"After" fence pics

I know you are all just hanging waiting for pics of the finished fence. :)

Here's one I snapped a little while ago. The backyard is still a bit of a mess with the siding work that is now going on, but you get the idea.

Fun Easter Weekend

Anderson has had a very busy weekend! Last night we were excited to go out to dinner with our friends Jack and Amanda who are visiting from Chicago. They met Anderson for the first time and we had a great time catching up with them!

This morning we took Anderson to the children's Easter celebration at our church. He enjoyed seeing the clown that was there and listening to some fun music. Then it was time to hunt Easter eggs! Anderson did great when we plopped him into a patch of grass. He went right to grabbing them and putting them into his basket! It was a pretty day and we had fun being outdoors.

After a nice, long nap at home, it was time for Anderson's first haircut! He did awesome. The salon had a fun car for Anderson to sit in and to top it all off, Elmo was on the TV at his "station". He was very content to sit and watch Elmo while the stylist worked away. He looks so handsome with his haircut. Reese and I were the typical first-time parents with our video camera and digital camera both recording away. They even put a lock of his hair in a little keep-sake envelope for us!

Quack Quack!

What a great weekend we are coming down from! Anderson's first birthday was this past Saturday and we had so much fun celebrating with family and friends. All of Anderson's grandparents came to town and he even had a very special visit from his Great Gran from San Antonio. Anderson's Aunt Reagan and Uncle Ryland also came to the party. There were a handful of Anderson's friends that brought their parents along as well! There were ducks everywhere, literally! Mommy did some hunting around and found a small duckling that could come spend the day at our house for the party. Anderson had a great time seeing and trying to pet the duck. All of his friends had their pictures taken with the duck and it was a great addition to the celebration. Anderson is still trying out all of his new toys that he received and will enjoy them for years to come! Thank you to everyone who was a part of the weekend. It went so smoothly and I know Anderson will look back at the pictures and video and realize how much he is loved even at 1 year old.

The biggest surprise of all was that a few hours before his party, Anderson took his first two steps. Right there with all of his family watching! We all yelled and shouted hooray so loudly that we probably scared him! It was such a surprise, but we were all so lucky to share it together. He hasn't taken any steps since, but he's getting braver and braver with standing on his own. I bet he'll be walking soon.

Here is a video I put together showing Anderson on each of his "month birthdays".

Here's a link to all of the pictures from Anderson's birthday party:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=ujmmgqn.3zhu0qdj&x=0&y=-hfxi03&localeid=en_US

Happy Birthday to You! and you and you and you....

So, I guess what happens when you join a "New Mom's Group" where all the other moms had babies at about the same time as you did, you all celebrate their birthdays at the same time! We've been to numerous 1st birthday parties the past few weekends and they have been so much fun. However, this coming weekend is the best one of all.... Anderson's! We can't wait for all of the rubber-ducky madness to begin. Most of our family is coming into town from around the state and we can't wait to celebrate with them all. Get ready for some cute pics next week!

Lately, Anderson has been a little cranky due to what we think might be teething. Hopefully he gets it all worked out, literally, and gets back to his happy little self soon. He's still just as cute as ever, though. No amount of crankiness could take that away!

Around here we're getting some work done on the house. Today, the old, decrepit fence got taken down and new posts were set for a new one! We are so excited to see the finished product. Next week work begins on replacing the siding on some parts of the house that is in dire need of attention. We love this house and it's always so rewarding to make it even better.

Here's a picture of the temporary fence before they come finish it tomorrow!

Here's two pictures from Anderson's best buddy, Evan's, birthday party. Despite what the pictures show, Anderson really didn't mind the hat too much. This was one of the days he was in some major teething pain.

To end this post, here's a cute picture of Daddy and Anderson when we went out to eat over the weekend. Aren't they both handsome?

Two funny stories from the day...

I was feeding Anderson dinner and I had two small bits of green bean on a spoon. He noticed it, took the green beans off, picked up a piece of cheese, put the cheese on the spoon, and then fed himself the spoonful of cheese. Our little guy was a bottomless pit today. He kept eating and eating and eating all day long. He really enjoyed the trip to Costco where he got to sample all sorts of new items like: poptart, organic chicken corn dog, mac and cheese. That was on top of the giant breakfast, lunch and dinner he had.

The family made two trips today to the nursery to buy spring plants and flowers for the yard. Anderson did great on both trips (mainly because we brought snacks for him). On the second trip, he had enough of the stroller and was really needing to be active. He found a clear plastic tray that goes in the bottom of a planter and proceeded to entertain himself on the concrete floor of the store for about 10 minutes with that tray while we waiting in the checkout line. He had dirt all over himself including his face! I guess he didn't mind getting dirty if it meant he didn't have to sit in that stroller anymore!

It's all those vitamins I took.....

So, unbiased of course.... We think Anderson is the smartest 11.5 month old ever. Yesterday I was watching him playing. He found this trailer that goes with a small truck in a large bin of toys. He picked it up, examined it, and promptly took it over to all of his trucks on the other side of the room. Now, we've never showed him that they go together. He just figured out that it belonged with the trucks, not the other toys. Next example... If Anderson wants you to do something whether it's read a book, open a lid, etc. he'll come over and physically open your hands and place the item in them. His way of saying "Here, do this!" And his uncanny ability to sort things. If it's peas and carrots, he'll pick out the carrots and put them all in a pile. Pretend play has also become the norm. He loves to talk on the phone and even attempts to brush his hair. I could go on and on....

Anderson loves giving hugs and kisses to us. He comes right up next to you and face-plants into you with a big open mouth. Yesterday Riley got her first Anderson hug and kiss. SO cute.

Some words he trying to say: duck ("uug"), baby ("baba"), Riley ("RiRi").

Anderson's Antics

So sorry for the lapse in entries! I told you that we struggle with keeping stuff like this updated.

Anderson will be 11 months old this week. I can't believe how the time is flying. Here's a list and brief description of what's going on with our busy boy.

- A defiant little guy. He's already mastered the shake of his head to tell us NO, especially if it's in realtion to changing his diaper.

- A smart fellow for sure. Anderson is figuring out all sorts of things on his own. Today he mastered taking the lid off of a container of Cheerios, taking one out to eat, and then snapping the lid back on. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

- Immune system=a little challenged. Anderson has pretty much had a constant cold for about 3 months now. His poor nose. He's pretty much given up trying to swat away our tissue-clad hands coming at him.

- Seperation anxiety is kickin' in. His teachers at the church nursery have looked a little frazzled for the past two weeks when we've picked him up. He's having a rough time without us.

- He knows who loves him. He can point very clearly to us when asked "Where's Mommy/Daddy?"

- He's already bilingual. Anderson knows a handful of signs. He knows the sign for "milk", "all done", "cup", "eat". He recognizes the signs for "book", "ball", "more", "bath".

- A bookworm in the making. Anderson will choose a book, open your hands and put the book in your hands so that you'll read it to him.

- Where's the.....? Anderson will identify ducks, balls, fish, bird, baby, nose, socks, tree, and Winnie the Pooh in books.

- Food is yummy. Favorites of the moment are: peas, cheese, grapes, crackers, Cheerios, blueberries, bread, waffles, applesauce

- Food is yucky. Dislikes of the moment are: carrots, potatoes, beans

- Fun, fun, fun. Anderson loves riding on his push-car around the house, talking on telephones, holding anything new, taking stuff in and out of places, climbing stairs, going outside, and playing with Riley.