One Giant Christmas Post

I originally had grand intentions of posting more often, but between the busyness of Christmas and my extreme lack of energy and motivation during these last few weeks of pregnancy, it just hasn't happened.  So here it is, in one gigantic post ... The Anderson Family Christmas

At the beginning of December we drove up to Falls Park where they literally have every tree in the park strung with Christmas lights.  It's pretty amazing to see.  On this particular night, it was actually around 40 degrees.  And we figured with snow and extreme cold (-10 and colder) on the way, we had better take advantage of the opportunity.  We bundled up in all our snow gear, and were actually too warm.  That's an odd problem to have during a South Dakota winter.

The view of the park from the top of the observation tower

crossing the bridge over the falls

aren't we cute??

On a totally non-Christmas related note ... the boys and I made pizza.  That was fun.

If ya can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Oh, and I also turned 36 weeks.

I'm actually 38 weeks now, so this is a few weeks old.  I look about the same.  Just a little bigger and a bit more tired.

Ok, back to Christmas now.

Last week Monday it was wicked cold here.  Cold as in, at 9am it was -15 degrees.  With windchill it felt like -30.  So we stayed home.  (a fantastic perk of my job)  And made Christmas cookies.

Brooks is a great help in the kitchen.  The boy can crack eggs better than I can.  We normally save our cooking projects for when Carter is napping because, well .... Carter isn't such a great help.  But I didn't want to leave him out of this.  He actually took instructions really well and didn't make too big of a mess.

We moved to the kitchen table to roll out the dough and start the cookie cutter fun.  I set the boys up and left for about 15 seconds to grab something quick and this is what I returned to.

This, apparently, is a toddler's interpretation of "You can start making shapes with the cookie cutters.  I'll be right back".  I think we salvaged maybe two cookies out of this roll-out and then we started over.

It took us several tries, but we did eventually end up with something worth baking.  Mostly.

Some of them were a little maimed, but oh well.  I figured they were going to be covered with frosting anyway so it didn't matter

Oh, and all the little gingerbread boys?  Those were for the gingerbread houses we were planning to make on Christmas.  It was Brooks' idea.  He figured if we were making little houses, that we needed little people to go in them.  Smart kid. 

On Christmas Eve we all sat down and ate decorated ate the cookies.

With the exception of one Christmas two years ago, we've always spent the holiday with one side of the family or another.  And we love it.  We love spending time with family and doing Christmas together.  But this year it was just us.  I was 37+ weeks pregnant and was NOT going to travel.  And no one was coming here.  And that was ok.  In fact, I was kind of excited to start building some Christmas traditions of our own.  One of them being new jammies on Christmas eve.

Seriously?  Is this not the more adorable thing you've ever seen?  I mean, really.  We also gave the boys "The Legend of the Candy Cane" book that we promptly read three times before bed.  

We've been trying to be more intentional about not getting caught up in gifts and cookies and all the "stuff" that comes with Christmas.  I don't think we nailed it, but I feel like at least my attitude toward it was better this year.

Christmas day we spent the morning opening gifts, eating breakfast (yes in that order) and lounging in our jammies.  Two things we've learned about Christmas morning with kids.  1. Brooks is old enough to be excited about opening presents.  As in, let's wake up at 6:15am excited.  He "snuggled" in bed with us for a while, then we sent him downstairs to get himself breakfast.  2.  Carter, at 2 years old, has zero patience for waiting to open gifts.  Zero.  So we held him back just long enough to plug in the Christmas tree lights and start a pot of coffee before we let him tear into them.  And he was so excited to pass out gifts.  The boy can't read, but was he sure was enthusiastic when shoving a present in your hand, whether it belonged to you or not. "Here Daddy!  Es is your present"

We did eventually get dressed, and then we headed over to the Gale's for lunch and an afternoon of lounging and spending time with our "bonus" family.  Seriously, they're fantastic.  We're so blessed to be "adopted" into such a great family :)

Grandma Gale was wonderful and built graham cracker gingerbread houses with the kids.

Oh, and how could I forget this?  The Christmas mustache.

And if that's not enough ... there's the many faces of the mustache.

And then accessorized ...

