Merry Christmas!

Such a fun time of the year around here. It's so fun to see the excitement on the kids' faces. The anticipation leading up to Christmas is my favorite thing. There is magic .
It's so great talking to the children about the birth of Jesus and seeing their understanding grow.


We know we are so truly blessed with everything we have. We are so grateful for those who bless our lives.

Merry Christmas!

Letters to Santa

We're getting ready for Christmas as best we know how! The kids have loved our new tradition of the Elf on the Shelf. He showed up Nov 30 in the evening as we were getting ready for bed. The doorbell rang and we ran to the door to answer. There was no one there, just a package on the doorstep. It wrapped in nice wrapping paper with a note that read "To the Anderson Family, from the North Pole." Daddy opened our package and the kids were shocked! They instantly tried to grab the elf, who was under plastic still, before Daddy read the story telling us how the elf works. Now we know that we can't touch the elf, only Mommy and Daddy. The story told us to name him and put his name in the book. Leah chose Scratchy. Dillan chose Zart. So he's Scratchy Zart. Officially.
He's found every morning in some new place. One morning we found him in the bathroom wrapped in a elf towel (washcloth) surrounded by toothpaste, Q-Tips, floss, and shaving cream on his face. He had drawn a picture of himself on the mirror with shaving cream and wrote his name. Another morning he was downstairs having a tea party with a couple Barbies and Buzz Lightyear.
The children mention him in their prayers as they remind themselves to make good choices and follow Jesus' example.
These are their letters they wrote to Santa after our night out visiting the toy stores.

Leah's is word for word what she said, written by Mommy. I love how she mentions her baby brother and gifts for Mommy and Daddy.

Dillan too. He was so unsure about what he wanted and changed his mind so many times.
Gotta love the holiday season!

Us lately

Things going on lately in the fam.

Dillan has become quite the soccer player. "The Wall" finished his best season yet. He made everyone proud who watched him. He was the youngest on his team, playing with some 2nd and 3rd graders, but that didn't stop him from being a dominant presence on the field. He's also become very competitive and shows a lot of maturity when playing. We are so proud of you D! Up next: Basketball!

Leah has been enjoying her tiny princess ballet class. She took 2 sessions and loved it! She was a good listener to her teacher and did her very best at every class. Every week she jumped out of bed and asked if it was Wednesday. When it was, she quickly put on her dance clothes and asked to have her hair done. She wore her clothes the whole day until class was over later in the afternoon. Great job Leah!

Drewby is the little explorer. He takes off everywhere and has discovered a love for climbing. He also has become a good eater, eating anything put in front of him or spooned into his mouth. Such a good example for big brother and sister! He's a good little sleeper and only cries when he's allowed. Such a sweet little love bug!

Our family has also recently created a new tradition, thanks to Leah.
Pretzels at the MALL!

9 months

Little Drewby went to the Doctor on his 9-month birthday for some shots/check-up.
At 9 months:

18.8 pounds= 20th percentile
27 inches= 35th percentile

Still little, but at least proportionate. He's officially mobile, and has also figured out

STANDING! Ta Da!
He goes everywhere-fast-and loves to get into everything.
He also loves cords of all kind (except the plugged-in kind).
He's a master raspberry maker & spit bubble maker.
He eats anything and everything put in front of him.
He loves to go places with everyone, and doesn't even mind sleeping in his car seat.
His favorite person is big brother Dillan.
He is so easy-going and goes along with all the madness around him.

Such a fun boy!

Halloween

While I love this time of year, Halloween is NOT one of the highlights of the season for me. The only reason I get into it is because of the kids. They love it! So I am willing to do whatever it takes to allow them to be excited about costumes and candy and everything else.
Dillan knew weeks ago he wanted to be Batman. He also knew exactly which Batman he wanted to be, and what the costume looked like. Not the classic Batman, but The Dark Knight. He's never even heard of the movie, but obviously had this discussion with someone more knowledgeable at school.

