Just Us .....

Grandma Thomas

2012-01-20T07:59:00.004-07:00

Chris's amazing grandma passed last night. She was such an special lady! So full of love and warmth. She was a amazing mother, grandmother and great grandmother. I am so lucky to have known her and have learned a lot from her. Family was so important to her and she made sure everyone knew they were loved. We were lucky enough to be able to go spend some time with her and say our goodbyes at the end of November. She got to meet Sonja which meant a lot to all of us. Even though she is going to be greatly missed I am so happy that she is at peace now. She is finally back with her husband and gets to be with Jesus. We love you so much Grandma Thomas! You are loved and missed!

Movie Stars

2012-01-17T20:53:00.004-07:00

We finally got Sonja laughing on film. Try not to smile when you watch, I dare you!

Drake is still singing Christmas songs, and wearing his Christmas jammies. Funny kid.

Such a stinker, but still o so sweet!

2012-01-13T12:06:00.002-07:00

Drake has been a BIG stinker lately. He just thinks he knows best and doesn't want to listen to ANYTHING I have to say. So, it has been a bit of a struggle around here lately. But just when I am about to lose it he reminds me of what a sweet boy he really is. Here is the conversation he had with Sonja this morning:

Oh, and Drake is talking in this high pitched voice that he always uses with Sonja.

D - Oh, you woke up!
S - smiles
D - good morning! How was your sleep?
S - smiles bigger
D - you are getting so big! What do you want to do today missy moo?
S - smiles even bigger
D - Ohhhhhhhhh sweet pea, I just love you! Gives her a big hug and kiss
S - giggles a little bit (or she is just grunting hoping he will let go of her soon)
D - wanna play with Mater little miss? he giver he Mater then takes his lightening McQueen and drives it over her belly while making a REALLY loud car noise right in her face.
S - gets a big frowny face and starts to cry.

Okay, so he was sweet for a minute. But lately that is all I get, just little glimpses of the Drakey I know. I sure hope this little power struggle doesn't last too much longer!

Missy Moo Babbling

2012-01-05T11:37:00.002-07:00

I just have to say that babbling is just the cutest thing ever! I absolutely love hearing her talk and make her sweet little noises. So I just had to post a video of it so family and friends back in Utah can hear it too. Enjoy!

We know how to PARTY!

2011-12-31T18:54:00.004-07:00

We definitely know how to have fun in this family! We had a great New Years Eve today. We started it out by taking the kiddos to the children's museum here in Milwaukee. And we ended the day by having a dance party and banging some pots and pans. Drake definitely thought it was pretty awesome that we got to hit mom's cooking stuff like drums! Oh, and we brought in the New Year at 7:00, Drake would definitely not have lasted till midnight. I would not change a thing about how we are bringing in the New Year. I just love my little family and have had some much fun with them this year. I can't wait to see what 2012 has to bring for us. I hope you all had a great New Years Eve as well.

Christmas!

2011-12-28T19:06:00.004-07:00

Well, we definitely had a great Christmas! It was definitely a little different since we were out here all alone. But it was kind of nice to just stay home and let Drake play all day! I have to say I am so lucky to have such a fun little family. But we definitely missed everyone back in Utah! Drake had a blast though! It was so fun to watch him open every present because he was just so excited! He definitely got a little overwhelmed at times though. Drake also helped Sonja open her presents and would show her the toys and stuff that she got. This was definitely a memorable Christmas for us, just hanging out with our little family.

Drake was very interested to see if Santa, the reindeer and Canta (our elf) ate all their food.

Sonja's Santa stuff.

And Drake's Santa stuff.

Here is Drake being silly in one of the costumes he got for Christmas.

Look at all that stuff. Our kids were definitely spoiled! Our families gave them some super fun things. We are definitely lucky and very grateful!
Thank You!

Christmas Eve

2011-12-27T18:23:00.002-07:00

We had a fun Christmas Eve this year. It was kind of weird not being in Utah with our families but we made the most of it. I have to say it was kind of relaxing, but kind of lonely also. We decided to go to church on Christmas Eve so that on Christmas we could just stay home and play with all our new stuff. Here are some pics of the kiddos being oh so cute!

After church we went to the Wheatley's for dinner. We also decided to do a small ugly sweater party so that was kind of fun.

Sonja was kind of sad when we were doing these pics and this was the only way she would calm down so sorry that all you can see is the back of her head.

Santa and Jingle Bus!

2011-12-24T13:16:00.003-07:00

Now that Chris is finally off work for a few days we are trying to squeeze in as much fun family time as possible. We finally took the kids to see Santa. Drake wasn't so sure about sitting with Santa at first but as soon as it was our turn Drake did awesome. He told Santa what he wants and what Sonja wants. He is such a good big brother. Last night we went downtown to the Jingle Bus. It is a charter bus that takes you around to see all the Christmas lights, and it is only a dollar! It was pretty fun but Drake was mostly excited about being on a bus.

Waiting in line to see Santa!

Sorry the pictures aren't the greatest. Happy Holidays everyone!

Drakey is 3!

2011-12-18T12:10:00.004-07:00

My baby boy is 3! I just can't believe it. He is so much fun and full of so much energy. I don't know where I would be without him. He is the craziest, funniest, sweetest boy. We just decided to do a small birthday party for him this year (which worked out great since I had strep). Drake asked to have his best friend Oliver and his family over so we had them come for lunch. Drake requested PB and J for lunch. Actually, he had special requests for all the meals. For breakfast he asked for coffee cake, lunch was PB and J, chocolate cake and chocolate frosting, lightning crackers for snacks, and shrimp and noodles for dinner. He is so funny!

Here are some fun facts about Drakey:
-He loves music and is always singing or humming
-He is obsessed with letters and makes letters out of everything, he has informed me that a candy cane is a J, a slice of a green pepper looks like a C, his PB & J looks like a A when he eats the middle out of it, he makes sticks look like T's, etc.
- He is learning how to write his letters, right now he can draw a O, T, sometimes D, P, & A.
- He can count to 15 and with a little coaching can get to 20.
-He loves cars, still, and is always carrying one around (usually Lightning McQueen).
- He also loves animals.
- He has a cute imagination and is always pretending to be a tiger, lion, Curious George, etc.
- He is the sweetest big brother!
- His favorite color is red.
- He definitely is trying to push the limits lately.
- He is into the "why" stage. "Why you doing that?", "But why?", "What does that do?", etc.
- And he has so much energy! He literally does not stop all day. But he is so much fun!

Here is the cake we made for him. Actually Chris was nice and did it all himself since I wasn't feeling well.

Chris and I gave Drake the CARS Wii game and steering wheels. Drake is a little young for it still but he still was excited to try to play it.

Sonja all dressed up for her brothers party.

Man, I just love these three!

Happy Birthday Drakey Boy!
I Love You!

What do you think?

2011-12-09T12:01:00.002-07:00

So everyone is asking me if Drake and Sonja look alike. I am the worst at determining who babies look like and all of that so I thought I would post these pics next to each other so I can see it a little better. I think they look alike but I can definitely see who is who. What do you guys think?

It's Christmas!!!

2011-12-06T11:46:00.002-07:00

It is Christmas time! I love, love, love this time of year. It is a busy one for us though. Drake's birthday is a week before Christmas, so it makes it a little hectic, but so fun! The day after Thanksgiving we set up our tree and put up our few decorations. Drake loved helping and he was actually pretty good at putting the ornaments on.
Merry Christmas!

Tada!

Cousins!!!

2011-12-04T12:43:00.003-07:00

Thanksgiving

2011-11-26T19:38:00.003-07:00

Yummy food, great friends, and fun family time - now that is a great Thanksgiving! The Wheatley's were nice enough to invite us over again. This was our third Thanksgiving with them and so much fun! We are so lucky to have such great friends. I don't know what we would do without them, our families have so much fun together!

Drake has his grumpy face here, but he was having a great time with his BFF Oliver.

I just love those cheeks!

Rosanna and I with our sweet girls - who match!

The Wheatleys

We hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving! Now on to Christmas! (I already have my tree up - hehehe)

My Bestie!

2011-11-14T13:43:00.003-07:00

My best friend came to visit me this past week! We had so much fun. We have been friends since high school, and I truly don't know what I would do without her. She is such a good friend and is always there for me. I know that we are going to be life long friends and that makes me so happy. She currently lives in Oregon so we don't get to see each other very much. She was nice enough to come out here to meet Sonja and play with Drake. Drake was literally bawling when we dropped her off at the airport (and I felt like bawling!).

Minda - you are such a good friend to me and I am so lucky to have you in my life. I hope you know how amazing you are. Thank you so much for coming out here. We had so much fun having you here. Hopefully I will see you soonish!

The Anderson's!

