20 months!

A perfect mix of rotten and sweet!!
LOVE THIS BOY!!

We are on the 4 month countdown for the big TWO! I can hardly believe it! Our little man has had a big month! Here's what Ethan is up to at 20 months old:

-Growing like a weed! 3 inches and 3 shoe sizes since January! He is definetely tall for his age, most people think he is at least 2. He is wearing 2T clothes and size 7 shoes.

-To supplement all that growing, this boy eats ALL THE TIME!! He is always hungry, and gets into the pantry hundreds of times a day, wanting a "bite". He is not picky at all, he just loves food!

-He loves his belly button! Some kids play with their hair or ears for comfort, Ethan's is his belly button! He almost always has a finger in there, especially when he is tired.

-Here's a BIG milestone!! Ethan is 100% weaned from bedtime and nighttime bottles and
SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know this is normally a milestone for a 3 month old, but that has never been the case at our house, so we're pretty excited about it! He goes to bed happily and easily (which I still can hardly believe!) between 6:30 and 7:00 and sleeps solid until 7 or 7:30 am. I really lucked out on this one. I packed up all the bottles one day when I quit my job at Ozark Guidance and knew I 'd have a few weeks where I wasn't working so I could survive sleep-deprived. The next day I came down with pneumonia and was super sick for a week! Poor Chris ended up being the one to get up with him and rock him back to sleep the first 3-4 nights. I have never been a fan of the cry it out method, and my sweet husband got up with him and got him back to sleep even when he had to work the next day. I even told him he could get the bottles back out, but he stuck with the plan. What a good man! After just a few nights, he started sleeping through the night like a champ. Between that and me being off work for awhile, I'm catching up on years of lost sleep right now!!

-Since the bottle is gone, he refuses to drink milk. He throws it back at me and screams! I even tried Chocolate milk and Vanilla Almond milk, both were rejected adamantly! He eats lots of cheese and yogurt so the calcium is covered, and he will drink ice water most of the time, but sometimes he opens the fridge and hollers for juice. He has no problem asking for what he wants!

-He is talking/jabbering all the time, although it's mostly in Ethan-ese mixed in with lots of single words. He said his first 2 word phrases this month: "bite cheese" and "dat mine".

-He absolutely loves coloring and playing with chalk. His is our-- color on the floor/wall/kitchen cabinets-- kid! Ayden never ever did that! He has a chalkboard that he really loves, its usually the first thing he plays with in the mornings.

-He is super attached to his binky, and I try to keep it out of sight, out of mind, because IF he sees it, HE MUST HAVE IT!

-He throws the biggest, fall in the floor fits you have ever seen when he doesn't get his way. It's quite impressive! The biggest fits happen when its time to get out of kiddie pool and/or come in from playing outside.

-He is a little showout, loves to make people laugh and has the cutest cackle! His MDO and Sunday school teachers just adore him! He is also so friendly, he waves at everyone!

-He is super sweet and affectionate little man! Stopping in the middle of playing just to run over and give hugs and kisses. He has his momma's heart just like big bro!

Happy 20 month b-day Ethan! We love you! Momma is already planning your 2nd birthday party! :)

Me and my blue-eyed boy :)

A season of change

It's been awhile since I have posted anything besides pictures of our rapidly-growing, unbelievably spirited and adorable boys :) But, we have had a few changes around the Anderson household that I'd like to share on the blog.

