Ode to Daddy

Happy Father's Day to Reese, my wonderful husband and Anderson's awesome daddy! We had a nice weekend together. Sunday was a nice family day that included church, a lunch out, and some driving range time for Reese. Here are some pictures of Anderson yesterday in his "My Dad is Rad" t-shirt and then some pics of him lounging around the house with no shirt on. (These seemed to fit into the "Dad" theme of the post, even though Reese rarely lounges without a shirt on. :)

(We're a little concerned that Anderson immediately points the remote at the TV every time he picks it up. He's definitely observant.)

Here's Reese holding Anderson when he was only a week or so old. Even then he was the best dad Anderson could've ever hoped for.
And, of course, I couldn't end this post without saying how much we love all of the other dads that are SO important in our lives. So, Happy Father's Day to Dad Neumann, Dad Qualls, Billy, and Dustin! We love you all!

A few Anderson stories....

Anderson is becoming quite the methodical thinker lately. Today we were in his room, which is decorated with all sorts of doggy stuff including about 10 random stuffed dogs in various places throughout. He first asked to get “Puppy” out of his crib (the one he sleeps with) and placed it in the middle of the floor. Then he went around the room gathering the other dogs and placing them in the floor with Puppy. Next he had to point and grunt for me to get the last 3 dogs off the top of his bookshelf. Once they were all in the floor together, he was done with them for the meantime. A little while later, he came back to them and started taking them back to the places he had picked them up from around the room. He even put the 3 that came from the top of the bookshelf at the bottom of the bookshelf.

Also today, I was in the kitchen when I heard a cry of frustration/irritation coming from the formal living room. A moment later Anderson came into the kitchen and again grunted/whined at me. I went to follow him and told him to show me what was wrong or what he wanted. He took me over to the other side of the room where his kid-sized leather chair was turned over on its side. He just wanted me to come and fix it. After I sat it upright, he went on playing and was done with me!

Anderson is getting very good at following directions. Yesterday we had just gotten home from the pool. I turned on Sesame Street so I could go change. Before I left the room, Anderson did the sign for “milk” so I told him to follow me to the kitchen so we could get his milk from the fridge. He came and after I handed it to him, I told him to go and sit in his chair in the living room that I would bring him a snack to eat while he watched Sesame. I fully expected to see him still at my feet when I turned around with his Goldfish crackers. Instead, he had gone back into the living room with his milk and was sitting in his chair looking at me like I needed to speed things up! I really didn’t expect him to actually understand and go sit in his chair when I said that. I guess I need to change my expectations for my little 14 month old big boy!

Here's a picture from bathtime last night. After dinner and before bed is usually when Anderson's silly mood hits. It's always so hard to put such a happy boy to bed! (he does konk right out, though, as soon as his head hits the bed!)

Summer Fun

Anderson's favorite place right now is outside! He loves going out in the backyard and front yard. As soon as anyone says "outside" he is pointing or heading toward a door. We've been playing in the back with the water a few times. Anderson had loads of fun with the water hose. He just kept inspecting it and playing with it trying to figure out how that water kept coming and coming.

Today we took Anderson to the local pool/water park near our house. They have an awesome kids area. Even though it was crowded and water is splashing everywhere, Anderson had so much fun. He got right in and wasn't afraid at all. He was walking everywhere through the water and if he fell down and got his face in the water, he just got right back up. He loved the fountains shooting water up and enjoyed the slide the most. Here are a few pictures from our fun at the pool today.

Lately, Anderson has really gotten into identifying body parts like his belly, ears, nose, feet, and hands. He is fascinated by his shoes. He tries to put them on, take them off, carries them around, etc. Anderson is also everyones best friend that we pass on the street. He will wave at people unprompted and has gotten quite a few smiles in return for being so darn cute.

We've been attending some fun BBQs with friends lately. Here are a couple of pictures of Anderson playing with his friend Nathan after dinner one evening.

Recent Videos

Hi all! I've been without my laptop for a few days (virus) and it's still on the mend, but I wanted to post a couple of videos we took of Anderson recently. He's walking full-time now with his favorite jaunt being up and down the sidewalk of our block. He loves to stop, bend over, and pick up leaves and rocks to carry with him. Now that he's fully mobile he seems to be getting into more and more things. All drawers and cabinets that aren't locked are fair-game. His favorite activity while we are getting dressed in our bathroom is going through our cabinets and pulling out all sorts of fun things like bottles, hair clips, dental floss, etc. Now we just need to figure out how to get him to put it all back. He's also a huge fan of climbing. If it can be climbed, Anderson will give it a try. He'll hike that leg up and pull, pull, pull himself as hard as he can. Therefore, his newest word is "up". Once he gets up, he then gets back down and starts it all over again. Enjoy the two videos and make sure you turn up your volume nice and loud for the second one. ;)

It's been awhile....

