Another precious boy!!!

Chris and I are so excited to announce that God is blessing us with another little boy! His name is Ethan Jeffrey (Jeffrey is after my dad). Being the planners we are, we have had the name picked out for weeks so it was great to be able to start using it right away! (Notice his debut on the title of the blog and on the right hand column :) I cried when I saw it in print!) We are beyond thrilled to be giving Ayden a little brother!

We had our ultrasound this morning and Ethan looks perfect! He weighs 10 oz and is measuring about a week ahead of my due date, but that's not enough for them to change it, so we are still going with Sept. 27th. We got several great pics and of his face, hands, and feet, but for a few minutes he kept his legs crossed...but we finally got a shot of his boy parts after I turned side to side a few times! It is so exciting to be almost halfway through the pregnancy already, we can't wait to meet him!

I also have to mention, having 2 boys with birthdays a month apart is extremely convenient! I am so excited to be able to use all of Ayden's clothes again...some of which he only wore one time! I am so glad I took such good care of his clothes just in case we had another boy :) We are also going to use Ayden's baby furniture and bedding which are both still in great condition. Yes it's fun to save money but it's also very sentimental too! And anyone who knows me well knows that I am a sucker for sentiment!

Here are some sweet (although slightly blurry) pics of our second son!


I'm a boy!

His foot!

3D image of his face with his hands curled up to his cheeks :)



Another 3D of his face

profile pic (the 2 white dots above his nose are his wrist bones,

his hand is across his face)

18 weeks!

As promised, here is my 18 week baby bump pic! We will be officially announcing the sex of Baby Anderson this Thursday after our official ultrasound! Those of you who already have the inside info...shhhh! :)

Just a talkin'!

Ayden loves talking on the phone, just one of the many ways he is like his momma! :) Here's a cute snapshot of him talking to Memaw and Pappaw last week!

Ayden's fun weekend!

Ayden had a very fun and exciting weekend! Friday morning his cousins Emily and Hannah arrived at our house to spend the weekend with us and Ayden couldn't have been more thrilled with his new playmates! The girls and Ayden played so well together! If they got out of his sight for a second he would say, "where are my girls?" They had a great time playing dress up and pretend, cooking in his kitchen, and playing outside. Then on Sunday afternoon we drove to Van Buren for Tanner's 3rd birthday party! Ayden got to eat cake and ice cream and play in the indoor playplace, what more can a kid ask for? We also drove into Ft.Smith and visited Nick and Brandy and her 5 new kittens! After all that fun, I'm hoping he sleeps well tonight!



Ayden and his girls!

Playing basketball with Hannah

Hanging out with Emily

Andy loved the girls too!

Ready for Tanner's party!

The birthday boy blowing out his candles!

Cake and ice cream time!

Immune!!!

Great news from the doctor, my blood test came back and I am immune to Fifth Disease! My mom was pretty sure I had it as a child, and apparently I did. So one less thing to worry about, thank the Lord! :)

Ayden's latest antics!

For the last couple of weeks, when Ayden wants our attention and we don't give it to him immediately, he screams as loud as possible, "Cock-a-doodle doo!" and then whatever it is that he needs or wants. Not exactly the best manners, but we can't help but laugh!

Ayden talks about the baby all the time. He will say, "when the baby comes home, I am going to give it a bottle/sucker/M&M, etc" I guess we'll need to have a more detailed discussion with him on what is appropriate to give a baby when my due date gets closer!

He loves to give my belly kisses!

He is doing amazing with potty-training! He is even waking up some mornings and from some naps dry. We are saving a ton on diapers! (until September anyway!)

He loves to help mommy around the house--carrying shopping bags in, putting clothes in the dryer, and helping in the kitchen. He is very independent and wants to do as much as possible by himself!

Even though he loves helping mommy, he really loves to help daddy with anything and everything. If daddy goes in the garage, Ayden has to go too! On the weekends, Chris can't leave the house without taking his little man with him. Too sweet!

He is starting to dress himself, in fact, he insists on it most of the time! The other day when I got out of the shower, he had dressed himself- shirt on backwards, shoes on the wrong feet, and completely naked in between, lol!

He calls me "sweetheart" and is very protective of me. If he hears me say ouch or make any sound of distress from another room, he comes running, saying "mommy are you okay?"

The other night, Chris worked late so Ayden and I ate dinner without him and Chris picked up a burger and fries on his way home from work. Ayden asked where our food was! Chris told him he didn't get us anything because we had already eaten. So then Ayden said, "okay, can I have 2 french fries?" Chris said yes and gave them to him. Ayden walked over to me and said, "here you go, Momma, these are for us" Too sweet!

He counts to ten in Spanish! Thanks Dora and Diego! :)

Growth spurt alert! He weighed 43 pounds at the doctor last week and is going to need size 11 shoes soon!

16 weeks 2 days!

