100th Day of School

In February Kindergarten celebrated the 100th Day of School! When I really got to thinking about it, it really IS a reason to celebrate!! This means that this girl went ONE HUNDRED DAYS without getting a clip change or a warning at school. This also means that we survived ONE HUNDRED DAYS of getting to bed and getting up, dressed, lunches made etc. It's a big deal for this household! I give all the glory to God that he placed Hollyn at the school and with the teacher she needed to be with in order to have a successful kindergarten year. We are so thankful for all of those blessings. Now we are pressing on until summer break!!!!

Daddy & Daughter Dance

Scott and Hollyn went to their first ever Father/Daughter Dance this February. He brought her flowers one night and wrote "Will you go to the dance with me?" in a card. She was so excited! 

She even let me take her to the store to TRY ON DRESSES. It was actually very fun and there were no tears when we encountered an uncomfortable dress. Thankfully, we found something that was adorable and soft on the inside and even found comfortable shoes that matched perfectly. She was so proud of the way she looked. She picked out which purse and coat she was going to wear and added a necklace. 

They had a great time and I think Scott is going to make this an annual event for the two of them. I know the years will fly by and she will one day be dating and I just pray that she will choose wisely when it comes to dating and that the ones she chooses are very similar to her Daddy. 

A New Year

January flew on by! We are getting settled in our new house and this month we purchased a new (it's actually used) car, and today Scott is starting a new job! Even though we have new things going on, lots of things are the same around here.
We had a fun month and Anderson is learning and doing new things daily. I took him to his 12 month apt today. (I postponed it one month because I was terrified he was going to catch RSV or the Flu by bringing him in a month ago. It was rampant.) And let me just say I am so so grateful that my babies have been healthy and we have not had to go through medical procedures or many doctors visits. It breaks my heart for friends and others that have. Having said that, I will say that the 12 month well visit must be sent straight from the devil. When you add in their second flu shot the poor child has to get 5 shots. Our nurse was good but slower than Christmas and it was so hard to hold him down while she SLOWLY gave him all 5 shots. One.shot.at.a.time. :( He cried extremely hard and I had just gotten him calmed down and dressed when another nurse came in. They had to prick his finger and drain TWO small vials of blood for routine testing. AWFUL. After all the nurses left I finally just had to cry a little with him. I have never heard such broken hearted cries from him and he cried until I took him out of the car seat when we got home. I even held him while I sat on the potty because he did NOT want me to put him down. :)
On to the fun statistics! Anderson weighed 23 lbs and 6 oz. I thought this number was going to be several pounds higher! He was 29.06 inches long and his head circumference was 18.1 inches around. For such a chubby little guy, he is actually on the small side in several areas. He is only in the 50th percentile in weight, 25th in head and 13th in height. Dr. Kemper did some magical formula and thought that he would be about 5'9." Maybe. If we stretch his legs out nightly.  
Dr. Kemper was very impressed with his language skills. He has added some words to his vocabulary this month. He can say, "Thank you (and do the sign), light, cookie, chicken, woof woof, Sssshhhh, poppa, shoes, choo choo, car, nana and tee tee (that would be a word his sister taught him). If you ask him a question he will either nod his head yes or shake it no. It is very cute and he always seems to get the correct answer or tell me what he wants this way. He LOVES to copy any sound Hollyn makes. It is very funny. She can be in the other room and scream or make a noise and he will immediately copy it. He LOVES to climb! He climbs on the fireplace and on my moms couches. He loves climbing in the play room chairs and I have even caught him on the dining room chairs! I I am having to turn them all upside down to keep him off of it. We had a snow day this morning and he literally trashed every single room and Hollyn was barking out orders all morning. I think I may hire a nanny for the summer!! He likes to climb on the step ladder at the bathroom sink and "spit" in the sink. I guess he has watched us all do that after brushing our teeth that he thinks he needs to also. He loves playing chase and wrestling around with us on the bed or floor. He loves to eat except he is not keep on any vegetables right now. I am sure some of it is my fault so I need to really work on this. Blueberries, bananas and cheese are some of his favorite things to eat.  Overall he is just so fun. And BUSY!!!!
Here is the past month and a half in pictures...

