Grandma Anderson

When I think of my Grandma Anderson I think of love. My sister wrote up a beautiful post about her, and I know I couldn't do any better, so If you want to know more about my grandma go here. 

Grandma Joye was not technically my grandma, but she treated me the same as she did any of her other grand kids. Every Christmas I was invited to the Christmas party, and got presents along with my five older siblings. (who were technically her grandchildren) Grandma didn't care how we were related, she showed me nothing but love my entire life. She never forgot a birthday, she always included me and called me several times to check on me when Lincoln and Will were in the hospital. 

Tuesday I attended her funeral. And although I was sad to not have her in my life, overall I was filled with peace. I know she is happy and snuggling up with Grandpa as I type. 

As I walked in to the viewing room I felt like grandma was there with us, I heard her voice, it was coming from a video my brother Corbin had made. The room even smelled like grandma. A pale pink fabric lined her white casket that had pink, purple and white flowers flowing from the top. Grandma looked at peace. 

After family said their good byes they wrapped a soft, furry white blanket around her and closed the casket. 

We sang "The Lord is my Light". Grandma had a beautiful voice and loved music. As we all struggled to hit the high notes I wondered what grandma thought about our little number. 

Grandmas brother Dee spoke first. He spoke about growing up with grandma during the great depression, and wearing underwear made out of flower sacks. He remembered Joye as patient, fearless and resourceful. 

He told a story about grandma rescuing a cat that he dropped in the outside toilet. She rescued him with a rake and cleaned him up. The cat was just fine. He spoke of grandmas kindness and willingness to help anyone. 

He talked about Keith and Joyes loving relationship, and how they pampered each other. In Keith's later years Joye called Keith old paint. Joye said she had a perfect marriage and Dee could not recall hearing a harsh word between them. 

Joye's relief society president sang "Abide with Me; 'tis Eventide", and I think Grandma approved of that number. 

Grandchildren's memories were read by Janalee.

Keith and Joye's neighbor from Pleasant Grove spoke next. He spoke about the motorcycle rides the three of them would go on together. He spoke about the love that they had for them. He ended by saying "Keith and Joye are happy today, and they will be happy when we get there."

Joye's Bishop and current neighbor spoke last. He spoke about his eight kids and how grandma was always kind and loving towards them. Even when they plastered her front window in bubbles. 

We closed by singing "I Believe in Christ" 

I felt Grandma was close by, and her testimony was beaming through the lyrics. One verse in particular stood out to me. 

I believe in Christ—my Lord, my God!

My feet he plants on gospel sod.

I’ll worship him with all my might;

He is the source of truth and light.

I believe in Christ; he ransoms me.

From Satan’s grasp he sets me free,

And I shall live with joy and love

In his eternal courts above.

Love you Grandma! 

Bed rest

Is anyone still reading this? Judging by the spacing of my post I'm betting that not many are. Well good news, my post are about to become more frequent! At least for the next three weeks.

Last week was eventful, not just for me but for the country as well. Will was out of town for the first part of the week and I had the joy of single parenting for a few days. After three days of running errands, two photo shoots and trying to catch up on Christmas preparations, I found myself feeling a little...exhausted. I started cramping on Wednesday but decided to push through and finish doing what needed to get done. Okay I'll admit, going to DI to look for ugly Chirstmas sweaters was not a necessity. 

Will got home and Thursday was pretty low key. My girl friends and I had a play date planned for Friday morning. I had some light cramping in the morning but Lincoln was really excited and I figured it would go away. I headed out the door around nine to run a few errands first. After five minutes in the dollar store, it was very apparent that I would not be running any other errands. I sat in the car for a minute and tried to figure out what to do. The cramping lightened up and I headed to my friends house. We were about five minutes away when the cramping got worse and was accompanied by dizziness and nausea. I pulled over, and started balling. I was sure I wouldn't be able to move ever again. I said a quick prayer and regained enough strength to drive the rest of the way. Cramping started again and I felt like I needed a gurney to get me in the house. I called Will and asked him to call my midwife and ask her what I should do. I got the boys out of the car, got in the door and collapsed on the couch. My midwife called me a minute later and asked me what was going on. I told her I was dying and I didn't know what to do. Luckily she knows me well enough to know that I was only slightly exaggerating and told me to take a bath and she would be come over shortly to check the baby and make sure I wasn't dilating any.

