Oh the Week I've had...!!

So to start my week off... my treadmill breaks, apparently the motor went ca-poot, which almost never happens and it why it is warrantied for 25 yrs! Great..looks like I got the one-in-a-million dud. so they shipped me a new one..(you mean "I" have to put it back on??) yep! Then later that night, Delia goes to grab some food off a hot pan from the oven and burns herself..pretty bad!

Then tues morning it is evident that the kiddos are sick with a cold. it's been affecting Andrew more than Delia. so preshcool...and my hair appt is cancelled!

Then later that night my sweet visiting teacher calls to ask if she can come visit, I tell her mornings work best and she says "okay, what about 9 am?" sure I say, but quickly regret it because 1) I usually don't get up until 8:45-9 am( I know...lucky me) and the kids are sick and will most likely be up during the night(which they were) so that will kill me. I consider calling her when my alarm goes off at 8 am to push the time back to 10:30 am, but I talk myself out of it and drag my tired body out of bed. I'm ready the kids are ready, and at 9:25 am, she calls to tell me she forgot and was in a city about 30 mins away. okay, that's alright, I've been there!

Then I decide to check Delia's burn since I let her keep the guaze pad I had taped over it. As I peel it off, a large chunk of skin comes with it!! No she has an open would that I do not want to get infected and we have no more "large bandages" to cover it...oh, and Delia is having a conniption fit over it all!!

So I decide to take advantage of the morning that I have and run to target to get some things(including bandages). Of course when I walk into the store I see their springs line clothing..so I have to try some things on. while in the dressing room, Delia tells me she has to go #2...so I tell her hold it for a little longer I have 2 more shirts to try on. so as I'm rounding up everything, she then tells me..."but mom, I already went!" what??!! greeeeeaaat! By this time Andrew is really getting fussy and cries the whole way to the end of the store for the bathrooms smelling stinky the whole way. Yes! Wonderful! I grab Andrew and my wallet and keys and go into the family bathroom. I hoped it would be just a simple plop and go...nope...it was messy! So there I am, Andrew on the dirty floor screaming, me yelling at Delia, Delia crying also, washing her underwear in the toilet. What a glorious day this has turned out to be! And to make matter worse, when everything is seemingly taken care of I go to grab my keys(angrily mind you) and smack my knee so hard I almost passed out! it hurt like nothing else!

Friday...my treadmill motor came. Wow! They told me 7-10 business days! Sweet! So Christian "offers" to help me put on the new one(how they think it's as easy as picking a flower, I'll never know) needless to say..it took 2 hours of frustration, and arguing, and the sacrifice of christian's smashed finger!!!!(don't ask!) we finally get it back on!

To make matters worse, Andrew has been non-stop cranky this whole week and the 2 lbs I lost at the beginning of the week I gained back( despite my continued exercising and yard work)! Just one of those weeks I guess. Crossing my fingers that this next week brings me just a little luck!

Andrew's New Ride...

Is Andrew a beautiful baby or what??!! Goodness, I love this boy! Some friends of ours were going to throw some toys away and Christian offered to take them. While we were re-sealing our drive-way(another story to come) we were hanging out in the garage. So I decided to put Andrew in the little car and push him around....needless to say, he loved it!! I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by and not take pictures. I then let Delia push him around and every time he passed by I would wave and he would wave back! It was the cutest thing ever! I love times like these when you thoroughly enjoy your children. Although I did get pictures, I wish I would have gotten a little bit on video because it was a very special moment! This summer is going to be soooo fun with him!

Christian's New Toy..

Christian got a new toy! That's right..a riding lawn mower!! He is very excited about it! It's amazing how fast we can mow the lawn..like 10-15 mins tops! It's pretty fun to drive around as a tractor we both took Delia for a ride! It is kind of like a milestone in our life...first lawn mower, first time cutting our own grass!! Is it wrong that we actually look forward to mowing the lawn? :)

Updates...finally!!

So it has been waaaaay too long since I have posted on my blog! the longest ever! so here are a couple of updates on what has been happening with the Anderson family!

