What 22 Months Will Do

Anders was born in August of 2008 and this was what he looked like in his car seat when we left the hospital.

Fast forward 22 months and this is what he looks like now!

Crazy kid thinks the car seat is his own personal lounger! I think he'll be a bit surprised when we bring home a little baby in it. 

Anxiously Waiting

Just like Joel & I are waiting for Baby Cade to come...Anders was waiting for his turn in the bouncy castle yesterday. Our neighbors rent a big castle every year for the 4th but this year was the first year we've been home since 2006! Anders looked longingly out our front window all morning.

I can't tell you how excited he was when it was finally time to play in it! Just like we'll be so excited when Cade finally decides to make his appearance!

June Fun!

We have been out of school officially for 11 days and it has been a busy week and a half! We have had lots of fun catching up on family time and some rest, while staying very busy with various activities!

Anders continues to grow and grow--he is now sleeping in his big boy bed (a real twin size bed) and he loves it. We have yet to move the crib downstairs, but he hasn't been in it in almost 2 weeks. He also loves to eat--recently Grandma J taught him how to pull the grapes off the stem to eat them. Who knew it would be so much fun? 

He loves to wear hats of all kinds--mostly baseball hats, like dad--but sometimes construction hats and he's even been known to go out and about in his cowboy hat.

Anders pretty much loves to do anything that dad is doing, including "helping" with handy-man projects around the house. Anders has his own set of plastic tools and is helping dad with his wrench to fix our leaky shower.  He knows the names of most common tools--screwdriver, hammer, wrench, pliers, etc...

This weekend we had a major rainstorm move in. It only lasted about 10 minutes, but it dumped a lot of rain. We really needed it! Anders & Joel were checking it out from the front door. I was just praying that there wouldn't be any hail because we just finalized our insurance claim from LAST summer's hailstorm a week ago! I didn't want to start that all over again...

And finally, and probably the most fun, last Thursday we headed up towards Evergreen to Tiny Town. Grandma J had been watching Anders a lot for us over the last week or two, so we wanted to do something fun with all four of us. Also, it was very hot in Denver last Thursday, so getting up into the mountains where it's about 10 degrees cooler is always a bonus.

Tiny Town is just that--a minature sized town with about 100 or so buildings. Most of them are famous building from around the Denver area. Anders had so much fun looking in all the small buildings. And of course, the minature train ride was also a big hit! 

Peeking in at the Harley Davidson store.

We stayed for about an hour and a half and then it was time to head back home for some lunch and a nap! We'll be back!

Shark Attack

Some co-workers at Joel & Rhonda's school gave Anders this shark hat. He just loves it and looks hilarious in it. What a cute guy! And what a great buy at the dollar store!

A Slide and Some Staples

It's official: Anders is a climber.

Currently he climbs up and over anything he can. The sofa, chairs, the seats in the van.

And now the rails of his crib and the sides of his pack n play.

I'd say he's an expert.

Normally I'd be proud of his accomplishments. But I'm sure you can think of a few ramifications of said behavior.

I have been scearching Craig's List every day for the last few weeks--like 2 and 3 times a day--to find a slide or outdoor play equipment or something for this child to play on! But every time I emailed the equipment had already sold. Someone out there was a faster emailer than me!

I finally found a good deal on this slide set and I am so excited to finally have something for him to do that's "safe" (we'll see how long it takes him to figure out he can jump off of the top).

Tonight he was outside playing with Joel while I made dinner.






As a side note, those of you who are a bit perceptive may have noticed something odd about our dog.

Yes, she is wearing a cone on her head.


And a few more "yes statements" about this incident:

Yes, she did run around the neighborhood (taking herself for a jog as we call it) last Tuesday night while Joel and Anders were playing in the front yard and I was desperately trying to get some stuff done at work.

Yes, she came back to the driveway with blood spewing out her hind leg.

Yes, she required an emergency visit to the vet (which then met a fair amount of blood all over the backseat of the van).

Yes, I had to leave work early.

Yes, we were terribly stressed.

Yes, Joel had band practice for church that night, which he had to miss.

Yes, it cost a lot of money, although a lot less than what others have said their vet bills for similar injuries cost.

Yes, she has 5 staples in her ankle.

Yes, the cone is WAY more annoying than you can ever imagine. Can you imagine being Anders (or any of the other small children to visit my house in the last week) and being face to face with a dog with that thing on her head?!

And yes, this did make me (and Joel for a little while) want to give her away even more so than before.

Today the vet said we could come back any time between May 29 and June 1 to have the staples removed.

Yes, we will be there as early as possible on Saturday morning. Despite the fact that it's our anniversary.

