Halloween!

This year for Halloween Addy was Strawberry Shortcake and Blake was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (if you asked him, he was an "Inja Turtle")!

 

Addy was SOOOOO excited for the day - she did not want to put regular clothes on at all that day.  She went straight from jammies to her costume.  She also had school where they got to wear their costumes so she was to be in it by about 11:30 anyway...but it made for a long day!

 

 I had purchased a pink wig rather than coloring Addy's hair, but she said it itched within about 5 minutes of trying it on a few weeks prior, so I had bought the pink spray as a back-up.  It was a bit of the mess...but pretty fun!

During school she got to trick-or-treat to classrooms which she thought was pretty cool.

After school, my sisters' came to our house and we went around our neighborhood, then drove to another area of Pine Island...and ended up at my mom and dad's house. 

My turtle!

 Chase had a few 'costume changes' for the day...he spent the day with me of course so he wore his "Mommy's little Pumpkin" shirt...

 

 At night though, he hung out with daddy and helped hand out candy while I went out with Addy & Blake so I changed him into his "Batty for Daddy" shirt :)

The cousins heading to the first house!



Blake had the royal treatment, riding around in the stroller.  I don't typically bring one with for him anymore, but I'm glad I had one on Halloween night!

This next picture isn't clear at all, but I had to include it because I was very thankful for my sister Shannon and bro-in-law Chad...at one point they had both of my kids while their's ran ahead!

Shannon pushing Blake and Chad holding my tired Addy

Addy is always tired on preschool nights --- and this was definitely no exception!  I could tell when she got home from school that she was getting tired, but by the end of teh night, she was D-O-N-E!

She went from this at the beginning of trick-or-treating....

To this!!!!

That is when we decided it was time to be done making the house rounds.  She was cold and wanted to be done walking, so my sister dropped me and the kids off at my parents while the others continued to go around the town! 

Warm and inside at grandma's...MUCH better (and the fact that grandma had special treat bags definitely helped out!)

 We obviously had to do a bath before we could go to bed with that pink hair...turned the entire water and suds pink as you could imagine!  We had to drain it and refill it!!!

Pink Water!

Checking out their loot the next day....

CHEERS TO A SUCCESSFUL NIGHT OF TRICK-OR-TREATING!

....another successful Halloween in the books...!  Cheers to that :)

Pumpkin Carving 2013

The day of Blake's party, we also did pumpkin carving with the family.  We did this last year also - my parents started to plant pumpkins in their garden and they got over 30 pumpkins from one packet of seeds this year!  So, we had plenty to go around.  My sisters and their families were still at our house, my parents, as well as Aaron's mom and step-dad :)

 

We went down in our basement to carve the pumpkins - in the room that will some day be my craft room.  The set-up worked out really well!

The group getting started!

Grandma Bonnie helping cleean out Blake's pumpkin

Addy chose the same design as she did last year...Minnie Mouse.  I'm SURE that Aaron was THRILLED to help out with carving this again!  (note the sarcasm, ha ha)

After grandmpa Bonnie helped clean out Blake's pumpkin, grandpa Paul helped carve!

Aaron hard at work on his own pumpkin!

Chase worked really hard at his pumpkin also :)



The finished product!

Everyone's pumpkins turned out good.  Here's a group shot of the majority of them.

 ANDERSON FAMILY PUMKINS, 2013:

Left to Right: Mine (my dad actually carved mine for me!), Chase's (I did this one), Blake's, Addy's, and Aaron's.  Aaron was originally supposed to be the Superman Symbol, however, there is a flaw in the pattern so there isn't much support for the design...and it was a failure.  Soooo, he improvied and made this random face :)  It cracks me up!

I think that pumpkin carving on the day of Blake's birthday party (and now Chase's) is officially a tradition for us!  Such fun!!!!

Blake at 3 Years Old!



