I'm sure that no one really cares, but we've had some technical difficulties lately and my wonderful husband has been able to resolve almost all of them! So, I think I may actually be able to start posting again! Thanks, Austin, for putting up with all of my whining and complaining and for helping to alleviate some of these frustrations!
March 2009
So, for Jack's 2nd birthday, both he and I got a present! For the first time in over 8 years, we took the crib down! He had figured out how to climb out in 2.2 seconds, so we decided to bite the bullet and get him a bed. I'm sure most normal moms would view that as a sad moment in motherhood, but I was thrilled! I'm ready to be done with the "baby" stage and move on to the next! You always want what you can't have, so who knows, maybe once I'm completely moved out of it, I may want it back. But, as for now, it's a good place to be. We, however, were not looking forward to the next several months of teaching him to stay in a bed! In the past, the only reason our kids were ever moved to a bed was because we had to use the crib for the baby behind them. So, to voluntarily make this move was a little hard, but it all worked out! He now does a very good job at staying put (for the most part), but I do recall a night where I counted at least 14 times of walking up the stairs to lay him back down! It's a good thing he's cute....
Happy Birthday, Jack! Our birthday tradition is to serve breakfast in bed, but we didn't think that would be a good idea for a two year old in a brand new bed. Maybe next year!
Aebelskivers...if you've never had these, oh, what a shame! They are a piece of fried heaven! My lifelong best friend, Kamae, gave me the pan for our wedding because she remembers having them at our house for the first time! Thanks, Kamae! We've put it to good use!
Forget the fork, I'm just gonna shove the whole thing in...
Ah, the beautiful post-church nap...
This is the best picture I have with him and his cake. He kept snatching pieces of candy from the cake and so in all of the pictures he is chewing! He loves trains and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so this was the best of both worlds for him!
Aunt Kristen singing her lovely rendition of Happy Birthday....it's not a real Andrus birthday without it! You should have seen Jack's face! He kept looking at her like she was crazy! I guess if the shoe fits!:) (This picture looks straight up 70's...what's up with that?)
All of the grandkids! Back L-R: Kamae,Kami, Paige, Talia
Front L-R: Peyton, Nate, Abby, Brady, Spencer, Jack
The gluttons for punishment! Both of my sets of grandparents regularly join us to celebrate! With all of us there, it gets a bit loud and crazy, but they always come back for more! How lucky we are to have both sets of grandparents that live relatively near by, who enjoy relatively good health and who relatively enjoy being with us....relatively!:)
Grandma and Grandpa Andrus
Grandpa and Nana Rader
She sure does have a way with the nieces and nephews! We love you, Kristen!
Check out that tongue!
It's not a true party without an Orton cheeseball!
Awesome gift from Grandpa and Grandma!
Awesome gift from Grandpa and Grandma!
Processing...processing....what is this?
Anxiously waiting...
"My ball!" With so many other anxious kiddos around, he staked his claim really fast!
Nice form, Mr. Man!
Happy Birthday, Jack Jack, Mr. Man, Monkey, Jack Man, Dude-alicious!
How can one little boy be so cute and loveable and so trying at the same time? Terrible two's gained a reputation for a reason and you aren't about to let that reputation down! I have no room to complain about your attitude and demeanor....you are generally a very happy kid. However, you just don't stop! You're so curious and adventurous, but I just have to keep reminding myself that that is how a 2 year old learns about the world around him. You are so kissable and hugable and are willing to shell those out at almost anytime. You've got the pucker and the audible "smack" sound down! I've got you trained to where if you are on my lap and you want to get down, all I have to say is, "Do you want to get down?" and you'll turn to me and plant a big fat one on me! If we are walking down the stairs, you know that if I stop on the stairs, the only way to get me to take the next step is for you to give me a kiss! So, I get about 15 kisses the whole way down the stairs and I could get another 1000 more without getting sick of it. You now give kisses with a hand on each of my cheeks and it just melts my heart! I love that you have three or four other "moms" in the ward and you are always so excited to see them and greet them with a hug, kiss, wave or a low-pitched "hi". You love moving my hair back with your pudgey little fingers all pressed tightly together and blowing in my ear because you know it tickles me and I love to watch your face as you watch mine! You are so good to stand against the wall when you get in trouble and so eager to say sorry and give a hug. Anytime you hear a horn honk, you wave, no matter where we are. A car alarm went off in the parking lot the other day and the horn kept honking and you kept on waving, even though you weren't even sure where the sound was coming from! You are not a man of many words, yet, but the few you can say are just so cute and you have the deepest little two year old voice. Whenever you are just chillin', whether it be in your high chair or sitting on the couch or laying down waiting to get your diaper changed, you always cross your fat little feet. You've done that since you were teeny tiny hanging out in your car seat and Grandma Andrus is always one to notice...she loves it! Your feet are so fat top to bottom that I could only find one pair of sandals that fit you. I don't like them very much at all, but I wasn't left many options. Even then, when I put them on, every time you say, "Ow...tie" (tight). I pretend to loosen them because they are already as loose as they'll go and you fake contentment and move on. And everytime I take them off, I can see the detailed imprint of the inside of your sandal. Poor guy! You love, love, love to be massaged! I was laying in bed with you the other night and I was just tracing my fingers around your cute little face. Your eyes were closed and you were expressionless, so after about 5 or 6 minutes, I naturally assumed you were asleep. No way. You were just thouroughly enjoying laying there. Then I started rubbing your foot and after a couple of minutes I patted your foot and said, "Goodnight, Jack." Without opening your eyes or changing the non-expression on your face, you picked up your other foot and shoved it in my face. I chuckled and I rubbed that one for a little while, too. Then I patted that foot and said, "Goodnight, Jack." Again, without opening your eyes or giving any other indication that you were even still awake, you shoved your hand into my face. I laughed out loud for a good 20 seconds and still no expression from you, but your hand stayed in the air, waiting to be massaged. I rubbed that for a little bit, and just to see if you'd continue, I put it down and patted it and said, "Goodnight, Jack." You didn't let me down! You picked up your other hand and shoved it in my face! I laughed and laughed and you just laid there motionless. After I was done with that one and patted it and told you goodnight for the last time, you opened your eyes slightly, gave me a half smile and rolled over to snuggle in for the night. Oh, I just wanted to eat you up! The other day you were in the shopping cart and you were giving me fives. I would move my hand out of the way right before you hit it. You caught on quickly and started holding my hand in place with one hand and giving it five with the other. Then I put up both hands and you grabbed each hand with each of yours. Then you looked at me like, "Now what do I use to give you five with?" Then you looked back at my hands and gave each one a kiss right in the middle of my palms. I just love to see how your little mind works! Despite the ripping down of curtain rods (for proof, look closely behind him in the first picture of his birthday breakfast), painting yourself, the table, chair and floor with black paint, writing on the wall with silver Sharpie (that still shows through after 3 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint), drawing lovely pictures on my windows with green and yellow crayons, eating all of the candy out of my piano lesson box and leaving trails of wrappers all over the house, dumping out a whole bottle of Wacky Melon shampoo (leaving the bathroom smelling very reminiscent of my Strawberry Shortcake doll from my childhood), plucking off the F9 - F12 keys from my laptop keyboard, using everyone's toothbrushes (even when we are at someone else's house...sorry about that!), spraying aimlessly almost an entire bottle of aerosol hairspray, countless experiences of you playing in toilet water, shoving batteries in the VHS side of the VHS/DVD player, I love you, Jack and I always will! Look at him...how could I not?
You'll always be my little man.
