Visiting Santa Claus...or not.

On Saturday Wes and I took Anderson to the mall, so he could sit on Santa's lap. However, once we got to the mall, we learned that you aren't allowed to take personal pictures and the cheapest picture package they have is $30. We decided against. I'm not sure if it cost money everywhere now to see Santa, but I plan on taking Anderson & Mason to visit Santa while we are in KC. If we must spend money, that is when we will do it. (However, I think that is a total rip!)

After our Santa failure, we took Anderson to the park to swing. The park is one of Anderson's favorite places on earth. He gets to swing, go down the slide, and people watch. This kid loves to people watch. I have a feeling once he gets a little older, our favorite playground will be the one in the mall. This was Wes' first time going to the park with us. It is always nice when we get to do things together as a family.

7 Months

I can't believe Anderson is 7 months. The time goes by too fast. Anderson has accomplished a lot since I posted last. He is now crawling all over the place, able to pull himself up and is walking around the coffee table. I am not ready for Anderson to begin walking, I want him to stay a baby for a little while longer. However, Anderson has other plans. He is very determined to learn how to walk. Unfortunately, walking isn't easy and involves a lot of falling. The day isn't complete unless Anderson has hit his head on something. At first I felt like the worst mom ever - I watch my son, but it is hard to be right next to him at all times. However, after speaking to some other moms, they reassured me that bumps and bruises are the price that comes along with learning how to walk. It made me feel better, but it still breaks my heart when he gets hurt.

Some other things going on in the world of Anderson:

1. He loves table food. He prefers it over baby food, - who wouldn't? I made spicy sausage and bell pepper pasta last week and he loved it. I was a little shocked, because umm....it is spicy.

2. Him and Duke are becoming best buds. Duke is learning that Anderson is a great source of extra food. (Anderson often drops or throws his food on the floor.) If Anderson is in his high chair, Duke is right below it. The best way to Duke's heart is with food. You can now find Duke snuggling up to Anderson or nudging him with his nose, because he wants to play. Daisy likes Anderson, but she is still a little weary. She doesn't quite see the appeal yet and I think she is a little envious of the attention he gets.

3. Bath time is his favorite time of the day! It doesn't matter how fussy he is, the bath always brings a smile to his face. He loves playing with his bath toys and splashing. The only thing he doesn't like is bubble baths. He can't see his toys through the bubbles and that makes him mad.

4. He loves bouncing. Every since my mom introduced Anderson to jumping on the bed in Chicago, he is addicted to bouncing. He wants to bounce everywhere. Hey, I guess he is building those legs muscles.

Some days are still hard, and Wes can't get home soon enough, but overall, we are having lots of fun. I will leave you with some unseen pictures.

The kid is all over the place. I'm not sure how our monthly pictures are going to work, because he won't sit still. Hmm...it may be a lost cause.

Halloween Bash

Yesterday Anderson had his 1st party EVER! It was a Halloween Bash at the Harris house. I met Julia Harris through JMG, she is an amazing mom to 4 beautiful girls Charlotte, Suzanna, Ellie and Katie. Julia knows how to throw a great party. There was a halloween arts and crafts station, bouncy house, pinata, freeze dance, potato sack race and lots of delicious food!

Luckily, the weather was perfect - low 70's and overcast with a slight breeze. I must say, I had been worried about how hot it was going to be for halloween, because Anderson's skeleton outfit is made out of fleece. (Yeah, I didn't read the description on Amazon. Lesson learned.) Anyway, it worked out perfect.

Anderson had a blast at the party. He watched the older kids dance and play in the bouncy house, he enjoyed some chili and he made a new friend, Katie. Katie is Julia's youngest daughter, she is 3 weeks younger than Anderson. They really took an interest in one another. We'll have to try to get them together more often.

Yeah I'm not sure if Anderson was trying to give Katie kisses or eat her, we'll go with kisses. However, he was so excited he ended up knocking her backwards. It didn't seem to bother Katie though, she is such a relaxed, easy going baby.

