4 Months and Another Birthday to Celebrate!

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I cannot believe how fast she is growing up! We have a 4-month old. Wow.
You can also see I am not one of those moms who has her act together and takes adorable pictures of her child in the same outfit or with the same background. At least we have pictures and at least they are correctly labeled. Maybe by the third child I'll have my creative act together.

• Stats: 99% for weight, 89% for height. (17 lbs....) She’s a big girl! If it’s true that fat is good for a baby’s brain development, we may just have the next Einstein. Her chubby cheeks and leg rolls are just about my favorite thing in the world!
• Milestones: She rolled over from her back to her stomach! She only does this over her left shoulder. I’m hoping this is just further proof we have a lefty on our hands. She also giggles all the time, mostly at her dad. We are borrowing a jumper seat from some friends and she LOVES it.
•  Activities: She made the trip to California to meet my side of the family – uncles and aunt (who happens to have a fabulous blog – read it here), great grandparents, and lots of great aunts/uncles and second cousins. She also just traveled with us up to the Dallas area to meet her cousins! This was a big event and so fun to play with all of the little ones from age 2 to 10 days. Non-stop entertainment, that’s for sure! I don’t know what it is, but watching babies interact is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. And last, but certainly not least, she just experienced her first trip to Sea World! This is kind of a big deal with my family. SeaWorld and I go way back.                   

My older brother and me - Sea World San Diego circa 1989

I will definitely be posting pictures of MJ’s big summer very soon!

Until then, Happy Birthday to my wonderful Mom! I am so very thankful to have you as my mom! Thank you for putting up with me and being a wonderful example of a wife and mom who loves the Lord. I will certainly try to be the kind of mom to Michaela that you were to me! I love you!

Summer Updates

Hey there! Long time, no see! I know I’m still lacking in the consistency department for this blog, but it has been for good reason:

1. Our sweet little daughter will only be a newborn once. I’m trying to soak it all in. I would much rather have post-bath time snuggles with her than sit at my computer for another 30 minutes. She smells a lot better. But seriously… I cannot say it enough. These 8 weeks have flown by. Nothing makes you appreciate time like being a parent and I want to enjoy every single second of it.




2. It is camp season! As you may remember from this post, I work for a Christian sports camp – Still Water Sports Camp – and we are in the middle of the busiest time of year. It is wonderful! Unfortunately I haven’t been out to any of the camps yet, but I cannot wait to go to the next couple sessions. Girls volleyball. Check out this video for a little taste of camp.

3. Tim has had quite a bit going on too. Promotion. Transition into Grad School. Classes for MBA and MHA in one year. It is going to be intense. Time with him is limited and precious too!



Michaela chose the best times to cry – when everyone was silent/at attention and during family pictures. She just likes to be the center of attention, I guess.

We also recently visited Tim’s parents in El Paso! Our next adventures include a trip to California for my beautiful cousin’s wedding. I cannot wait! I’m excited to meet her fiance and have my whole family meet Michaela!

That’s all for now. Time to enjoy some more MJ-snuggle time before bed.

She's Here!

So I know I'm a little behind on this one... For the few of you who actually read my blog, you are well aware that we already had our baby. Better late than never, right?

Michaela Joy was born on May 2, 2012 at 10:46pm. She was 8lbs 12 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. We could not be more excited! She is a constant blessing and we are trying to soak up every precious second, knowing that even this season of unexplained crying and sleepless nights will be gone soon enough. Next thing you know, Tim will be walking her down the aisle and I'll be crying wondering where the time has gone. Maybe I'm being a little dramatic and maybe it is the postpartum hormones... but seriously. Time goes by so fast. We are just trying to take it all in and give thanks to God for this precious gift.

I have been reminded of that country song a couple years ago: "You're Gonna Miss This." Maybe it is lame to relate life to a country song, but the message is a good one. We don't want to just look forward to the next season of life because this one may seem difficult. Each season is a gift from God to be treasured and used to bring Him glory, no matter how uncomfortable it may seem at the time. And I don't want to look back and wish I had just enoyed it. This is such a precious time!!

All that to say, we are learning a lot as new parents. The sleepless nights pale in comparison to the joy and love we have for sweet little MJ. Being a mom is the best. As my dad said, it is amazing how you can go from never seeing someone before in your life to loving them far more than you love yourself. It's so true. The love a parent has for their child is amazing. How much more amazing to think about the love God has for us as His children. I still can't comprehend it, but being a mom gives just a glimpse of that awesome picture.

