Thursday, April 28, 2011

embrace the camera 4/28




Embrace the Camera, y'all. Go on over to http://andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com/ and join the fun!


Here is my cutesy little family on Easter before Church - all matchy. PS.. we are standing on our front walkway and look at our beautiful rose bushes. I love them.



Colty-bug and Mommy-bug hanging out on the porch. It is so hard to get pictures of us without anyone else to take them!



There are crazy storms here right now. Tornadoes and everything. And we have no basement. And last week when there were crazy tornadoes, Brad and I had no idea. Our power was out and there was no tornado siren. NC has no idea how to handle these tornadoes.
Hopefully it doesn't come to our house because I have no idea where to go when there is no basement. I suppose my walk-in closet?

More to come, hopefully!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Baby Gizmo

HELLO FRIENDS.

I have some new things to say (Colton is now 7 months, and Grandma came to visit!)

But I am saving that for another post.. hopefully tomorrow.

Have y'all heard of the website babygizmo.com? Well they review practically every baby item.. and they do video demonstrations.. and it's amazing. Seriously. I research everything with them. And they do give-aways.. and this weeks give-away is pretty amazing so I thought I would share! Here is the link:


It is for a Phil&Teds Verve stroller WITH doubles kit. Seriously this is worth like $819. And all you have to do is go to their website and create an account.... AND DONE. you're entered.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!!!! Someone has to win, and it could be you! Or me! :)

Friday, April 15, 2011

Blurb. Cat.

Since he did NOT want to go on a walk, Colton gave me the stink-eye, and I tried to catch it on camera. But I failed and got this not so happy look instead. But I love it! :)

Has anyone tried this website before: www.blurb.com

I have always used Shutterfly to make photobooks. I love how easy they are to just pick a background, pick a layout, and insert pictures and text. So easy. But, I do find them a bit restrictive. What if I want a layout that isn't an option? This doesn't happen very often, but it does occassionally. They have many options but not EVERY option. Particularly if you want your text to not go horizontally.. sometimes I want vertical text. Which isn't an option. And sometimes, I want different effects on my text. Like: shadow. Or a cute little tiny flower instead of a dot over an "i". Shutterfly is boxing me in. So I am on the hunt for a new website to attempt to make a more creative photo book. I would like to make it a baby book.

Yes, I have a baby book that I write in and glue a couple of pictures in. It is super easy. Very "too busy to do anything else" mom-friendly. But I want something a little more complex. So I found this website called Blurb. And you download software to your computer to create your book. I don't know if it does all these things I hope it does, but I will definitely let you know. I am in the process of downloading it right now.

If you have any other suggestions of photobooks, please let me know. I love scrapbooking. But I want to be creative and NOT spend hours at the Hobby Lobby searching for the perfect embellishment for each page.. to find out that each embellishment costs about $6 a piece. (I don't know how to do it any other way). So I want to find an alternative to scrapbooking. A way to do it on the computer. Online. Is this too much to ask? :)

It probably is.

Anyway.

I have a cat problem. Like... I have a cat. Who is a problem. Colton LOVES her though. And the problem is that she loves him too. She wants to sleep in his crib with him. Which, of course, is definitely not okay. Let me tell you about what she has done last night. and today.

Let's paint a picture.

It is about 8:00 last night and I am rocking Colton in his room. The cat comes in. Okay fine. Well about 8:15 I lay him down (sometimes I stretch the rocking out.. because I love all the snuggles...) and I search for the
cat. No cat to be found. Okay. I didn't search that hard, just casually glanced around. About 30 minutes later, we still haven't seen the cat. So Brad goes back into Colton's room and where does he find Lola? No other place but in the crib, cuddling with Colton. Please do not say "awwww how cute" like my husband did. Rotten cat.

Okay fast forward to today. I put the baby down for a nap. Search for the cat all over the house, can't find her. So I sneak into Coltons room and search and search for her. I am seriously crawling around his room whispering "lola" trying not to wake Colton up. This goes on for seriously 15 minutes. I search everywhere: in his closet, under the crib, behind the glider, etc. No cat. Phew, I give up. Okay so here we are about 20 minutes later and Colton does a little gaspy screamy (weird noise, sounded like he was startled awake) and I go stand by his door. He starts chatting and chatting and making cute little baby noises. So I open his door and what do I say? A CAT LAYING NEXT TO HIM IN THE CRIB.

Seriously y'all. This cat evaded me while I was searching for her, so she could sneak into the crib. I have no idea where she could have been. It has now been 20 minutes of Colton NOT NAPPING,just chatting in his crib, while I am out here praying and praying he falls back asleep so that our day isn't completely squ
ashed. If colton doesn't get his morning nap, I tell you he will be a Mr. Cranky Pants all the rest of the day.

Ugh.

End of story.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Easter card

Since we don't get to spend Easter in KS with all of our relatives, we decided to make Easter cards to send to the grandparents and great-grandparents! So cute right?
PS.. we DO get to spend Easter with Brads mom who will be visiting :) We are so excited!
PPS.. if you embed a Shutterfly project to your Blog, and then email them, they will send you a $10 gift certificate! YAY!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Weekend















This weekend, Colton figured out how to suck his toes. I couldn't resist a picture of it because it was SO CUTE.


