Oh man, where to begin with our Blaker Boy at 3?!!!  I'm not even sure!  He is such a mixture of things --- acting big yet still being my baby, loving to do things his sister wants to do - yet SUCH a boy, etc.

 

Blake absolutely loves to be outside and his favorite park thing to do is swing.  I REALLY hope he learns to pump early next year so I don't have to stand and push him over and over :)  He he!  That's my goal I guess!

Outside he also loves to help Aaron on the tractor, play with rocks, and ride bike. 

Blake often just follows Addy's lead.  If Addy wants to play house, dance, whatever --- Blake is right there to be her side kick.  He actually often wants to play these things on his own and asks Addy to join.  He really doesn't have much boy influence in his life -- his daycare was all girls and he has his big sis.  His cousins Drew and Hunter that are near us are just at that age where he can't quite keep up yet - but give him a year and he'll be right there with them.  Those 2 are all boy - tractors, dirt, and hunting, so he'll have some boy influence before we know it!

That being said - I love that he is all about playing dolls, house, and "dance class".  I think it is good for him to be his own person, whatever that ends up being!  Plus, this kid can shake his booty like no other... (and says "Shake your booty" while he does his little dance) -- I'm glad he is a goof like that! 

Yeah, he's wearing Addy's old dance shoes in this pic :)

Blake isn't potty trained yet - but we are a few weeks away from going cold turkey.  We had actually started to do some training in August and he was doing fairly well.  However, we ended up leaving daycare sort've last minute so the kids were not at a consistent place each day of the week...so the consistency in training wasn't there.  So I had decided we would give it a rest until I was home with him on my leave.

We've been talking about it, and he says that he is ready to give all of his diapers to Chase.  We've also told him that he can do swimming lessons when he goes in the toilet all of the time...so we will see how it goes! 

I was actually really luck with Addy, so I really don't know what I'm doing with potty training!  Addy decided about a month before I was planning on training her that she was done with the diaper thing, so she just sort've taught herself. 

Any tips --- feel free to send them my way.  Especially boy training tips!



Messy Faced Kid!

 Blake is really a sweet, fun kid almost all of the time.  That being said - when he gets mad --- he gets mad.  He definitely has a temper.  I try to ignore him when he does this, it is hard at times.  Aaron is willing to admit - it's a bit of an Anderson temper (he might be a bit proud of that, actually!). 

I think this kid is going to keep me on my toes through the years, that is for sure!

Mad about something at the pumpkin patch...pictures of my kids mad make me smile...does that make me a weird mom?!!!

Group Hug!

 He may have some spice, but like I have always said since day one --- he is MY CUDDLER!  And, I will hold on to this for as long as I can.  He still uses the phrase "I want to hold you" when he wants me to hold him.  I should correct him to say "hold me"...but I just can't!  I will hold on to him wanting to hold me for as long as I can! 


Cuddling with my babe

Speaking of words and speech -- he is really talking up a storm.  Definitely increasing his vocabulary and the lenght of his sentences by leaps and bounds within the last few months/year.  We have full conversations and for the most part, you can tell what he is saying.  He does mix some letters up, like sometimes for the 'd' and 't' sounds when they are at the beginning of a word, he actually says 'g'.  For example - Hot Dog is "Hot Gog".

I have also recently noticed that sometimes his 'm' is a 'b'.  Like the other day when him and Addy were playing house, he was referring to Addy as "Barissa" when she was playing me (Marissa!). 

I am debating starting him in the night time preschool class that they have here in town starting in January - just once/month for 3 and 4 year olds.  We'll see - it might be hectic with me starting back at work then, but he would love it!

I can't wait to see what this next year brings for Blake --- being a big brother, school, new daycare, etc...so much change and all good!

I love him!

A Bug Birthday Bash!









We had Blake's birthday party the Sunday after his birthday, just a few days after Chase and I got home from the hospital.  Given the fact that I knew we would be cutting it close before Chase was even born, we decided to go simple: pizzas, apple and caramel, etc so I didn't stress out too much.  I had everything purchased in advance so I didn't have to do much to prep. 