2011-11-08T12:53:00.003-07:00

We are so lucky to be in the families we are in.
To have all these people want to come out to meet Sonja and spend time with us is amazing!
After my family left, Chris's parents were the next to come see us.
Unfortunately I was a total slacker and only got this picture of them.
But we had so much fun while they were here.
Drake would not let Doug have a break,
and Sonja loved being held by Lani!

Next up was Chris's siblings.
He is one of six kids and three of his siblings were available to come see us.
Heather had been here before but it was Heidi and Daniel's first time.
Chris was lucky to have the weekend off while they were here so we were able to do some fun stuff.
We went to the lakefront and stumbled upon Discovery World's free day!
We also went to Lapham Peak, had some good food, and got Kopps Custard 3 out of the 4 days they were here. Yummy!

Thank you so much for coming out to see us!
Our kids love you all so much and love getting to spend time with you.

Wow Moments

2011-11-03T10:48:00.004-07:00

Becoming a parent brings many "wow" moments.
Drake has continually "wow"ed me for the past 2+ years,
and now Sonja is just as amazing.
But I have to say,
the most amazing wow moment I have had so far is seeing the two of them together.
Drake is so sweet to her.
He loves her so much and is already taking care of her and protecting her.
He talks to her all the time.
He gives her about a million kisses a day.
When Sonja is crying, he says "don't worry sweet pea, I will be right there".
At the store, every time we pass by someone he will tell them he has a baby sister and that she is "sooooo tiny".
When Sonja is having tummy time, Drake will lie right by her and talk to her.
And I am pretty sure Sonja loves him just as much.
She is going to learn so much from him (good and bad).
I know that she is just going to follow him around everywhere.
It just makes me so happy to see them together.
I love them so much and am so blessed to be able to watch them grow and learn.
Motherhood is hard, but it is definitely worth it!
And I am looking forward to many more "wow" moments.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-29T18:01:00.004-07:00

We are kicking off trick or treating early!
Our zoo had their Boo at the Zoo this weekend and we definitely had to go.
It was a beautiful day today too, so we lucked out!
Drake was so excited to be a tiger and he loved that Sonja was a ladybug.
We had a blast at the zoo, enjoy the pics!

Drake of course couldn't wait to see the tigers.
He kept copying what the tiger was doing,
crawling like the tiger,
wagging his tail like the tiger,
it was so cute!

Craft time!Thankfully Chris was able to help out with all these crafts
because of course Sonja wanted to eat right in the middle of them.
Drake loved painting the pumpkins, but it took him a minute to warm up to carving them.
He was a little weirded out by the inside of the pumpkin,
but after a few minutes he was loving putting his hand in there and getting the seeds out.
He started pretending he was a crane grabbing the seeds and dumping them in the garbage.

We are going trick or treating at Chris's school on Monday
so I am sure I will have more pics of that too.
Happy Halloween!

Visitors so far...

2011-10-18T18:00:00.004-07:00

We have been so lucky to have many visitors come out to see Baby Sonja!
So far my parents and my sister and her daughter have been out here.
Next we have Chris's parents, then his sibling, and then one of my best friends.
We are so blessed to have such loving and supportive families.
Here are some pics of the visitors we have had so far.
Thank you so much for all your help!
We love you!

My dad with Drake.
Drake would not leave my dad alone while he was here.
They definitely were little buddies and had so much fun together.

My mom with Baby Sonja.
(who is named after her mom)
My mom came out for 3 weeks which meant so much to us.

Teisa and Emie also came out to help me adjust to two kids.
Drake and Emie had so much fun together and
Teisa and I had fun spending some much needed sisterly time together.

They just love each other so much!

Teisa was nice enough to paint my kids nails.
Well, it started with just Sonja's,
but Drake had to get in on the action too!

Isn't she perfect?

Drake Meets Sonja

2011-10-12T19:21:00.005-07:00

This was Drake's first time holding Sonja. It is a bit long, but Drake is pretty funny (listen closely!).
Enjoy!

Baby Sonja

2011-10-12T18:41:00.002-07:00

Here are some more pics of Baby Sonja for our families.
Sorry I have been slacking on posting pics, I will try to do better.
She is amazing!
She is a pretty calm baby (at least so far),
she sleeps alot, eats pretty well and handles the loudness of Drake really well.
More pics of her and some of Drake will come soon!

She's Here!!!

2011-10-08T11:41:00.005-07:00

Sonja Leilani Anderson
Born October 7, 2011 at 915am
8lbs 1.4oz 20.5in

Drake has been a sweetheart for the few minutes he has been around Sonja. His ability to be gentle and sweet with her when he is rough and tough with everything else is amazing. And, Drake surprisingly understands a good amount of whats going on with the new baby. He told us Sonja needs to come sleep in her crib in his room. He also said that she is gonna be a princess when she grows up, a tiny princess like on Super Why. Hopefully his good big brother instincts continue this way for a little while.

Zoo Day

2011-09-25T10:47:00.004-07:00

Chris finally had a day off so we decided to go to the zoo.
It was the last day of the butterfly exhibit so we had to take Drakey.
He loved it!
The butterfly's are just flying all around so he got a little nervous at times.

Drake's not so sure about one on his head.

He liked holding them in his hand though.

Chris caved and got Drake a black (well purple) panther
(one of those wax animal things),
Drake was so excited so here he is showing it off.

Kids Room

2011-09-14T11:04:00.002-07:00

We finally put the kids room together!
Baby girl will be staying in our room for the first little while,
but I wanted to get everything set up in the kids room so Drake can get used to it.
We flipped his bed so it is now a loft,
he thinks it is so cool and calls it his firetruck.
Not really sure why since it is blue and all, but we are going with it.
We put his toys under his bed so that is his own special place and he seems to like it.
The room is a little squishy,
but I think it will work out.
It also isn't very girly, but I don't think she will mind too much.
Hopefully.....

Baby Shower!

2011-09-03T17:50:00.003-07:00

Today my wonderful, amazing friend Rosanna threw me a baby shower!
It was so much fun and meant so much to me!
I wasn't expecting anyone to throw me a shower so I was thrilled when Rosanna offered.
She is such a amazing friend
and I don't know what I would do without her out here in Wisconsin.
It is comforting to know being away from family
that people out here care enough to come to my shower.
Thank you girls for coming and giving me such amazing, cute things for our baby girl.
It makes me even more excited to get her here!
I meant to get a picture of everyone who came,
but of course forgot.
I remembered after almost everyone had left
so I quickly got a picture of the few girls that were left.
Thanks so much Rosanna!
And thank you to all the wonderful girls who came!

Rosanna and me.

The adorable diaper cake Rosanna made for me.
I also got a ton of clothes and such which I definitely needed.
Thanks again everyone!
You don't know how much it meant to me.

Water Balloons!

2011-08-29T11:25:00.002-07:00

Oops, these pictures are a little blurry.
Sorry!
The other day I watched Drake's best friend Oliver and his future girlfriend Hazel.
It was a beautiful day so we took them outside to throw some water balloons.
They had a blast!

Some Songs...

2011-08-06T11:52:00.002-07:00

Buzz and Woody Slide!

2011-07-25T10:30:00.003-07:00

My parents got Drake a slip-n-slide recently and Drake LOVES it!
He calls it his Buzz and Woody Slide because it is a Toy Story theme.
Good thing we have a little hill in our front yard that is perfect for this!
Thanks Papa and TT!

Chris had to get in on all the fun too!

Potty Training

2011-07-23T10:37:00.002-07:00

Our little boy is now potty trained!
Well, for the most part.
He still wears diapers at nap time and at night.
And I still get a little nervous whenever we go out,
but he is doing great!
We started on Monday and he picked it up really well.
Of course we had some accidents hear and there but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.
He hasn't had an accident in 3 days, but he does have some aiming issues.
He is getting better at keeping all of his pee in the toilet,
but I have to admit I was not expecting that at all.
Just another adventure with little boys!
And even though Drake did pretty much all the work
I feel like I just went through a rite of passage also.
I have survived my first potty training experience!
And the best part is,
I get a break from diapers for the next few months!
I can't believe my little boy is growing up so fast.
Way to go Drakey!

Fish Fest

2011-07-20T10:53:00.005-07:00

This weekend we went to Fish Fest in Port Washington.
It was a beautiful day!
A little hot, but not too bad.
Port Washington is such a cute little town, so it was a lot of fun.
Drake had a blast too since there was a small car show,
a helicopter that was giving rides (we just watched it land and take off),
rocks to climb on and jump off of,
and tons of little play grounds to play at.
They also had some good food (fish, of course)!

