Elder Andersen

My brother Jeff just got his mission call! He will be serving in the Czech Republic! He reports to the MTC on August 12th. Perfect timing to go to both of our sisters' weddings. Congratulations, boy. We are so proud of you!

Playing in puddles

I thoroughly love the rain. honestly, it makes me giddy and happy inside when there's a good rainstorm. It's been raining quite a bit here lately. This morning we got Ty's rainboots on and he wanted to splash around and play soccer in the puddles. They were drying quickly though, from last night's rainstorm. Good thing it poured this afternoon. I even opened the window for a while to let Bryn listen to the thunder, lightning and rain.

These pictures are my feeble attempts at photoshop. Any advice (like from you Carly :)) would be much appreciated.

Post Script

I forgot to mention that New Jersey is not official anymore. I won't go into details because the whole thing is really frustrating how they keep yankin us around and telling us one thing and then another. But we're back to wondering and waiting. Will it still be Princeton, New Jersey? Or Carlsbad, New Mexico? Or perhaps Pueblo, Colorado? We'll just have to see.

P.S.S. I ran a mile and a half yesterday and felt great. Now I just feel sore. Feels good to be getting back in the swing of things, even if it is slow coming. I don't want to look like I just had a baby at the 2 weddings in May.

Life is manageable on drugs

I was reminded of the miracle of modern medicine this past week. I was sick, and so were my kids. Of course Kenny was ok, he has an impenetrable immune system of steel. I had called him earlier during the day stressed out because there was just a whole lot of screaming and crying going on from the kids. On his way home from work he called again to check up on us and see how I was doing. "Much better", I said; "we've all had a nap and a good dose of tylenol!!"

My baby girl turned 6 weeks old yesterday!! She's doing great. Except she's got colic. Only between 5/5:30 and 12:00 at night though. So it's a good thing it's not all day, but it sure makes for difficult evenings. She won't let me put her down. One thing I have found is she is often soothed with music. Of all the choirs I've been in throughout my life, I have never sung as much as I do now, to her. Despite my voice, she likes it. Michael Buble seems to have some magical calming influence on her. A girl after my own heart.

This little boy keeps me laughing all the time. He's such a ham. this is such a fun age. I just love watching him learn to talk and figure everything out. He knows all his colors and shapes and does pretty good with numbers. But I just love hearing him copy new words and learn how to put them together to form sentences. He is such a good helper and is getting better about his attitude/tantrums. He really is such a good kid. I'm so lucky.

Kenny and I spoke in church on Sunday. It's so nice to have my parents in the building at the same time as us. It's pretty crazy that they're not in our ward, or even stake, but yet we meet in the same building and our times overlap by one hour. So they sat with the kids and got to hear us speak.

I had my 6 wk. post partum check up today. Everything's great. What a blessing.

Meet Bernie

This is my bernie. original name, huh? It's my Bernina sewing machine. She used to belong to my mom. But my mom now has a few much nicer and newer machines, so she decided to pass bernie on down to me a few years ago. I love her. I forfeited many things the other day (like a shower, a nap, cleaning my home, etc.) for a much needed date with bernie. A few weeks ago I went with my mom and Sharon Rose to a quaint little shop called "Quilter's Cottage" over in pecan grove area and found this dang cute fabric. I bought it because I am in need of a new, cute apron. But the pattern is retarded and although my material is adorable, I am not very happy with how it turned out. And yes, I did tie it to a lamp shade to take a picture of it.