Pumpkin Patch

This past Wednesday I took Anderson to the Trinity United Methodist Church's pumpkin patch. They had a great selection of pumpkins and lots of spots for photos. However, I would say Anderson's favorite part of the pumpkin patch was watching the older kids play tag. You will notice in some of the pictures Anderson is looking off to the side. I can't complete with giggling kids weaving in and out of the pumpkin patch. I can't wait until Anderson is old enough to join in.

Anderson 5 Months

I can't believe my baby is getting so big!  These past few months with Anderson in my life has been amazing.  He is showing me how selfish I was before he was born, teaching me to be more direct about what I want, and makes me laugh so hard every single day.  It is crazy to think he was born this helpless human being and now he is able to sit up, talk, smile, laugh and is on the verge of crawling. There are not enough words to describe how much I love this little man who has stolen my heart.

 

Anderson 1 day old

 

 

Anderson 5 1/2 months old

Girls Night Out!

Tonight I left Anderson with Wes to go see the most anticipated movie of the summer, Magic Mike. Ladies, I must say, this movie is a must see! However, I wish there was more dancing and less talking. ;)

Here is a picture from my favorite part of the movie:

Matthew McConaughey (Just look at that outfit! Only Matthew McConaughey can pull those shorts off, boys.) is teaching Alex Pettyfer how to shake it.  Which by the way, Alex Pettyfer is rumored to be the front man to play Christian Grey in the upcoming movie 50 Shades of Grey. Even though I asked myself multiple times, why am I reading this book? - it is poorly written and pretty predictable, but you just can't put it down - I, more than likely, will go see the movie.  

It was nice to have a night out with the girls and get out of the house for a little while.

Anderson is here!!!

Well wouldn't you know, shortly after I wrote a post about not being in physical pain I started to have contractions. Unfortunately, it wasn't the real deal yet, but they seriously hurt - like I could barely stand pain. Wes came home from the hospital, because he was sure this was it. However, he told me to take some Tylenol to help with the pain, and 30 minutes later the contractions were gone.

Wednesday morning, I woke up around 3:30am with timeable cramps. They weren't too painful, but they were coming every 5-7 minutes and lasting around 15-20 seconds. I called Labor & Delivery at 5am to see if I should come in or labor at home some more (Wes was leaving at 5:30, so I didn't know if I should catch a ride with him.) The nurse I spoke with told me my contracts should last a minute before I come to the hospital. I told Wes I would wait it out, I have a doctor's appointment at 9:20am and we'll go from there. Luckily, my mother-in-law was here, because at 6:30am my contractions were coming every 4-5 minutes and lasting 45 seconds. I decided it was time to go to the hospital. (I wasn't going to get stuck in rush hour traffic!)

My first internal exam was at 8am and I was 3cm dilated, fully effaced and my cervix had finally moved anterior. They told us we were going to have a baby today and moved me into a private room! I got an epidural at 9:30am, and, boy, was I happy I did! While the anesthesiologist was putting in the epi, my contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes and were extremely painful. My epidural was perfect - I could feel when I was having a contraction, but I couldn't feel the pain. The epidural was a lifesaver, because it allowed me to take a nap. I was exhausted since I woke up at 3:30am and was running on only 3 hours of sleep.

At 1pm, a midwife came in and did my second internal exam. She told me I was 9.5 cm dilated and went ahead and broke my water. When she broke my water, she noticed that there was meconium present. They explained to me how this would affect Anderson. The ideal scenario is for him to be born and not cry. If he doesn't cry that means he hasn't inhaled any of the meconium and they can suction it out real fast. This also meant that I wouldn't get to see Anderson until the Peds doctor was done examining him. Of course, my baby's health comes first, but it was a tough pill to swallow. Moving on...Wes and I were both shocked, we couldn't believe I dilated from 3cm to 9.5cm so fast. (We both thought I was going to need Pitocin.) The baby's head was in the 2 position, they like it to be in the 3 position before you start to push, so they had me "labor down." Laboring down is where they put you in a vertical position - I guess they hope gravity will help the baby move down the canal. However, this really didn't help me much. I labored down for 2 hours and nothing really changed.

