Wow!

What a difference a couple of weeks makes! Everett is doing very good. He's a great eater so he's spending lots of time with Mommy! ;) He's giving us a few good 3-4 hour stretches at night, so that's good considering he's only 9 days old. So far, he's just being a cutie pie who stole my heart!

Anderson is the world's best big brother, literally. He loves Everett so much already and begins his day by asking where is "Baby Brother" and ends it with kisses goodnight. In between he's busy being a great helper by bringing Everett his pacifier, his blankie, or by turning on the music on the swing/bouncer seat. I really don't think I would've ever imagined Anderson would do so well with the transitions of bringing Everett home.

Some of you have heard that my step-dad, Billy, suffered a heart attack last week. This is been a very trying time, but has also proven to be an excellent testament to God's blessing and the power of prayer. Billy is headed home from the hospital today and that's definitely something to rejoice about. Please continue to pray for his full recovery and for my Mom as she takes this journey as well. We've been very blessed by God to have Billy a part of lives both now and in the future.

The Big Day

Well, yesterday was the day that little Everett decided to join us. It was quite an eventful 18 hours or so.

About 2:30 Sunday morning, Allison woke me up and said she couldn't sleep and that she thought today might be the day, but that nothing was contracting so she'd wait to call the Dr.

The next morning, Allison went to the Dr. who confirmed that her water had broken and that it was time to induce.

Dad found a good friend to watch Anderson while Grammy was in the air, and he headed to the hopsiptal.

When at the hospital, the delivery couldn't have gone smoother. Allison did a great job pushing, even though her epidural had pretty much worn off at the end. She delivered a beautiful baby boy, which we named Everett James.

All is well, although Everett is a sucker and hasn't slept for more than 45 minutes straight yet, so hopefully we'll get over that soon.

Anderson loves his "baby brother" and was very excited to meet him today.

Thanks for all the love and support.

A few pictures from the weekend...

So, this weekend we did some final prepping for the baby. We installed the infant car seat into the car which meant moving Anderson's seat to the window and putting the baby seat next to his in the middle. We took Anderson out there to show him and he was very interested in the whole deal. He was very proud that his seat was the "big" one and the other seat was "little" and for the "baby". However, when Reese took out the carrier part (the part you can tote around the baby in and pop back into the base) Anderson kind-of freaked out. He cried until we put it back in. So, not sure how that's going to play out once the baby is in it and we have to take him out while still in the carrier!

We also washed and reassembled the baby items like the swing, bouncy seats, etc. Anderson promptly took over the swing and spent most of the afternoon climbing in and out and demanding to hear us sing "Rock-a-bye Baby" and "Ba Ba Black Sheep" while he was swinging. Hopefully the novelty of HIM being in the swing will wear off shortly.



On Saturday we went to Anderson's friend's birthday party at a horse farm. Anderson was very excited to ride the pony! He got right on and had a grand time. The second picture is Anderson telling the pony "Hey Horsey!".

Here's a picture of Anderson playing with his new Mickey Mouse Bubble Machine that Aunt Reagan got him. I've already had to make a trip to buy one of those enormous bottles of refill bubble liquid because he loves this so much!

We took the final picture of Anderson with the Blue Bear that he had his picture taken with every month his first year and then every 6 months his second year. I thought this was the most precious smile! I compiled all the Bear pictures into a little Kodak photo book and it's just amazing to see how much he changed over the last two years! I guess we won't get any rest from the Blue Bear pictures, though! Now that Baby Boy 2 is almost here we'll be taking monthly pictures again! I can't wait to compare the two boys!

Gardening With Daddy

Anderson became the proud owner of a new shovel and rake this weekend. He loves using it out in the backyard, copying every move Daddy makes with his own tools. On Saturday morning Anderson and Daddy planted some new flowers together.

Ready with the watering can!

Just like Daddy...

Dig Dig Dig...

As much as he is a boy, Anderson does NOT like his hands dirty. There was a tiny amount of dirt on his hands here that caused major panic.

Taking a break on his new picnic table.

The Face of a Toddler Boy

Ouchie! Anderson's poor handsome face has taken a beating lately. First, a few weeks ago, Mommy's pinkie fingernail barely grazed his cheek during bib removal. His skin was so dry that my nail just literally sliced a layer of skin off in one whole piece. That's been a few weeks now and there's a small square pink spot that's looking more and more like a scar that's not going anywhere.

Then, there was the incident at the park with Riley's retractable leash catching Anderson on the neck. He literally looked like someone had tried to choke him from the leash burn. At least that one is clearing up nicely.

The major kicker, though, happened on Thursday night. I was taking the dishes to the sink after Anderson and I had eaten when I heard the crash. It was the highchair being tipped over backwards with a 2 year old standing inside facing me at the sink. It happened so quickly and of course, it's one of those things I never thought would happen. I thought for sure that there was going to be a trip to the ER in my future as soon as it happened. Miraculously, there were no broken teeth or nose, no blood in the mouth at all! It was just his chin that took the brunt of the fall. It's formed a nasty bruise and scab. Anderson won't let us near it to put the adequate amount of creams and such on it, but we're trying to avoid a long-term scar there too. Here are some pictures we took today of his chin (3 days passed).

Notice the pink mark on his cheek

Anderson will gladly show you his chin, but will scream bloody murder if you try to touch it.

Looking oh-so-cool in his new shades.

Nursery Pictures!

Yeah! We're pretty much done with the nursery for Baby Boy 2. I really should have taken before pictures- the room was our second guest room and had light gray walls and a mishmash of furniture. After clearing it out, we painted the room a soft cream with the two accent walls a teal blue color (called "Lagoon) and added the high chair rail on one wall. Add in lots of brown safari zebra-print, some roaming animals, light-blocking curtains, new fixtures, and baby furniture and we have a beautiful nursery that captures my personal love of giraffes and our wonderful memories of our African safari back in 2006. Anderson loved seeing the addition of the animals as we placed them and will proudly name them! As you will see in the last picture, he likes spending time in the "Baby Room" as he calls it. He will go through the bin of baby toys and have me read all the books to him that are in the Lagoon Bookshelf as I relax in my awesomely comfortable gliding chair. I love this room and the peaceful feeling as I sit in it and try my hardest to imagine another precious little boy making it his own.

View entering room from doorway

View from sink area (Jack 'N Jill bathroom shared with Anderson)

View turning towards the door. The hanging shirt says "Little Bro". :)

The bookshelf that we painted and some perched animals watching over the room.

Looking into sink area and bathroom door.

Giraffes en route.

Anderson and Riley enjoying Little Bro's room.

The Elmo Backpack

I have a special backpack that is filled with all sorts of fun little books, trinkets, toys, etc. that is supposed to be for events like doctor's visits, flights, and long car rides. Anderson hasn't seen it or played with the items inside since our flights at Christmas time. Today we were cleaning out the closet that the backpack stays in and as soon as we opened the door, Anderson was demanding "Elmo Backpack!". So, we let him have at it. He literally sat down and went through it slowly taking out each and every item and giving it a full inspection & playing with. Eventually he had all the contents spread out around him and he went on to reading the books inside. After I took these pictures, he instructed Mommy to go "back in kitchen" because he thought I was coming to take it all away from him. He didn't want anyone near him and the precious backpack contents! Reese stealthily packed it away this evening, but I wonder how many days Anderson will be asking for it to be brought back out!

Oh, I've missed this stuff!

Don't take my backpack!