This is Colton at a play date/picnic to the park! We had so much fun :)



Also. I want to become a runner. Do ya'll know I hate running? Because really. I do. I have been off-and-on trying to run consistently since January. But I think NOW is the time to stop making excuses like: "i don't like the weather" -- "playing with Colton is enough exercise" -- "i just don't feel like it" etc. etc. etc. So here we go! I started yesterday, and ran around my neighborhood and the one next to me. I didn't even have to take Colton and the jogging stroller since Daddy was home to keep him! :) Maybe today I can make it the WHOLE WAY without any little stops. Stay tuned to cheer me on with my quest to become a runner! Wouldn't it be fun for Brad and I to start doing 5ks and 10ks together? I am not too scared of the 5k. I know I can get there pretty quickly, but that 10k really scares me. So much so that I won't even let us THINK about entering one until I know that it will be possible for me. :)

Dear friends. How do YOU stay fit? Any suggestions for me? Are you a success story of someone who used to hate running and now you love it? Or have you found something else you love to do that keeps you fit? Or have you given up on it? Decided you are active enough without forced exercise? I really wanna know! :)


Friday, April 8, 2011

It's Picture Time!


Colton is growing SO FAST, I feel like I need to take photos every single day just to make sure I don't miss anything! So here are a couple photos from the past week:


This is Colton in the recliner with our cat, Lola. He loves her and LOVES to pet her!



This happens to be the same day as the pictures of him with the cat (can you tell by the outfit?) We were all playing on the deck and having a fun time!


This one is one of my favorites. I love his eyes.


And here Colton is playing with his giraffe from Auntie Meggie!

Goal for this next week: be in photos with Colton. Seriously ya'll. I have so many photos of Colton, and quite a few with Brad in them, but not very often am I in them. So next week I will begin taking photos of Colton and I together. Who cares if my hair is a mess and I am still in my jammies. I am spending time with my precious son and that is what matters the most... that is what we would like to remember. Not my perfectly made up face and straightened hair.

We'll see if I accomplish that. I am likely to be a slacker. :)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Appendicitis

It is Wednesday, and I am posting. I thought about waiting until tomorrow so that I could be "on track" for my thoughtful thursdays, but I have time now. And things to write about. And so here we are.

Colton had his first sleep-over the other day. With a girl. This will be the only sleep-over with a girl, btw.

Here is how it all went down.

Friday. Brad had a pretty bad stomach ache... we kept thinking "what did you eat that could have given you this." But nothing came to mind. He pushed it aside and did all normal things for him - went to work, went on a long run, played with the baby, etc.

Saturday. Bad stomach ache turned into increasing pain in lower right abdomen. (we later found out the name of this spot -McBurney's point). Still.. no extra thoughts about it. Just taking it easy around the house. Until about 7:00 when we started googling, and realized he had all the exact symptoms of appendicitis. Ugh. No way. So, with a little bit of talking, the decision was made. If in fact it was appendicitis, he could not wait until Sunday morning to go to the hospital. (Or Monday, like he originally wanted to). Brad decided to drive himself. What. A. Ridiculous. Idea. But I could not not NOT talk him out of it. ("we don't even know what it is. it could be nothing. we dont want to take the baby to the hospital. etc. etc. etc. just let me go") Ugh. I gave in. Luckily it turned out okay but I had a bad feeling about it the whole time.

Sunday. 1am. hadn't slept (should have gone to the hospital) dr.s decide to do immediate surgery to remove Brads appendix. So I call my good friend and wake Colton up to take to her house to sleep the rest of the night. (Her adorable baby girl is only 3 wks younger than Colton.. so they usually have tons of fun playing together!) Make it to the hospital as they are about to wheel Brad to surgery. He looks like he is in lots of pain by this point, but still his composure remains, with a few grimaces. He's so tough.

330am. The Surgeon comes to see me and explains about the surgery, how well Brad took it, etc. Nothing that sticks out in my mind, I just wanted to see Brad. He did say though, that when he went to meet Brad and was told the size of his appendix, he did not think that Brad could be the patient they were talking about. He assumed Brad had accompanied the patient, because usually someone with that size of appendix is practically incoherent with pain. But not my husband. My husband drove himself. Yes. He better not have been practically incoherent with pain.

The recovery went pretty well. I love the funny loopy things people say when they are coming off of anaesthesia. Brad's best one this time:

B: "did they get it?"
J: "get it?"
B: "yea. did they get it out?"
J: "oh, yes, it is gone. don't worry"
B: "good. we sure showed that appendix"

hahahahaha. I cracked up. Seriously ya'll. this was the comedic relief my tired worried self needed.

anyway. here we are. he spent until monday around noon in recovery and then he was released, getting 2 weeks of leave time from the drs. But remember how he drove himself to the hospital? Because he's so tough? Well it is now Wednesday and he is back at work today. My husband apparently doesn't know how to "take it easy" and "recover". He did, however, spend all day yesterday and Monday afternoon like this:

"Jessica... I'm hungry" .... "Jessica... I'm thirsty" .... "Jessica... I'm cold" .... "Jessica... I need a shoulder rub" .... "Jessica... I want to play Wii" .... "Jessica... I want to watch TV"

Turns out, he knows how to "take it easy" when it involves getting me to do everything for me. But honestly.. I didn't mind. I kept thinking about how thankful I am that we live in 2011 instead of 1711, before this surgery existed. When people just died if their appendix attacked them.

So here we are. If you want to pray for us... pray that Brad knows his limitations. I don't want him pushing himself too hard and hurting himself.

Maybe I will still do a Thoughtful Thursday tomorrow. We will see. :)