Christmas Vacation

We went to Ohio for Christmas this year and it was wonderful. Claire was a champ on the planes, she only cried when we were flying out of Salt Lake. Poor girl is all stuffy and I'm sure her ears didn't pop as easily as she'd like. She slept or played on all of the other flights. She was just way too nice to us and it was wonderful since we had to stay FOREVER in Chicago when we were flying out. The only thing that's nice about the Chicago O'Hare airport is that they have revolving plastic seat covers on the toilets. That's it.

We got to play with Claire's cousins all week and I'd have to say that I have the cutest niece and nephews! I wish I got to chase them around a little more and really play with them, but something happened when I became a mom. I'm either lazy, tired, or both. Running around in a circle just doesn't sound that wonderful to me sometimes. Maybe next time. We played some games and I slaughtered everyone in ticket to ride. I think I won by 60 points or something . :) We ate the most wonderful ice cream cake from the Dairy Queen. Oh, so yummy! I love it when ice cream cake isn't ruined by cake. I ate WAY too many cookies and I'm all sweeted out. We went shopping with all of our christmas money and I think I got some steals. Their Banana Republic outlet is oh so wonderful. A dress for $25, pants for $9, a $130 sweater for $50. Wahoo! :) I heart banana. Brian gave me money to buy tickets to Les Miserables!!!! The off broadway show will be here in June, so we'll buy tickets as soon as they're on sale! I'm so excited! I've always wanted to see Les Miserables!

Claire, as you can imagine, ran up and ripped open every gift on Christmas morning. Lie. She only made it through an hour of presents before she had to take a nap. I enjoyed her gifts though. She got lots of books. I love reading to her. Brian and I definitely got spoiled by his parents! We got lots of stuff! Cd's, movies, books, clothes, a new and bigger fish tank for Brian, jewelry, and Diane made me such a beautiful cross-stitch of the Salt Lake Temple. It's' beautiful and so much work! We really had a wonderful time.

Claire is now rolling over and over and over. Just now I turned around to see her playing on her play mat, but instead she had rolled all the way into the kitchen. I'm sure she'll be crawling around before I know it. She's much better at sitting up, although she still falls over sideways. She has also graduated to sleeping in her crib! I don't know why it took me so long. Guess I have denial issues about her growing up. I'm sure she likes all the space and she looks adorable in there. It's nice to have my room back though.

Another improvement is that we're still on Ohio time, meaning that Claire goes to bed at 8:30 and wakes up at 6:30. This way we have a couple hours of me and Brian time and then we go to bed at 10:30. I love it. It's a way better schedule, I think. Hopefully it lasts. I'd like it to last for a long time.

Well, here are some pictures. They are as out of order as my blogging was in this post, but they're still pictures.

All the boys got remote control cars. (Sorry about the horrible glare, Brik.)

Cute Simon loves playing the piano with Grandpa

Iris sure likes her cousin, Baby Claire

I love these pictures. She would watch the train go around and around. Brian bought a train set when we got home. :)

She loves the colors in this book.

Iris claimed these puppets as her own although they were meant for all three kids. She calls them her babies and sticks them on her hands and feet. Word is that she now sleeps with them. She's so cute!

'nuff said. SOOOO CUTE!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!!!

On To Christmas....Finally!!!

The past 4 days have been CRAZY!!! Crazy frenzy of a day to get the house, baby, and us ready for a couple of vacations. Friday we had to go to two wedding receptions and then a family party the next day. Tons of washing, cleaning, and packing to do just to get ready. Then....with all of the stupid traffic, it took us an hour and a half to get from Provo to Draper. Misery. All with a screaming little girl. Poor thing.

Now, Monday, doing it all over again, but this time was getting for a week long vacation in Ohio. Sweet goodness, I can't wait to get away and relax a little. Hopefully it will feel a little more like Christmas when I'm not running around doing a million things.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Utlilty Rage

If you have ever been to my apartment, you'll know that it is C-O-L-D! If you know me as a person, then you'll know that I like my surroundings a little bit on the cooler side, but even my apartment is cold for me. Anyway, if we turn our thermostat to 75, it's probably really like 68 degrees. CHILLY! It's also hard with a baby because she's always cold in our house and I can't get her poor little legs warm. On top of it being cold, our winter GAS bill is between $110.00 and $160.00. RIDICULOUS!!! My mother doesn't even pay that much for their house, and we live in an apartment.