He didn't have ANY fun with the mustache.  Clearly.  I did try to convince him to put on my Packers hat and go for the "Aaron Rogers" look, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

One of the best parts of Christmas this year (and no, it's not the mustache) was that Chris took off work for three days.  And we just played.  It was fantastic.  He took the boys out sledding and playing in the snow, we went to see the Christmas light show at the Western Mall, Chris and Brooks spent an afternoon at the arcade (a definite highlight for Brooks) and I took Carter out on a "date" for ice cream and then to Falls Park to see the lights again.

I was nervous about how the boys would handle Daddy going back to work on Monday after five straight days of playing, but they did well.  Overall, it was a fantastic Christmas!

Now we're down to just a few weeks to go before baby comes.  It isn't slowing down around here.  And that's ok :)

My ugly kitchen

My family and I live in a 100ish year old house that we're renting.  It's big and for the most part offers the space that we need.  But because it's old and because it's a rental and because I always dream of someday owning our own home, I grumble.

I grumble about living on a corner lot where we don't really have a yard.  And what we do have is all weeds.  I grumble about the hardwood floors.  Because although I'm sure they were very nice at one point in their lifetime, they are now scratched, and dented and pretty darn ugly.  And I grumble because all the windows in our homes, even the ones that don't even open, are rotting and very very drafty.

And then there's my kitchen.  Oh, the kitchen.  The room of the house with mustard yellow counter tops, pressed board cabinets with unidentifiable (and non-removable) gunk on the outside and a 1960's style linoleum floor that's curling at the edges and has cigarette burns throughout.  Yes, cigarette burns.  Oh, and don't forget the blue plaid wall paper mixed with some awful country style border at the top.  It is quite possibly the ugliest kitchen I have ever seen.  I try to be thankful, but seriously, you should see it.  Ugly ugly ugly.

Grumble grumble grumble.

_______________________________________

Yesterday our 9 year old neighbor girl, Z, came over for an hour after school before her dad arrived home from work.  And while she was here a friend of hers stopped by and invited herself in (don't ask).  Anyway, I've never met this girl, obviously a classmate, but as she approached Z, she asked

"Are these your neighbors?  Wow.  They have a really nice house!"

(big sigh)

There are too many times that I find myself so caught up in my own grumblings and the "I wish I had's" that I forget how totally and truly blessed we are.  For as many times as I look at other people's houses and think "wow, they have a really nice house", someone can say that about MY house.

We are blessed.  And our home really is nice.  We have four walls that we don't have to share with our neighbors.  We have two bathrooms. (something I've NEVER had before in my life)  We have mostly matching furniture and a beautiful kitchen table that we all fit around during meal times.  We have curtains in our windows, which appears to be a luxury in our neighborhood.  We have beds to sleep on, toys on the shelves (probably too many) and a whole closet full of clothes.  Clean clothes, I might add, because we also have a washer and dryer in our house.

And my kitchen?  In my kitchen we have real plates that match, and a drawer full of silverware and wonderful stainless steel cookware with which I can prepare healthy meals for my family.  But most of all we have a fridge and a pantry and cabinets full of food.  And not just any food.  Good food.  Real food.  Lots of fruits and veggies and whole grains food.

So thank you Jesus for my ugly kitchen.  And forgive me for wanting what isn't mine.  We are blessed.  And we are rich.  We have more than we need.  

IF I were to register ...

Being that this is Baby #3 for us, we aren't planning on a baby shower.  And that's ok.  Really.  We have everything we need .... diapers, a few clothes, a bed and food (I've got that one covered).  Babies don't need much.  But IF I were to create a baby registry for this kiddo, of the things that I want, this is what I would include....

(And I would like to note: I don't expect anyone to buy us anything.  I really don't.  This is more just a list for my own sake, so I can start gathering these things.  But if you feel so inclined to bless our family, we would truly be grateful!)

Swaddle blankets.  This seems odd that we would need these.  Before Brooks was born we had more baby blankets than I thought we could ever use.  Ever.  But over the last four years they've been used for both boys as actual swaddle blankets, with Carter as spit-up ponchos and now as diaper changing pads .... so yeah, we could use some new ones.

Carseat cover.  In the past, we've always just thrown a blanket over the car seat to keep the wind out.  But with this being our first "winter baby" and with the wicked way the wind blows here, I figure it would be good to have something that secures to the car seat itself to keep Poppy warm and out of the wind.