First...after 6.5 years of 'birthin' babies', I decided back in early March to leave my job as an L&D nurse in search of something new and different. I loved many aspects of my job, but also felt an overwhelming sense of burnout and stress almost everytime I worked. Nursing has way too many opportunities to stay in a job where I feel like that! I put in a 2 week notice and immediately went to work for an adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit. Long story short, that job lasted less than 2 shifts! I will spare most of the details, but it was an incredibly overwhelming environment that I was in no way prepared to handle! Although I left abruptly (in the middle of an orientation shift actually!), it really wasn't an easy decision to make, and I cried the whole way home. The things I saw and read about these kids in my short time there will stay with me forever, and my heart still breaks for each and every one of them. However, I feel like if that is an area of nursing where I am supposed to make an impact, I need to start with something a little less intense so that I can learn the right way to work with these kids. I was, for lack of a better phrase, "thrown to the wolves" on my 2nd night there, and could not offer these kids what they needed, especially in an enviroment that I felt was completely out of control, with little to no structure or discipline. So, I quit my job at 11 o'clock at night with no idea what I was gonna do next! VERY unlike me! (Unless you count the time I quit McDonald's after one day. Or the time I quit as a hotel maid after one day...but, hey, that was a long time ago ;)  ) Fortunately, I have an incredibly supportive husband who waited up for me to get home that night and let me cry in his arms, telling me I definetely did the right thing. Then he pulled out the iPad an started helping me find another job! :) I looked into a few different things, and briefly considered returning to my old job, but I really wanted a change. I decided to try something familiar but new - so I'm going to work in the NICU at a local women's hospital! I have worked with healthy babies for years and have some limited experience helping out in the NICU when I worked in Ft.Smith, so I think I will feel fairly comfortable going into that environment, which is why is decided to make the leap! However, I have lots to learn as this is a level III NICU caring for babies from 24 weeks on! I will have an extensive orientation between 8-12 weeks, so that makes me feel a lot better!

The biggest change for us is that it's going to be a full-time position- three 12 hour shifts a week. I have worked part-time 1 or 2 nights a week since Ayden was a baby. But my new manager wasn't sure how long it would take to have a part-time position open up, so I took the full-time position because I needed a job! I am planning to work Fri, Sat, and Sun nights so that I can have my days off in a row during the week, which will be nice, especially this summer when the boys don't have Mom's Day Out. I will say, they are taking their time getting me started, I was hired 2 weeks ago and still have 3 weeks before I start! With that in mind, we have decided its a bit of a blessing that I'll be working an extra shift a week and will have that additional income to fall back on. Also, I will be getting better health benefits than we have through Chris' work, which will come in handy since we plan to expand our family soon! :) Yes,we have decided that if it is God's will to bless us once again with another baby, we are ready for kiddo #3! We will be thrilled whether God chooses to give us another boy or a girl, although Ayden feels quite differently! He insists that he must have a sister, and that he will take another brother too, as long as a sister comes along at some point! We told him it wasn't up to us to decide, so he makes sure to throw in a "please give me a baby sister" into his nightly prayers. Oh, that boy! So, in the meantime during my "sabbatical" from work, I am planning to do lots of cleaning and organizing to gear up for the busy schedule ahead of us! Also, after a bad bout of pneumonia a couple weeks ago, I am placing more emphasis on my own health and eating better, taking my vitamins, and drinking more water and less caffiene (which is much easier to do when I'm not working 12 hour nights!)

But enough about me, my hubby has some exciting things going on in his life right now too! Last week he received a promotion to Senior Manager of Financial Planning for Sam's Club! I am super proud of him!! He has worked so hard the last 18 months since joining the Sam's team, and was able to acheive this goal even sooner than he had thought! Of course, with the promotion, comes more work and responsibililty, and unfortunately, some late nights at the office, which is another reason I'm going to work weekends so that our schedules don't intersect. I know this is a very important time in his career so I am doing my best to support the long hours, and have learned to really appreciate it when he gets to come home on time!

Also, in about 3 weeks, he is scheduled to have gastric bypass surgery! We are both so excited! It's been a long time coming for him to become open to the idea of weight loss surgery and I honestly never thought the day would come when he would want to do it! Before I had my surgery, he was 100% against it, and said more than once that he would never consider it. He was supportive when I had my surgery 3 years ago, but still said it "wasn't for him." However, he has continued to struggle with maintaining weight loss, and after losing close to 100 pounds on 3 occassions only to gain it all back, in addition to the worsening of his type II diabetes, he finally came to the conclusion that it was exactly what he needed to do! He has done all his research and of course from living with me knows much of what to expect and he is ready to go! Please keep him in your prayers for a safe surgery and quick recovery! We have read that diabetes can go into remission within just days of surgery! We are both ready to see that happen! We are very excited about being able to be a more active family for the boys. I remember having a burst of energy within a week of having surgery that continued to increase the entire time I was losing weight. I still feel like I'm pretty energetic and feel good most of the time, but with a tired, unmotivated husband, I have lost my desire to exercise. I feel confident that having a partner who feels good and wants to go walking will be all I need to get up and go!

