Today is one of those perfect blustery days that feels like fall in any state other than California. The wind is blowing it's cold (brisk 53 degrees), and the leaves are gold, red, and brown. The sky is a clear blue with big puffy white clouds edged with gray and in the distance you can see the mountains covered in snow. This kind of day is rare and glorious and usually only comes after a lot of rain which we've had for the past week.
Because of this I took Anders to the park and he ran and threw leaves and pine cones and the wind whipped his hair all around. He looked so rosy and happy it made me want to move somewhere cold just so that I could see that picture more often.
I had a goose hiss at me. Did you know that Geese can hiss? It's pretty creepy sounding. The geese at this particular park are very aggressive and we've been chased before for not producing bread or not producing it fast enough or for running out. Scary stuff.
Anyways, we're trying to get lots of energy out before more rain comes again. Which we are hoping for!
This Thursday Chris' dad is coming out to visit and we are really looking forward to spending some quality time with him. He stays until Monday and then on Wednesday Anders and I fly out to Texas to visit my sisters and to attend the wedding of my cousin Chad. It's so fun that he is getting married to a Dallas native. It looks like it will be a nice family reunion.
I'm dreading the flight with a toddler but I'm hoping to find a portable dvd player to borrow and I'm sure I'll bring some kind of sleepy juice (ie benadryl) just in case. I'm sure I'll share my experience when it's all over!

It's not a little Yoda.....







It's just Anders Enjoying the rain.


May the force be with you....... =0)

Today we went over to Laura Blackwell's house to play with Abby and Megan. Megan is a little younger than Anders and they seemed to get along pretty well. Although at this age they just kind of play next to each other not with each other. At one point Anders kept trying to swipe Megan's sippy cup so as you can see in the pictures we had to keep them seperate!



Anders had alot of fun playing with new toys and Megan and Abby's dog Cherry who followed him around licking his face.

Here are some pictures of our trip to the Santa Ana zoo on Friday. We went with our neighbor Kathy and two of her boys Roman and Sabastian. They all had a great time although Anders fell at one point and scraped his face on the gravel. He pulled through pretty well. =0)





Lately Anders has been sticking out his tongue alot. I think that he is practicing a certain sound.










The off road jeep that was on display was a hit with all of the boys.







The best part of the day was the train ride around the farm animal area. The conductor was great and Anders kept looking up at me and making kissy faces to show his approval.

This week has been a busy one. It started with a much needed one year check-up for Anders. We just got heath insurance after a long scary stint without it. Luckily we all stayed relatively healthy during that time. I also found out that I could take Anders to the doctors and just pay for the office visits. A little more than a co-pay but worth it.
We found a highly recommended pediatrician that is just down the street from our house and I was very happy with him. He was a good listener (always a plus) and he seemed to be pretty thorough. We found out that Anders is healthy and a little above normal for height and a little below normal for weight. Heidi pointed out that he probably just had a growth spurt....
The downer was that we need to take him to a urologist on Monday to talk about fixing a lousy circumcision job thanks to Kaiser. I am NOT looking forward to that process!
After visiting the doctor we went to the park where Anders promptly fell and bumped up his chin. I had to hall off a screaming bleeding child while a group of loud and crass homeless men watched the scene with interest. That was a long day.
The rest of the week has been filled with cleaning, shopping, playing with friends, a visit to the DMV, work, and soccer. Yes, Anders is showing a propensity for sports. Actually anything to do with a ball is a hit. We've spent almost every afternoon this week playing with a new soccer ball out in front of our apartment. He's getting the kicking down and I'm having fun getting some exercise.
Lately, sports on T.V. has been a hit. It started at Grandpa's house with golf and was confirmed with football over the holiday's. He now points to the t.v. and says "ootbul", eedee (tv), and brings me the remote saying "emote". I'm not sure how to feel about this new love of "eedee"....
Tomorrow is the zoo and I'm sure I'll get some good pictures to post soon.

I have to put a plug up here for my moms blog. She is such a good writer and I have had fun reading what she has to say.
Yesterday Anders and I had fun going to the "Museum of Science and Industry" with Kristy Caver and James. The boys really are too young to be fascinated by the interesting exhibits but there is a small play area for Toddlers with lots of fun toys. They played in there for a while and then we took a long walk to check out the Natural History Museum that is right near by the other one. We ended up not going in because it was 8$ and it wasn't worth it. I do look forward to enjoying all of the fun exhibits some day!
The thing that I really enjoyed about the trip besides the fun company, was seeing USC and the Coliseum so close up. I had never been down to that area of L.A. as an adult and it really is a beautiful spot. I suppose I wouldn't want to wander around there at night but during the day it was pretty safe feeling. Hopefully we'll do it again soon and get to really explore the museum!

I had to put up this picture of Anders in the tubby. We went on a big walk tonight with our destination being Wal-Mart. It's pretty close but we always drive everywhere and I realized that it could be a very pleasant walk. While at the store we saw a can of "Thomas the Train" bubble bath. He really likes "choo choo's" so I decided that it would make bath time even more fun. The bubbles were fabulous but the berry scent wasn't so hot in my opinion. Anders was VERY impressed by the bubbles and had fun washing his own hair.

The table picture is exciting for me because if you have been over to our apartment you would know that we have been living for a long time with metal folding chairs and a hand-me-down table that used to be Aunt boo boo's. We finally upgraded and I am SO HAPPY. We still have one chair to assemble but I am very happy with the results.



And of course I had to include a picture of laundry day. For some reason I like to document this kind of thing. Don't ask me why.