Sorry for the long pause in posts. Things have been crazy around here lately!

So, first, an update on the family members who we are praying for. My step-dad, Billy, is doing great. We've been able to see him the past two weekends as he and my mom were in Dallas visiting Macee and his mouth looks great. You can't even tell he had all those stitches! Macee is doing much better. She's still recovering after her surgery for her broken pelvis. She's at a great facility here in Dallas, so we've been lucky to have Nana B and Grandpa Billy here for the past two weekends. Hopefully she'll get to go home to Lubbock soon to continue her recovery. Reese's father is home and is doing much better. I know he was anxious to get home so he could oversee the redecorating going on at their house! We can't wait to see the final results Grammy and Gramps!

Two weekends ago my brother, Dustin, and his wife Sarah brought their kids to visit for the weekend. Carter and Kate were so much fun to hang out with. We went to ride the carousel at the Frisco mall, went to Going Bonkers (an indoor play facility), had some nice pictures taken, and had lots of fun playing. I know Anderson wishes his cousins lived closer so he could see them more often! Here are a few pics from the fun weekend:

Dad, Anderson & Mom at Going Bonkers

Carter, Anderson & Kate Mother's Day was great around here. My mom was in town so it was nice to share the day with her before she had to leave town. Reese gave me a book, a sweet card, and a promise of fresh chocolate covered strawberries next time we go to the mall and walk past the gourmet chocolate shop. (I always stop to look at them and say how yummy they look!) Of course, my sweetest gift of all was hugging and kissing my Little Buddy. I thank God everyday for bringing him to me and making me a mother.

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day 2008

This past weekend Anderson was under the weather so we spent most of the time at home. He had an awful sore throat and fever so it was very hard to see him in pain. His appetite (or ability to swallow) is bouncing back finally. Poor guy! He was not a happy camper.


So, Anderson is walking now. He's still in that "wobbly drunken" state, though. It's really funny to see him trying to gain control over those legs and keep it all in sync with the rest of himself. He still actually seems to prefer crawling when he wants to get somewhere, though.

Prayers for the Families

Reese and I had a fabulous weekend. Thanks to Anderson's Grammy, we were able to get away for a day and night. We spent some time at the spa being pampered, had a relaxing lunch (where we actually tried to figure out the last time we had lunch together out, just the 2 of us), and then went to see Dave Matthews Band in concert. Anderson did great with Grammy and even got to hang out with Aunt Reagan too! Lucky Guy!

Some unfortunate events have happened this week with our families. Reese's father is currently in the hospital with some blood pressure problems. We are praying that the doctors are able to find any problems and put Ray on the right path toward healing. On the same day, there was a terrible accident with my Step dad, Billy and their dog, Macee. Macee jumped out of a moving vehicle and suffered a broken pelvis which required a trip to Dallas from Lubbock for surgery. When the accident happened, she was in shock and uncharacteristically attacked Billy on the upper lip while he was driving her to the vet. Billy is recovering and is of course more worried about Macee than himself. We are praying that Macee's surgery goes well tomorrow and that her recovery is speedy. We are also praying for Billy's recovery and know that he is already looking forward to the day that Macee will be standing at their back door ringing that darn bell for the thousandth time.

Anderson wanted to send his love to Gramps, Grandpa Billy, and Macee so here's a few of his favorite pictures.

Anderson admiring Macee's collar

Grandpa Billy introducing Anderson to Santa Gramps and Anderson looking oh so cute

Weekend Roadtrip

We loaded up the family and drove to Houston this weekend to visit my brother, Dustin and his wife, Sarah. The best reason to drive there, though, was to visit their kids, Carter and Kate. Anderson did great on the drive down there. It's a long time to sit strapped in that car seat! On Saturday we all (and I mean ALL) piled into the AggieMobile to drive to College Station for some baseball fun. It was a tight fit with 3 car seats and 4 adults, but it went surprisingly well. Except for all the times DQ and Reese had to let Sarah and I out of the back. The baseball game was great and it was fun to catch up with some old friends for the day. It was easy getting all the cousins down for the night when we got back to Houston. They were exhausted! Sunday morning brought some playtime and posing for pictures with the cousins. Then we were on the road back to Dallas. Anderson did awesome on the drive home. We didn't even have to sit with him in the back the whole way! We had so much fun and only wish we lived closer so we could see them more often! Here's a few pics from the weekend.
Carter, Anderson, Kate, and Peyton enjoying the game.
Kate and Anderson having a chat over some morning Cheerios.

Carter, Anderson, and Kate

Here's a picture of Anderson playing with his water table outside yesterday. He loves the spraying fountain and being able to splash water everywhere! Thanks for the great birthday gift, PaPaw, Grandma Ellen, and Uncle Ryland!