Nani and Pappie

2011-07-10T18:03:00.003-07:00

We were so lucky to have Chris's parents come out to visit us!
We had so much fun with them.
They helped us out so much, we are so grateful for everything they do for us.
We filled our time with them as much as we could.
We went to Chicago for the Taste of Chicago.
We definitely had some great food down there!
We went to the lake, to splash pools,
parks, a parade and a baseball game.
They also helped us paint our place and put up Drake's big boy bed.
Drake had a blast with them and had a total melt down when we dropped them off at the airport.
Thanks Doug and Lani (Pappie and Nani),
we can't wait to see you guys again when baby girl arrives!

At the lake....

Putting up Drake's bed.

Drake was so excited and he is doing great!
He hasn't gotten out of his bed once.
And he waits in there in the mornings for me to come and get him.
I love it! but we will see how long this lasts.

4th of July Parade....

Some Day Trips...

2011-07-06T11:30:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago we decided to do a couple day trips.
We were going to go camping again, but the weather wasn't going to hold up the whole time.
We have been trying to make the most of Chris's time off before he starts rotations.
Chris's parents just came in town for a week (pictures coming soon!),
so right before that we went for a "hike" (more like a nature walk)
and did a beach day.

For our hike we went to Lapham Peak and spent a few hours up there.
It was so pretty and it was nice just to be outside!

Up on the tower.

Drake was really excited to climb up all those stairs!

And here is Drake just being a boy....

Next we decided to go to Pewaukee Lake.
We didn't know it, but there was a Beach Party going on that day
so there was tons of fun things to do.
Here is Drake doing what he loves,
playing with trucks and dirt, sand, rocks (anything that is messy).

One of the things you could do there was test drive different water activities.
And it was all free!

The highlight of the day was when one of the sausages made a appearance.
Our baseball team here has a sausage race during every home game.
Basically is just some people dressed as different sausages (hot dog, Italian, bratwurst, etc.) that race around the outside track on the field.
Drake loves this part, as does the whole crowd.
Well, this is the hot dog, but Drake just calls all of them sausages.
Anyways, so Drake was so excited to see one at the beach.
He didn't love being right next to him though.

He just wanted to stand there and watch him.
This is Drake giving the hot dog a thumbs up.
He stood there like this for like 5 minutes.
And then he just wanted to follow the hot dog around.
It was super funny!

Well, it was so much fun getting to spend a bunch of time with Chris the last two weeks!
Now he has started his first rotation (surgery)
so I don't think we will be seeing much of him for the next couple months.
But Chris is so excited to be out of the classroom and actually getting to see some things now!

Lagoon!

2011-06-28T11:09:00.005-07:00

Okay, so I am going to back track a bit.
About a month ago Drake and I went to Utah while Chris studied.
It was so fun to spend time with our families.
Although I felt bad we were having fun and Chris was stuck home by himself studying.
I of course forgot my camera, so these are pics I got from my sister.
Thanks Teisa!

Here is Drake and Emie getting married!
Haha, so a little weird I know.
First of all, they are cousins.
And second, Drake is in a dress.
But Emie said that since it is a blue dress then he still is the "prince".
I guess that works...

We also took the kids to Lagoon!
It was tons of fun, even though I couldn't do any of the rides.
But my Dad happily took Drake on the rides.

Lance also took Drake fishing.
Drake was super excited to go,
but he doesn't really have the patience to wait for the fish to come.
It was a little tricky to keep him from moving the fishing poles.
But, they did catch a fish,
and Drake was more than willing to look at and touch it.
And then we of course let it go.

Vistors!

2011-06-23T18:34:00.005-07:00

Chris's sister Heather and one of her little boys, Nash, came to visit us.
Nash just turned 4 and it was so fun to have him here!
Last year, Heather brought her oldest Beck,
maybe next year we will get to have Kai man here!
Drake had so much fun with Nash!
Hopefully Nash had just as much fun.
We tried to do as much as we could but of course it rained, a ton!
But we made the best of it.

We went to Monkey Joe's and played on the slides and bounce houses.

Read books.

One of the climbing gyms here lets Dad's and their families climb for free on
father's day so we definitely took advantage of that!

Look at Nashy go!

Drake's turn.

My climbing boys!

We also went swimming!
We went to a couple splash pools and
a new neighborhood water park just opened up down the street.
We also took them to the pool at the gym when it was raining one day.
We didn't make it to the lake this trip but we still got to swim quite a bit.

Such a cute guy!

Since Drake won't leave the house without a truck we took some to the pools.
They were a big hit!

Splash!

"Hey Mom, look my hair is all wet!"

We of course went to the Brewer's game!:

Me, Heather, Drake and NashHaha, I thought this pic is funny because the boys could care less about the game,
they are just interested in their snacks!

Thanks Heather for coming to visit us!
We had so much fun.
I am so lucky to have you as a sister-in-law!
We can't wait to see you again.

Camping

2011-06-15T11:41:00.005-07:00

We took Drake camping the other day.
We just went for one night, but I think next time we will stay for 2.
Drake had a blast.
He was in heaven!
There was rocks, sticks, dirt, trucks and water. What more could you ask for?
There was a little lake right by our camp site with a fun little beach that Drake loved.
It was a really nice day but the water was still really cold.
Did that stop Drake? No way!
He made us a little nervous because he would walk into the water and keep on walking.
It didn't matter that the water was up to his chest
or that he was shivering.
He is such a crazy little boy!

Drake made also new friend at the beach.
He followed her everywhere and she was so nice and good to him.
It was especially nice because it gave Chris and I a break!

Playing in the sand:

Drake had his first experience with yummy smores on this camping trip.

I think he liked them. How could you not?

Roar!
Drake loves being a dinosaur, monster, lion, anything that makes loud sounds.

Drake's new favorite game is hide and seek.
Here are some of hiding spots:

Not really hiding, but it works...
Now he has the hang of it.

Oh how I Love my sweet little boy!

The Dells!!!

2011-06-12T18:44:00.006-07:00

Since Chris has a couple weeks off of school right now we decided to make the most of it.
We found a super good deal to go to the Wisconsin Dells and stay for a night.

We stayed at the Wilderness Hotel and it was so fun!
They had 4 indoor water parks and 3 outdoor water parks attached to the hotel.
We all had a blast!
Since I am preggers I couldn't do much,
but it was so much fun seeing my boys have a good time!

Haha, this picture is pretty pathetic, I just had to start with it.
This is right before we headed home.
He definitely played hard!

Now for all the fun pictures!

We of course needed to bring some trucks to play with.
We can't leave the house without at least one truck.

Drake was so excited to go down this by himself.
As you can see, he got a little nervous, but he loved it!

At the end of the day we had some pizza and hung out in our hotel room.

Yummy!
You can't really see it but we did have one accident at the water park.
Drake decided to jump out of a tunnel into the water,
his feet flew out from under him so he landed face first.
Ouch!
He was a trooper though and after a good cry he was ready to keep going.

Settling down for the night.

This is part of one of the indoor water parks.
It was so much fun!
They have these kid friendly parts but also some fun adult slides.
Chris took advantage of those slides,
maybe next time we go I will get a turn!
I am so glad we decided to go and do this.
We were a little unsure since we are on a pretty strict budget.
But we need to take advantage of all the fun things Wisconsin has while we are here.
Who knows, maybe we will go back before we move away from here.
I know Drake would love that!

2 down, 2 more to go!

2011-06-03T11:02:00.003-07:00

I can't believe that we only have two more years of medical school left!
(yes, I said we, because even though Chris is the one who is actually in medical school,
I feel like I am right there with him.)
Anyways.....
Chris finished his second year a couple weeks ago
and is taking is Step 1 Boards right this second.
He is so amazing!
He has done really well in all of his classes and I know he will do well on this test too!
He has worked so hard these past two years and I think he is ready to get out of the classroom and into the hospital.
He starts his rotations in a couple weeks.
So after today, Drake and I get to spend some good old quality time with him!
We can't wait!
Here are some pics of Chris being such a good dad!
Him and Drake are best buddies!

Good Job Chris!
We are so proud of you.
And we have loved going on this adventure with you!

One of Each!

2011-05-19T11:37:00.001-07:00

And the baby is a
............
................
.......................
................................
...........................................

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

Sisterly Fun!!!

2011-05-16T20:08:00.013-07:00

My sister and her cute family came out to visit us here in Milwaukee!
It was so much fun to have them.
It meant so much to me that they would take the time to come all the way out here.
My sister is my best friend and I miss her so much.
She is such a great sister and mom.
Her family is so much fun to be around and we all get a long great.
We certainly were busy while they were here,
trying to cram in as much stuff as we could.
Here is a little run down of their stay here.

We went to the Children's Museum and Discovery World.

Drake and Emie fishing.
Lance was super excited because Drake LOVED fishing,
he would have stayed there forever.

Drake fixing the car...

We played outside!
There was luckily one nice day while they were here so we made the most of it.

We just hung out.

This is us at Discovery World.
We didn't get a ton of pictures here but this place is way cool!
We will definitely be going back with other visitors!

