Happy 9 Month Birthday Anden!!

Anden, what are you up to at 9 months?

~ You weigh 22 pounds and are 28 3/4 inches long ~ 75th percentile in height and weight.

~ You're wearing mostly 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers.

~ You are crawling everywhere and you are into everything!

~ You are pulling up on everything... your crib, the chairs and barstools in the kitchen, the couch, your little activity table, the end table in the living room, the piano bench, everything!

~ You babble all the time. Mostly mom-ma, mom-ma, mom-ma, mom-ma... I love it!

Kaylee and Jake both said "Da" first, so this is extra special!

~ You hum yourself to sleep... whether it's in your bed, in the car, or even at church. Very sweet!

~ You love to be sung to. You really love "Jesus Loves Me," and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

~ You've started playing, "Peek-a-boo," and it's the cutest thing ever! The other day we played it for at least 5 minutes and each time you'd laugh as if it was the first time we'd ever done it! As soon as anyone says, "Where's Anden," you immediately pull a blanket over your head or lay your head down and hide your eyes. Here you are in your highchair playing Peek-a-boo just now.

~ Where's Anden???? ~

~ Peek-a-boo!! ~


~ You love it when we imitate you. It cracks you up. You also laugh when we click our tongue at you.

~ You eat 3 meals a day and drink four 6-7 oz. bottles a day.

~ You're getting to be a very picky eater when it comes to your baby food veggies... probably because we've started giving you table foods... so far just steamed veggies, mashed potatoes, fries, and apple cinnamon muffins.

~ You're still so laid back, except when it's time to eat. You get so excited and you wave your arms as if you can't get the food in fast enough.

~ You usually get up around 7:00, take two naps a day, and you're sleeping through the night for the most part. Every now and then you still wake up around 5:30, but we can usually just change your diaper and lay you back down.

~ The babysitter has nicknamed you "The Destroyer." Need I say more?

What were you doing 11 years ago today?

What was I doing you ask? Well, since you asked, it just so happens that 11 years ago today, I fell head over heels for a farmboy. We'd met the day before at a party that I went to with some friends. Skip over this next part mom... I won't lie, there may have been some drinking and dancing on a bar to some John Mellenkamp involved, but that's it. :-) We talked, I found out he was majoring in Ag, I mentioned I was taking an AG Econ class and found out that he was my TA! I slipped him my number (smart girl since I was barely pulling a C in the class), thinking he'd never in a million years remember it because let's just say he'd had more to drink than I'd had...

So fast forward to the next day. My phone rings bright and early, that should have been a clue in and of itself to run as fast as I could in the other direction because well, 11 years ago I kind of enjoyed sleeping in... so anyhow, my phone rings and it's him asking if I wanted to come over for dinner with some mutual friends.

So... here's where it gets good. We get there and the food is already cooking. Oh my did it ever smell good. There was barbecue, there was some corn, baked potatoes, all kinds of great food. Yummy, right? Well, let's back up a bit here... being the poor college farm boys that they were, the only things they bought at the store were ketchup, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and Busch Light. You know that's a staple right? They'd bring meat from home, meat that had been butchered and packaged at home... remember that part. So we're all making small talk, and there on the counter lays a used, empty Ziploc baggie with the words, "Ground hog."

You know there are moments in your life that are life changing. This was one of them for me. This was nearly a deal breaker. There was no way on God's green earth that I was eating a groundhog. I don't care how much barbecue sauce and brown sugar you pour on it, it's still a nasty old ground hog! But rather than ducking and running, I chose to just eat corn and potatoes that night. They tried as best they could to nicely explain that it was sausage (you know the kind from a hog) but by that time I was convinced these cute farm boys were from another planet that ate groundhog (the rodent.)

Thankfully, he didn't give up on this crazy city girl. Our next date we went out to eat to a REAL restaurant where I knew what I was eating. And well, the rest is history! Not only did I land a great guy 11 years ago today, I also ended up with a B in my Ag Econ class that semester. :-)

Oh and guess what we ate for breakfast this morning... eggs and sausage... you know the kind that comes from ground hogs. :-)

Boiler Up!!

Had a great time at the Purdue/Iowa game on Saturday with our friends Brian and Sara. Just before the game we spotted none other than Gene Keady a few rows down from us. Does he look excited to meet us or what?!?!?!

My Little Magician

Anden is now officially mobile... as in crawling EvErYwHeRe!!! And he likes to pretend to be a little magician too... disappearing acts and all. Seconds before this picture was taken, he was around the corner in the office, playing with some toys while I checked a few emails... I glanced down and he was gone. Is it just me or does that smile spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E?

Dicken's Village

Check out our new Dicken's Village given to us by my mom. It was hers and she was tired of putting it out each year. We decided to put it above our kitchen cabinets and for now we're planning on leaving it out year-round.

Kaylee enjoyed helping decide where to place each piece. She insisted the church and school had to be next to each other because our church and school are next to each other. Kaylee and Jake agreed that their favorite piece is the Candy Shop. Thanks Mom! We love it! Can't wait till you're down next time to see it.

Frosty the Snowman

Thanks to our cousin Benny for the snowman kit. He lives in Michigan so he would know what it takes to build a good snowman. We finally had a wet snow last night and were able to put it to good use! We Love You and Miss You!

Pictured are Kaylee, Molly (a friend of Kaylee's) and Jake

Go Colt's!!

I would have taken one picture of all three if I could have... BUT we only have TWO Colt's jerseys. Can you guess who's sharing jerseys?

~ Cheerleader ~

~ Wide Receiver ~

~ Linebacker ~

You guessed it... Jake and Anden are both wearing the Size 3T jersey. We knew it was bound to happen given Jake's squirrelly little self and Anden's not so squirrelly little self, but we never thought it would happen this soon. Four and a half years between them and they're sharing clothes. Too funny!

We are so excited for Sunday night! Can't wait!