The doctor checked me at 3:30ish, I was still only 9.5cm dilated, but she said it was time to push. The nurse got the room ready and at 4pm I began pushing. Pushing wasn't bad at all! Of course, this is thanks to the wonderful epidural I got. I loved that I could feel when I was having a contraction and knew when to push. I ended up pushing for 2 hours, which took a lot a energy and patience, but I was determined. At 6:07pm Anderson Frederick Frevert was born a healthy baby boy. He did cry shortly after being born, but he scored 8 & 9 on the Apgar test.

Being a mom is amazing. It definitely is a life changer, one that will take some adjusting, but I love everything about Anderson and feel so fortunate to be his mommy.

40 Weeks, 3 Days.....

And still no baby! I really shouldn't complain, because I don't physically feel bad, but I am soooo ready to meet Anderson and move on from being pregnant! The good new is Anderson will be here by Saturday. Originally, my doctor was going to make me wait until 42 weeks to induce me, but he is on call this Saturday - so Saturday it is!

I guess I will enjoy being lazy and sleeping in until he arrives!

36 Weeks!

I can't believe we are only 4 weeks away from Anderson's due date! I continue to be very fortunate to have what some would consider an "easy" pregnancy. I still haven't had any morning sickness (some people say it comes back in the 3rd trimester!) I just starting getting back pain last night, but I'm pretty sure it is the baby sitting on a nerve - the pain isn't constant, rather unpredictable and feels like a shooting pain in my lower back. I do have several signs of preterm labor, but I'm sure you all do not want those details.

Wes and I have placed bets on when we think baby Anderson will arrive. My guess is in two weeks and he thinks 4 weeks. (Easy for him to easy, he isn't carrying the baby!)

As far as weight gain goes, I am still in the healthy zone of 25 - 35 lbs, but I'm definitely closer to 35 than 25. However, I have started to lose weight, so maybe that will continue.

Wes and I are both very anxious and excited to meet Anderson. It feels like 9 months has went by so fast, but so slow at the same time.

25 Rules for Mothers and Sons

**Note I found this on the internet and cannot take credit!**
I loved reading this article, it makes really excited for Anderson's arrival.

25 Rules for Moms with Sons

Source: pre-schoolplay.blogspot.com via Tabitha on Pinterest

1. Teach him the words for how he feels.
Your son will scream out of frustration and hide out of embarrassment. He'll cry from fear and bite out of excitement. Let his body move by the emotion, but also explain to him what the emotion is and the appropriate response to that emotion for future reference. Point out other people who are feeling the same thing and compare how they are showing that emotion. Talk him through your emotions so that someday when he is grown, he will know the difference between angry and embarrassed; between disappointment and grief.

2. Be a cheerleader for his life
There is no doubt that you are the loudest person in the stands at his t-ball games. There is no doubt that he will tell you to "stop, mom" when you sing along to his garage band's lyrics. There is no doubt that he will get red-faced when you show his prom date his pictures from boy scouts. There is no doubt that he is not telling his prom date about your blog where you've been bragging about his life from his first time on the potty to the citizenship award he won in ninth grade. He will tell you to stop. He will say he's embarrassed. But he will know that there is at least one person that is always rooting for him.

3. Teach him how to do laundry
..and load the dishwasher, and iron a shirt. He may not always choose to do it. He may not ever have to do it. But someday his wife will thank you.

Source: offbeatmama.com via offbeatmama on Pinterest

4. Read to him and read with him.
Emilie Buchwald said, "Children become readers on the laps of their parents." Offer your son the opportunity to learn new things, believe in pretend places, and imagine bigger possibilities through books. Let him see you reading...reading the paper, reading novels, reading magazine articles. Help him understand that writing words down is a way to be present forever. Writers are the transcribers of history and memories. They keep a record of how we lived at that time; what we thought was interesting; how we spoke to each other; what was important. And Readers help preserve and pass along those memories.

