Our New Home!

Chris and I are very excited to have found a new home! We have been searching for months, and had narrowed it down to about 3 that we loved. Amazingly, we got our first choice! We are so excited. We are signing the lease tomorrow and then will get to start moving in! It is located in Bentonville, very close to Chris' work. It is 4 bedrooms/2 baths and has a covered deck and privacy fenced backyard. We can't wait to start using our grill and patio furniture again...everyone will have to come up for a cookout! Here are some pics of our new place!

Mother's Day Out

Today was Ayden's first day at Mother's Day Out! According to his teachers, he did fabulous! They could not believe he had not been in a daycare setting before. They said he smiled the whole time, interacted with the other kids perfectly, followed directions, did arts and crafts, went to music class, ate all his lunch and even laid on his cot and took a one hour nap! When I was picking him up, I asked how old the other kids in class were and they very casually told me that this class is for toddlers turning THREE this summer! They mistakenly put him in the 30 month old class instead of the 18 month old class--and because he was just as tall or taller than the other kids and interacted appropriately, they had no reason to believe he wasn't 2 and a half as well! They were shocked when I told them he was only 18 months and would be 2 in August! They said as long as it was okay with me, they would love to keep him in this class because he did so well. And another perk-this class is potty training so maybe he can get a head start by watching the older kids! Here is a pic of Ayden's very first art project-I couldn't get it up on the fridge fast enough! I am a very proud momma, in case you can't tell :)

My little Picasso :)

Hats!

Ayden has 2 favorite new hats: a "Pappaw's lil' caddy" hat from who other than his golfing Pappaw Jeff! And the other-an ice cream bucket. 2 very different hats but Ayden can rock them both :)

Cleaning out mommy's cabinets for her

For your daily "Ayden fix"!

Here are just some cute new pics of Ayden for all you daily blog checkers (AKA GRANDPARENTS!)

Being silly...

Being cool...

Having fun!

Too darn cute!

Ayden sings the pat-a-cake song now in his very own wonderful Ayden language. It is too cute! Here are a few videos of him doing it-I couldn't pick my fave :)

Anderson Family Update...

Just wanted to post a little update on our family, it seems a lot has been going on with us this week!

-I am still doing well since surgery, you can visit my weight loss blog linked on this site for more details on that.

-The house in Greenwood is still not sold, it seems the buyers are trying every possible avenue to be out the least possible amount of money, completely disregarding the amount of money WE are spending while they stretch out closing as long as humanly possible! The latest plan is to lease the house to them for one month and close at the end of March when their funding becomes available. We are still in the process of drawing up a contract with these details.

-Wal-Mart did begin layoffs yesterday of 800 employees. Chris' boss said his department would not be affected so he is safe for now. But we all know how volatile the economy is and that none of us are really ever safe! (Although I have never been more thankful that I chose nursing as my profession as I know nurses are always needed!)

-I am changing my work schedule from working every weekend to working every other weekend and then working Monday and Wednesday nights every other week. We are so ready to have some weekends together as a family again!

-Since I am going to be working some weeknights, I have enrolled Ayden in an awesome Mother's Day Out program at Grace Point Church. He will go Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-2 while I sleep! I am so excited about the program, it is amazing! They have an indoor and outdoor playground, and classrooms for every age group with structured activities- art time, circle time, etc. I think the socialization alone will be so great for him. We are also planning on attending church there since I will no longer be working every weekend.

-Our lease at our apartment is up the end of March so we are actively seeking a new home, probably in the Bentonville or Centerton area. We plan to have a house warming barbeque and invite everyone up to see us by springtime!

Playing outside!

Today we took Ayden and Andy to the lake for a much-needed afternoon of playing outside! We are so stir-crazy in the apartment and cannot wait until we get into a house with a backyard next month! We all had a great time!

Andy going up for the ball

Ayden loved climbing up to the slide!

Mommy and her little man

Daddy and his boy

Congratulations Amy and Frank!

Last night we attended Chris' sister Amy's wedding in Berryville. It was a lovely ceremony (even though Ayden kept us from hearing most of it!) Congrats to the new couple and their SIX kids!

The beautiful bride

Hannah, Emily, and Natalie

Don't they look precious!?

Mr. and Mrs. Campbell

The whole family

Amy and the girls

The adorable but rotten toddler who was not quiet

during the vows!

Look Ma! No lifting!

For all of you that are wondering, Ayden and I are doing great at home! He is feeling much better and I am managing taking care of him without lifting. He climbs up on the couch for dressing and diaper changes, and he has his meals in the living room or at his table in his room. He has been such a good boy, he doesn't whine and cry for me to pick him up, I think he understands now that I can't! He is all about giving me hugs and kisses, he is so lovable! We are doing very well, so everyone stop worrying!

Little cutie pie enjoying lunch in the rocking chair

Jenny's Baby Shower

This past Saturday we had a baby shower for my best friend Jenny who is due with her first baby March 13th. It was a beautiful shower and Jenny got lots of great gifts for Finleigh Tate! I can't wait for the precious little girl to get here!!!

The awesome cake! I heard it tasted pretty good too :)

Mommy-to-be with the hostesses

Diaper cake made with love by yours truly :)