 We have had 52 days of the past 90 that have been at freexing or below. Fun times for sure.

When we have had a pretty day without freezing temperatures, we have tried to get outside and enjoy it!

This day Hollyn had been bawling and crying, "I don't feel FREE! I just need to be free!" 

You and me both, sister.

While indoors, this little guy has kept me on my toes! He is a biter too! One day I literally had 12 bruises from him biting!

And this little lady is always on ad adventure of her own...

Little Buddy really like to do what daddy and sister are doing. He was determined to work on the fireplace this night with them. Hopefully I can get to posting about February very soon!

Happy Happy Birthday!

Sweet Anderson turned one December 28th!!! I wasn't planning on really having a party so close to Christmas but the day before his Birthday I decided I needed to do something. I called in some cupcakes, set out a few decorations, and invited the grandparents over. It turned out to be a perfect little celebration. 

2013 truly was the fastest year of my entire life. I really don't know why. I thought it would be slow because we were still living in the duplex and all. It just literally flew by and I am trying not to be sad that my last baby is a one year old. It is bittersweet with the second one. I still want him to be a baby, but I know there are so many fun things that happen the older a child gets.

I know Anderson has no idea what a Birthday is, but he seemed to really enjoy us staring at him and singing to him! He REALLY enjoyed his sugary sweet cupcake. When you ask him "How old are you?' He holds up one finger just perfectly. It is so adorable.

Anderson, you are truly a delight! You have brought such sweetness and joy to our household over the past year. We are so excited to see you growing and changing literally every single day. We love you so much and are blessed to be your parents. 

Anderson's First Christmas!

We had a pretty low key Christmas this year. We went to Christmas Eve Service on Tuesday night and then came home to open presents with Scott's parents. His sister, Susan, was in Germany this year! How fun for her! So we just had a small little group and the kids had all the attention!

Cici and Poppa Bear gave us LOTS of goodies this year! Scott's mom is very creative and she came up with a game for Hollyn to play in order to receive her big gift. She hid a Christmas pickle ornament on our tree and Hollyn had to race Poppa Bear to find it. When Hollyn found it for the last time she received a poem and had to go find her hidden gift. They bought her a big girly vanity! I think the look on Hollyn's face says how much she loved her gift!

I was prepared to bake Christmas cookies for Santa this year but Hollyn did not want to and that was just fine with me! She set the whole thing up just like she wanted it. Basically she dumped an entire box of devil's food cookies and a pile of carrots on the plate. She wanted a green mug filled with milk to go with it. She wrote Santa a note that said, "Santa Claus, I need you to write me something else. Thank you. Hollyn and Jill too and Anderson too and Scott too." She even had reindeer food to sprinkle on the grass that she brought home from school. I think she was asleep before 10:00 pm. The next day Anderson woke up at 7 and we had to wake Hollyn up at 8:00! Crazy! We had to wake her up last year too. Maybe Santa should come more often!

Her big gift was her American girl doll, Saige and a horse. Those are the only two things that she asked for.

Little Buddy seems VERY happy with his ride on toy and can even get around the house on his own with it. 

The biggest deal of all Christmas morning was the Anderson took his FIRST STEPS!!!! We also caught the whole thing on video. We really haven't gotten out the video as much as we did when Hollyn was a baby so I was delighted to have his very first steps recorded! I don't think he will truly be walking for several more weeks. He doesn't seem very brave to venture out on his own just yet.

I had offered to host Christmas with my parents at our house that evening because I have all the fancies in my kitchen, but somehow I only made a side dish and we my mom hosted at her house. Ha ha! Scott cooked our turkey for us, while Jameson, Michelle and I took Hollyn to see the movie Frozen. It was SO good! Hollyn dressed up in her cute new clothes from Cici and took Saige with us to the movies. I just kept looking over at her while she was watching the movie becuase she just seemed so precious and innocent. She's growing up so quickly before my eyes. 