Leah, ever since her birthday, has wanted to be Sleeping Beauty. It was the newest dress, it made the most sense. Then just days before changed her mind to Cinderella. That's who she was last year, and we made extra preparations from the shoes to the headband, to the hair (thanks to visiting Grandma). So naturally, on the day of her preschool party, she emerged from her room wearing Rapunzel. Just days later, for the trunk or treat, she put on Ariel. Whatever. That's Leah.

Drew didn't get a choice. I figure it's Mommy's right to choose the costumes while they're young and don't have a say. I wanted to coordinate with him for the ward trunk or treat, and after debating through many different costumes, I found THE shark costume I just had to have. I snagged it on ebay and was all set to be a surfer girl right along side my cute little guy, who is quite the biter with his two cute little toofies.
Of course, just before leaving for the ward party, he fell asleep and Grandma insisted that I leave him and let him sleep. Fine.

But for the big night of trick or treat, everyone was set and had a great time. Drew hated his costume, and rode in the stroller with a sucker in his mouth until conking out just a few blocks in.
I'm hoping the costume fits next year and he'll be able to walk around and enjoy himself a little more.

Happy Halloween!

It's OUT!

After what seemed like forever, Dillan FINALLY lost his first tooth. Daddy had to persuade him just enough to let him tie a string around it and yank it out. I think he was nervous about what to expect. Next time he should handle it better.
He was so excited to put the tooth in his little pillow and was visited by the tooth fairy who was maybe a little too generous (hey you only get one first tooth right?)

Enjoy your spoils, Toothless!

KC

It's so nice to know that even though your child pushes your buttons daily and doesn't always do what they are told, he is thankfully NOT that way at school. Mrs Hall says Dillan is the sweetest boy and always wants to do everything right.

He was selected to be the KC Award (Kindness and Compassion) winner from his class for the month of October. This means he took on Rachel's Challenge to do something kind for a peer, with the hope that they would do something nice for another, thus forming a chain of good deeds.
He received another dog tag to put on his chain and got to put his hand print on a huge banner that hangs in the MPR.

Great Job Dillan! We are so proud of you!

Falling

It's such a fun time of year, and we've tried to keep with tradition in visiting a pumpkin patch. This time we went out to Bates Nut Farm, since some of us had not ever been. Chris and Dillan went last year on a Kindergarten field trip.

We did the straw maze, rode on the tractor train ride and each picked our own pumpkin to bring home. Even though it was a warm day, the farm had a lot of large trees and was nice and clean.
We enjoyed our day!

Dance Class

Leah's dance class had their final class, the end of the 6-week session. She doesn't know it yet, but the next session was completely FULL when I went to sign up again, so we're not sure WHAT is going to happen next. Every morning she asks if she has dance class that day. No Joke. She LOVED it! Such a difference from dragging Dillan to soccer. (To be fair, Dillan is since past those days, he now willingly gets himself ready for soccer and loves to play).
She had said that she wanted to play soccer when she got older, now she doesn't. She was in tears the other day when I told her she was growing up and getting bigger. She thought that meant she couldn't be in the little girls' dance class anymore. She said she doesn't want to get bigger, because she wants to stay in dance class with the little girls!

She's HOOKED!

A Tooth Story

Within a day or so of one another, both Dillan and Drew have had some changes in their chompers. Drewby has cut his two bottom teeth and Dillan's bottom right tooth is loose! Drew is always so easy going and happy, so he hasn't been too out-of-sorts with those teeth poking through, but the signs of teething are there. He likes to bite now, I wonder how that is working for him with his thumb-sucking!

Dillan has been waiting a LONG time to get a loose tooth. Well, not THAT long, but he's watched so many friends and classmates lose their teeth, he wondered when it would be his turn! He was so excited to show me his loose tooth, and I confirmed it was, in fact, loose. Since that day, nearly a week ago, he hasn't really mentioned it. I think the thought of the tooth coming out makes him a little nervous, but he's not saying so. Everyday I ask him how it's moving and if he wiggles it, which I don't think he does very much, if at all. I don't remember my loose teeth ever taking very long to come out, probably because I wouldn't ever leave them alone. So we'll see what happens and how Dillan deals with it. Hopefully after this first one comes out, he'll be less nervous the next time around. It may give me some time to get a tooth pillow or pocket made!

