Long Overdue

I know I am way behind on my blog. I will do a quick run down of some things, but the pictures will have to come later.

Monday, Nov. 26th, Kenny started his new job! He works for Udelhoven, but is contracted out with BP (British Petroleum) so that's where he goes to work every day. He is enjoying it, but there's always a learning curve at the beginning of every new job, where you've got to get the hang of things. So he's working hard and learning a lot.

Wednesday, Dec. 5th was MADISON'S BIRTHDAY! She's now 2 years old!! We had a fun day for our sweet little Madi cakes. I made blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs for breakfast, we went to a fun playgroup at the church where the kids just got to bring bikes and toys and run around like crazy. Later that night when daddy came home we had take-out Olive Garden for dinner for free (thank you gift card), presents, and cake. Oh there's so much I could say about Madi. We can now finally call it the "terrible two's", although I've sort of felt like she hit that when she turned 1! :) But she is a very sweet girl a lot of the time. She's reached that independent stage where she wants to do everything herself. I'm happy to let her a lot of the time, as I know it's important for her developmentally. But some of the battles I just can't win. Like how she demands to shut the van door, after she's already buckled into her carseat...(?!) She loves baby dolls more than anything and carries them around all the time and plays mommy so well. She stuffs them under her shirt to be pregnant, she "feeds them her milk" and sings them to sleep, takes them on walks, etc. She's very sweet with Kelsey and is patient when her hair gets pulled. She can also dish out the teasing very well, and doesn't stand to get bullied by her older brother and sister. She keeps up really well. She is the spitting image of her father when he was the same age, and I really love that. She has gorgeous big, brown eyes, and a contagious smile. She's our most advanced talker yet, and it's fun (and so cute!) to hear her communicate.  I love when she sings songs and quotes books, mostly The Gruffalo and Are You My Mother?. We love Madison so much and couldn't imagine our family without her and her playful personality.

Dec. 7th at 2:45 a.m. we pulled the kids out of bed, got ready and went to the airport. I then proceeded to accomplish the most daring, brave task I've ever done in my life. I flew from Anchorage, Alaska to Houston, Texas with 4 kids BY MYSELF!! And yes, it was about as fun as it sounds. The first flight was pretty awful, everyone was just beyond exhausted. I gave them some children's drammamine and hoped that the medicine, in combination with waking up SO early would for sure put them all right to sleep. Should've used the benadryl. But then we had a layover in Seattle for about 45 minutes, and I was so grateful for the break. We left our stuff on the plane, then came right back to our same seats and the next flight was much better (still not perfect, of course). I would say it's something I never want to do again, but I will be flying back by myself too :). But the reward in the end both times is so worth it! We were SOO excited to come and see Grandpa and Grandma Andersen, uncle Tim and aunt Sarah. Not only that, but we were really looking forward to the sunshine and warm temperatures. We have been having a great time here, but really miss Kenny! I feel bad for him more becuase I know he's so lonely in the quiet house by himself. During the week he stays busy with work though, it's just the weekends that are long. We can't wait till he comes and joins us down here for Christmas. My parents live in Lufkin, TX. So we had a 2 hour drive after we got off the plane, but it's fun to see where they live (they just moved here this year) and my dad's new job.

That's a quick synopsis of the latest for our family. I'll work on adding pictures later, as most of them are at home on our computer, so I'll need Kenny's assistance :).