So, anyway, that's about it with us, lots of big changes going on around here! We are so abundantly blessed and pray for God's wisdom and direction in our lives during this season of change.

Our little t-baller!

Ayden (aka Cincinatti Reds #13) had his first t-ball game last weekend! It was super cute and all the little boys played great. It was so fun to watch his first team event!

Running to first base! That's his favorite part :)

Easter Portraits!

This year I took the boys to a local studio for portraits with live bunnies! I am happy to say all the bunnies escaped unharmed and we got some great pics! :)

Easter 2012

We had a great Easter this year! The Easter Bunny and Memaw and Pappaw left awesome baskets for the boys to tear into first thing! Nick and Brandy were here and took some family pics of us outside. We attended an early church service and then came home and had a low key egg hunt in the front yard. We were all done and ready for naps by noon! :)

coloring eggs!

the boys' baskets!

trail of eggs left by the Easter Bunny!

spotting the baskets!
(Ethan was still sleeping!)

Our late sleeper, getting his basket before church

Easter basket aftermath!! Ahhhh!!!

Easter at daddy's office

The Friday before Easter, the Sam's office hosted an Easter celebration for the employee's kids. Ayden was so excited to go and loved meeting the Easter Bunny! Ethan, on the other hand, screamed hysterically when the bunny even glanced his way! Needless to say, we didn't get a pic of him and the bunny! Ayden played games, got his face painted, and got to go up the elevator to daddy's desk, which was his favorite part! We all had a great time!

Ayden and the Easter Bunny!

Ethan, after he recovered from seeing the bunny :)

So serious! lol!

Future Sam's employee!

19 months old!

Our baby is 19 months old! More and more of his unique and wonderful personality is emerging with each passing month. Here's the latest scoop on the littlest man in the house!

-Chris and I have inadvertently nicknamed him "little bub" and sometimes shorten it to LB. We also call him E, little E, and "the baby". I guess we need to narrow it down so as not to confuse the little man!

-His favorite things right now: bubbles, coloring and using sidewalk chalk, water/bathtime, playing outside, his bed (he SQUEALS in delight when we ask him if he wants to go night night), the dogs, books, and eating! oh how he loves to eat!

-He is so friendly and social, although he definetely still prefers mommy and daddy to be closeby. He stands out in our front yard and waves at the neighbors. It's super cute!!

-Today the Easter Bunny came within about 6 feet of him at Chris' office, and he cried hysterically for 5 minutes. Guess we'll put him in the same category as Santa!!

-He is adding new words to his vocabulary and using more words on a regular basis. He has gotten "more" and thank-you "ta-too" down to an art. When he is referring to going somewhere he says "bye bye", but when he is telling someone goodbye, its one long, deep, drawn out, and loud "BYYYEEE!" while waving. lol! All the trees in our yard are sprouting their green spring leaves and he loves going outside and pointing to them all saying "Tee! Tee!"

-I am hoping he is at the peak of tantrums, because if they get any worse, we will just never leave home again! We have had to leave 2 restaurants in the past month because of the screaming. We stick to drive-throughs and to-go food now! If I need more than 5 items, I don't take him to Walmart with me!

-He is a busy, happy, spirited, wonderful little man! He keeps me hoppin' all day long and I'm ready to go to bed pretty much as soon as he does! :)

Loving outside!

Ready to go night-night!

he loves to scribble!

a rice krispie treat to get him through a haircut! it worked!



after his haircut! so handsome :)

always on the go!!