We took them to the zoo.

Oh man, Drake loved the carousel!

Me and my beautiful big sister.

Drake and Lance

Teisa and Emie

The Lions were really active at the zoo. It almost looks like it is going to eat Drake and Emie.

More pics of us playing outside....

Teisa and Bayla

We went to the lake.

Drake thinks he is so cool, but Bayla isn't buying it.

And of course we went to a Brewers Game!

It was so WINDY the day we went to the Brewers game.
Here is us fighting the wind on our walk back to the car.

Thanks guys for coming out here!
We sure had a lot of fun!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T10:59:00.003-07:00

Happy Easter!
We hope everyone had a great weekend, we sure did!
On Saturday we went to our local grocery store for their Easter egg hunt.
Drake had a ton of fun finding little eggs .

waiting patiently (with his duck lips) for them to say "Go."

Look at all those eggs!

Eric (Drake's favorite person ever) and Drake after the Easter egg hunt.

Then on Sunday after church the Easter bunny came and set up a egg hunt for Drake.
As soon as Drake found a egg he wanted to open it up and eat whatever is inside.
(I wasn't brave enough to have Drake die eggs this year, maybe next year.)

The Easter bunny even left a little basket for Drake!
He got a new bath towel, some socks and a Cars camping chair.
Drake was most excited for the camping chair and the eggs,
but he needed the socks and towel so thanks Easter bunny!

Green Drinks

2011-04-19T11:50:00.003-07:00

I have been meaning to make green drinks for a while now,
but I have been a total slacker!
Actually I have been lazy!
Anyways, my sister-in-law Heather has been trying some out and passed on this recipe.
I am sure you all have heard of and/or made these drinks
but I still thought I would share this one.
Drake absolutely loved it, as you will see by the pics.
Anyways, the drink is....
some peaches (canned until they are in season)
pears (same as above)
half a banana
and a handful of spinach.
Some water and/or ice.
But in blender or magic bullet and enjoy!
I made mine in the magic bullet because I don't think I could drink a blender full.
And you pretty much can make these drinks with anything but this is the only one I have tried and the favorite of Heather's and her boys.

Thanks Heather!

Randoms....

2011-04-10T11:02:00.002-07:00

We really haven't been up to much lately.
Mostly hanging around the house
waiting for
1) everyone to be healthy and feeling good
2) for it to warm up!
So, here are a few random pictures of what my little mister has been doing:

Playing Puzzles

Hanging with best friend Oliver

Drake is so lovey dovey with everyone.
He has no shame in giving Oliver luv luvs and kissees.

And loving to take off his jammies when he goes to bed.
Now it is starting to warm up it isn't that big of a deal,
but before we had to wake him up every night to put them back on.

Making New Friends

2011-03-22T18:01:00.003-07:00

Lately I have been thinking about my best friend.
I am so blessed because I have a few best friends.
Obviously Chris is absolutely my best friend,
but recently I realized that I have another amazing, supportive, loving best friend.
Drake!
It totally makes sense.
We are together ALL THE TIME.
We play together, laugh together, cry together.
We get angry and frustrated with each other.
We miss each other when we are apart.
We confide in each other.
We know EVERYTHING about each other - it is crazy how in tune kids can be, they
seriously see and understand everything.
(Well, I guess I am just hoping that Drake feels these things too.)

Drake is not only my little boy,
he is most definitely one of my best friends.
All this makes me so excited because......
I will be getting another best friend soon!
NEW BABY ANDERSON, DUE OCTOBER!!!!!!!

Car Show

2011-03-06T20:41:00.003-07:00

Chris and Drake had a little adventure to the car show this weekend!
Drake absolutely LOVED it!

Drake is reading up as they are walking in.

Drake loves the movie "Cars" so he was super excited to see these!

This is Drake jumping up and down
he was so excited about the dump truck!

Man, what a great day!
Thanks Dad for taking me on such a amazing adventure!

Tough Guy

2011-03-06T20:25:00.004-07:00

At the car show Drake got this tattoo.
He thought it was pretty cool and was all for showing it off in some pics...

Since he had his arms folded
he thought this was the perfect time to say a prayer.
He is such a sweetie!

SNOW!

2011-02-02T19:13:00.004-07:00

Well .... we survived our first blizzard.
It was a little intense last night with all the winds
and we even had some thunder snow.
We got a bunch of snow but the main problem was the winds.
They were blowing the snow all over.
So, to say the least, we hung out at home today.
Actually, Milwaukee as a whole shut down.
They were telling us to not go out unless absolutely necessary.
But, we did get to go out and play in the snow today after the winds died down.
Drake loved it, as to be expected.
He is so easy to please!
And Chris had a ton of fun playing with Drake too!

Look how high the snow is, it is almost taller than Drake.

Drake's amazing snow man. Actually they made two,
a mommy snowman and a daddy snowman.
I asked Drake where the Drakey snowman was and he just said
"i make that next time"

My boys playing:

Well, you can't really see Drake's face but it is priceless.
He was loving having Chris throw him around in the snow.

Well, now the snow and winds are over and the COLD is coming...

My Book Blog!

2011-02-01T14:04:00.002-07:00

So I finally decided to start my own
book blog!
I have been putting my books on my book club blog
but decided maybe I shouldn't hog that one anymore.
So.....
if you ever need an idea for a book
check out

http://bugsbookcorner.blogspot.com/

and if you ever have a suggestion for me
just leave a comment on that blog.
Thanks!
Happy Reading!

Sledding!!!

2011-01-16T19:43:00.004-07:00

We took Drake sledding the other day and he loved it!
This is the second time this winter season we have taken Drake. We went while we were in Utah but typical me I forgot my camera. This time I made sure I brought it.

my boys having a good time in the snow

So pretty!

Drake absolutely LOVES playing, except for when the snow sprays him in the face.
Oh well, he got over it pretty fast.

The Crazy Holiday

2011-01-06T19:59:00.005-07:00

Man, December was CRAZY!
We had a blast and it went by way too fast.
We are so lucky to have such wonderful families that let us stay in their homes and disrupt their calm lives with our craziness. Drake got so many fun things for Christmas.
It seems like he has a ton now since his birthday was right before.
Here are some of the pics we have of our fun trip back to Utah...

The Anderson clan (well, as many as I could get in one picture) on Christmas morning.

The present opening begins:

We decided to get Drake some more manly bracelets and headbands since he loves them so much!

Emie, Drake and Bayla on Christmas Eve
(don't mind Drake strangling poor little Bayla, haha)

And now for the fun!

And of course, the crazy hair:

This is Emie's masterpiece with Drake's hair.

And this is Teisa's.

Unfortunately Chris and I fizzled out on the picture taking when we moved over to Chris's sister Heathers house (I know, we are losers!). But hopefully I will do a New Years post soon! Thanks again to our wonderful families! We are so grateful for everything everyone does for us!
We miss you guys already!

"I be 2 on the birthday!"

2010-12-21T08:40:00.004-07:00

I can't believe my sweet little boy is 2!
CRAZY!
Well, we have had a lot of fun for his birthday.
We are in Utah so we got to celebrate his big day with all of our family! Drake definitely got spoiled for his birthday and we still have Christmas coming in a couple days.

Here are some things my little mister is up to right now:
He LOVES trucks!!! (I seriously think he is obsessed.)
His favorite cartoon is Super Why
He is so much fun to be around: loud, excited, happy!
He talks really well!
He knows and can recognize all the letters in the alphabet.
He can count to 10 and recognize all those numbers too.
He loves to sing!!!
He is a very sweet and affectionate little boy.
But at the same time he is also a rough and tumble boy.
He is a really good little boy, he just has a hard time sharing his trucks.
He is a weirdo and likes to put socks on his hands.
He also likes to wear his cousins (who is a girl) shoes.
He loves his Mr. Bear and monkey "Monk"

He also says the funniest things:
He will get really serious and grab my face and say "you go to time out?"
When Chris and him are playing, Chris sometimes pats his bum and he will turn around and say "no hit me!"
When Chris gets home Drake asks "how your day dad?", "you read books?"
He will also ask "how your sleep?, or "you ok?"

Chris's sister made this Super Why cake for Drake, she is AMAZING!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DRAKE! WE LOVE YOU!

Drake's Birthday Part One

2010-12-08T20:09:00.003-07:00

Yes, there is going to be two parts to Drakes birthday. His birthday isn't till the 18th but since Drake and I are leaving for Utah this weekend we wanted to have a little party for him here in Wisconsin. We are so grateful for our friends that came to Drake's party. It really meant a lot to Chris and I. I have been a little lonely out here the last month or so, but we really do have some great friends out here. So thank you to everyone who came! Drake had so much fun! He wasn't really sure what was going on but he was so excited. He knew it was his birthday party but he didn't really know what that meant. He was just so happy to have all his friends come over and play!
Drake was a little unsure of the candles. He didn't really know what I was doing. And he was so confused when people started singing. He just kept looking around at everyone. Oh, and we just did a bunch of cookies for this party. He will have a birthday cake at the family birthday party.