That's enough for now. We'll save other parenting thoughts for other posts.

Here are some pictures...

Speechless.

Getting ready to leave the hospital.

On our way home!

Mothers and Daughters.

I love this picture.

1 week.

2 weeks.

3 weeks.

I'm such a sucker for this pose.

Love these two more than I can say.

Soli Deo Gloria

32 Weeks

Here it is, folks! Another Baby Anderson update...

32.43 Weeks with less than 7.57 to go! That's right... I'm counting down to the hundreth.

- No major changes, just feeling big. Just when I think I can't get any bigger, I do.

-Still feeling good health wise and able to stay pretty active.

- I get to travel back to CA this week to have a baby shower! I also get to meet the newborn son of a good friend and attend another friend's baby shower. I cannot wait!

- Still no crazy cravings, minus the Sonic Chili Cheese Coney encounter. Sounds great, I know. But that has passed and I think I'm back to normal. :)

-I will say, it doesn't help that Target carries the Hershey Chocolate Easter Eggs (with a coupon!) .... Delicious and they always bring sweet memories of my Aunt Thel.

In other news, we found out that Tim was accepted into the MBA program at Army-Baylor! So he will be spending a good amount of time next year dedicated to homework, reading, and projects in order to complete both his MHA and MBA in one year... It could be a challenging year for our new family, but we are so grateful for the opportunity.

29 Weeks!

Or 28 weeks and 5 days, but that is close enough to 29 for me!

- We had our 28 week appointment this week and everything looks good! As usual, it took a while for the nurse to get a heartbeat only because Baby A would rather dance around than sit still long enough for her to get a good count. Foreshadowing?

- I also had the dreaded glucose test this week and passed thankfully! I'm so grateful that we are healthy and that I do not have to drink anymore Glucola.

- Energy is still good, at least good enough to help at a youth basketball clinic on base. While I discovered that I can no longer do a military pushup (not sure if that is the baby's fault or not), I did laugh quite a bit... mostly because of the many times I heard, "Quit hiding the basketball!"

- Tim is still thinking the baby is a boy... I'm starting to lean towards girl. We did agree that Tim will be the one to tell me in the delivery room. Cannot wait for that moment!!!

- Lord willing, I will get to travel back to CA in March for my friend's baby shower, my baby shower, and to meet the new baby of another close friend. Baby blessings all around!

- We (and by 'we' I mean 'I') finally decided on some bedding and colors for our gender neutral nursery. I think we are going with the Tourquoise/Blue/Green/Yellow scheme scene below:

 Found here

I'm also really liking anything with the alphabet and trees/birds for other little decorations around the room, like the ones below. Hopefully I get my act together and can finish some fun, inexpensive projects before the little one arrives.

  on Pinterest and here

Overall, we are beyond thrilled and incredibly grateful that God has blessed us with this baby and a healthy pregnancy thus far! Our prayer everyday is that this child not only comes into the world healthy, but that he or she grows up to know, love, and serve the Lord with all of his/her heart! That means more to us than gender, ability, or nursery picture. We would be grateful if you would join us in praying that same prayer for Baby A!

Go Bears!

We have some exciting news for our little growing family...

 It all started when my incredibly gifted husband applied for a few masters degree programs through the Air Force last spring. After feeling a little discouraged when we did not get the answers we had hoped for, we were just surprised with the news that he was accepted into one of the top Masters of Health Administration programs in the country! He will be attending the Army-Baylor program for his MHA starting this summer!

Not to sound shallow, but with their recent football and basketball success, we are pretty excited to have some connection to this great school. Rumor has it that they sometimes take their students up to Waco for a game here and there.

So not only will he be getting a great education, it means we get to stay here in South Texas for another year of school. The second year of the program includes an on-site internship at a hospital of our choosing. We are still not sure whether we choose from a list of approved hospitals or if we get to just pick any location of our heart's desire... but if you want us to move closer, we may choose the highest bidder. Just saying...

We are incredibly grateful to the Lord for this opportunity and excited to see how He will use it in our lives!

And I'm pretty proud of this guy...

Let’s try this again…

Maybe it was not the wisest thing to start a blog with 2 weeks to go until a huge work event… and by work event, I mean an awesome weekend camp for middle schoolers. I work for Still Water Sports Camp, an incredible ministry that provides a fun, Christ-centered camp environment using sports and adventure activities to reach out to middle school-age students. We just had our big winter retreat, Weekend of Warriors, this past weekend and it was awesome! We all saw the Lord moving and challenging the students and staff! The vast majority of students accepted a challenge to cross that line in the sand and start living out the faith they claimed. It was incredible!