5. Encourage him to dance.
Dance, rhythm, and music are cultural universals. No matter where you go, no matter who you meet - they have some form of the three. It doesn't have to be good. Just encourage your son that when he feels it, it's perfectly fine to go ahead and bust a move.

6. Make sure he has examples of good men who are powerful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity.
The examples of men with big muscles and a uniform (like Batman and LaMarr Woodley) will surround your son from birth. But make sure he also knows about men who kick a$s because of their brains (Albert Einstein), and their pen (Mark Twain), and their words (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.), and their determination (Team Hoyt), and their ideas (The Wright Brothers), and their integrity (Officer Frank Shankwitz), and fearlessness (Neil Armstrong), and their ability to keep their mouths closed when everyone else is screaming (Jackie Robinson).

7. Make sure he has examples of women who are beautiful because of their brains, their determination, and their integrity
The examples of traditionally beautiful women (like Daphne Blake, Princess Jasmine, and Britney Spears) will surround your son from birth. But make sure he knows about women who are beautiful from the inside out because of their brains (Madame Marie Curie), and their pen (Harper Lee), and their words (Eleanor Roosevelt), and their determination (Anne Sullivan), and their ideas (Oprah Winfrey), and their integrity (Miep Gies), and fearlessness (Ameila Earhart), and their ability to open their mouths and take a stand when everyone else is silent (Aung San Suu Kyi).

8. Be an example of a beautiful woman with brains, determination, and integrity.
You already are all of those things. If you ever fear that you are somehow incapable of doing anything - remember this: If you have done any of the following: a) grew life b) impossibly and inconceivably got it out of your body c) taken care of a newborn d) made a pain go away with a kiss e) taught someone to read f) taught a toddler to eat with a utensil g) cleaned up diarrhea without gagging h) loved a child enough to be willing to give your life for them (regardless if they are your own) or i) found a way to be strong when that child is suffering...you are a superhero. do not doubt yourself for one second. Seriously.

Source: simplymontessori.blogspot.com via Terry-Anne on Pinterest

9. Teach him to have manners
because its nice. and it will make the world a little better of a place.

Source: swagbucks.com via Adriana on Pinterest

10. Give him something to believe in
Because someday he will be afraid, or nervous, or heartbroken, or lost, or just need you, and you won't be able to be there. Give him something to turn to when it feels like he is alone, so that he knows that he will never be alone; never, never, never.

Source: theberry.com via Chris on Pinterest

11. Teach him that there are times when you need to be gentle
like with babies, and flowers, and animals, and other people's feelings.

Source: heatherbeadles.com via Heather on Pinterest

12. Let him ruin his clothes
Resolve to be cool about dirty and ruined clothes. You'll be fighting a losing battle if you get upset every time he ruins another piece of clothing. Don't waste your energy being angry about something inevitable. Boys tend to learn by destroying, jumping, spilling, falling, and making impossible messes. Dirty, ruined clothes are just par for the course.

13. Learn how to throw a football
or how to use a hockey stick, or read music, or draw panda bears (or in my case alpacas), or the names of different train engines, or learn to speak Elvish, or recognize the difference between Gryffindor and Slytherin, or the lyrics to his favorite song. Be in his life, not as an observer but as an active participant.

Source: shanna-kaye.com via Shanna-Kaye on Pinterest

14. Go outside with him
turn off the television, unplug the video games, put your cellphone on the charger, even put your camera away. Just go outside and follow him around. Watch his face, explore his world, and let him ask questions. It's like magic.

15. Let him lose
Losing sucks. Everybody isn't always a winner. Even if you want to say, "You're a winner because you tried," don't. He doesn't feel like a winner, he feels sad and crappy and disappointed. And that's a good thing, because sometimes life also sucks, no matter how hard (as moms) we try to make it not suck for our kids. This practice will do him good later when he loses again (and again, and again, and again, and again.....) Instead make sure he understands that - sometimes you win - sometimes you lose. But that doesn't mean you ever give up.