The chaos of opening presents.

Drake loves trucks and so he was so happy when that is what he got. He lucked out and got a bunch of little firetrucks, a bulldozer, a garbage truck, truck shirts, balls and balloons! What a lucky little boy!

Our house isn't very big so it was a little crammed with everyone here, but so much fun!

Looking at this picture you can tell we had a ton of fun!

Thanks again everyone! And I know you all will be waiting on the edge of your seats for Drakes Birthday Part two, the family birthday party.

Snowblowin

2010-12-07T18:40:00.002-07:00

It finally snowed here in Wisconsin! We had a amazing fall but now the winter has set in. I don't think it is supposed to get about the high 20s for the rest of the week. SO COLD! Anyways, while Chris was snow blowing the driveway, Drake decided he wanted to help. He found his little lawnmower in the garage and figured that would do the trick. Sorry I didn't get any face shots of Drake. He was so excited he didn't want to stop and look at the camera.

You Are My Sunshine

2010-11-30T19:59:00.003-07:00

We have been teaching Drake some Christmas songs lately to get in the Christmas spirit, but Drake decided that the first song he would sing all by himself would be his mom's favorite non-Christmas song. He calls it Sunshine.

Christmas is here!!!!!

2010-11-26T12:05:00.003-07:00

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was a lot of fun. Our friends were nice enough to invite us over and it was so much fun. Drake especially had a lot of fun with his best friend Oliver! Now that Thanksgiving is over it truly is the Christmas season. Wohoo!!!!! I LOVE Christmas! We have had our tree up for a couple weeks already. We have already had Drake sit on Santa's lap. And Drake already knows a couple Christmas songs! Oh, and Chris is so proud because Drake loved the movie Elf! It is tradition for Chris and I to watch it while we put the tree up and Drake laughed and danced to the movie!Well, here are some pics of our us at Thanksgiving and getting in the Christmas spirit.

Us in our Thanksgiving sweaters.

Drake and Oliver

Decorating the tree

My cute boys!
Playing fireman (he WOULD NOT smile for me, little stinker!)

And the classic Santa picture.
He was so excited to see him, and then we had to ruin it by having him sit on ho ho's (that is what Drake calls him) lap.

We hope everyone has a great holiday season!

pics, pics and more pics!

2010-11-14T19:29:00.004-07:00

Chris and I are so excited! We decided that we were in need of a splurge! So, for Christmas/birthdays/and every other present giving holiday in the near future, we got a new CAMERA! It is so much fun. It is a Nikon D5000.

We love it, although, we don't really know how to use it yet. Anyways, we have had fun exploring the functions of the camera on Drake. Enjoy the pics - we are kind of going overboard lately.

Addicted

2010-11-08T19:52:00.002-07:00

Hi, my name is Jenna and I am addicted to.............books. No really, I love them! When I am reading a book I feel like it is real. I almost bring the characters into my life and pretty much feel what they feel, and experience what they experience. Lately I have been getting through 4-5 books a month, and sometimes I don't feel like that is enough. Anyways, some of the girls in my book club have started a book blog. Basically we just post reviews on books we have read to give each other some good book ideas. So check out our blog at http://thereadandfeed.blogspot.com/. Please feel free to let us in on some of your favorites too!

Trick or Treat

2010-10-31T19:00:00.008-07:00

I hope everyone had a fun Halloween! We sure did. I really got into it this year, which is really weird for me. Anyways, Drake had so much fun! He dressed up as his favorite toy truck - "Red". It is a little firetruck and Chris's mom made his dreams come true by making "big red". Drake definitely got a lot of use out of too. Chris's school had trick or treating on Monday, then we went to a friends house for a little costume party on Friday, zoo trick or treating on Saturday, real trick or treating on Sunday. We then had some friends come over for some post trick or treating chili. Yummy! Busy weekend, but we had so much fun. Enjoy the pics.

Look at my cool little stud muffin!

Being oh so cool as we walk into the MCW trick or treating.

Drake and his best bud Oliver. (not the best pic, I know - sorry)

getting some candy!

Chris and I dressed up as firefighters (again thanks to Lani) so that we could coordinate with Drakey.

I don't know if you can tell but Drake got so sweaty! His hair was so nappy by the time we were done trick or treating.

At the end they had some cupcakes, as you can see, Drake loved his.

Our zoo also had trick or treating and Drake was so happy, animals AND candy!

Our little family in the creepy bird house (and oh so stinky!)

Drake thought that by moving this rock he was fulfilling his fire fighting duties.

Drake and his friend Reese

Carcrash!Drake getting his "la la" on before our Halloween party.I attempted some alien cupcakes, they were fun to make, but oh so sweet!

Photo Shoot!

2010-10-18T20:46:00.004-07:00

While I was in Utah my sister and I took our kids to get their pictures taken. Let me just tell you, it was so chaotic! Emie was great but Drake wouldn't sit still and Bayla was a littler nervous. Anyways, we got some great pics though! I only have the ones of Drake right now, but there was a cute one of the three of them too!

UTAH!!!!

2010-10-13T18:22:00.004-07:00

We had so much fun in Utah. It went by way too fast. Anyways, here are some more pics of our fun trip.
Drake and Nash doing Drakes favorite thing, playing with trucks in the dirt.
Drake having fun jumping on Beck's tramp!
Drake got so sweaty because he was playing so hard that day. His cheeks were so red and his hair was soaking, but he didn't care. We had to pry him inside so he could eat some yummy dinner.
A fun hike with all of our nieces and nephews (well most of them anyways....)!

We took Drake to the fountains at Gateway for the first time. He loved it. He kept wanting me or my dad (Papa) to go into the water with him though. Baby Bayla (that is what Drake always calls her) loved it too as you can see, Emie on the other hand had more fun watching with TT and Teisa.
This isn't the best picture but i had to post it because Drake loved to wear all of Emie's dress up stuff and then he put her back pack on too. He usually had on Emie's high heels too but I failed to get a picture of that.
Cheese!

Over the Mississippi and through the Rockies...

2010-10-11T19:36:00.003-07:00

We all just got home for a much needed vacation to see our families in Utah. We had a great time, especially Drake who got to see all his cousins, aunts/uncles, and grandparents. He was spoiled the whole time because he always had so many friends to play with. These are a few of our favorite pics from the trip.

Drake is turning in to such a character. On the first plane ride he decided that he was going to read the safety manual. I'm sure he was the only one on the plane doing it.

Drake isn't usually nervous about anything, but it was pretty funny to see how much he dislikes witches.
This was a proud moment for us as Drake's parents. Drake's uncle Rob is an incredible sushi chef and made Drake a special mini-sushi roll. Drake looked at the roll and then started shoving the sushi into his mouth. He loved it!

More pics to come of the rest of the trip....

Fun Videos

2010-09-22T18:01:00.002-07:00

I haven't posted some videos of Drake in a while so here you go. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Check out all of Drake's dancing moves!

I love this video! Drake is singing his ABC's, but he gets a little distracted sometimes.

At the beginning of the summer we got a new sleeping bag, this is what Drake thought we should do with it.

The Best Friend Ever!

2010-09-17T18:30:00.004-07:00

My best friend from High School came all the way from Oregon to visit me last week. It was so good to see her. It is so sad that we really only get to see each other once a year now. Hopefully we will end up near each other once our super smart husbands are done with school. Anyways, here are some pics of her visit here. We didn't do much really ... we went to the zoo, to Holy Hill (which is an amazing and beautiful church on a hill) and just hung out.

This is at Holy Hill in front of the church.

BUBBLES! We stumbled upon a kit festival down at the lake front and they had a fun bubble machine!
Downtown Milwaukee.
Minda was so nice to Drake. She let Drake play with her ipad so here he is drawing some pictures.
This isn't the greatest picture but I had to show that Drake is representing the Utes and the Brewers. haha, kind of a weird outfit, but hey, he loves sports! Oh, and the picture is in front of the "fishy's" at the zoo.

Thanks Minda for coming all the way out here. We had so much fun with you and miss you tons already!

Happy Birthday Chris!

2010-09-07T11:51:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to wish my hubby a happy happy birthday. His birthday was yesterday, so I am late to posting this. But better late than never right? Happy Birthday Chris. You are my best friend, my partner, my life. Thank you for being you and for everything you do for me and Chris. You are a wonderful husband and father. I couldn't have asked for anything better!

Oh, and these aren't the best pics ever but I wanted to post some that I haven't post before. A month ago we went to the zoo with one of Chris's school buddies and his son. This was the first time we had Drake feed the goats, it was pretty funny! He was so nervous at first but with his daddy by his side, he got more and more brave.

