Busy, busy, busy!

Whew! We are staying on our toes around here with tons of holiday fun! While I'm lacking in time to write a proper posting to update you on what's been going on around here, the least I can do is share some pics! The bonus....they are all taken with our fancy new camera that Reese and I got each other for Christmas! Enjoy!

Anderson and his buddy Brody having a ball in the rocking chair.

Anderson creating his cookie masterpiece.

Yummy!!

My little mischief maker "feeding" Riley.

Just being a boy.

Taking Mommy's shoes for a walk!

Our Christmas tree

Trip to Lubbock

While Reese was at a training for work most of last week, I decided to take Anderson to Lubbock to visit his grandparents since he won't see them for Thanksgiving this year. It had been almost a year since we'd been back! I was very nervous about taking him on the flights by myself, but he surprised me and did really well. Here's a picture of him just chillin' on the flight there, watching Blue's Clues on my Ipod.

Anderson loved spending time at Nana B and Grandpa Billy's house. He loved crawling in and out of the doggy door that leads to Macee's potty grass. He played this game over and over and over until we forced him to come inside which of course brought tears.

Anderson really enjoyed going walking with Grandpa Billy and Macee as well as playing in Grandpa Billy's truck. All day long while Grandpa Billy was at work, Anderson would go to the garage door and ask to go out to the "truck". As soon as Billy walked in the door after work, Anderson would be so excited to get to go push the buttons and pretend to drive the truck.

We were also able to spend some time with Uncle Ryland, Grandma Ellen, and PaPaw. Anderson had so much fun playing with Ryland's bucket of balls and trucks. Here he is driving trucks along the concrete path with PaPaw.

Anderson's new game is "Falling Down". He will semi-run and then carefully "fall" to the ground fully expecting someone to say "Uh Oh Anderson fell down!". Then he laughs, gets up and repeats. Here he is after falling in the grass.

Anderson's favorite book right now is a picture book with many, many different types of trucks. He loves to point to each truck and have it named. On a few pages, he can identify almost all of the trucks if we say them out loud (Big Rig, Car transporter, Fuel Tanker, Container Truck, etc.)! Well, he was in Heaven at the airport as we waited for our flight home. He loved watching the planes and the airport fuel truck. He watched the fuel truck take fuel to the plane then come and park right by this window. The driver waved up at Anderson and the look on his face after he waved back was just priceless. Here he is watching intently.

Time flies

It might surprise anyone who reads our blog that Reese is actually writing this entry. The first piece of business is to note that we've now got our web address (www.reeseandallison.com) pointed to this new site. Hopefully that means that our friends and family can more easily find us.

As one would expect, this site is all about Anderson, and our new little one we're expecting in April. We haven't decided whether or not to find out if it's a boy or a girl. On the one hand, it sure would be easier to plan/paint/buy clothes. However, on the other hand, we're tempted not to find out because when in life can you truly have a great surprise like this? Would the anticipation be invigorating or stressful?

Stay tuned for our decision, and maybe even the answer.

Playhouse Fun

Earlier this week we met with Anderson's friends at a Playhouse for some fun. There were loads of fun toys and structures to play with! Anderson loved the swing, train table, and play kitchen the best. He also took two rides on a car rollercoaster. The video below doesn't capture well enough the speed at which he was going as well as the hilarity of the ride. For some reason this had me laughing hysterically both in person and once I got home and downloaded the video.

Halloween

Anderson was a fisherman for Halloween this year. He did great wearing the costume and carrying his fishing pole so everyone could see the fish he caught! After a few pictures there is a video of Anderson going down the bouncy house slide at the Halloween carnival we visited.

Taking out the Trash

Anderson loves taking trash out to the big garbage bins outside. Whenever he sees the bag sitting by the door in the garage, he gets so excited and takes it straight there once the garage is open. Here he is managing a rather large load!

Getting Bigger!

