Humpty Dumpty

I don't know if my son is especially smarter than other kids his age (though I secretly suspect he is- *wink*), but he sure amazes me with his wits. The other day (Tuesday, Nov. 3rd, for records' sake) we were reading a nursery rhymes book from the library. When we got to the Humpty Dumpty part, James started saying it with me! I had no idea he knew that poem! I mean, we'd read some nursery rhymes from time to time- Humpty Dumpty included, but we didn't have a favorite book that was read and re-read... and we'd never tried to teach him any rhymes. Anyway, this child amazes me by the seemingly random things he picks up. He learned the ABC song that way; he learned to count to 20 that way. He has selective retention, possibly. People think I'm a good mommy and that's why he's a smarty pants. But really, it's all him. I love this boy just a little bit... and am just a teensy bit proud. :) Check out his new trick. (And yes, he's kind of stuffed up. Disregard and focus on the "cute.")

Halloween '09

Happy Halloweeeeeen! :) Well, a little bit ago, anyway.

This year's Halloween was really great for us. Derek surprised us by getting (and asking to get - a few weeks in advance) Halloween off of work, so he could go trick-or-treating with James. Pretty awesome. He's a good daddy. Anyway, it wasn't James' first Halloween experience. Nor was it his first time trick-or-treating. But it was the first year that he really got the concept, so it was the best year yet for sure!

We had a busy day on Halloween. First, we got up early (well- got ready early) and went to a breakfast/brunch birthday party of our buddy's. It was really great to get together with friends over good food and with fantastic fall weather. For some reason it really, REALLY got me excited for the holidays. Maybe because holidays are when you hang out with friends/families that early in the day. I don't know. But it was fun. And festive. And fun. ;)

After that, we went grocery shopping... which was hell. James was demonic, and I was at my wit's end. Screw Halloween! Luckily, though, the shopping ended and nap-time started. Hooray. We all got a little rest and were therefore friends again in just a few hours.

During nap-time, I made our costumes (Derek's and mine). James was going to be a dragon, so we dubbed him "Trogdor" and decided we would be "burninated peasants." What? You're confused?? Well then check out the video below. If it is too slow or faulty for some reason, go to the original website to check it out: http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail58.html

Once James was awake, we three got dressed up and ready to go... Trick-or-treating, here we come!!!

Here we are, all dressed up! Happy Halloween!!!

We often (aka: always, so far) go to Shawn & Mindy's

and trick-or-treat with them and their kids. This year

was no exception. The only difference was that we

brought friends! Here are some of the tricksters:

Sydney (cousin), James (ours), Evan & Asher (buddies).

These are our friends (Evan & Asher's parents), Ben & Li.

Li... aka: kitty (cat woman?). Isn't she cute??

This was the best part of trick-or-treating

for James... the "scary" monkey who later

became the "nice" monkey, after he gave us

candy, of course! The kids were so freaked out.

Trick-or-treating in action. Check out those spiders. Eek!

Daddy and James

Mommy, James and the ghost

(that actually quite frightened James)

We had lots of fun trick-or-treating. James was adorable. He does a very convincing "roar!" He was adored by many, and rewarded with lots of yummy candy. He is just so enthusiastic! His punctuation-of-choice is the exclamation point, for sure. "Trick-or-treat!" "Wow! Tanks a-yot!" "Happy Howaween!" "Da'ss great!" etc. He loved trick-or-treating. We loved to watch him. He was a pokey little dragon, though, taking way longer to get to the houses than anyone else. It was cute to see him toddling along with his little tail behind him.

Oh, funny side-note: the first few houses we went to were especially humorous. The kids would knock at the door. The owner would open it. James would walk right in. :) It's what we normally do. Why should Halloween be any different?? :) Eventually, he figured out that we only need to stand on the porch to get the treats. Silly boy.

And to continue my over-detailed and journalish report... after trick or treating, we (our little fam) went back into town and attended a Halloween party with some of our (adult) friends. James came, too, and was the center of much attention, being the only kid. It's the way he likes it. It was well past bedtime when we left, but James had been totally well-behaved and cute the whole time. I suppose he got the fit-throwing out of his system earlier in the day. It was nice to have our sweet little James to show off. :) I'm not gonna lie. He's a trophy son. lol.

And THEN (aren't you glad you've read so far?) we came home, put James to bed and watched "V for Vendetta" with Kurt and Bonnie. (That's as scary as movies get for me. I don't do scary.) And then- when it was way too late and we were all in sugar-induced comas, we nodded off to sleep.

Ah... Halloween.

Pumpkin Walk '09

This year we continued our little family tradition by going to the local Pumpkin Walk. It may be because I am still new-ish to the area, or it may be just because the whole concept is too clever not to love, but I LOVE THE PUMPKIN WALK! I really do. It's so festive. The displays are so danged creative. And it's the perfect depiction of the non-scary-and-family-friendly Halloween I love. Anyway, if you're ever in this neck of the woods come Halloween time, check it out. It's pretty great.