It makes me frustrated to say the very least. So, I had Questar come and do a home energy audit to see if our furnace is even working properly. Much to my dismay (I wanted it replaced), the furnace is 80% efficient; however, it's what is called a "reverse-flow" furnace meaning that the vents are located at the top of the wall instead of the bottom, so it's sucking warm air in instead of cold air. Stupid. What else did they say? Our water heater needs to be replaced, our fireplace is "terrible" and "the worst you can have", our sliding glass door is "absolutely terrible" (which we already knew because we can feel the draft) and that there is really no way to improve our heat unless we put tons of money into it. We can put plastic over the window's and put insulation in the fireplace...that's it. Since our building is so old, the lame-o's in the 70's built things all wrong. they cemented the air ducts in the ground, so they are not only surrounded by the cold ground, they are not insulated, and if there is an air leak then, oops, too bad, you're out of luck unless you want to jackhammer the whole place and fix it. Oh, and there is no insulation in the walls because, once again, those genuis' loved to use cinderblock. I hate cinderblock. So, we're looking for a new place to live and trying to find a good deal. I mean, we have it pretty good here since we get a family discount so it might be cheaper than anything we can find, but I don't like paying $160 for an already cold house.

Anyway, this is me raging.

My Little Hottie

She is just that cute!

Thanks Linds for these ADORABLE sunglasses! They finally fit her and she thinks they're really fun to look through. She was looking all around and trying to figure it out. So funny.

Sleepy Bear(s)

She LOVES the BabyBjorn! Loves it! She always falls asleep in it, but I love how her face is super scrunched here.

I thought this was darling. She never falls asleep on Brian, but Brian also never takes naps, so this was a special moment for me.

Nothing like falling asleep with a finger in your mouth. Must be a yummy finger.

She always pulls things over her head, but can't get out of it. However, today it was a sedative because she fell asleep with her dress over her head twice. Love her.

Scared

Have you even been scared to do something because of the overwhelming fear of failure? So, I'm considering opening up an etsy shop for little things that I've been making. I think they're cute, but what if other people think they're chincy or not worth buying? What if I'm a big fat failure at attempting to sell something online. I'm scared and I feel like an idiot for being scared.

Since I've been at home, I've been thinking of things I can do to help with finances. Of course I'm teaching piano lessons and I do like it, but I have this little creative bug inside of me that is screaming to get out. It's not even really about the money right now, it's more because I like making things and I think they're cute enough that I would buy it if someone else was selling it. Is that ridiculous? No? Maybe? I don't know. I've been making headbands, skirts, crocheting baby shoes, making baby headbands and flowers and I think they're cute. Should I even attempt or should I just let the opportunity pass me by. I know that if I don't do it, then of course I'll never succeed at it and/or I'll never know the outcome if I tried, but it's I'm a little overwhelmed with putting myself out there. (Wow....I think these feelings reflect what I felt when I was in the dating scene. Overwhelming, confusion, panic, scared.... maybe I'm afraid of dating an etsy shop.)

Anyway.... what do you think?

4 months

Weight: 16 lbs. 2 oz. = 92%

Height: 24.25 in. = 48%

Head: 42.3 cm. = 82%

Claire is a happy, chubby, average little baby with a slightly large head. Everything looks great. She did have her shots on Monday, which has thrown her off schedule a little bit. I never thought I'd like having a schedule so much. Go figure. I think it helps me balance my life a little bit better. However, she has been super clingy, doesn't want to go to bed, but worst of all, she's had a stuffy nose and not feeling so great. She hasn't learned how to manage her mucus, so she breathes in and chokes on her drainage and starts coughing. Putting her to bed has been quite ridiculous since then. For example, every time we laid her down in her cradle she would start gagging and coughing, but when we laid her on our bed....sleep. Hmmm..... curious. Little stinker wouldn't sleep in her own bed. By about 2 I was desperate for her to sleep, so I told Brian to go to bed and I would camp out on the couch until she went to sleep. She feel asleep within a half hour, I set her down on the couch. Sleep. GOAL! YAY! However, if I tried to move her, she'd wake right back up. I ended up sleeping on the ground while all 24 inches of Claire slept on the couch. We can see who's boss around our house.