Andrew: He is now 10 months old!! Holy smokes! He has been crawling since the end of Jan. and is walking along the tables and couches, he also loves to walk with his "walker" hopefully I can figure out how to post the video clip of his new skills! he is doing much better with eating. Since Nov. (which most of you may not know) he has had a difficult time gaining weight. either he was slowing weaning himself from breastfeeding, or my milk supply when down hill, or both. I think his surgery back in sept jump started the whole rollercoaster. he completely stopped nursing in Jan. (7 months old) and went to formula for about a week. since then I can only get him to drink 1 bottle of formula in the mornings, yogert mixed with formula powder, and the heartiest baby foods I can find. I just found him water bottle with a straw and likes to drink water from that. he has since moved from the 3% to the 10% and has continued to stay there the past 2 doctor visits. He is now: 17 lbs 12 oz. (10%) 28.5 in. (50%) and head is (25%) so he is just a little guy! Hopefully he can stay on track with his growth.

He is a great sleeper, he takes 3 naps a day before bedtime(but I think he is slowly moving to just 2 naps). He has no teeth yet. He def. has been working on them since 6 months and probably won't get any until he is at least 1 yr. He is almost always happy! His smile melts my heart every time. He likes his little cars and loves the door stoppers on the door. His recent favorite thing is the TUB! he absolutely looooves it! he makes a beeline for the bathroom when he hears the tub being started, it is the cutest thing! He WILL NOT go to sleep without his soft monkey blanket!!! This summer is going to be really fun with him. He is such a joy in our lives!

Delia: She is growing up fast too! 3.5 yrs! Wow! She loves her little preschool and is doing better everyday. She can count to 20! She knows the alphabet, but we are still working on letter recognition. Leap frog letter factory has really helped. I plan on doing my own little "home preschool" with her this fall. Hopefully that will go well. She now apparently know how to chew gum!! so be it. I may regret it tough, but the child is going to do no matter what I say anyway. she has been saying the funniest things of late. I can't remember them all, but will post more when I think of them. She is always asking questions, particularly WHY. it is driving me nuts to say the least!! She is a pretty good helper when she wants to be. We continue to get her to clean her own room by herself, it continues to be a work in progress.

Gina: Aside from trying to lose this baby weight, cleaning, cooking 3 separate meals, laundry, dusting, grocery shopping, paying bills, making phone calls for various things, business finances, trip plannings, missionary dinner calender supervisor, YW teacher, ...oh and taking care of the kids and the majority of their needs, in my minuscule spare time I like to:

Make Bows (just opened up my etsy store)
Make flower hair clips
READ(really want to make more time for this...I love it and have so many books to read)
Watch movies & my fav TV shows(Fringe, Burn Notice, and Mythbusters) which is all through the DVR now.
Blog (although I have been horrible for the past 5 months)

Since Oct. I have developed a new obsession (another reason why blogging went on a hiatus)

Ju-Ju-Be Bags!!!

It is sort of what I am collecting as of late. The prints are so much fun and the use of the bags are practical. There are so many different designs once you get sucked into the world of JuJuBe it's hard to climb out! hahaha! the "obsession" has now died down, especially since Christian is not too happy about it. but it's all evened out now! I can relax and be happy with my "stash" and not have the urge to get something different/new. It's exciting to be able to have bag/wallet options and switch them every week or 2. it makes being a mom more exciting! I love it!

Christian: Still works very hard for us! He loves making replica pottery and it very happy summer is approaching! we will be doing a lot of camping/recreational trips this summer and one includes a family reunion in Tennessee! he really enjoys working in the yard and has a few projects he plans to work on. 1) he wants to build a large shed from scratch with electricity and possibly putting in a sink. 2) doing stone work on the back of the house to cover up the peeling stucco that never got fixed :( 3) putting down pavers to extend our patio. 4) planting another garden, which we plan to do together.

I will try to post some pictures later and be better about updates!! Sorry everyone!