Wet bag.  We cloth diaper.  And we only have one wet bag.  And while it's big enough to hold all the diapers we use, it's nice to have a second for when the first is in the wash.  I'm not picky about color or whether it's store bought or home made.  It's going to hold poopy diapers.  But it would just be nice to have one more.

(It's for this kind of thing - and the car seat cover - that I wish I knew how to sew.)

Amber Necklace.  10.5 - 11.5".  We bought an amber necklace when Carter started teething, and holy "no more screaming" batman does that thing work!  I would LOVE to have one for when this baby starts teething too!  And oooh, and let me check.  Yep!  I even have a discount code (SAVE).  Sweet.

NB & Size 1 Disposable Diapers.  Yes, I know I said we cloth diaper.  And we do.  But I usually don't start with the fluff until baby is a few months old.  I don't feel like it's a worthwhile investment to buy XS cloth diapers for the few months that they would wear them.  Plus, newborn babies poop all.the.time. and I would be doing waaaaay more laundry than I would care to do postpartum.  So we'll need disposables.

NB - 18 month clothes.  Considering we already have two kids (and boxes upon boxes of clothes in the garage), it feels odd knowing I'm going to need new clothes for this baby.  I mean, if it's a girl we'll obviously need clothes.  She may not be too keen about wearing firetruck and dinosaur jammies.  I know I won't be.  But even if it's a boy, we'll need new clothes.  My first two kids were summer babies and with this kiddo coming in January, all the clothes we have are totally opposite season.  Grrr.  So I'm sure I'll be keeping my eye out for good sales and certainly be hitting up the consignment stores after baby comes.

30 weeks. Still cooking.

Here we are, three fourths of the way through this pregnancy, and I'm gonna be honest.  I'm pretty sure I'm in denial about ever having this baby.  To me, January still seems a reeeeally longs ways away.  But with it being November now, it's a whole lot closer than I realize.  I guess it's good that I'm not too anxious and I do have a lot to keep me busy until baby comes.  You know, with Christmas and stuff.  I'm just really content with life right now.  And the fact that I currently sleep through the night.

Hmmm, what else is new ....

• Baby moves and wiggles like crazy!  Sometimes quick jabs, other times little flutters and yet other times just some nice slow stretches.  It's super duper fun.
• Baby gets hiccups.  And I'm pretty sure he doesn't like them.  At all.  I'll feel a few rhythmic hiccups, then quick flailing and kicks.  A few more hiccups.  More kicks and jabs.  Something tells me this will be the baby that cries when he gets the hiccups.
• No, we still don't know the gender and no, I don't have even a good guess.  My mother intuition kind of sucks.  But for simplicity sake, and the fact that I hate calling the baby "it", I usually just refer to the kiddo as "he".  
• Baby is sitting low and breech. (because you all wanted to know his position, didn't you?)  The sitting low part isn't so bad except for the occasional groin pains and the "constantly having to pee" thing.  And baby has been breech for a few weeks now.  I know I shouldn't be nervous.  But yet, I kind of am.  I have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow where we'll hopefully get this kiddo moving in the right direction.
• Overall, I still feel pretty good.  Some lower back aches, some groin pains when I squat too much, but otherwise I'm good.  I thought for sure I would be a sobbing wreck after teaching 12+ hours this weekend, but I feel good.  Well, at least no worse than I did before my weekend class.
• As I'm coming into the last few weeks of pregnancy, I'm realizing I don't really like shoes.  My two boys were summer babies and I could wear flip flops when I hit the "I can't reach my feet" stage.  Winter?  Not gonna work.  (although it did give me a good excuse to go shoe shopping :)  And not only do I have to worry about my shoes, I also have 4 little feet in my family that, for some reason, need shoes before we leave the house.  They're so needy.  Brooks is good about putting on his own shoes, but Carter... not so much.  And if he doesn't want to put on shoes, he makes it very very difficult for me to put shoes on him.  He's so.stubborn.  Oh well.  At least now I own tennis shoes that don't need to be tied and boots that slide on Carter's feet in about 30 seconds, so that helps.

September

I'm not entirely sure where the month of September went.  I know it started with a birthday, and now here we are, 20 some days later with October just around the corner.  This little life of ours better slow down or my kids will be all "hey I'm leaving for college now" and I'm still "do you want to wear dinosaur or puppy jammies tonight??"