A Little Boys' Room

It is officially spring in Colorado and has been since Friday. How do I know? Not by looking at the calendar, but by looking at my little man's legs. Friday was the first day of "shorts weather" here and by Friday night at 7:00pm, they were skinned up, banged up and bruised.

Just like mine when I was his age. I have the scars to prove it. But, he doesn't seem to mind one bit. And I guess as long as his injuries don't involve stitches or broken bones, I'm ok with that.

Over the past couple of weeks I've been working very hard on getting Anders' room painted. It was a very nice color yellow previously, but it just didn't fit for this All-American rough & tumble boy.

I am so grateful for my friend, Monique's, help. In one afternoon (while 2 little boys slept!) we got all of the tan and light blue painted. Then, over the last week I worked on the navy blue stripe and all the touch ups. I love how it turned out!

Here are the curtains that have been a work in progress. My mom & I made the top part back in December and then Monique helped me work on the bottom part (that closes) a few weeks ago.

Below are some things I've found that fit his "sports" theme. And the letters that Monique and I worked on...she made letters with a car theme for her son and I did sports for Anders. 


Do you notice a theme here? I really need all the help I can get! And I would MUCH rather work on crafting projects with a friend rather than alone!

Mother's Day

We had a wonderful Mother's Day here in Colorado--the weather was beautiful! I spent all of this morning at church helping with the Children's Choir--they did such a great job! Then came home to enjoy lunch with Joel, Rhonda (Joel's mom) and Anders.

We had some time to take pictures and Joel got some really good ones of Anders. He discovered this hat--purchased by my mom a while back--in his old room and decided it was his new favorite thing. The only time he hasn't worn it in the past 3 days is to church and bed!

What a cutie--I sure am blessed!

We then went off to Joel's softball games--his team won both games today! Enjoyed some Macaroni Grill before watching the finale of Amazing Race. What a great day. 

Hope you had a great day, too!

Anders LOVES puzzles. Shapes, letters, cars, animals, whatever...he loves to put the pieces together. His new trick, however, is trying to piece things together that don't necessarily go together. The other morning while enjoying waffles, it was putting his fork in his straw. Although his face doesn't show it (his mouth is crammed full of syrup-y waffles), he was quite pleased with himself.

As of today, he hasn't remembered this trick.

I won't be reminding him.

Somewhere in Between

I've recently become very fond of a saying our pastor quoted in a sermon a while ago...

You're never as good as people say you are. 

And you're never as bad as they say either.

You are probably somewhere in between. 

This comes in handy when a fellow teacher or co-worker is feeling really down in the dumps about what parents and others are saying about them. Our pastor was also saying it about himself in his role of leading our congregation. (And we all know that parents & church members can be very opinionated) Often we only hear criticism from those who whine the loudest and we only hear praise from those who gush over us unrealistically.

It's more important to keep a level head.

The reality is, you--in your job, volunteering, as a parent, etc...--are most likely doing better than you think but there's always room for improvement.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

New Look for Anders

I took Anders to get a hair cut this morning--although it doesn't look like he has much hair, he really does. It's just very fine & very, very blonde.

He wasn't really interested in sitting in the chair this time, so I let him sit on my lap. Then he wasn't interested in having the cape on, so we used a towel. Then he just wasn't interested in sitting still so he got to have his first lollipop! It was a MESS! The amount of drool that came out of his mouth in the 10 minutes we sat there was incredible!

In the end, he is one handsome dude and we have now introduced the "faux-hawk". Kind of like a mohawk, but much more tame.

And, it is the Rockies home opener today at 2:10pm, so there has been much talk of baseball around our house!

Celebrating Easter

Much like celebrating Christmas, celebrating Easter is so much more fun with little kids! Although we know that these holidays hold a great meaning for us as Christians, I do think it's OK to have a little fun with the "commercialized" parts of the holidays, too!

On Sunday, Anders got to participate in his first ever annual Easter Egg Hunt at Grandma J's house. The "treats" inside were pieces of Cliff Bar, which he loves, so he was a bit motivated to keep "looking" for the eggs...

(I love this super cute, super preppy button down shirt my mom gave him!)

It was great fun--I think next year he'll be the perfect age for it--and he'll have a little brother to show how it works, too!

On Monday, I had to work and Joel stayed home with Anders. It was the all-day opening of baseball season (Sunday night was the official opening, for all of you technical people out there), so Joel and his friend, Jason, spent the day together with Anders and Jason's daughter, Abbey. When the mom's got home from work, we had dinner together and then made these cute hats my mom sent us...Anders wore his around for  quite a while, but Abbey was not so thrilled!

And just for the record:
1. Anders took a big spill last week (while I was gone) on the pavement and skinned his nose. It is healing up just nicely.