4

Seriously, who get's to turn 4 while at Disney World??? Only the luckiest girl on the planet!
Since our trip had Leah's birthday attached to it, she was sung to and given a cupcake half a dozen times!

On her birthday we ate breakfast with the princesses, which is HUGE. Leah had no idea what to expect, and it was so fun to see her excitement every time a new princess came around the corner to our table. In a loud whisper, I'd hear: "MOMMY! IT'S CINDERELLA!"
"LOOK! IT'S SNOW WHITE!" Once she saw a princess, she didn't take her eyes off her!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY big 4-year-old girl! You bring so much joy to our family, we love you so much!

The VayKay

And it's over! My head is spinning. Trying to get out of the Disney bubble we've been in and dive back into busy life is TOUGH! Thankfully we have plenty of memories, souvenirs and pictures to get us through. There's no way I'll be able to post ALL the pictures on the blog, so only my favorites will make the cut.

We had such a fun time, it's hard to believe it is over.

It was fun seeing the kids' excitement as they experienced new things. They saw their cousins (who are semi-pro at the whole Disney thing) hugging characters and getting autographs, going on new rides, so they followed right along.

Dillan Highlights: Saved $100 from recycling and couldn't wait to spend every last penny...which he didn't. He came home with pirate toys, race cars, and a bunch of make-up school work. Dillan favorite rides were Test Track and Soarin' @ Epcot, Thunder and Splash Mountains @ Magic Kingdom, DINOSAUR @ Animal Kingdom, and Star Tours @ Hollywood Studios. He was selected by Crush the Turtle during a show, and got to talk with him on the screen. Then Crush bonded with Mom as we talked about our off-spring. So FUN! He loved swimming in the pool at the hotel, walking backwards through the parks, studying the maps at every park, and being with Roxy and Dono.

Leah Highlights: Drank her weight in chocolate milk, daily. Turning 4 while in Florida, and having the most magical birthday breakfast with the princesses! She must have been sung to a dozen times, each time with a cupcake and candle! She loved wearing her princess dresses and crown with Roxy. She chose a baby Minnie Mouse doll for her birthday present, a character she's come to love recently. Leah also took some long strides forward at the hotel pool, she bravely swam to the side farther than she ever has before! Leah's favorite rides were: Finding Nemo and
Turtle Talk with Crush @ Epcot.

Drew Highlights: Perfect baby, never cried or complained even with no naps and stuck in a hot and sticky stroller. Discovered Dum Dum Pops and begging. Charmer to everyone he met, everywhere we went. Slept through the night every night. Probably won't remember a thing about the trip, but he'll be fun to take next time!

Daddy Highlights: Good Food. Nice relaxing in the pool. Fun being with family and seeing the kids excited about being there. Randomly selected by a Disney Researcher to take part in a survey and given a $150 gift card to spend (we bought some Christmas presents).
I wasn't convinced it would really be a vacation more than a lot of work, but I was pleasantly surprised. We loved everything about our trip, especially being with family, and we plan to do it again in a few years!

Thanks Honey for lugging your laptop all the way to Florida, when I whined and begged that I needed to stay caught up on the blog during the trip......oops.

And it's FINALLY time...

Our counting chains are gone!

We've arrived!

After just a day and a half, it's like a whole different dimension. This place is huge! And hot.

The kids are eating up everything thrown at them. They love the hotel, the pool, all the ways to get from here to there, and of course COUSINS!!!

Little Drewby boy had his 6 month check up before we left.
His stats:

Length: 25 inchesWeight: 15.5 pounds (9th percentile)

4 shots in the thighs and something given orally

He likes to roll over, especially off mommy and daddy's bed. He loves to eat big boy foods and try new tastes. He gets up on his hands and knees and has figured out how to flop around like a seal to get to where he wants to go. It's amazing to think he could be mobile anyday.

He's been on It's A Small World and Pirates of the Caribbean. He doesn't make much noise and melts plenty of hearts with his adorable smile wherever he goes.

He shoves his entire right hand in his mouth, but prefers his left thumb when it's time to rest.

He's absolutely perfect and sweet and we love him so much!