I had a prenatal check-up this morning and all is well with me and the baby! My doctor made me feel much better about Ayden having Fifth Disease and she thinks the odds that I am immune are very high. Her daughter had the disease when she was pregnant with her second child too and everything was fine. We still have a few more days until we get the test results but she definetely made me feel better!

I didn't gain any weight, my blood pressure was great, and the baby's heartbeat was in the 140's. I am feeling random baby movements now! I love it and it brings back wonderful memories of being pregnant with Ayden. I can't wait until Chris (and Ayden!) can feel the movements from the outside too!

The second trimester energy levels have finally kicked in and I have been feeling great! My nausea is all but gone, except for when my stomach gets completely empty and I try not to let that happen :) I was surprised that I didn't gain any weight because my appetite has been surging! Of course I can't eat very large portions, but I seriously feel like I am eating all day long! My most recent cravings have been for watermelon, avocado, and all the pizza and salad I can get my hands on! With my new-found energy I plan to do some spring cleaning and organizing over the next week while I have 6 nights off work. We are going to get Ayden's playroom cleaned out and ready to turn into a nursery! My ultrasound is in 2 weeks! :)

Fifth disease!!!

Today I took Ayden to to pediatrician for a rash he has had for 5 days that we had thought was related to seasonal allergies. Well, we were wrong! He has Fifth Disease which is a common, mild childhood virus. In fact, Ayden has had zero of the typical flu-like symptoms that usually accompany the disease, which is one reason we had no clue he was sick. Once the rash appears, the virus is longer contagious, so he was contagious sometime last week when he appeared completely normal!!

The worrisome issue is that Fifth Disease can be very dangerous to pregnant women and the developing fetus because it inhibits red blood cell production and can cause severe anemia or worse in the baby. Because of this, I had a blood test this afternoon to see if I am already immune, and if not, if I have been infected with the virus. According to my doctor, 80% of adults are immune (meaning they had the disease as a child). Of the women who are non-immune and contract the disease during pregnancy, 90% have a healthy baby. So the statistics are definetely in my favor, but there is still a chance of complications if I have the illness. Read more about Fifth Disease during pregnancy HERE. My test results will not be back for several days so please keep us in your prayers during this time. I really am doing my best to remember this is in God's hands and worrying will not help! I see my OB doctor in the morning for my routine prenatal visit and will keep everyone posted on my test results.

Riding his trike!

With the beautiful spring weather we finally took Ayden's tricycle outside for the first time! He has been practicing in the house all winter :) He can pedal a little bit but still doesn't have the full concept. Something tells me by the end of summer we'll be chasing him down the street!

Cupcake date!

Today in honor of Ayden peeing on the potty almost exclusively for one week (and pooping on the potty yesterday!) as well as staying dry for all of our morning errands today, we celebrated by visiting Bentonville's new cupcake bakery downtown on the square. Ayden knew what he wanted right away- a pink cupcake! It took mommy a little longer to decide but I finally went with a red velvet cupcake, yum! We took our sweets outside and enjoyed them under a tree on the square. A nice lady even offered to take our picture! What a fun memory with my big boy!


The cute little bakery

Mommy and Ayden with our cupcakes!


yum, the icing is the best!

checking out the fountain

Don't think you can get much cuter than this...

Using the potty!

I am so proud to announce that Ayden has starting peeing on the potty about 75% of the time! He had 2 days of success at home before we left for our weekend trip, and I really didn't expect him to use the potty away from home, but I was wrong! I took his little portable potty and he used it while we were in the camper and then he used the big potty at the stores and restaurants while we were out and about! We ask him frequently if he needs to go, but he is also coming to us and telling us he needs to pee. He is still having a few accidents and has not pooped in the potty yet, but we are beyond thrilled with his progress in the past 5 days!



Big boy undies!

Fun family weekend!

We spent Easter weekend camping with my parents at Roaring River State Park. We spent Saturday in Branson and on Sunday the guys played golf while mom, Ayden, and I went to Eureka Springs. Then Sunday evening we grilled out, dyed eggs, and had a little egg hunt for Ayden. The weather was perfect all weekend and we had such a wonderful time!


Ready for a day of fun!

Dad, Mom, Chris and Ayden at the Branson Landing

Bass Pro Shop


Weeeee! Having a blast in the play area!

Water show at the Landing

Daddy and Ayden

Ayden with his adoring Pappaw and Memaw

Chris and Dad playing a short round of golf while Ayden napped in the car

Mom and I

My silly husband and dad

Pappaw and Ayden

Easter basket time!

Beautiful Eureka Springs in Springtime

Memaw and a grumpy Ayden

Playing outside at camp!

Being silly with his Easter basket from Memaw and Pappaw

Dad, Ayden, and Chris at the river

Seeing the first egg!!

He was a pro at hunting eggs!

Saying "Where's another egg?" after he found them all

Memaw, Pappaw, and Ayden

Family Easter pic in our camping clothes!