I love that little stinker so much. Sometimes I even start missing her when she's right next to me. Weird. I think I need to start getting over the whole super attatched, over-protective parent thing. I mean, come on. I'm even having a hard time getting used to the idea of her sleeping in a different room. I blame my lamaze class for fear of SIDS, but I just like to know that she's there. Trust me, I'll get there. I'm having her take her naps in her room and she really likes how colorful her crib is, so I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

So, what does she do at 4 months?

• Refuses to take her pacifier and a bottle. I keep trying, but she just spits it out. She used to take them both so well. Maybe she figured out that bottles=parents on dates and she doesn't like that.
• Giggles a lot when we tickle her, but she's starting to laugh on her own now.
• Rolls over
• She's as feisty as can be.
• Still sleeping through the night and taking naps at the right times. Thank goodness!
• She loves to watch TV. I totally feel like a bad parent for this one. I don't want my kids to only watch TV, so I have stopped watching so much in an effort to be more creative with my parenting.
• She's really starting to like me reading to her! I LOVE this. I love to read to little kids and make up stupid accents for the characters. Kids don't care what you sound like, so I don't have to be embarrassed. The one time I read a book to Brian, he looked at me like I was a nut. That is when our reading endeavors ended.
• She loves to suck on anything. My face, her fingers, her toys, but most of all-fabric. My shoulders are usually soaked and her dresses on Sunday are more like a slip-n-slide with her drool all over it. Bibs were a great invention.
• Starting to pull on my hair and earrings. I'll count myself lucky because I've had my earrings ripped out before and it's not that painful, so I'm not too scared. She hasn't started going for my food yet, so that's nice as well.

Well, that's all I can think of. They really do grow up way too fast. Sometimes I'd like to slow life down a little, have it be summer all the time to maximize our playing possibilities, and have her be little forever.

Holiday Cards

I have always been one of those people that want to do holiday cards, but just never seem to get around to it. Last year I was so appreciative of everyone who sent us one because it’s nice to know that people are thinking about you during the holidays. Now, this year I especially wanted to get some holiday cards out because we have a cute new face in our family and of course I want everyone to see her chubby little cheeks, but due to me not working, I wasn’t going to be able to afford to send any. However, due to wonderful Shutterfly and their AWESOME holiday 50 card giveaway, everyone can see Claire’s adorable face!

So, they have so many adorable cards that it took me quite a while to go through all of them. After doing that and having Brian's input, I have narrowed it down to a couple. I love this With Love Blue Christmas Card and the Holly Frame. I haven't narrowed it down, but I think I just love the first one since I can have multiple pictures on there. I love that it kind of reflects me as a scrapbook lover who is also in love with posting pictures of my cute family. I like the other because it's simple and classic. Could it be that the cute little girl in the picture sells it? Maybe so. :) If my picks aren't your favorite, just start pursuing and I know you'll fall in love with them. I used Shutterfly right after Claire was born and it was SOOOO easy. I didn't have to walk anywhere (thank goodness) and they were shipped right to me. That is the way that picture developing should be! I love them! Oh, and now that they're doing this wonderful offer, I love them even more!

I also LOVE these holiday cards: the penguin one stole my heart from the beginning. Come on, how cute are those! It's like they have your holidays covered and you don't even have to go anywhere. Wahoo for no waiting in lines at the store!

Thanks Shutterfly! I love you! If you want to participate in this wonderful offer, just click here!

Happy Holidays!

Claire Laughs!

She is just about the CUTEST thing that ever lived. :) I wonder if her laugh will become more girly as she gets older. Haha.

Just ignore my ridiculous talking.

Claire Sleeps. This is just funny to me because it really shows off her huge double chin when she squishes her face.

Brian thinks this is disgusting, but this is what happened in church the other day. I was holding her up just listening to the lesson and the next thing I know, she's sucking on my chin. Haha. I think it's funny.

Wow, if you made it through all of these videos you either have to be my mom or Lindsey. Haha. I just think they're so cute!