A smile to brighten even the crummiest of days

Big Changes

Every Monday for the past month or so, the "firing squad" comes into Kenny's work and they lay off a bunch of employees. They either had to relocate or lay off pretty much everyone in his division. Obviously that made us very nervous and Kenny would come home from work and apply to other places online, hoping to secure some sort of back up plan. But Mondays kept coming and going, and he never got laid off, but he wasn't getting assigned anywhere else either, as some of his buddies were. Different options kept coming up that would have us dreaming...Alaska, Canada, Tennessee, Michigan, the Middle East...all these different places where they were trying to get projects going. Finally, yesterday, they told him that he was going to New Jersey. Princeton, New Jersey!! Yes, I know we just moved to Texas. But we are just so grateful that he still has a job, and this will be a great opportunity. They are estimating that it'll be for about 2 years. We're not sure how soon we'll leave. Kenny could have to be out there by Monday, but he'll just come home every other weekend or something until he finds somewhere for us to live, and we'll follow him shortly. So that's our big news. We went to Cici's last night to celebrate, but we're both pretty nervous about such a big change. As if I don't lose enough sleep already! I was up feeding Brynlee last night, and Kenny comes out to join us around 2:30 cuz he couldn't sleep. It's been a lot of fun living here in Houston, even if it was short lived. But like I said, we are just very grateful that he is employed, as these are such difficult times and a lot of people we know are losing their jobs.

Another big change: Tyler has all of the sudden become scared, of the dark or something. we're not sure exactly what but every night we put him to bed (mind you, he has ALWAYS been close to perfect at going to bed on time, and by himself) but now he just cries really sad tears. He tries to be brave and hold it back but he hates when we leave the room and we end up going back in several times. Last night I finally pulled out a night light and his teddy bear and talked to him about praying when he gets scared and he finally let me leave and fell asleep. poor kid. I think I'm not going to let him watch movies anymore. Even disney movies have a bad guy and he gets scared so easily. Even Land Before Time has some scary parts for him.

Yet another big change: BRYNLEE IS SMILING at us!! It is the cutest dang thing ever. Now I can't wait till she wakes up :). I'll try to get a picture of it soon.

Relocating

We are moving to New Jersey.

More info. to come later.

Things I want to say

MOM ROCK: Have you ever noticed a bunch of moms (especially new moms) standing around together and realized that they are probably all doing the "mom rock"? You know, swaying back and forth like they're rocking their baby to sleep or just trying to keep them happy. The funniest is when moms are doing it without a baby in their arms! Problem is, I catch myself doing it all the time! That's when you know you've got a newborn.

3rd WARDROBE: You all know what I'm talking about. You've got your normal clothes, your maternity clothes, and then the "in-between" clothes! I am really struggling with this right now. I can only wear a handful of shirts that don't look absolutely fatty and gross on me right now. But I'm too stubborn to go buy more "large" shirts to fill my 3rd wardrobe because I keep telling myself I'm going to be normal again soon. But here I am, wearing the same shirt I wore yesterday. (Shh... don't tell anyone) My pants fit, but I don't have any jeans because the last pair I had I wore big holes in both of the knees. So I'm still wearing maternity jeans, and can I just say how much I hate that. I am going to go buy myself a new pair of jeans as soon as I get a chance to go to the store. I am not brave enough to take two children to the mall when I want to try on multiple items of clothing.



INTENTIONAL PARENTING: this is a concept that was talked about often by one of my awesome professors at BYU-Idaho. Basically that we want to parent on purpose, not accidentally. I've been thinking about that lately how I want to continue to remind myself to do that. Children don't just become smart, well-adjusted, talented, and contributing members of society without some intentional instruction and example. Sometimes I get caught up on my "to-do" lists for the day and don't do a whole lot of intentional things with my kids. It just ends up being "go do this or that while I take care of what I need to do". So I'm going to be better about that.


DOCTOR VISIT: This morning we went to the doctor at 9:35 and didn't walk out of there until 11:00!! The waiting room was still jam packed when we left. I just can't believe they make us sit there for hours, stab my precious little girl in the leg and make her scream, and then I pay them for it! Something's not right. However, Brynlee is weighing in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces (50%) is 22 inches long (75-90%) and has a 14 inch head (10%). She's looking great.