 

I had even made the cakes and frozen them a few weeks earlier so all I had to do was decorate...but then when I ended up being so far over and just returning home on Friday afternoon with the party Sunday, I ended up ordering a cake instead of decorating it.

 

It worked out fine because on Blake's actual birthday - I frosted the bottom tier of the cake to enjoy on his actual day!

 

Singing Happy Birthday to Blake on his actual birthday (love all the expressions, you can tell Addy and Grandpa Tim are singing their hearts out!)

  

Blake decided he wanted bugs and rocks for his birthday!  This kid is such a mixture of boy and sweetness, I can't even explain it!  Along with the foods mentioned above I got some gummy worms and gummy bugs and made a "dirt dessert (Oreos, pudding and cool whip) to go with the theme :)

Dirt Dessert with a side of bugs and worms!

Blake had a great time at his party and was really excited about opening his presents. 

This kid's smile....ugh!  Always with his entire face :)  I love it!

Present time!

He got some wonderful gifts from family and friends -- books, games, a work bench, a movie, Octonaut toys, and more.  We got him a bike, which we actually gave him a few weeks early.  He was always riding Addy's bike so we figured it was time to upgrade from his trike :) 

After presents it was cake time!!!!

How amazing is this cake?  I could never top it...but was happy that it turned out so good since I didn't decorate it this year.  I wanted it to be special since there was so much going on around his birthday...it turned out awesome and DELICIOUS!

Trying to put up 3 fingers :)

Singing time!

 Blake's birthday party was a success -- we also did pumpkin carving in the afternoon with everyone that was here...pics in another post to come!  I was really wanting Blake to feel special this year, since the baby was coming so close to his birthday.  I think that he felt special.  He seemed to have a wonderful time.  He absolutely loves playing with his cousins and was excited to have everyone at his house.

He may not be my youngest baby anymore...but he sure is still MY baby.  Look at that face...seriously how do you not just melt at this kid?!

Chase's BIRTH Day

After MUCH anticipation...the day of Chase's birth finally came!  He was born  on Wednesday, 10/23/13.  Sunday night into Monday, I actually thought labor was starting.  Aaron and I were up until about 2 in the morning timing contractions - they were coming 3-6 minutes apart, however they were not strong so I wasn't sure if I should go in or not.  Needless to say, they stopped and we ended up getting to sleep. 

 

I had an appointment Monday morning where they checked the fluid levels and such.  I was dilated to 4 at the appointment.  We went home from the appointment, and once again contractions started.  I was sure we were heading in that day, which was the afternoon of 10/21.  Blake's b-day is 10/22, which is something I always wanted to avoid, but I had come to "peace" with that if they shared a birthday, just ready to meet this baby!  It was really weird because they completely stopped again around 6 p.m.  Frustrating!

 

Nothing happened on Blake's birthday, which I am thankful for as we got to spend the day with him, some one on one time with both Aaron and I before the baby came (while Addy was at preschool).

 

I was scheduled for an induction on 10/23 so we headed in to report at 7 a.m.  After getting settled in, and getting me hooked up to IV's, some fluids and pennicillin in me, etc, we finally got things going around 11:00 a.m. with Pitocin.  I was still dilated to only 4. 

 

Around 1:00 I was between 4-5 cm.  They decided that I should get the epidural since I knew I would want one, then they would break my water.  My history with the other 2 is that as soon as my water is broken, the labor starts moving along...so I was all for that plan!

 

I got the epidural around 1:30 and at 2:20 my water was broken.  I was still in a lot of pain as my contractions got stronger because my epidural wasn't working on one side, so they came in and adjusted some things and then life was a bit better!! 