Christmas night Hollyn really didn't want to cooperate with pictures. She took off her cute sweater and headband and basically wore a wife beater tank the whole night. Great.

Doesn't this picture just scream, "Merry Christmas!"

And did I mention Santa put glittery tattoos in her stocking? I mean, what kind of guy is this?

I have about 37 pictures just like this one....

Here is an decent picture to document that we are a real, perfect, happy family. :)

 And these guys....

We really missed getting to see Aunt Susan and Greg and Jana and the girls this Christmas! Overall, we had a great little Christmas. We are very thankful to everyone that showered us with gifts!

I think Anderson had a great first Christmas. He was very excited about all his toys. He would open his mouth very wide and say, "oooooooooo!!!!" He was a lot of fun to watch!

November

November was one of the CrAziEst months we have had so far! We started the first weekend off by going to the Jr. League Deck the Halls event and visiting Santa. Hollyn did NOT want to sit on his lap and cried and pouted the entire time we stood in line. I bribed her with a hula hoop full of gum if she would cooperate. So at the last moment she turned on the smile for the camera and the buddy bawled his eyes out. It is the most ironic picture ever.

My mom and I took Hollyn to see the High School's production of Willy Wonka. She was so excited to see it! It was a great production and we had a fun girly night. 

Hollyn's class had plenty of Thanksgiving festivities. They have a big kindergarten feast and I got to help serve her class. This is her best friend Kaitlyn. They have really hit it off and are sweet little buddies together. I am very thankful for her little friends at school. I prayed all summer that she would find a sweet friend in her class. 

I went and ate lunch with Hollyn the day the cafeteria served Thanksgiving feast. Hollyn informed me she was not exactly a "thanksgiving feast type of girl," so I picked up Subway for us. (She takes after her mama!) We had a sweet little lunch together. 

Hollyn was off of school for an entire week! The highlight of the week was our cousins coming to visit for days! Hollyn loved taking care of Cambry and playing with her. We got to meet our newest little cousin, sweet Lainey Reese! We were so thrilled to spend time with her. 

 I love this picture of Hollyn holding Lainey for the first time! It looks like they are just so happy to see each other. 

Anderson turned 11 months old the week of Thanksgiving! Since I didn't get to take a great picture of him in all the craziness, this is Hollyn's interpretation of Chubs.

Little Buddy, we moved the week of Thanksgiving and I didn't get to take a great picture of you. This is the best I got! At 11 months old you are really starting to ham it up! You have added the words, "hot, pops, Ha (for Hollyn), and duck. If we talk about cars you say, "vroom, vroom." You LOVE to blow on my dad's varmint call. You hold up one finger if we ask you how old you are. You dance when you hear music. You turn your hands in the air and wave them around when we sing "The Wheels on the Bus." When we ask, "Where is ____?" You hold your hands up in the air and make a little sound like "I don't know."  You love to copy facial expressions and any sound that we make. You really are a sweet little guy and are lots of fun!

 You were my little packing buddy. Actually, you were more of an un-packing buddy. I would get something packed and you would dump it all out as fast as possible. It was quite a bit of work moving over Thanksgiving weekend with small children. We were SO grateful to have both of our parents and my brothers in town to help. We could NOT have done it without many of our guy friends that helped with all the big stuff. Our wood floors weren't quite dry so we had to move all our things into the garage and stay with my parents for two days. Things seemed a little chaotic at times but you and Hollyn were happy and had plenty of people to play with you. 

I went on many trips to find the perfect, softest bath rugs that your sister approved of. You seemed to approve of them also! The next two weeks or so seemed a bit crazy with us trying to get settled. You and Hollyn seemed to adjust just fine with the new move. Hollyn has had some moments that she needed to be sad about the change but she's doing well now.

Hollyn dressed you up one morning and this is the picture I took. You and your sister have officially started playing together this month. You LOVE her and she loves to play with you.

 Apparently Hollyn left some Oreos within your reach one day. You were delighted to find them!

 I eventually got  things together and ready for Christmas and we are settling into the new house!

I love this picture of you, my little eleven month old!