me to college. yes, College. It was in my bra when I got married. ( it was my something Old. ) ;)
I loved reading your 6th thing about Anna. I just had my own little girl 2 weeks ago and can’t wait to experience all these things with her.
So sweet!
The photo of the three girls… that is just too much cuteness for one picture!
Awww, such a sweet post about a sweet little girl! Happy Birthday Anna!! I was happily reading through her random facts, loving how she roller skates through your house—reminding me of both of my girls rolling around our house. They learned how to roller skate on a tiny pair of roller rink skates we found at a garage sale! We purposely chose not to refinish our hardwood floors just to allow their skating. Then I read #6 and started crying!! My baby girl is 20, and so much of what you wrote could still be applied to her! Thanks for the beautiful photos & fabulous words!!
happy 6th birthday anna sweet girl!
tara, she is beautiful just like her momma!
tara
ooh i love #6…i almost cried. what an insightful mommy thing to tap into..so great. thanks for sharing..
your writing gives me chills!!!
Happy b’day Anna…..she is the same age as my princess sophia turning 6 in april….. thanks for the pics…….I’ve enjoyed looking at them…
XOXO
hi, tara! love reading your blog and i have been a regular visitor (on your blog) for the last several months now. not only are you a great photographer (your style is real and fresh … and seems effortless), but you are also a great writer! it makes reading your blog fun. happy birthday, anna!
Totally sweet! What a big girl, doing big things… mine are 3yrs old & 17 months now… and I just know I’m going to blink and my little baby,Rylie, will be starting kindergarten…. have their first crushes…then high school… and of course I won’t age a day!! ha! Happy Happy Anna… many, many more wonderful years of health and happiness to you.
Tara, what a wonderful tribute to your daughter. I smiled with tears in my eyes as I read what you (so eloquently) wrote.
What a beautiful tribute to a beautiful six-year-old. Every little girl deserves to be so loved as this, and to hear it daily.
I remember when you were ‘expecting anna’. How can she be 6 already?!
I love how you write about your kids.