Today was so productive thanks to my mom who lovingly and willingly took Anders for the day. It's amazing what can be accomplished without a little one clinging to my leg. I tackled six loads of laundry, decluttered our bedroom and Anders room, shopped at Trader Joe's, worked on this blog, vacuumed the floors.... and had a nice visit with mom at the end of the day. Now a chicken is roasting in the oven and there is still a small pile of clothes on the couch that need to be folded. It feels so good to get back on track after the Holidays! For some reason Christmas gets me all out of wack. The house gets extra cluttered, laundry get put on hold and new gifts get piled into corners until they find a new home. Of course surrounding that chaos is a lot of fun and joy so I suppose it's worth the extra work.
Today as I was walking back and forth to the laundry room I started thinking about one of the ways I make the task enjoyable. I live in a nice quiet apartment community. It's gated and it really feels like a safe little village. Most of the apartments have little elements of care put into them like a wreath on the door, some flowers around the outside or other reminders that these are people's homes. I imagine that I'm somewhere in Europe and this place is my town. I have to walk to do my laundry but it's ok because life is so slow and enjoyable and it's just part of the daily rhythm. For some reason this makes the chore of doing laundry seem pleasant instead of an intrusive, tiring, time sapper.

Here are a few more pictures of Christmas. I had to include some from the Seelye family gathering. I also hadn't put up any pictures of Erin Jim and Garrett so here they are!

We really had a good time over at the Stevens house. It was fun to share the event with a family that just came to the States from Rwanda. The father has been here for awhile studying at Talbot and his family, wife and three teenagers just arrived before Christmas. They were a welcome addition to the group.

Sorry about the delay in posting. I am using Chris' laptop now and our photos are on Picasa. It's a totally different way of posting pictures and much more cumbersome. I think that I have it down now.
Christmas was so much fun this year. Having an 18 month old makes Christmas so enjoyable and it was especially fun to see him come out on Christmas morning and see all of his new toys and a TENT! That one was a big hit.
We had Chris' mom stay with us and that was actually really great. It was a more relaxed way for her to visit and we were able to spend some quality time with her. Anders got really good at giving kisses and he seemed to really enjoy all of the attention.
It's been fun to read all of the blogs detailing your Christmas'. So here is to a blessed New Year and a great 2008!

Here are a few of just us. As you can see Anders is getting alot more active and getting a nice picture is more work these days. =0) He really had a fun Christmas and got lots of attention from all of the family.

Here is Heather at Christmas eve at the Stevens. And the bottom picture is Chris and his mom before she left to go back home the day after Christmas. We really had a good time all together.

Here is a fun picture of Anders playing with his new loud truck. It's still scary to him when it moves but he does love it!

I'm trying to figure out our new picture system on the laptop that we switched over to. Pictures will be coming soon. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!d

I realize that I've been lazy about updating my blog so here is the latest. We have been renovating our apartment. Chris' mom is coming to stay with us for Christmas and since we only have two bedrooms and one of them is the baby/office/paper mess room. So yesterday and tonight was a flurry of activity trying to turn it into just a baby/guest room. It required lots of shredding and rearranging. We bought an Aero bed and it's blown up and ready to be slept on. Now the living room is in chaos and I'm too tired to even worry about it.
So, some time between tonight and tomorrow the house needs to get pulled together.
I'm planning on having a baking day on Friday with Eloise and at some point I need to go Christmas shopping.
I'll put some pictures up after the Holidays and by then everything will have been pulled together and we will have made some nice memories.

Merry Christmas!

We left for Oxnard on Friday around noon after a relaxed lunch at Chick' fillet. We chose to take the PCH scenic route which ended up being about the same time wise as the freeway but prettier!

Anders got to relax and sleep most of the way!




Friday night we went out for a special dinner at the "Side Car Restaurant"











While we were in Oxnard we ate a wonderful free breakfast at our hotel, did laundry, went on a harbor cruise,ate luch at Andrea's sea food, visited the local children's museum..... all in one day!


On Sunday morning we got up early and checked out of the hotel by 6:30 in the morning to make it to church by 7:30! Anders was a trooper and napped on the way.

O.K., here is a load of Thanksgiving pictures. We had a very nice time at my parents house with lots of good food and family fun.



Anders was much loved as usual!



It wouldn't be a holiday without golf practice!

Here are a few pictures of Anders from the last couple of days. On Monday I took him to downtown Fullerton to see the trains come and go. He was appropriately impressed and I plan on taking him there again soon. I have been trying to get Anders to transition to a sippy " cup instead of a bottle and it is not going well. The bottle is a huge source of comfort and I'm embarrassed to admit that it's what helps him go to sleep.... bad mom. So, in the next month or so I will continue to talk about cups and give it to him first instead of the "ba ba".
The middle picture was from tonight and I was impressed with how old he is looking. Chris and I decided that he now looks like a kid and not a baby. Kind of sad but fun too.
Lately he has been very interested in babies and says "baby" quite clearly and sweetly. He loves looking at pictures of his new cousin Garrett on Erin's blog. We are looking forward to Christmas to get some cousin time in!
Tonight, he spent about 15-20 minutes perfecting the "spin and get dizzy" game. It was pretty funny to watch and I was slightly concerned that he would get sick but he seemed to just wear himself out which was fine with me.
Chris has been busy with work and so far we haven't seen the commercial his voice was used on, so we'll see.
We are looking forward to getting away for Thanksgiving. We'll spend the weekend in Oxnard and do some touristy things while we are there. It's our first family vacation just the three of us and we are really looking forward to it.