2. Yes, Anders' shirt really does say "I got my mommy's good looks and my daddy's gas". It is kind of a joke t-shirt from our friends Jason & Krista. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. It's funny now, but I cry for Anders' future wife. I know how it will smell.

Doggone Cute

I love my dog. I really do. Yes, I have to force myself to say that outloud just to remind me that it's really true.



I do love her. How could you not love this adorable dog?

But there are days where I'd like to give her to another family.

Like when she gets into the dirty diapers when we're gone (only #1--we take all #2's straight outside) or when she eats a bag of chips because she's mad I've gone somwhere without her. Or when she whines and whines and whines and whines and whines in the car when I do take her with us.

She has a habit of getting up in my face every time I sit on the floor.

She licks and licks and licks and licks.

She loves to chew her nails for about 20 minutes, right when I'm falling asleep at night. (Seriously, you laid around for about 8 hours today and this is the only time you could fit it in your schedule to gnaw on those nails?!)

She just seems to get right in the way during diaper changing time, playing with puzzles, reading books, tying my shoes, am playing on the floor with Anders, or when we're trying to take a nice Easter picture.............


But she also loves to curl up in the sun and lay there for hours.

And she is the best ball fetcher I have ever seen.

She loves the water and is so cute playing in it.

And most of all, she tolerates Anders. His "hugs", his tugs, his smacks, his desire to be close to her while she watches out the front glass door, and when he is screaming at the top of his longs.

She runs to the top of the stairs instead of going outside in the morning so she can be the first one into his room to get him up.

And sometimes, just sometimes, she curls up right next to us as we read books on the floor.

So in the end, I will give up my own sanity so my boys can have a dog to love. And I love her, too.



Most of the time.

Are You Surprised?

Would you be surprised if I told you that Anders is very verbal? With two parents that are teachers and a mother who likes to talk, I am not surprised at all.

Here are a few of the words we hear throughout the day...

Names (Identified by sight or picture)
Momma (of course :))
Dad
Anders
Haiku
Grandma
'ma (for Oma)
'pa (for Opa)
Aimee
Re-re (for Avery)
Faif (for Faith)
Betsy
Doreen
Jason
Abbey
Monique
Ryan
Ali
(funny side note--this morning as we went to Grandma J's church for Easter--which is where I go to Bible Study with the three names above--Anders asked as we were walking in "Monique?" "Ali?" "Ryan?" He knew all of those people should have been there with us, but was confused why they weren't) Cute, cute

And I'm sure I missed a few more...

Animals/Sounds (Identified by sight or in books) followed by the sound he makes with it
Zebra
Giraffe
Bear
Penguin
Monkey (oooohhh-ooohh)
Walrus
Sea Lion
Turtle
Duck (quack)
Oink
Neigh
Moo
Dog (woof)
Snap! (crocodile) This one is more like SSSSNNNNAAAP!
Snake (sssssss)
Cat
Ribbit
Sniff-sniff with his nose (rabbit)
Fish

Food--this one is an important category for him!
Fruit Bar
Yogart
Milk
Drink
Cup
Nana (Banana)
Grapes
Apple
Mess (as in, don't make one)
Plate
Bowl
More
Cookie

Random Words...
Book
Shelf
Toy
Truck (beep-beep)
Up
Work (as in, dad's at work and not here to play right now)
Egg (you would think this would go under the "food" category, but you would be wrong. He doesn't eat them, he just likes the Easter Eggs)
Sock
Pants
Shoes
Boot
Brush
Baby
Pen
Button
Thank You
Please
B-ball (for basketball)
Football
Bye-bye
Hi-ya (as in Hi!)
Happy
Ball
Yellow (everything is yellow these days, but we are working on it)
Eyes
Nose
Mouth
Head
Back
Phone (as in, he talks on anything that resembles a phone--remote controls, glasses cases, long blocks, and an occasional toy cell phone...mostly to Joel's friend Jason or Jason's daughter, Abbey--she is 10 months)
Chair
Fall (as in, don't fall off of that chair, couch, bench, etc...)
Off
On
Church
Jesus
Out! & Safe! (what an umpire says....we are ready for baseball to start today!)

I know I have missed quite a few...he is now working on putting sentences together. His first 2-word sentence a few weeks ago was "more cookie!". Anders also knows probably 22 out of 26 letters (capitals) and is working on numbers...I'm afraid we have opened the floodgates to learning and we can't stop him!

Oh, and how could I forget his favorite word of all? NO!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from our famiy to yours!

Taking pictures with a 19 month old, a dog and a camera on a timer 

is much, much harder than it looks. 

The empty chair is to remind me next year 

we'll throw in another toddler, just for fun!