Source: None via Emma on Pinterest

16. Give him opportunities to help others
There is a big difference in giving someone the opportunity to help and forcing someone to help. Giving the opportunity lights a flame in the heart and once the help is done the flame shines brighter and asks for more opportunities. Be an example of helping others in your own actions and the way your family helps each other and helps others together.

Source: data.whicdn.com via Meagan on Pinterest

17. Remind him that practice makes perfect.
This doesn't just apply to performance-based activities (like sports and music) but also applies to everything in life. You become a better writer by writing. You become a better listener by listening. You become better speaker by speaking. Show your son this when he is just young enough to understand (that means from birth, folks - they are making sense of the world as soon as they arrive), practice trick-or-treating at your own front door before the real thing. Practice how you will walk through airport security before a trip. Practice how you order your own food from the fast food cashier. Practice, practice, practice.

18. Answer him when he asks, "Why?"
Answer him, or search for the answer together. Show him the places to look for the answers (like his dad, or grandparents, or his aunts/uncles, or his books, or valid internet searches). Pose the question to him so he can begin thinking about answers himself. Someday, when he needs to ask questions he's too embarrassed to ask you - he'll know where to go to find the right answers.

Source: 1.bp.blogspot.com via Maegan on Pinterest

19. Always carry band-aids and wipes on you.
especially the wipes.

Source: babyhold.com via Katie on Pinterest

20. Let his dad teach him how to do things
...without interrupting about how to do it the 'right way.' If you let his dad show and teach and discover with your son while he is growing up, some day down the road (after a short period of your son believing his dad knows nothing), he will come to the realization that his dad knows everything. You will always be his mother, but in his grown-up man heart and mind, his dad will know the answers. And this will be how, when your son is too busy with life to call and chat with his mom, you will stay connected to what is happening in his life. Because he will call his dad for answers, and his dad will secretly come and ask you.

Source: familyfun.go.com via Kate on Pinterest

21. Give him something to release his energy
drums, a pen, a punching bag, wide open space, water, a dog. Give him something to go crazy with - or he will use your stuff. and then you'll sorry.

Source: bleubirdvintage.typepad.com via Marybess on Pinterest

22. Build him forts
Forts have the ability to make everyday normal stuff into magic. Throw the couch cushions, a couple blankets, and some clothespins and you can transform your living room into the cave of wonders. For the rest of his life, he'll be grateful to know that everyday normal stuff has the potential to be magical.

Source: None via Tabitha on Pinterest

23. Take him to new places
Because it will make his brain and his heart open up wider, and the ideas and questions and memories will rush in.

Source: None via Anne on Pinterest

24. Kiss him
Any mother of sons will tell you that little boys are so loving and sweet. They can be harsh and wild and destructive during most of the day. But there are these moments when they are so kind and sensitive and tender. So much so that it can cause you to look around at the inward, reserved grown men in your life and think, 'what happens in between that made you lose that?' Let's try to stop the cycle by kissing them when they're loving and kissing them even more when they're wild. Kissing them when they're 2 months and kissing them when they're 16 years old. You're the mom - you can go ahead and kiss him no matter how big he gets - and make sure he knows it. p.s. (this one is just as important for dad's too).

Source: smallesthings.blogspot.com via Sherry on Pinterest

25. Be home base
You are home to him. When he learns to walk, he will wobble a few feet away from you and then come back, then wobble away a little farther and then come back. When he tries something new, he will look for your proud smile. When he learns to read, he will repeat the same book to you twenty times in a row, because you're the only one who will listen that many times. When he plays his sport, he will search for your face in the stands. When he is sick, he will call you. When he really messes up, he will call you. When he is grown and strong and tough and big and he feels like crying, he will come to you; because a man can cry in front of his mother without feeling self-conscious. Even when he grows up and has a new woman in his life and gets a new home, you are still his mother; home base, the ever constant, like the sun. Know that in your heart and everything else will fall into place.