Halloween

Halloween was a little funner this year because Delia is more aware of the Holiday now! Plus now we have Andrew! Delia was a pumpkin fairy/witch and Andrew was her pumpkin. We went to our Tri-ward "Trunk-or-Treat", which we do every year, but there is getting to be way too many peopleAside from Andrew having a bit of a melt down and Delia getting lost...it was a fun night. I spent too much time on my chili that didn't even get judged and it was THE BOMB!! so I think next year we will just do the trunk or treat. Delia kept saying, "this is so much fun, mom!" Love it!




















This is one silly Girl!!!

Oh, so that's what my shirt says!

I love this one! Delia is so beautiful and grown up!

Andrew is getting big too, but he is starting to get a little cranky here!

Some new, well deserved toys!

Black Baby! So classic and sleek, yet so hard to keep clean.

Leather interior! Yeah, it's nice, but I slide around in it like nobody's business! Getting out of my seatbelt and reaching back to tend to the kids during trips is an olympic effort! but it's sooo nice looking!

Some of the features: heated seats, instant cooling/heating system(lets you know the exact temp. you're bringing the car to.) Single CD player, 6 CD change player, cassette player(why they put that in? hmmm) and of course what you all have been waiting for....

That's right people....A DVD player! It is life changing when you travel with kids! So saved mine when I drove it home from Utah with the kiddos while Christian drove the other one with our other goodies! It's a 2005, fully loaded Honda Pilot! We were really debating on whether to get a Pilot or an Odessey. you can go back country driving in a mini van, so the obvious choice was the Pilot and we really like it. such a step up from our 1998 CRV! All I cared about was the DVD player, but all of the other features are extra goodies.

Our new table. So chic! We got it on sale and the very last one! We love it! It also comes with 2 leifs that go on the ends the table doesn't look very big in the picture, but this table cloth is the biggest they make and it barely covers it. With the leifs on it measures 120 in. long + the over hang of the table cloth. looks like I am going to have to make a special one when we have large company over. I do plan to get a clear plastic one to put on it so you can see the beautiful wood top!

The chair

The couches! I love these they have such a country villa feel to them! we got these here in Farmington a couple of weeks before the other stuff! It's nice to not have to sport our blue striped one anymore (I was so done with the blue) and the mis-matched love seat that was with it. No worries, we still have them, but they have been sperated for their own good into seperate rooms! Welcome to your new home couches, we'll be sure to make ourselves comfortable!

OUR almost FINISHED BACKYARD!!

Just before the grass.

Grass!!! Finally! It's been a long time coming, but we finally have grass and a yard for Delia to play in! We LOVE our waterfall. It's a lot bigger than I expected, but I ain't complainin'! As you can see we had/have a massive slope in that area and all the dirt needed to be retained and properly..less another freak storm hits next year and we're toast! So we figured why not put in a water feature right in that place, it would help retain the dirt as well as dress up the yard. Much time saving for these two projects!!! But it was worth it! We spent a lot of time preparing this yard...weeds and rocks, rocks and weeds...did I mention weeds and rocks? yep. No more heavy labor, needless to say the "up keep" won't be as bad, but I'll try to hold that thought until we start to mow the lawn next year...I might eat my words! Next year we are going to have a sweet Easter egg hunt! whoop! Now you all are going to have to visit us! We would LOVE to have you!

My New Skill- Homemade Salsa!

8 OF THESE +

LOTS OF PEPPERS, ONIONS, & CILANTRO =

THIS YUMMY STUFF x OH, 4 OR SO....&

PUT INTO THESE, WHICH I ACTUALLY HAD TO COOK TO DO...

and didn't particularly like canning...too much time! Sooooo....