Here are some pictures of our happy little family at the Pumpkin Walk. I'll add a few comments, because we all know you're not smart enough to figure the pictures out on your own. (wink)

Happy Anderson family -- all (almost-) 4 of us!

The love(s) of my life. Notice how excited James looks.

He loves the Pumpkin Walk, too, apparently.

J's little friend Giddeon, James

and myself "walking" the Walk.

Our own little Wild Thing

My favorite display- Keebler Elves

James is standing here saying, "Yook! James n' Momma!"

Apparently Derek is an afterthought here. :)

Another fav. display... and my absolute favorite son!

(I love that I can say that... hooray for one of each!)

Love this guy. And so will the ladies- what a stud!

Playing peek-a-boo around the tree. Cuties.

We had so much fun, and I hope you did too... seeing these adorable pics. :) Seriously, though, come visit us next October. You'll be in for a treat!

haircut

I got a haircut last Friday, and here's a pic to prove it. I hadn't intended to get much chopped off. I just wanted to get a good, clean trim. Ash and I discussed how this time I really just wanted freshened up, but maybe next time- or after I had the baby- I would go for the A-Line cut I've been drooling over for a few months now. I told Ashley that I wanted maybe three good inches off, though. Maybe even to my collar bone. She explained that with that much off, I might as well get the A-Line now. It wouldn't be any shorter than that in the front, and my layers were long enough now too. So we chopped it. I got my A-Line.

It was fun. Spontaneous. Unexpected. Delightful.

I really like it, though it takes a while longer to do (round-brushing... ugh). So yeah, we'll see how it looks when I swell up like a balloon! Or should I say swell up more... :)

Engaged

Thinking about falling in love... it was a blissful time.

If you aren't in the habit already, I highly recommend reading and re-reading your journal entries {I really hope you have them, because they're wonderful to have} from time to time. All of them are great, but I especially recommend reading those from the time you fell in love with your significant other.

I was reading tonight about when we were engaged. Cute factoid: I apparently didn't sleep much for about a week after he proposed... I was too excited. I didn't remember that {the sleep-deprivation, that is}. Little things like that are fun to remember.

I also loved reading about how much Derek took care of me, even then. For example, one day {05/23/05} I felt especially crappy, stressed and sort of sick. Derek had been over, but he left to go home. I wrote, "After Derek and I read scriptures and prayed, it was past 11:00pm. Derek left, and I brushed and flossed my teeth. Then I heard someone come in the house. It was Derek. I tried to think of what he forgot. But it wasn't that at all. He had gone to the grocery store and bought me some groceries-- that way I could have breakfast, etc. Somehow, it was the sweetest, kindest thing he could do for me. He sacrificed on my behalf; he performed service. I guess I just really felt his love." What a great guy. I guess some things never change.

Anyway- read your journal. Do it. Right now. It's fun. But mostly, it makes you feel all warm and snuggly inside. :) 'Night.

Thankful

I know it's not Thanksgiving or anything yet, but the fall weather has got me thinking along the lines of gratitude nonetheless (it's a once a year thing, people). I love this picture of our little family. Partially because it was taken at the Pumpkin Walk- and I love the Pumpkin Walk, but mostly just because I just love every picture of us together. Because we are together.

I am so, so thankful that Heavenly Father placed Derek in my path- on a silver platter, really. I didn't have the best track record of picking "goodies" (some were, but not most- and especially not most at that time), and I may not have found him otherwise. We both feel really strongly that Someone Bigger was in charge, and we're both very grateful for the intervention. So I got Derek. And he was and is the best thing that ever happened to me. He makes me want to be a better person; he lets me be a stupid person and then climb back up because he still thinks I'm that better person, and the people we are becoming together are who we ideally hope to be someday. I love him. More than life.

And then there's James. Who could imagine the love that engulfs a person when they have a child? Maybe it's not the same with everyone, but it certainly happened with me. I loved him from the second I saw him. We're the same in so many ways, but instead of hating him for it- I learn to love myself more. Hard to explain. I'm incredibly smitten by this little guy, and I'm so, so thankful he joined our family. I thought the "honeymoon stage" would pass by us once he had reached his "terrible twos," but I still find myself overcome with emotion just looking at him... pride, joy, humor, adoration, love. He is a sweet little boy and a genuinely good person. It's strange that someone so small can be so big, but he really is. I think we'll learn a lot from this little guy. I just hope I'll be able to teach him something valuable in return.

This new baby is it's own story, and as she is not pictured (and, you know, not here) I will not go into that yet. But I love her already, and that's kind of a big deal. February could not come soon enough!

My family is my everything. I like them. I love them. I need them. I am so, so thankful that these wonderful people are in my life. Whatever else happens in life, we have each other. It's a good way to live.

more scrappy stuff

Here are a couple more pages I did. One from fairly recently (read it- it's an update) and one from a while back (well, I scrapped it recently- but it's an old pic). Let me know what you think! :)

xo