 

At 3:00 I was at 6 cm. and the doctor told me that protocol would say that she doesn't come back for another 2 hours to check again, but knowing my history, I was to call if I needed anything.  3:45 I told Aaron that I really felt like things were moving along but I didn't want to call anyone in too early - and at 3:55 I couldn't stand the pressure and such any longer so we called in the nurse.

 

At exactly 4:00 they announced that I was fully dilated and the baby was +2 so I could push.  However, I had to wait for the doctors to be ready...to hold off was the worst ever!

 

When I was finally able to push, it was only a few minutes and Chase Robert Anderson arrived at 4:08 p.m.!!!!

 

The name Chase has actually been on our list since we were pregnant with Addalyn.  If she had been a boy, it was between the names Blake and Chase...same with baby #2, in which we obviously went with Blake.  Chase still kept rising to the top this time around as well so we knew that would be the name if we were blessed with another boy.  It is PURE coincidence that our kids names go in the order of A, B, C -- we get that question a lot.  They just happen to be in that order :) 

 

Robert is after my grandpa Bob --- my mom's dad, who has definitlely been present these last few months as I see feathers EVERYWHERE - which as I've mentioned before, is something that he said he was send from heaven when he passed on.

First pics of Chase Robert Anderson!

They immediately put Chase to my chest and he was laying face down.  All of the doctors were around me, and I asked if anyone saw if it was a boy or girl.  They all said no --- so I quickly rolled him over to check and Aaron was able to share with the team of doctors and nurses that it was a boy.  Lots of cheers and smiles all around....it is So So So fun being surprised! :)

Our big boy!  9 lb, 11 oz (2 pounds larger at birth that his sister and brother!)

I was SHOCKED when I heard what Chase's weight was...my pregnancy was the same as both Addy and Blake, and I actually gained less weight this time around, so to see that he was 9 pounds, 11 ounces shocked me.  It shocked most of the care team as well!  I can't even begin to explain the way some of them reacted to the weight.

And throughout the stay - people that came in the room to check on either me or Chase, would always take a glance and him and say "he must be a big boy" and then read the information on his basinette and be shocked.  Sort've funny -- I don't feel like he is so big when I hold him or anything, but we did go right into size 1 diapers instead of newborns :)

Getting his feet stamped!

First pic with mom and dad

That evening we got to have visitors right away - my sister Angela who works at the clinic got off work at 5 and came right over before heading home.  Addy, Blake, and grandma Jean arrived around 6.  Addy was SUPER excited and very very curious of all of the items in the room, what they are used for....and she still wants to know how the baby comes out of my tummy.  So far the "doctors help mama" has worked...but she still asks "HOW do they help?"  We just avoid that answer for now :)

 Blake was a little more unsure of what to think.  Not necessarily about his new little brother, but he was not sure about mom being in the bed and such.  He didn't want to come near me or anything, but that was okay.  He would look at Chase and give him kisses and touch him, so that is what I was more concerned with than me :)

World's Best Bro!

Daddy and his 3 Babes

The hospital stay went well.  We had a good amount of visitors and an uneventful stay, which is always nice.  Here are some pics for the rest of our stay!

 



Visit on night #2 (she had to wear her "Amazing Big Sister" shirt again!)

Proud Bro!

Love this one of Aaron and Chase

The outfit that Aaron picked for Chase to go home in...and the puppy that Addy and Blake picked out.  Aaron has bought a new "go home" outfit for each birth and brought it to the hospital washed and ready to be worn home :)

Heading Home!

All in all, Mr. Chase was well worth the wait of 10 days overdue...and I was very happy that my boys get their own "day".  Their birthdays are just a day apart, but at least as they get older, we can try and make their day their own! 

We got home on Friday, 10/25.  Life so far has been good --- I will do another post with life at home :)

Chase Robert

Chase Robert Anderson arrived at 4:08 p.m. on Wednesday October 23rd. He is a big guy! 9 pounds 11 ounces and 22 1/4 inches long.

Everyone is doing great and we get to go home today!  More details on his arrival will come soon :-)