TX State Fair

Last weekend we took Anderson for his second trip to the Fair. Last year, he went as a baby, but didn't get to sample the yummy goodies that he tasted this year! He also had lots of fun playing the fishing game. No rides this year, still a little too small. Anderson LOVED the farm animals and threw an enormous tantrum when we left the barn area. Overall, we had a great time!

Our Busy Boy

One of Anderson's favorite activities these days is going into the backyard with Daddy. He's already figured out that's where the fish are and he enjoys going to visit and take care of the pond.

Tornado Anderson is making a daily landfall here in our home. It's becoming very difficult to avoid having our house look this way most of the time. Thank goodness we don't get many unexpected visitors! One would think we have a large dog in our home!

Immediately as this video was being ended, Anderson took that book he was bringing me and threw it at my face (he hasn't quite realized stuff like that hurts)! He hit me right in the corner of my eye so hard that it immediately swelled up and over the next few days a bruise formed. I'm just glad I hit the 'end' button or else the video would've caught me gasping and crying in pain!

18 Months Old! Where did the last 6 months go?

Here's a sampling of what's going on with Anderson.

• 
  The sweetest thing ever! When we are out and about and Anderson hears another child say the word Mommy, he turns quickly to me, points, and exclaims proudly "My Mommy". To him, I'm the only Mommy in the world and those other kids are just all confused.
• In trying to keep Anderson's baby book up to date, I recently wrote down every word Anderson has said, at least as well as I can remember. He is up to almost 50 if you include the 10 signs that he uses frequently. Some recent new words are: balloon, star, towel, bus, and door. His new signs are "help", "drink" and "cereal". He loves watching his signing DVD and I'm amazed when he starts using a new one.
• Anderson loves spotting and hearing airplanes, trucks, fire trucks, and helicopters. He's a pro at imitating a fire truck's siren.
• Shapes and letters all around! Anderson has always been interested in printed letters and numbers. At the pool this summer, he would be more interested in going and pointing at the letters printed on the side (3 feet 6 inches) rather than being in the water. Lately he's been very interested in ABC books. He will identify the letter 'A' both in pointing and verbally. His favorite little alphabet book is the 'D' book because he can "read" every page on his own. The book is only 3 pages but he proudly exclaims "deer", "dog", and "duck" as we turn the pages. He's a pro at shape sorters and will verbally identify "star" and "circle" as he places them. It's so fun to see him learning through our dialy playing!
• Last night Anderson was determined to take an old, non-working cell phone to bed with him. I obliged, of course, thinking it would do no harm. Boy was he was a busy boy in his crib after the lights went out! I watched him on our video monitor as he proceeded to make pretend phone calls for about 30 minutes. He even shared some airtime with his puppy as he would hold the phone up to the dog's head. Eventually he fell asleep for the night, but this morning he went right back to work making phone calls when he woke giving Mommy an extra 30 minutes in bed before he finally decided his phone calls were over!
• Anderson loves to pretend to go "night night" and then wake up to the excitement of Mommy and Daddy saying "Good Morning!". Recently Daddy put Anderson in his old cradle where Anderson thought it was lots of fun to play "night night good morning".

Just can't make it any longer....

Cute Cute Cute!

Here's a sample of some fun pics of Anderson lately!

Anderson after a bath! Check out my hair!

Chillin' with Bob the Builder at Chuck E. Cheese

My friends over for a playdate!

Brining in the mail ~ one of my favorite activites!

Such a cuite pie!

Howdy Partner!

Another Fun Weekend!

This past weekend, PaPaw, Grandma Ellen, and Uncle Ryland came to visit from Lubbock. Despite the constant rain, we had a wonderful time with them. Thanks for making the trip and for a wonderful dinner! We can't wait to see you again soon!

I Heart Aunt Reagan!

Anderson's Aunt Reagan came to visit us on Labor Day weekend. Reese and I were able to sneak away to an A&M football game over night, so Anderson had a sleepover with Aunt Reagan. From what we heard, Anderson did great! We had a fun weekend visiting and playing with Aunt Reagan! Thanks again, Reagan, for watching Anderson while we had fun in College Station!