Love you Chris!

TTPapa!!!

2010-08-31T11:13:00.003-07:00

My wonderful parents came out last week for a visit. It was definitely too short! But it was nice to see them, it had been way too long. Drake had so much fun with them. He was so hyped up the whole time they were here. After they left he just kept asking "where TT go?, where Papa go?". Finally he started answering his own question by saying "Utak (Utah)". We had a ton of fun while they were here. We went to the lake front, to the zoo, took a tour of the Miller Brewery, and went to Chicago. My parents were dying to go there but they quickly found out why we don't go down there very often. The traffic! So bad! Anyways, thanks for coming out mom and dad! We had a blast!
Playing in the big hole.

I just love his smile!
At the Brewers game.
Choo Choo at the zoo.
riding the horsey (that is what he called it).
Best Buds!

My Little Bookworm

2010-08-18T11:56:00.001-07:00

Nigh Nigh

2010-08-12T11:00:00.003-07:00

While Drake is napping today I thought I would post some cute pics of Drake going "nigh nigh" with his bedtime friends.
He loves his bear and monkey, and often wants to take monkey everywhere with him.

When he gets tired he usually rubs the monkey's tail on his nose and cheeks, so I think he was doing that right before he fell asleep. So cute!
I had to post this picture because it is so funny! If you look closely you can see that he is laying on bear. It looks totally uncomfortable. But I guess he liked it. I often see him using bear as a pillow too which is funny because Bear isn't a super soft and squishy stuffed animal. It is a little more firm. But, he seems to like it. Weirdo!

Stud Muffin

2010-08-07T18:22:00.002-07:00

I just love him so much! He is such a cute, silly and fun boy! And he is all mine (well, I guess I will share him with Chris)!

Impromptu Camping

2010-08-02T11:57:00.004-07:00

This Saturday we woke up and Chris suggested that we should go camping. We quickly called around to see if any of the state parks had any campsites open. Luckily, we found one. We packed up and were in the car an hour later. It was so much fun! Other than getting eaten alive by mosquito's. Drake had a blast and kept saying "campin, hikin?" He is talking so well these days and it is so much fun to hear him attempt all the words. The only down fall is that he is such a imitator and will repeat everything you say. Anyways, enjoy the pics of our fun!

Our camp site was a short hike/nature walk to Lake Michigan. It was such a perfect day when we went and the beach was so sandy and clean!
Drake loves rocks - he seriously is obsessed. So of course he had a ton of fun finding rocks at our campsite and at the beach. When he finds them he gets so excited! He shows them to me and yells "ahhh!".

Fun with the Anderson's!

2010-07-08T12:29:00.005-07:00

*I just want to warn you that there are going to be a lot of pictures in this post. I put them into collages so it won't be too overwhelming. You should be able to click on the collage if you want to see it bigger.*

We have already had so much fun this summer. Chris's parents and younger sister came out for 10 days and we had a blast. Drake had so much fun going on "Pappy walks" and playing with Nani and Shell. Thanks so much guys for coming all the way out here!

For the 4th of July Wauwatosa had a parade right by our house so we took Drake to it. He absolutely loved it! He loves cars and trucks right now (he calls them "rum rums"), so he was so excited to see everything drive by. They also threw candy out and Drake was a magnet for the candy. He put it all in his little bag and now I get to eat it!

We also took Drake, Doug, Lani and Rashelle to a Brewers game. Drake liked it but he mostly just wanted to go up and down the stairs. He is so obsessed with stairs, he sees them and asks "updownstairs???" It is so funny. (I love the picture of Drake giving Chris squeezes (hugs), he looks like he is trying to pull Chris's head off, haha).

Here are just some cute pictures of Drake playing at the splash pools and lake....
Oh, and did I mention that Doug and Lani gave Drake a bike? Well he is slowly getting the hang of it and I will post a video of him riding it soon!

We went to Chicago while everyone was here. We went down for The Taste of Chicago, where there is tons of yummy food. We also stumbled across two concerts going on (both free!!!!) and say the famous bean. Then we topped it off with Chicago pizza and it was sooooooooooo goood! Drake also found some friends at one of the concerts. He made these two little girls pull him around in their wagon. It was so funny and so cute!

Some random pics of all that we did...
Before the Anderson's came out we took Drake camping. We went with a couple other families up to Devil's Lake. It was gorgeous there. Drake had tons of fun and got so dirty. He was obsessed with picking up sticks and rocks all of the time.

Well, I think I am all caught up now (or at least close to). I hope everyone else's summer is going as well as ours is!

The Cove

2010-06-28T11:02:00.002-07:00

So I watched the documentary, The Cove last night. It is so depressing, sad, and eye opening. I just can't believe all of the awful things that are going on in the world right now. I feel so bad because, to be completely honest, I am part of the problem. I, unfortunately, have not done anything about anything. I am wanting to change that and soon. Unfortunately I am not in a place financially to do much of anything. I am in a selfish part of my life right now and need to take care of my family. If anyone has any ideas on how I can help with causes like the cause on The Cove please let me know. I need some ideas. Anyways, I definitely recommend taking a look at this documentary. I found very informative and entertaining. They do have a website that outlines things that you can do to help at www.takepart/thecove. Let me know what you think.

Summer Fun Part 2

2010-06-25T09:21:00.003-07:00

We have had some pretty cool storms the last couple weeks. A couple weeks ago Chris got home early from work and it was raining really hard. It was pretty warm out so I decided that we should take Drake out and play in the rain. Drake had tons of fun, but seriously, we all had a blast!

Last weekend we went to one of the local (and free!!!!) splash pools and parks with our friends the Wheatleys. Drake and Oliver love playing together and especially love going to the park. Here are some pics of Drakey playing at the park.

Drake loved the splash pool! He thought it was the best thing ever!

Oliver wasn't as thrilled... :(

Drake's first art project!

2010-06-21T11:03:00.005-07:00

Other than coloring (or as Drake says "Daw") this was Drake's first art project. I decided to have him make something for Chris for Father's day. Awhile ago I heard of finger painting with pudding in case your kid likes to eat everything. I wanted to try it and it was pretty fun. The finished project isn't spectacular, but that is okay.

We wish we could have made one for my dad and Chris's dad but I don't think they would do very well in the mail. The pudding doesn't dry all of the way, so we just kept them in our thoughts while we did it. Sorry Dad and Doug!

Drake had fun but he actually wanted to just run around outside in his diaper. Silly guy!

We went for a hike (well, lets be honest, it was more like a nature walk) this weekend. Drake loved it! Mostly he just loved the rocks and running away from us.

"Flower"

"Cheese"

The local climbing gym out here had free climbing day for Father's and their families. So we had to take advantage. I wasn't sure about taking Drake, but he had a blast!

just hanging here while dad climbs.

Yep, that is my husband!

Drake didn't love the harness we put on him, he kept trying to take it off. He would much rather just do it himself .... Scary!

Summer fun Part 1

2010-06-17T10:57:00.004-07:00

We have had a ton of fun so far this summer! We have gone hiking (well, as close as you can get to hiking out here), the zoo, and had some visitors too!

100% muscle.

Doing some yoga - haha.

Chris's sister and her oldest son came out here to visit last week. It was so much fun to see them! Drake loved playing with Beck. We went to the zoo where they just opened a Dinosaur exhibit. Drake had no clue what was going on but Beck loved it!

Having a snack...

Devil's Lake

Drake's version of rock climbing!

My blog is Carbon Neutral!!!!

2010-06-17T10:33:00.002-07:00

So I stumbled across a blog that talked about making your blog carbon neutral. Apparently visiting websites releases carbon dioxide into the air (about 0.02g per visit). Harvard University physicist Alexander Wissner-Gross, PhD conducted research on this and came to the conclusion that assuming an average blog gets 15,000 visits a month, it has yearly carbon dioxide emissions of 8lb. So a company in Germany, "Make it green" has set up a program called "My blog is carbon neutral". They will plant a tree for you if you write a short post on their program. (The link to their website is http://www.kaufda.de/umwelt/carbon-neutral/how-you-can-join/.

So if you are interested in having your blog go green, there are just a few steps you have to take:

Write a blog post about the initiative + insert your favorite button
E-mail the link to your post to CO2-neutral@kaufda.de
They'll plant a tree for your blog in Plumas’!

2,....3,..4,5,...6,7,........9,..10!

2010-06-12T10:35:00.002-07:00

Here are a bunch of video's we wanted to share with our families and everyone.....

I taught Drake how to do a forward roll a couple weeks ago, this isn't Drake's best roll but I love this video because it starts out with Drake in a model pose!

Drake is talking so much it is so much fun listening to him communicate with us! Here he is saying a few of the words he knows, plus him singing his abc's (well, what he thinks are the abc's).

