Am I missing anyone?

This picture makes me laugh. This is what Jack has to sleep with every night. Of course his blue and yellow bears and Wolfy still stand as the favorites, all the others are just as important to him when he is going to bed. And right now he is in love with this little pumpkin Halloween decoration and has even found a spot for it in his bed. He hardly has room for himself! Maybe we need to get him a bigger bed? :) It also makes me laugh that "Blue" and "Yellow" as he calls them, HAVE to be upside down. He lays on top of them. I'm not sure why he even has a pillow. The good thing though, is that when we travel, he is okay to just have Blue, Yellow, and Wolfy. Thank heavens!

NYC

Some of my very first friends that I ever made here in Cleveland and I have been wanting to go on a trip for a very long time. Now since three of them are pregnant, and it is our last year here, we decided it was now or never! With my mom and dad in NY, we thought it would be fun to go and stay with them. We saw so many fun things, walked until the preggo girls couldn't walk anymore, got very little sleep, and talked and laughed all weekend. It was great, especially since we left the kiddos at home!

The LDS temple, right in all the craziness of NYC.

Having fun in Central Park...

It's pretty hilarious when you try and get three pregnant girls to jump off the ground. Brittany and Hollie are due in a couple months, even though they don't look like it in these pictures.

Taylor and Hollie

I almost had to catch Brittany. Our faces crack me up in this picture!! We could not stop laughing.

It only took us 25 tries to get a good one. :)

Time Square

Views from the top of the Rockefeller center.

We even managed to get around on the subway alright and saw some pretty crazy people.

We took the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.

The famous Plaza Hotel. The lobby is so beautiful! Maybe one day we will spend the $1200 and stay a night in their CHEAPEST room. But since we are still in dental school and years away from being settled and actually making any kind of money, I guess we will just walk around the lobby and dream.

5th Ave.

It's crazy to me that anyone can afford to buy anything on this street! A $2300 bag isn't quite in my budget. Very fun to look at though.

We also went to my mom and dad's branch and Hollie and I did a musical number for them. I'm glad Hollie said she would do it with me because my dad said if she didn't than I was on my own. Thanks Hollie!

It was really fun for me to see my mom and dad in their life in NY. I read all of their emails and their blog but it was great to see them in action and see the places that they talk about. I'm so glad we are going back there for Thanksgiving!

Thanks for letting us invade your cute little apartment!

Patterson's!!

What more can I say about Patterson's that I haven't already? I love it there! This is definitely on the top of my list of things I will miss in Ohio. The weather was so nice and the leaves were beautiful! It really was a prefect day to go. Which is what everyone else was thinking too....it was packed!

Cruising around :)

He thinks he needs our hands to walk, but we are pretty sure he could do it on his own if he really wanted to.

This year they planted a big sunflower field. It was so pretty.

Anderson thinking he's a big boy.

Anderson played in this sand box for so long. Until he started eating it by the handful. Then we decided it was time to get out.

I have a picture of Jack on this tractor from two years ago. You will have to look at it and see how much he has grown! So sad.

I feel like the leaves haven't been as great this year, but it was still so beautiful out there.

We will miss you Patterson's!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Botanical Gardens

We went to the Botanical Gardens with our neighbor who lives across the street. She had been there before but I cannot believe this was our first time. I hate discovering new things in our last year! It is right down by the dental school and also by Jack's school. There are outdoor gardens to walk through, and a children's garden. Jack and Anderson loved the big sand pit. They were so dirty after, but I guess that means they were having fun, right?

Little Birk was so good and slept through most of it.

His middle name is Anderson. :)

The boys LOVE him! Jack is always wanting to see baby Birk.

They have an atrium inside with TONS of butterflies. You walk through and there are butterflies everywhere. It is so fun! The picture above is all of the cocoons waiting to hatch.

It was such a fun place. Too bad we haven't known about it the past three years!

Presents

Anderson was too tired to actually enjoy opening presents on his birthday so we saved them for the next morning. He was so happy and very cute to watch. Of course Jack was right there with him "helping" him open them. :) That first picture looks kind of funny with my hair hanging down by him but I thought his smile was too cute to miss!

He was loving it, and we were loving that face! So cute!

The whole time Anderson was opening presents, Jack kept saying, "Look what Grandma sent me!!" He didn't quite understand that even though he does get things in the mail from his grandmas a lot, this time, it was all about Anderson.

Thanks for the presents everyone!

One

October 2, 2009

How is it possible that Anderson in one? I just cannot believe that it was a year ago that we brought this sweet little guy home and into our lives. He has been so wonderful and such a great baby.

I remember how bad we wanted him to have lots of dark hair but we were so surprised when he actually did.

We couldn't decide on a name right away and it wasn't until we had to fill out the papers at the hospital that we actually came to an agreement. Anderson Kade :) It was cold and rainy the day he was born, exactly like it is today on his birthday. We showed up early to the hospital, things went smoothly, and by 3:30pm he was born. I felt great, he was healthy, and things were good. And now here we are, a year later and he is just as sweet as he was the day he was born.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

12 months

He still doesn't have any teeth. He cruises around the furniture and will stand for a few seconds on his own, but can't walk without help. He LOVES his brother Jack. They play and laugh and scream at each other. Anderson has quite the scream, and Jack loves to copy him. He loves to play with phones, remotes, balls, and cars. He is now climbing the stairs, and has fallen once, but Justin was at the bottom to catch him, thank heavens! He loves Justin. A lot of the time he will prefer him over me, depending on his mood. Especially right when Justin gets home. He hurries over to the door and doesn't want Justin to put him down. If you ask him what a specific animal says, he will usually growl. Unless you ask him what a doggy says and then he will make a little barking sound. His hair is growing at a rapid speed and is in need of a second haircut. He has always been small as far as weight goes, and I am anxious to see his stats at his 12 month check up and find out if he has made it past the 5th percentile yet. He is getting pickier with his foods and does not eat as well as Jack did. I have to secretly give him veggies or he will not eat them. He is still taking two naps a day and is usually very happy. So far, in his first year of life he has traveled to Seattle, WA (2x), Salt Lake, UT, Las Vegas, NV, Disneyland, Washington DC, Boston, MA, Palmyra, NY, New Port, RI, Nashville, TN, Erie and Pittsburgh, PA, and various parts of Ohio. It has been a busy year, and so much fun.

Thanks for being such a sweet boy Anderson!!!

Hopefully you stay sweet and innocent for a long time. :)