we gave some away, ate a lot of it, and now the last batch of the season I have made

is going to be frozen! I tried roasting the tomatoes, which did give it a little bit of a smokey flavor, but I don't think it was worth double the time it took me..or maybe I was doing it wrong. either way I think my salsa is super tasty. Maybe not as par with some of you slasa kings(you know who you are) but I do like it better than most Mexican restaurants! So I think I will just stick to throwing everything in my new food processor(WHICH I ABSOLUTELY LOVE!!) why did I wait so long to get one? It goes along with all the other great inventions, washer & dryer, hand held vacuum, spray mop...you know...the neccessities that make life seem like a breeze..sometimes! This is one of the BIG projects I have been working on, oh, the last 3 months! We had an OVERLOAD of tomatoes this year! I actually had to give about 5 big bowls worth away because I am not a canner and don't use "canned" tomatoes very often. but making it with a food processor makes it much funner and faster! Homemade salsa always tastes better with garden fresh produce!!!! Wish I could share with you all. Just come for a visit and I'll whip you up some.

Andrew's Surgery

So all of you are probably wondering what has been going on with Andrew and why I haven't posted anything in a while. So here is the story. When Andrew was about 2 weeks old we noticed a small bump on his head, but it was so small at the time I thought it was part of his bone on his skull. At one of his appts. I asked his general doctor about it, but because it was so small he assumed the same thing and neither of us were concerned, at least at that time. Thinking it would get smaller I kind of rest assured about it, until the opposite started to happen, it was growing. He wasn't scheduled for his next doctors visit for 4 more weeks so I was just simply going to ask the doctor about it then, not thinking that this was anything serious. Christian however did and told me that we shouldn't wait and for him to see the doctor immediately about it. Christian told me all of the possibilities of what it could be and it scared the life out of me. The thought of losing my sweet little boy terrified me!

I decided to make an appt with a pediatrician to see if they might have any insight on what it might be, but of course being the only pediatrician office in Farmington, the more experienced doctors were all booked and the one we saw was new by 3 weeks!! Really nice, but was almost just as lost as we were about it, but he wasn't concerned very much. Thought it was a cyst, but not concerned! Christian went to the appt with me and I am really glad he did. Having medical background, and I none he knew more of what to ask for then I would have. We wanted some imaging done on his head, like and MRI or a CT scan, but for both you have to be sedated and they did NOT want to sedate a baby!! So they kept trying to tell us to wait a year or so when he is older to do imaging on it. What?! When we suspect that it's growing? we kept pushing, until finally the doctor decided to send us to a dermatologist for another opinion and see if they would refer for him to have an MRI. So I wait about 4 days, get in to the only Dermatologist in Farmington (apparently) and she agreed that he needed some more testing done. So she calls the diagnostic center to schedule an MRI, but they want his Pedo doctor to call and refer him..what? I thoguht that was the reason we were here!! Okay..whatever, let's just get this done is what I am thinking. She said they would call me with the appt. date. When I get home, not 10 mins later the phone rings and it is the pedo doctor saying that they don't want to do the MRI, but just a general x-ray of his head(which is not going to show jack-squat) and an ultrasound. Okay, I guess we have no choice, but to try this first, hopefully it works and and ultrsound will be all they need to determine the next course of action.

A day or so later they call to tell me that they do not see any connection to the brain, that it would be a simple procedure to remove and to see a general surgeon. okay, so I have an appt scheduled about 8-9 days away. But then I start thinking, he is going to have to have this removed regardless and I do not want him to be seen at this hospital, so why am I seeing a doctor here? (too many bad things have happened at the medical center here..hence why Andrew was born at the one in Durango, Co) So it makes sense to have him seen there. I call the general surgeon in durango to schedule and appt. but just as I am finalizing the appt the receptionist asks what ins. I have. I tell her and then proceeds to tell me that they do not accept that ins.! what? Most of the doctors do, why not them? So I call my ins comp. To ask them what I should do. I have to get them to send a pre-auth. form for it to be covered "in-network". So when I call this doctor back to explain what they need to do, she tells me that they normally don't do things like that and he would have to be seen first and become an established patient before considering it! That would be a waste of time!! So back to square one!