Drake started counting about a few weeks ago. He started with just wanting to do the evens (weird, I know) and now he can count all the way to ten, with a few exceptions. He starts with two, and he won't say 8. He is also very moody with his counting. As you could see in the last video, he only counts when he wants to. But that is okay, we are still extremely proud of him! We have also tried to teach him to to Ta Da! Where he raises his hands above his head and says Ta Da! He usually does it but I guess he wasn't feeling it in this video.

Drake mega post

2010-05-28T17:57:00.005-07:00

So I know Chris and my family is wanting some new pics of Drake so here they are.

Drake trying on Chris's shoes. He sure does love his daddy, he wants to be just like him.

We got a watermelon this week and Drake thought it was a ball. He kept trying to pick it up but...

then he decided to just play with it. Haha.

Drake and I went to the beach this week with our neighbors while Chris was studying. Drake loved it! The water was cold, but Drake could care less. I had to keep a watchful eye on him at all times because he would just take off and run into the water. He thought it was so much fun to splash around and throw rocks in the water. We will definitely be going back to the lake a lot this summer but probably after we invest in a life jacket.

playing in the sand with our neighbors

Reading his books - he loves his books, just like his mommy!

I had to include Drake eating his apple because I think it is so funny. He thinks he is such a big boy.

One year down...

2010-05-27T19:06:00.003-07:00

I am sorry I haven't posted any new pics of Drake lately. Chris has had the computer with the pictures on it. I will soon - I promise.

Anyways, I just wanted to give a little shout out to Chris. After tomorrow he will be done with his first year of medical school. I can't believe we have one year down, it has gone by pretty fast. It really hasn't been too bad either. A lot of people told us horror stories about how you never see your husband, how I would be a single parent, how it is a long journey, etc. I am not saying it was easy but Chris managed to still be home some of the time. He came home for dinner every night and depending on his schedule, he would either hang out for the night or go back to school and study. On the weekends he would try to take Saturdays off to hang out with Drake and I unless he had a test coming up. He would always check in on us and on the few instances when I had to take Drake to the doctor, Chris would take time off school to come with. He did really well at managing his time and making Drake and I feel important and needed. He also did really well in all of his classes! He made some great contacts this year, has shadowed some doctors, is teaching CPR, doing a research project this summer, and volunteering at the Saturday Free clinic. He definitely is a busy man, but he does really well at balancing it all. It is definitely scary moving to a new place and not knowing anyone but I have had so much fun! We have grown so much as a family and have come to realize how much we depend and need each other. I can't wait to keep this great adventure going with my wonderful husband and son! I am so grateful for my family! Thank you Chris for being such a great husband while being an outstanding medical student! With one year down, I am looking forward to the many more years to go before this great adventure is over.

What's That?

2010-05-20T18:21:00.003-07:00

Hey! Sorry no pictures right now. I have been a slacker on picture taking and Chris has had the computer most of the time because he is studying for finals. I can't believe he is almost done with his first year! It has gone by surprisingly fast in spite of how much we miss our families.

Drake is crazy busy and so much fun! He is in the "what's that?" stage where he is constantly asking that about everything. He points to something and asks what that is and sometimes he just continually points to the same thing over and over again. He is so funny. He is talking so much and interacting with us so well. He has also started counting! I can't believe it. He actually only does the evens and goes to six. So we will start with one, he will say two, us - three, Drake - four, and so on till six. He will count 1,2 on his own but that is it. He also sings the abc's. Well, he says abc and then some mumble jumble with maybe another abc in there. I will record it soon so you all can hear it.

Well, keep Chris in your thoughts as he is studying and taking his finals! Just one more week and then he can take a break from all the studying and craziness.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

2010-05-09T08:38:00.002-07:00

I like to think that I have always been appreciative of my mom. She is a strong woman who raised my sister and I in a loving and fun home. She showed us what a healthy family life and marriage is all about and that we not only should have that but deserve it. She has always been there for us, even in our teenage years when, lets face it, we didn't have the best of relationships. I look back and feel like I have always tried to show my mom how much I appreciate her and how much I love her. We have always been a pretty affectionate family (aside from my sister), so I never had a problem going up to her and giving her a hug and telling her I love her. I definitely told her how much I loved her and how she is "the best mom ever!" on every birthday, mothers day, Christmas, etc. I have always known how lucky I am to have such a wonderful mom and family. However, now that I am a mom myself I can honestly say that I really did not understand how great of a mom she is. Being a mom is the hardest and most fulfilling thing I have ever experienced and I am only 16 months in. Feeling the love I have for Drake is overwhelming and bewildering. I am so lucky that I not only have my mom to draw on but Chris's mom as well. We are so lucky to have two great role models to look to. They both raised strong, loving and amazing families. I can only hope that I can and will do the same! Thank you mom and Lani for everything you have done for me and my family. I truly do appreciate everything you guys do and have done. We love you both so much and hope that you always know and can feel our love. So to my mom, mother-in-law, sister, sister's-in-law, and all the other wonderful mom's out there, Happy Mother's Day!

Books!!!

2010-05-06T12:26:00.002-07:00

So I love reading! When I read I feel like it is reality or like a movie is playing in my head. I have so much fun pretending to be these different characters in their complicated, unrealistic lives. Lately I have been reading 3-4 books a month. I can't wait to start each new book and get so excited when I am finishing one. When we moved out here to Wisconsin I knew I needed to do something so that I could meet people so I decided to start a book club. It has been so much fun! I have enjoyed reading all of the books that we have read so far, even though there are a few that I would never have picked up for myself to read. Last month we read "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. I absolutely loved it!I devoured it and Catching Fire (the second one in the series of three) in 5 days. It is a super easy quick read so I highly recommend it. To be honest when I heard about it I didn't really know what to think. The person that recommended it to me told me that it is about kids killing each other. Doesn't sound like the best book, right? Well, it is. You will just have to trust me. There is a third one in the series but it doesn't come out until August (I think), I can't wait!

This month we are reading is "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein. I am not quite sure what this one is about yet but I will let you know when I am finished. I am going to start posting the book of the month so stay tuned if you are interested!

Brewers Game

2010-04-30T21:09:00.004-07:00

We took Drake to his first baseball game the other day and he loved it! He had so much fun. Every time the crowd cheered he would clap and scream (excitedly). It was so cute! We will definitely be taking him back at least one more time this year.

Cheese!

Out in front of the ball park.

Before the game Drake found my hair stuff. He really liked my headbands. Man, with him liking my headbands and my shoes ... should I be worried? haha!

Wauwatosa Springtime

2010-04-24T12:17:00.000-07:00

Spring is here in Wisconsin and Drake has been loving the warm weather. We try to take him to parks or on walks when it is warm enough and he loves every minute of it. He loves going out so much that we don't say "outside" around Drake, instead we spell it out otherwise he will nag us to go until we actually do. He is learning so much everyday and is beginning to put phrases together and make some object associations. When he wants to go "side" (outside), he ask for "shoooooooe" (because he needs shoes to go outside, right?). He also knows what an apple is, but he also thinks that everything in our fruit bowl is also an apple including oranges, pears, limes, and lemons. If you ask him to say orange, he will say apple.....but at least he's making an association! These are a few pictures of Drake playing or putting on some shoes to get ready to go outside.

This is how the slide works, right?

Hello?.....Helloooo?

Ready to go!

Huh?!?

Daredevil

2010-04-10T19:09:00.004-07:00

So the other night Drake decides it is a good idea to go face first off the coach onto a blanket. He is so weird! He thought it was so funny that he just kept doing it over and over again. He is constantly climbing on things and is never afraid of getting down (or falling down). I swear he is going to grow up to be a daredevil or stunt double or something like that. Scary!

This isn't Drake's funny face at its best but it is so funny, I had to post it. He gets this super serious, mad face and then lifts his head up and opens his eyes to a big smile. I don't know why this started but it is hilarious. It is usually a lot bigger and more elaborate but I think you guys will get the jist of it.

Here is Drake telling a story (I'm not really sure if it is a funny story or a scary story due to the growling) in his favorite corner. I swear he is always talking or squealing or growling so here is a taste of what I get all day, every day.

Easter and such ...

2010-04-06T18:14:00.005-07:00

Warning: picture overload may occur - I hope you like looking at my Drakey.

It feels like a ton has happened lately but in reality that isn't true. We did have some visitors!!! My mom, sister and her two girls surprised me and showed up on my doorstep! Drake had so much fun with them but was asking for his Papa the whole time. We had so much fun and were thankful that they braved the Wisconsin cold (really it was nice weather while they were here but my mom was freezing, haha). I only have a couple pictures of them because Teisa (or "sasa" as Drake says) took most of the pics and therefore are on her camera in Utah. I really should be better at remembering to take pictures.