Things I Just Don't Get

#1: The Skinny Jean

This is one thing that I know I could get a lot of crap for, but I just do not get skinny jeans. Brian and I saw a girl on the sidewalk with skinny jeans and they just look sooooo uncomfortable. I don't like skin tight things. Never have. Probably never will. I like my legs to breathe a little bit and jeans that form to your body just don't sound comfy. I really only think they look cute with boots. You ain't gonna see these thighs in skinny jeans. Ever.

#2: Washable nursing pads

Now, I can definitely see the sense in these, but I cannot wear them to bed. I wake up soaked and so is my bed. If you know a trick to these, please let me know. I could save a lot of money if I could solve that problem.

#3: Xbox Achievements

Really? You have to get them every single day so that you cannot possibly go a day without playing Halo? Really? I just don't get it. Is it really that important? Brian once made me play halo with him so that I could stand still in one spot. Then he dropped a tank on my head. Achievement unlocked. He rejoiced. Ok....

#4: Getting a pet so you can "try out parenting"

What? When did a baby have the equal responsibility of having a cat? I have several friends/family participating in this form of "parenting" and I'm completely at a loss for this way of thinking. If I leave my kitten at home then I'm considered a normal person. If I leave my baby at home, then I would be a terrible parent. I can't take pets in the store, so they stay in the car. Doing that with a baby would get me a nice jail cell and/or my children taken away from me. Sorry, I do not think that having a pet is like parenting at all. They are so completely different.

#5: Other people's junk being treasures

I totally get yard sales, sure. I've gotten quite a few baby things for a lot cheaper than in the store and they are just gently used. This is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about buying a coat at a yard sale when I have 10 other coats at home. Do you need another one? Or buying the ugliest lamp you've ever seen just because it was cheap.... Sometimes I think that they are getting rid of it for a reason and that no one should have it. I don't know. That's just me.

Maybe someday I'll "get" these things. I used to hate flare jeans and now I love 'em. Could it be because wide legs were no longer sold (pity, they were comfortable) and I had to conform to the styles in the stores? Maybe.

We Be Po' Folk!

Bills= My Life's Frustrations

None of us like bills, right? Correct! Well, last night I was checking to see how many minutes we have left on our phone (in an effort to be conservative) and I was shocked by our HUGE phone bill! I called our provider and shared my frustrations. He was a very nice man and took some charges off that weren't supposed to be there, but it didn't make our bill small exactly because I had gone over on our minutes last month from one pretty long phone call to a friend. URGGGG! I was SOOOO mad that I even told myself that I would no longer be talking to my friends (relax guys...just an angry moment). Then the rampage began. I was mad. I was mad at bills, mad at our phones, mad at paying WAY too much for utilities because our blasted apartment can't keep heat in. So what did I do? I turned the water heater down because we did this last year and it saved us tons of money. It's a hassle to turn it down in the day and wake up early to turn it up for showering, then I called Brian and told him that I want to get rid of everything we are paying for.

This is what happened today. One, I forgot to turn up the water heater until Brian said, "Hey, I think the pilot light is out because my shower was cold." Haha. I just laughed, but felt bad and turned it back up to normal. Second, we have cancelled texting. Yes, that's right. We have also blocked all texts from being received, so if you do text me, I will not get it. Since we do not have a lot of money to spare....correction....any money to spare, we are really trying to save wherever possible. We also went down to the smallest amount of minutes you can have, so basically you will have to call after 9 pm to talk. Don't worry, there is always skyping for FREE! :) Sorry everyone that loves to text. Thus is the life of being poor. It's worth it though because I love staying home with Claire!

Bacon Smell

It all started in middle school. I got on the bus and sat by my friend Amber. As she started talking I smelled bacon, but it didn't smell super good. It just smelled. Then she told me that her mom made yummy bacon for breakfast. It was then and there that I vowed to never smell like bacon for a full school day. Ever.

After the Amber incident, when my mom made breakfast meats, I would put a robe on, beanie on my head, pj's underneath. After breakfast I would hurry and change my clothes, fix my beanie hair and race out the door so I wouldn't smell of bacon/sausage. I really love to eat them, but the smell stays with you all day and it starts to smell stale and gross. Just didn't make for the attractive perfume smell that I liked.