Meanwhile, I am calling christian at work to get his opinion on things and he said to try the UNM Children's Hospital in Albuquerque again(yes, again..which is what we wanted in the first place, but appts were months out) we were concerned that sedation for a baby here was just not best for Andrew. So I call the general pediatric surgery there and for the 100th time explain my situation. They put me through to the surgery nurse so I can tell her what I need. She then tells me that because of the place where the cyst is, they would most likely send me to neurosurgery. Wow! this really is serious! I seem to be going up and down with emotions! He's fine..he's not fine, etc. I then have to send a referral from my pedo doctor and faxes of the images..why? that's not going to really show up, and then they would determine whether or not he needs to be seen by a neurosurgeon. In fact he did and the first appt. they had was a week away, the day after we get back from utah!

So after buying new furniture and a new car(I will have to post that later)!! we get back at 2 am. I get to bed at 3 am, get up at 8:30 am to get ready to leave by 10:40 am leave Delia with a sitter and drive 3 hrs to Albuquerque!! I am just exhausted at this point! We talk with the neurosurgeon and he is wonderful!! He says the image from the ultrasound it very good and is all he needed to determine what to do! great! So we schedule the surgery for the next coming Monday, so we can drive up sunday night, stay in a hotel, and be at the hospital at 6:30 AM. But they need to do blood work first and I did not want to make another trip down there just for bloodwork. So I stay in a hotel, just me and andrew so we can go to the hospital in the morning to get this done. that's when his sleeping schedule gets off and he woke up at 2:30 am to eat..I am, soooo tired! I arrive there later in the morning than I thought because I really needed to take a shower and the girl told me the day before I could just show up anytime and they would get me in. I held off from feeding him because I wanted to nurse him right after they drew his blood. I wait 45 mins. before fianlly feeding him, doing this in the waiting room( I am not a pro at nursing in public, so this was a challenge) and then literally 5 mins later she comes to get us! Well, sorry I tell her, you'll have to wait until I am done feeding him! so another 15 mins. later she walks me up to the children's hospital to have an evaluation for anesthasia and then back to the main hospital to wait and have hisblood drawn...you mean I waited for you to have the time to grab the paper work and show me to where I needed to go? Heck, if it was going to take that long, I would have done it all myself!

So I get in to have his blood drawn and he is so strong and wiggly, the nurses have a hard time drawing it out of his tiny veins. About 20 mins worth of screaming and blood oozing from his arm later, I am done! I hate seeing him in pain and distress! What a stressful day this has turned out to be!

The morning of the surgery everything went smoothly. It took them a little longer to get started, but the surgery itself was fairly quick. The doctor even brought out the mass that was in his head! This really impressed Christian that he would take the time to show us exactly what was in his head and that the surgery went very well. They allowed all three of us back there, we had delia with us, and when they brought me back to feed him he was really sad and just coming out of anesthestia. His voice was hoarse because of the tube they put down his throat and it took him 10 mins to figure out that I was trying to feed him, but he finally took. The incision on his head made me so sad! It was 2x bigger than I thought it was going to be! It looked horrible, but it was apparently normal for head surgery. They needed a larger incision to make sure they got it all. There apparently was a hole in his skull and this, most likely, cyst developed between his brain and went up through the hole. It was actually sitting on his brain, but was not attached! thank heaven! Had we waited a year or two, it not only would have gotten the size of a golf ball or bigger, but it could have protruded into his brain causing a whole new set of problems which you can just imagine! When we took him from the hospital he was all smiles and cooing! What a brave boy! I love him so much and I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for entrusting me was such a sweet spirit and for keeping him healthy! Thank you so much to you all for your many, many prayers!! I know heavenly Father was listening and everything went fine! I will keep you all posted on how he is healing. The doctor says that the hole in his skull will grow back and that the scar will heal and disappear a little with time! I have some pictures below of what his head looked with the cyst in it and what it looks like after surgery. I still don't know for sure what it is, but I will update you an everything as soon as I know!





















You probably can't see it very well. It's right where his anterior fontannel is.

He is so happy considering the large cut on his head, which they

used "super bond" on so the incision stays clean and closed.

Love this boy!

Wow, this picture doesn't make it look so bad, it looks worse

in person..I'll take this as a good thing for you all! ;)