Anyway, we've done stuff.  Fun stuff.  Fall is coming.  I love the cooler air.  Although I feel like the weather is a bit drunk right now.  Seriously.   It's 85* one day and 60* the next.  One load of laundry will contain both shorts & sweaters.  But it's what happens in the Midwest.  It's a blending of seasons if you will.

Anyway, here's some highlights of the month.

Touch a Truck

Every year the Sioux Falls Parks n' Rec department hosts "Touch a Truck".  Bascially it's a parking lot full of every kind of different truck and vehicle you can imagine.  Kids are allowed to climb, touch, honk the horn and dream that someday they, too, can drive a garbage truck.  (I'm gonna go ahead and assume - and hope - they'll grow out of that dream.  If not, it'll save a ton on college bills!)

Anyway, for my two year old little motor head, this was a dream come true.  Seriously.  He squealed with sheer happiness and his jaw nearly hit the ground when he walked into the parking lot.  Brooks hated it.  It was loud.  And he could care less about trucks.  But Carter literally dragged me from truck to truck, demanding I help him into the cab so he could "drive a cuck".

I couldn't even tell you what truck this was in.  To me, they all looked the same.  But he needed to sit in every.single.one. 

Preschool Started

For Brooks this year, we're doing preschool at home.  I didn't feel like I needed to pay someone hundreds of dollars to teach my child the ABC's.  That, and I really like teaching him.  He's a fun kid to learn with.  And this year, he's a part of a preschool homeschool group called "Backpack Buddies".  Cute, huh?  It actually started mid-way through last year, but we've revamped it some, added some structure and even have field trips scheduled.  There's five of us moms, 5 preschoolers and a whole bunch more "littles" added in.  We really look forward to our Tuesday morning group time!  We have a structured lesson for an hour and then play time for an hour (aka, the moms get to have actual adult interaction time.  yay.)

The first day of "school".  Carter received a new backpack for his birthday and he certainly wasn't going to be left out of the schooly fun.

And because one of the moms is a rockin' photographer, she did school pics for all the kids.

 Handsome little fellas, aren't they??

The Apple Orchard

Our latest preschool field trip was to the apple orchard.  It was a chilly morning, but that made it even more perfect for apple picking.  Our group participated in story time, sampled apples and juice, took a wagon ride  out to the orchard, picked a few apples, and then visited the animals and played in the hay.  Super fun morning!

most of the crew!

Look Who's Two!

It's true.  Our Carter James is two years old.  It's gone fast and very slow at the same time.  But we are so so blessed to have this little guy in our family.  He makes me laugh every day.  He helps me see a new perspective on life and he gives the sweetest kisses that melt this mama's heart.

For his birthday this year, we kept it really low key.  I mean, really.  Monday night we had Grandma and Papa Gale over for Carter's favorite dinner (spaghetti!) and cake and a few presents.

Singing "Happy Birthday".  He blew out the candles like a champ!

Mmmmm, frosting.

Papa & Grandma Gale

Then on Tuesday morning, we woke the birthday boy up by filling his whole crib with balloons!  Poor kid was still half asleep and slightly shocked, but eventually he realized a whole bed full of balloon is pretty awesome!

We ate Carter's favorite breakfast, oatmeal, then we packed up and headed out for a fun adventure.  We traveled to the Children's Museum in Brookings for the day to celebrate our birthday boy!  Chris took the day off of work so he could join us.

This was our first trip there in the summer time, so we were able to play with all the outdoor activities too.  And I'm so glad someone told us to pack extra clothes, because both the boys were soaking wet after playing outside! 

Where the "soaking wet" began

Playing in the river bed.  More wet fun!

The coolest giant lite brite EVER!

My motor head "fixing" the car.  He was totally in his element!

Painting windows

We finished the day with an ice-cream treat and headed home so our two tired boys could nap and rest.  I think Carter really enjoyed celebrating his birthday!  I know we did!!  

We came home to find a package on our front porch from Grandma Marty & Papa Dave.  Carter is definitely at the age where he understands and enjoys opening presents.  Thanks for the super fun presents!!

Both the boys sporting their Nicaragua shirts from Grandma Marty!

And now we begin the adventure of TWO!  Woohoo!