I've come a long way in the category of bacon smells. I would like to attribute this step to marriage. Now that I don't HAVE to smell yummy 24/7 in hopes to meet some hot babe, I don't really care if I smell like bacon. My hot babe will love me if I smell like bacon or vanilla lace. Thank you marriage! Breakfast is much easier to eat now-a-days!

Bad Day Anyone?

This week has been a crazy week, I'll give you that, but today took the cake for things gone wrong. Not for me, mind you, but for everyone else.

Let's start with Claire. Picked her up this morning....poop everywhere. Bed, pj's...everything covered. At least she was happy about it, so it wasn't really too bad.

Second, Brian's brother Brik is in town for the week as he's looking at schools in Utah. He had a ice cream date with a friend from his hometown. We sat at Dairy Queen for 45 minutes waiting, calling, waiting, calling. Nothing. She never came and I think he was pretty bummed about it since he had been looking forward to it all week. Then, he had another friend from Cincinnati invite him to the BYU basketball game this evening. They got there, tickets sold out. He was stuck there, so Brian had to go get him.

Third, poor Kara. We had a shopping date planned for tonight so we could get out and find her some work pants. I was just going along for some friendly support and pretty excited about it too. She calls me up and tells me that she lost her purse in between yesterday and today. Lost purse meant lost wallet that meant no shopping. Darn. I felt so bad that she lost her purse though! That is something a woman should never lose. While telling me about her lost purse....putt.....putt......putt....she runs out of gas and is stranded in the middle of the street. Hahaha....couldn't help but laugh at this unfortunate event. I told her that Brian could go save her since I was making dinner (guess he was the picker upper tonight), push the car out of the street and buy her some gas since she, again, had no wallet to buy gas. She also had to take care of a leak at the apt. complex she manages. After that was all taken care of, she came over, we chatted, looked up stuff on etsy, and then she was informed that the leak needed to be addressed tonight, so I took her up to the apartments. When we arrive....

(Fourth) my brother calls in distress about some dating issues that I will not address since it's really none of my business to disclose the details. Today has just gone wrong for everyone I guess.

Fifth, Brian calls as I'm talking to brother about dating and Claire is crying, no, SCREAMING in the background. Most people wouldn't be bothered by this, but Brian has a really hard time with a screaming Claire. She had been crying for about 30 minutes and totally worn out by the time I got home. Just a stubborn burp that needed to come out. After a burp and some food she is off to sleep. Told you that someone would have some emotional upheaval. Poor Claire.

In conclusion, I'm so sorry to all of you who had a bad Friday. It wasn't bad for me...just a long day. I hope all of your Saturdays are much better! Happy weekend.

Look at my cutie!!!

She is so adorable! I can't even express how much I love her! She is so sweet and I love to kiss her cheeks a million times per day. She makes me so incredibly happy. Thanks so much to Kayla for taking these SUPER cute pictures!!!

Look at those cute little feet!

Oh, I'm so glad she thinks I'm funny sometimes. I wanted her to smile so badly!

Oh, I love her!

Blehhhhh! Look mom, I have the longest baby tongue ever seen.

Uh....is it ok to eat a finger that are the size of sausage links? Hope so, cause it's good!

I love these sooo very much! Kayla, you do such an incredible job! Thank you again!

Peek-a-boo blanket

She is so funny with yarn. She's in this phase where she has to shove everything in her face, but normal fabric isn't as grippy.

Here she is staring at the blanket I just took away.

She just grabs it and hides underneath.

Peek-a-boo!

What a cutie!

Schedule Slaughter

What was the first thing that came to your mind? If you thought "vacation" or "daylight savings time," then you must have children. We all like these two events (especially the fall back an hour), right? Hm.... Let's talk.