Emie (Ewe), Bayla (baby) and Drake. Drake was so sweet to Bayla. All he wanted to do was give her kisses and hugs. He isn't normally a "soft" kid but with her he was super soft. Bayla wasn't super loving the kisses every 5 seconds though.

Drake and Emie playing. They did really well playing with each other. Of course there were some sharing issues but they were few and far between. I was so happy that Drake got to spend some time with my family but it made me so sad that he doesn't get to spend more time with them. It is a good thing that skype was invented but we can't wait to see everyone again. Hopefully this summer!

Here are some random pics:

Drake loves climbing things - here are few of him climbing into his toy basket and drawer. He also now climbs onto the couch and chairs all by himself. He is starting to try to climb into the bath by himself - he is just so curious and adventurous.

This is how I found Drake one morning when he woke up. Haha, it looks like he is in jail.

Here are my boys supporting the Brewers. They are so handsome!

I thought I would add one of my and my little mister. He wasn't as happy to take a picture with me like he was with his daddy.

Easter was a lot of fun. We went to our friends house in the morning for brunch and an Easter egg hunt. Then we had dinner with our neighbors. Drake had a lot of fun finding eggs, here is him with his loot.

The Easter bunny didn't forget about Drake! Here was super excited to see all of his goodies.

My mom gave Drake this lawn mower while she was here for his Easter present. He loves it but tends to mostly sit on it and scoot around. He is so funny.

Phoenix Fun

2010-03-22T14:11:00.005-07:00

Were back! We were lucky to get to go on a vacation for Chris's spring break to sunny Phoenix! Chris's family rented a house down there for the week and we had a blast! It was so fun, crazy and relaxing all at the same time. We were in a house that was big enough for the whole Anderson clan minus 2. There were 7 kids and 9 adults. Honestly I don't think there was a time when there wasn't one of the kids eating or sleeping. But Drake had so much fun playing with his cousins and swimming every day. He is so bored now that we are back home. Here are some pics of our fun time in the sun.

Drake's first posicle - he loved it!

We went to a chocolate factory and all the kids got to make a chocolate pizza. It was a mess, but the kids loved it!

Having fun at the zoo!

This isn't from Phoenix, it is Drake crawling into our kitchen cupboard. I don't know why he does this because there isn't anywhere for him to go once he is in there but he loves it. Look at his cute little bum! He is so funny!

Wish us luck!

2010-03-13T09:55:00.002-07:00

We are off to Phoenix for a much needed family vacation (thank you Andersons!!!). The down fall is the fact that we are flying out in 3 hours and just got back from taking Drake to the doctors. He has had pink eye this week (which is pretty much clear now) but he now has a swollen eye and a ear infection. Oh, and did I mention that he had diarrhea last night and the antibiotics that he now has to take for his ear will most likely lead to more diarrhea. Yep, we are going to have some fun on this 3 hour flight. So wish us luck that the flight won't be too awful and that Drake will feel better so he can enjoy the fun in the sun. Haha - so cheesy.

Ball Pit

2010-03-01T10:19:00.002-07:00

For Christmas my parents gave Drake a little ball pit/tent thing. We blew it up for Drake last weekend and he totally loves it! Here are some pics of my sweet boy. Thanks Papa and TT for the awesome toy.

That is the sign for more but I am not really sure what he was asking more for. I just thought it was a cute picture.

Giggles

2010-02-23T19:08:00.002-07:00

Here are some videos of my sweet little man.

Drake and Chris playing

Drake watching the choo choo

Drake feeding himself

Thank You (so cute!)

Choo Choo

2010-02-18T10:14:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to update everyone (which is basically just mine and Chris's family) on my little mister. Lately Drake has been so chatty and he is learning so many words! He has always been a babbler (and growler) but in the last couple months he has really concentrated on mimicking Chris and I. He has been saying momma and dadda for a while now. But lately he has added on more words and it is so cute! I wish I could put sound bites on here of Drake talking but instead I will just list them:

Choo Choo (train - we have train tracks in front of our house so when Drake hears it he points to his ear, then runs to the front window and says choo choo - it is so cute!)

nose (it is more like nooooooooooose)

eye

thank you (I love this one - he just started saying it and it makes my day when he says it after I give him something)

momma

dadda

tt (that is what the grandkids call my mom)

nani (that is what the grandkids call Chris's mom)

papa (he says this in a whisper - it is for both my dad and Chris's dad because he hasn't gotten pappy down yet)

no (he just started saying this yesterday and I wasn't all that excited about it but he so cute when he says it because he draws out the o - nooooooooooooooo)

hi

bye (he also waves with this one)

He also signs more, food, drink and all done.

I can't believe how smart he is. I love watching him learn new things and figure things out - it is so much fun!

Dancing man.

2010-02-07T10:27:00.002-07:00

If your happy and you know it ...

2010-01-29T20:37:00.004-07:00

... spread your pb & j all over your face

... smile as big you can

... stick out your tongue

... drive your truck as fast as you can

... cuddle with your monkey

... play doctor

... get out all your toys

Me, Crafty???

2010-01-16T09:19:00.005-07:00

I have a couple things I am posting so sorry if this is a little long.

Back in Utah before we headed home we went sledding with some of our nieces and nephews. Drake had a lot of fun - even though he wasn't sure what was going on.

Drake and Nash playing in the snow

Drake getting ready to go sledding

Emie's turn!

Beck and Drake

Drake eating his tiny snowman

Nash, Drake, Beck and Emie.

Also when we were in Utah I tried to be crafty. I am pretty sure that the only reason I succeeded is because I had my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws helping me. Here is what I made.

This is for my recipes so that I don't have to have my huge notebook out while cooking.

Can you believe I made this stuff? For those of you who know me well, I am not a creative or crafty person. Thanks to my in-laws for walking me through this step by step!

Drake had a really long day on Friday so by the end of the night he was so tired and out of it. Drake does not sit still very often at all so this was a total different experience for Chris and I. He was such a daddy's boy and just wanted to cuddle on the couch. It was super cute!

Just relaxing with dad.

So lazy - he wouldn't even sit up to drink.

Look at how out of it he was.

No More Bottles!

2010-01-10T19:14:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone. I don't have any pics to upload (Chris is hogging the computer with our pictures on it), but I do have some exciting news. Drake is officially off the bottle!!!! He actually has been for for a while now. When he was 11 months we gradually took away some of his bottles and on his birthday he was just having one right before bed. But now he is exclusively using sippy cups and is on whole milk. He usually liked his milk before bed to be warm but a couple days ago we stopped doing that and he is doing really well! I am so happy I don't have to be cleaning and lugging around bottles any more. Even though now I am lugging around sippy's. Oh well. My little boy is growing up!

Christmas

2009-12-27T11:28:00.004-07:00

We have had a wonderful Christmas here in Utah. Drake has been so much fun this year, even though he still doesn't really understand what Christmas is all about. Here are some pics of our fun....

Drake playing with the toys Santa brought him.

My cute little stud muffin.

Me and my new niece Bayla

The best kisses in the world!

Drake's Party

2009-12-21T10:23:00.005-07:00

Drake had his birthday party on Sunday. It wasn't on his actually birthday because Chris was flying in to Salt Lake on that day so we postponed Drake's party a couple days. Drake had so much fun - even though he didn't really know what was going on. Here are a bunch of pictures of the fun...

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!!!!

Drake loves trucks, so Chris and I made him a dump truck cake. We were so proud of our masterpiece.

Drake had lots of help opening his presents!

Getting ready

What is this???

Yum, I get to play in this mess.

This is so good and so much fun!

Whew, I am full.

Thanks everyone for helping us celebrate our sweet boys first birthday!

DRAKE IS ONE!!!!!!

2009-12-18T16:19:00.002-07:00

My baby turns one today. I can't believe it. This year has been so much fun and has gone by way too fast. I can't beleive one year ago today I was meeting Drake for the first time. I was extremely exhausted but unbelievably in love. Today I am even more in love with Drake. The feelings and emotions that being a parent brings is amazing. They are overwhelming and fantastic. I am so lucky to have Drake. He has made my move to Wisconsin so fun and easy. He just makes me laugh every day. Drake is now walking (although he still prefers to crawl, since it is faster), and his personality is hilarious. He is such a good boy, always happy and smiling. He is also very sweet and will crawl up to me just to give me a hug. Chris and I have had such a blast watching Drake learn and grow and we can't wait to see what he does next. Happy Birthday Little Mister. We love you so much!

Snow Day

2009-12-10T21:16:00.002-07:00

It finally snowed!!!!

Drake didn't really know what to think about the snow. But he still had fun for the whole 5 minutes that we were outside.

Oh, and did you notice his boots that are 3 sizes too big for him? At least when we got inside he was completely dry and warm!