BIGGEST LOSER: Last week Kenny and I started a biggest loser competition because we both need to make some changes and get back in shape. We don't eat after 7 or 7:30 at night, we have seriously cut back on sweets/junk food, we work out every day (except Sundays of course) and weigh-ins are on Saturday. Kenny is cutting back on his calories, but I'm not because I'm still nursing obviously, so I am just making better choices about my food. Also, I'm not hardcore working out either. I'm still only 4 wks. post partum so I just walk and I do a Yoga/Pilates workout movie at home when the kids are sleeping. It's awesome. After I had Tyler it took me forever to lose the weight (not to mention I had a drop-foot...won't even go there) so this time I'm feeling much better about myself and everything. I am still 9 pounds away from where I was when I got pregnant, but that's ok. It just feels good to be active and doing something.

God's gift to women...and men

I dreaded the hour between 4 and 5 every day because it stressed me out so much! I was trying to get dinner going and clean up the house a bit before Kenny got home, and it seemed like Brynlee always needed to eat during that time, or was just really fussy and wouldn't let me put her down. Here's the answer my friends:
CROCK POTS! (my picture won't load so you just get to read it in big letters)

I have been using it a lot lately and it helps out so much! I have this awesome crock pot cook book, "Fix It and Forget It" and it's made our days and evenings go so much smoother. Not to mention the dishes load is minimal! I love these things and I think every mom should have one. That's all.

4 weeks old!

Getting a little personal

Sometimes I feel like because I got married young and had (well, have) kids young too, that I'm behind or that my kids are at a disadvantage or something. I know that's not good to think that. And it's not that I have any regrets or anything, I'm so happy with where I am and what I'm doing. I guess it's just because I look around at people that are older and feel like they know more, and can do more, and have become so much more, or just are more. It's like their kids are so much better off because of what they as parents, mainly mothers, have to offer.

I must have had this idea of what a mother is supposed to be like, and I kept waiting for someone to push that button, in a sense, and make me that idea I've always had in my mind. Like I would all of the sudden be just so patient and full of love and strength, and that I could do all that was asked of me and more, and always with a smile on my face. Well here I am with two kids and it's still the same ol', plain ol', me. I might have been trying to ignore all my weaknesses and immaturities all these years, but I am now rudely aware of them. It's discouraging, to say the least.

Today Tyler really put me in check. I was mad, and I was "raising my voice" (to put it nicely). He shook his finger at me and said, "Mom, no yelling!" Are you kidding me? What kind of a lousy mom has to have their barely 2 year old son tell them not to yell?! Me. I hate when moms yell at their kids, and I'm one of them. There is absolutely no reason for it. That has got to stop.

No more waiting or wishing. I'm making a change for the better, no, the best version of me.

Big Brother

this kid is seriously the best.

Love is in the air!

Within the last week and a half, 2 of my sisters and 1 sister-in-law have gotten engaged! I am so happy for all 3 of them! Kim is marrying Caleb on May 2nd, Camille is marrying Tyler on August 8th (I think) and Jeni is marrying Eric on May 15th. Holy weddings! I'm so excited!!

Fact:

I did not know the real words to the song "I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills..." (you know which song I'm talking about?) until I was probably in high school. Here is the version we were taught when I was a wee little girl. All you Andersen cousins know this one, sing with me now!

I love the dishes
I love the pots and pans
I love the silverware
I love dish-water hands
I love to do them all after every meal

Kitchen duty, kitchen duty
Kitchen duty, kitchen duty...

Can we say BRAINWASHING?!! And at such a young and tender age, too. I still have more than humiliating memories of my 5th grade year at Horne Elementary school talent show, here in Houston. My mom made us all wear our matching dresses (which was totally not cool anymore, come on I was in 5th grade!) and we got on the stage and sang that blasted song in a round holding pots/pans/kitchen towels/wearing rubber gloves, etc. It was even more awful than it sounds. What a horrible thing to do to a child. :)