I can go on and on about how much I love working for Still Water…

…using sports to connect with kids
…giving scholarships to allow students of ALL socioeconomic backgrounds attend a high quality sports camp
…talking with parents about how grateful they are for both the financial support and life-changing experience for their children
…the transformation and community among staff
…seeing God provide for the ministry and work in the lives of the kids and staff

Like I said, I could go on and on. If you want to check out more for yourself, you can visit the websites:

www.stillwatersportscamp.com

www.swcm.org

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Still-Water-Sports-Camp/159781219133

For now, here are some pictures from the weekend:

This cross is right in front of the outdoor pavilion where we held "Chalk Talk," our worship and speaking sessions. It is such an incredible picture to see God’s beauty both in the creation (seriously, how beautiful is that water?) and in the message of the Cross.



Circling up to pray…



Krud War: The biggest mud/food fight I have ever seen. Smells disgusting, but the kids (and most of the staff) love it!



How do they get clean, you ask? Well, how about jumping into the appropriately-name Frio River in January…





And just for fun… a 26 week baby bump picture.

“Jesus paid it all.

All to Him I owe.

Sin had left a crimson stain.

He washed it white as snow.”

-Elvina M. Hall

*

Thanks to Dempsey Thornton who let me use her pictures because I did not take any... oops.

Baby A Update

23 weeks! (actually 24 weeks now, but this picture was taken last week)

And if I'm really being honest, this picture was taken at about 22.5 weeks, but I like  rounding up when it comes to how far along I am. It makes me feel more accomplished.

Here are some thoughts and answers to questions I get about the pregnancy:

- I'm feeling great! Energy is good. I've been able to keep pretty active and continue working out (for the most part...).

-No wierd cravings yet... although I did cave for some frozen yogurt today. This is not that abnormal.

-It does feel wierd packing on the pounds, but I guess that is all part of it. We want a healthy baby, and I can worry about getting rid of them later. My apologies to my dear husband.

-LOTS of movement from the little one. I notice him/her several times throughout the day and have even seen my stomach move! I already like having a little companion throughout the day.

-The more I think about it, the more excited I am to meet him/her! The thought of being a mom (really??) is still soaking in, but definitely becoming more real and thrilling!

-Boy or girl? We don't know... :) Tim did have a dream about us having a little girl. I've had dreams about both. I've thought boy from the beginning, but now I'm starting to wonder.....

What do you think?

Happy Wednesday!

Welcome and Birthday Surprise

Hey y'all! Welcome to our little blog!

Here's a quick update on what we've been up to since Christmas:

Since the weather here has been beautiful and down-right spring-like, we decided to use our free passes to SeaWorld (one of the best parts of being in the military!) and enjoy the day. Warm weather in December + free passes to SeaWorld = A wonderful day.

This is actually an old picture... we weren't in shorts, though we easily could have been and a lot of people were. We never get tired of SeaWorld and the way it reflects our creative God!

Then my 26th birthday... Now closer to 30 than I am to 20... Sobering to say the least. Not really though. I'm excited about 26 and especially the new changes it is bringing - Baby Anderson!!!

Back to the day - It started out with breakfast made by my sweet husband, phonecalls from my parents and in-laws, and a cute card from my husband that said we would be going on a little adventure...

After lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (even better when you're eating for 2!), we headed for a drive downtown. Since my birthday is also New Year's Eve, the area was pretty packed with evening festivities already kicking off. My sneaky husband didn't say a word. Even when we turned on a road blocked off only for hotel guests, he said, "Maybe they'll just let us through." As it turned out, we were hotel guests ourselves!

The rest of the birthday was spent enjoying the Riverwalk, an evening boat tour on the river, and of course the New Year's Eve crowd and fireworks. It was a great surprise and one of the best birthdays ever!

Enjoy some pictures... and for those of you curious, this is what the 22-week baby bump looks like. :)

Tower of the Americas

San Antonio Riverwalk Decorated for the Holidays

Concert at the Amphitheatre. This little girl was good!

Our hotel from the Riverwalk... have I mentioned how incredible my husband is??

The River Center Mall and our River Boat Tourguide

View from our room: Tower of the Americas

Happy 2012!