Brian and I took a little road trip to the armpit of the United States on Thursday. We drove down to Escalante, Utah. Ever heard of it? If so, it's because Bill Clinton wasted his time on The Grand Staircase. It's not even a Staircase. They're mountains and ugly ones at that. Well, this armpit is where I spent the first 5 years of my life. It's a funny little place and you'll laugh at it if you ever go there. However, some of the mountains are beautiful and it's a granola's paradise. Anyway, my sweet Grandpa passed away, so we drove down to his funeral. Claire did sooooo wonderfully. Slept all 3 hours on the way down to Parowan where we spent the night at my cousins. That night, Claire woke up at 4:30 just to have a little snack. She ended up spending the next two hours in bed with us because we set up her pack-n-play wrong and she just sunk to the middle of it. Kind of funny actually. Then we left at 6:30 and she slept the next two hours. When we got to the church she did not eat very much and then couldn't eat until the service was over. She did marvelously and I'm so grateful because funerals are never easy. She was kind of a grumpy bear, but I would be too if I was that hungry. After the lunch in she was so wiped out that she immediately fell asleep in my arms while trying to get a 4 generation picture. Thanks Claire. I would have liked her eyes open, but at least we got one. We left as soon as she fell asleep 'cause we wanted to drive as much as we could without a screaming baby. She slept for another 3 hours and then I gave her a bottle and then she played with her burp rag until we got home. She was an absolute gem.

Why did I give you all of these uninteresting details? Because my baby, who once slept through the night, is waking up 2 to 3 times per night. Since that is now compounded with daylight savings, I will be VERY happy when she resumes her normal sleeping habits.

End of my long, boring story. :)

Happy Halloween....No, Merry Christmas!!

Everyone is just getting their Halloween posts up. Well, I don't have pictures of Halloween yet. My camera died, so I'm still waiting to get them from my mom. In the meantime, we are doing the holidays Anderson style, which means that we put up our Christmas tree yesterday for Family Home Evening! :) Claire didn't stare at it as much as I thought she would, but she enjoyed it. We watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas while we were decorating and both Brian and Claire looked like a couple of fat bums on the couch watching the movie.

My two couch potatoes.

This is Claire "watching" the movie (she only made it about 5 minutes before she wanted to do something fun). I love how her fat cheeks just sit on her body! :)

Staring at the tree.

We got this hat from my mother-in-law and I think it's the funniest thing! I love her in it.

Goodbye 1-800-Contacts!

Remember how I hated my job? Well, I'm kind of sad to see it go. I know. It's one of those things that you appreciate after it's gone. I hate it when that happens. :)

Seriously though, I'm so grateful that I can stay at home with Claire all the time. I was going to try and work nights, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it because I'm already pretty darn tired as it is. I would look at my computer every day and it was as if I was looking at my sleep's impending doom lurking on my computer desk. Now that I've turned my computer and badge in, it's as if this weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. No more deciding if I should pick up while Claire is sleeping, but worrying that she would wake up the moment I got on the phone. No more feeling guilty that I didn't wake up at 5 am to earn a few extra bucks. No more huge, double screen computer taking up my entire computer desk. Our Mac is a happy Mac when it is all alone on the desk with only one actual cord that goes to the wall, one for the keyboard and one for the mouse. (I can't even tell you how much I hate pc's because of the enormous amount of cords.....work computer's especially. It had about 5,000.)

So, I took the computer in tonight. It was kind of sad. I used my badge to enter the front doors. To my right was the training area where I met the weirdest guy in my training class and actually dated him. Fun guy, but can we say, "Dodged that bullet!" Thanks Cole, we had some good times. Then I went into the elevator where he once told me that if I didn't give his hat back to him, then he would be kissing me soon. Ok....gave the hat back quickly. Up to the call center floor where Jenny and I would talk, and talk, and talk, then laugh, then eat a horribly fattening cookie, then leave early so we could go buy some hideously long earrings. We had paper snowball fights, I drew pictures, I slept under my desk after late night kissing, I cursed the people on the phones, I played board games on a slow New Year's day shift, I chatted with old friends, I did homework, I played addictinggames.com, I chatted with customers for over an hour about gospel stuff (only once) and we're now facebook friends, I worked 60 hour weeks to pay for tuition, I ate the cafeteria's disgusting food and am still alive, I watched movie's on the clock, I got paid.....sigh. 1-800-contacts, you've been good to me. I will miss those memories.

Goodbye forever! It's been a good 5 years. I won't really miss you all that much, but I've been grateful. Thanks!

Happy Halloween!!!!

Claire is a panda bear this year for halloween. This was taken a few weeks ago, but I'll post pictures of her on the actual day when we go trick or treating tomorrow. We're all panda's; however, Brian and my costume aren't that great.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!