Annelise is FOUR

A lot has happened over the past year, but much of that will be covered in my Christmas post.  Annelise turned four last week and I can't believe how much she's grown!

She is 41.5 inches tall and weighs 38 pounds.

She goes to ballet each Tuesday and loves to dance around the house (she's actually doing so right now!).

Annelise attended Vacation Bible School this summer and loved going to 'Jesus School' every day, now she attends Religious Education classes each Sunday.  Her teachers are Miss Lisa and Miss Brooke, and they told me that she always gives her best and loves to color.  Our fridge is covered with the projects from class, and there's even an angel  hanging on our tree that she made from a paper plate!

We finally settled in and got Annelise potty trained at the end of July, just as we moved in to our apartment here in Korea.  Accidents are few and far between, and I'm so proud of how she basically trained herself.  I guess that's what comes of waiting so long to try, she is old enough and independent enough that I didn't have to do much.  On the other hand, I had to change diapers for 3 1/2 years, so I'm not sure how I feel about the trade-off.

Annelise has recently learned to play Candyland and everyone who comes to visit has to play at least one game. 

Because I got pregnant right after we got here and was struck down with 'all-day sickness', Annelise has been watching a lot of tv.  She still loves Dora and Diego, but her current favorite show is Power Rangers Samurai.  Her favorite is the Red Ranger and she was very excited to receive a Red Ranger action figure from St Nick this week.

Annelise has known and recognized her letters for quite a while, but she has recently learned to write them and can write her own name.  We need to work on neatness, but I'm so proud of her!!

One thing that Annelise needs to work on is her coloring.  She has gotten better at keeping things localized to certain parts of the picture, but it's not very neat and she doesn't stay inside the lines.

As always, Annelise is very verbal.  She has learned some big words from Martha Speaks and Sesame Street and we even talked about 'camouflage' a few weeks ago, I love it!

Annelise has made a ton of new friends here in Korea, her closest friends are Aly, Gwen, and Grace.  She also loves playing with David and Gerrit when I go to bible study each week, their moms are in the study with me and the kids play while we discuss the lessons.  The boys are only 1 1/2, so Annelise gets to teach them how to play pretend and they love following her around and copying her every mood.

My favorite thing about Annelise is how sweet she is.  She was very understanding during my period of morning sickness and loves to sing and talk to the baby.  She also loves helping in the kitchen and will talk to everyone we see.  Annelise announced my pregnancy to someone in the elevator very early on, before we were telling people.  Of course, it didn't really matter since we didn't know them anyway!  She has charmed our neighbors and all of the people that work with John, to meet my sweet girl is to love her!

And now to the negatives: Annelise is entirely too much like me, she's messy, has an attitude, and eats us out of house and home.  I wouldn't change a thing, though, I am so proud and happy to be Annelise's mommy!!