Anderson Family Reunion 2014

This year the Anderson side of our family all met up in Port Aransas, Texas. 

We rented a nice house right off of the beach. The kids spent a lot of time playing on this huge deck.

We also spent lots of time building sand castles, monster truck tracks and swimming in the ocean. Not pictured is the pool located inside the housing community that we frequented and used to rinse off all the sand from the beaches. Did I mention how much we LOVE the beach and how sad we are to leave it?

The house we rented came with a golf cart which we used to our full advantage. It was so much fun to drive around town and on the beach. If we ever do this again, finding a house with a golf cart will be at the top of our list.

We decided to splurge and take the dolphin tour the last day we were there. Although it was really fun and the kids loved it I am not sure if I would do it again. One thing I didn't get a picture of is the pirate attack. This particular dolphin tour has pirates that come and attack the boat and the kids get to shoot them with water cannons and water balloons. This was Caleb's favorite part of the entire trip. I think for us, this made the entire experience worth the money just because Caleb loved it so much. We also did see quite a few dolphins.

They had a big tank in the middle of the boat full of fish and other ocean creatures they caught. The kids got to touch and hold them. 

Overall it was a great family reunion. We loved getting together and seeing all of our family and we had such a good time at the beach. I would highly recommend this place for family get togethers. It is low key and very accommodating to families.

6 months

14lbs
drinks 6 ounces of formula every three hours
had her first bite of baby food and loved it
sits up with the boppy pillow
sleeps 10-12 hours a night
loves cuddling and giving kisses
spits up and slobers a ton
loves taking baths
lost all of her dark baby hair
wearing 3 month and 3-6 month clothing
size 2 diapers
is always happy
still wants to be swaddled
hates being in her carseat
loves her pacifier
loves to be held
loves to sleep in the swing
wakes up happy in the mornings and coos and smiles until we get her out of bed

I can't even begin to express how blessed we feel to have this little gem in our home. She is an absolute joy and we are beyond in love with her sweet spirit and happy personality.

Victoria Zoo

With our move quickly approaching we are trying to knock everything off of our Texas bucket list. My sister Hana found a groupon for a primate encounter at the Victoria Zoo. The Zoo is small and almost two hours away so we had never been. 

We had such a great time.  Hana, the boys and I all got to feed and play with all the different primates at the zoo. It really was a one of a kind experience. The staff was unbelievably friendly and accommodating.  We all had an absolute blast. Molly was to small to be inside the enclosure but lucky for us they had a little enclosed area she could sit in her stroller and I could enjoy the experience with the boys and keep an eye on her.

 (they let me bring Molly in for the picture)

After the encounter we walked around the zoo, looked at the other animals, rode the train and fed some birds. Although it was small it was such a quaint and beautiful little zoo that just so happens to sit right in the middle of some gorgeous old historic homes. If you are ever in the area this place is worth a visit. 

our house

The big news is we are Moving. We are so sad to leave Corpus Christi and this house we love. I thought I would give an update of what our house looks like now vs what it looked like when we bought it. Although we haven't done a ton of major updates, we do think overall it has improved.

living room Aug 2011

living room Aug 2014

Molly room Aug 2011

Molly room Aug 2014

Boys room Aug 2011

Boys room Aug 2014

Bathroom Aug 2011

Bathroom Aug 2014

Dining room Aug 2011

Dining room Aug 2014

Kitchen Aug 2011

Kitchen Aug 2014

Master bedroom Aug 2011

Master bedroom Aug 2014

We have so many great memories in this little house. It will be hard to say good-bye next month but we are so grateful for the blessing of living here these past  3 1/2 years. 

preschool

This cute boy started preschool Sept. 3, 2014. He was so excited and so are we. He goes MWF from 9-12pm and it has been a perfect break for both him and I. We are really sad to be leaving this school next month. It is run by a good friend out of her home. His teacher is absolutely wonderful and we couldn't have asked for a better experience.

JOY

You know what pure joy is? It is the addition of this little angel into our home.  

4 months

11lbs
eats 4-5 ounces
sleeps 5-6 hours
rolls front to back and back to front
is always smiling
loves people
talks all the time
loves the swing
loves taking baths
will sit for long periods of time in her bumbo chair
wears 0-3 months and some 3 month clothing
loves her pacifier
only cries when she is tired or hungry
is rarely unhappy or upset
needs to be swaddled to sleep
giggles and laughs when her brothers play with her
is a pure bundle of joy

3 months

3 months

10 lbs (3rd percentile)

19 inches 

Head is 15 inches 

sleeps 7-9 hours

eats 4 ounces every 2 1/2-3 hours

loves the swing

loves to be swaddled

sits up in the bumbo

wearing 0-3 month clothing

loves to be held where she can see out

spits up a massive amount

loves her pacifier

loves to watch her brothers play

rolls over from back to front

is almost always happy

A blessing for Molly

Saturday July 5th, 2014 we blessed our sweet Molly. It is customary in our church to give a baby a name and a blessing shortly after they enter into the world. Nathan was lucky enough to give Molly her blessing and he was joined by several family members and friends. It was a beautiful blessing and I am so grateful for all those who were able to come. We love this little lady an unbelievable amount and couldn't be more grateful for her sweet presence in our family. 

I forgot to bring the memory card for my camera so of course on this really special day all we have is Iphone pictures. Lesson learned.

Our baby turned 3!

I'm not exactly sure how this happened but on June 21st Caleb turned 3. We were headed home from a week in Houston on his birthday so we didn't get to have a big celebration but we did manage a few small things.

We started the morning off with our traditional "donut birthday breakfast." 

Then we took the boys to Chuck-e-cheese, they loved it but I can't say we will be back anytime soon. It takes a special occasion to get us to a place like that. We ended up staying for a really long time because Nathan didn't read the signs and assumed each game took a few tokens, he bought $30.00 worth which is 150 tokens. It turned out that nothing was more then 1 token so we had to play 150 games. It was brutal. 

 After that we headed home for cake, ice cream and to open presents. Caleb and Ethan were so tired that we didn't even get to the cake and ice cream. Even without cake and ice cream we had a wonderful day. We are having such a great time watching this little boy grow up. He has more personality then we could have ever hoped for. We are excited to watch and see what kind of young man he grows into. Hopefully we can foster all his energy into something really great.