I took a bath and the cramps stopped. Then as soon as I got out, they started again. My wonderful friends took care of my kids while I laid down on the couch. Will showed up and I again started crying. My cramping was very painful and they were starting to come in waves, which scared me. My midwife showed up, gave me some nasty medicine to stop the cramping, a spoon full of magnesium and calcium, and checked the baby. His heart rate was great and he didn't seam to be under any kind of stress. She checked me and said cervix was dropped down and my outer cervix was dilated to a two. She said I would need to stay on bed rest for the weekend and we would go from there. She also told me that I needed to be done nursing Spencer, cold turkey, no more nursing. He was only nursing morning and night, but I was enjoying the time to cuddle up and bond with my little rambunctious toddler. I also found comfort in the fact that he was getting some nutrition on those days he stuck up his nose at everything else we tried to feed him.

So anyway we went home and I rested the rest of the day. But the cramping didn't go away completely. I kept taking the yucky anti cramp around the clock but every time I would get up to use the bathroom, or move it would hurt. The next morning I called my midwife and told her what was going on. She told me to put her on speaker so she could talk to both Will and I. She consulted with an OBGYN and they both agreed that I needed to go on full bed rest until I am 37 weeks. I immediately started balling and handed the phone to Will. "No cooking, No walking, No lifting, No cleaning......" All of my plans for Christmas went down the drain, and I regained enough composure to say I didn't think I could make it that long. Angie said that in three weeks I can try to start doing small things again and see what I can handle. But the last thing I wanted was a micro preemie, so I needed to be careful.

Sigh. And so the last five days I have been sitting on my tush, thinking about all of the things that I need to get done. Mostly Christmas things. Trips to see Santa, trips to see the lights, playing in the snow, making cookies. Oh well, maybe next year. The important thing is, I can still tell Lincoln about the nativity, and teach him the true meaning of Christmas. The important thing is, this baby is fine, I'm fine, and we are both healthy.

Yesterday I went to my Grandmas funeral. The walk from the car to the church made me start cramping so the graveside service was out of the question. But it put a lot of things in perspective and I will write more about the services tomorrow for those that were unable to attend. She passed away Friday, 10 years after my grandpa. She was a wonderful woman and embodied love. I will miss her, but I am glad she is finally reunited with the love of her life.

Lincoln's 3rd Birthday!

Lincoln has been waiting for his pony party for months! We had a blast! Picture overload warning. 

 Not my best work on the cake, but Lincoln didn't seem to mind.

Three and one

I kind of purposely forgot to schedule Spencer's 1 year appointment so that I could take Lincoln and Spencer at the same time. Both boys are healthy and growing great. :)

Spencer's Stats: (at 13 months)

Height: 29.5 inches   25%
Weight: 21 pounds   23%
Head Circumference:  18 inches  24%

Lincoln's Stats: (at 3 years)


Height:  38 inches     55%
Weight: 30 pounds    40%
Head Circumference:  18.5 inches 15%



As you can see, Spencer is catching up with Lincoln very quickly. I keep telling Lincoln to be nice to his little brother because soon Spencer will be bigger than him. This makes him a little angry and he says "Mom, I am a big boy and Spencer is a baby. He is NOT bigger than me!" So funny.

We celebrated Lincoln's birthday last Saturday with friends and family and then went to Chucky Cheese on his actual birthday. Pictures coming soon.

It's a....

Will and I are the most impatient people in the world. Tell us we can find out the gender around 14-16 weeks, you better believe we are hitting that up at 14 weeks.

We are so excited to be welcoming baby boy #3 to our little family. They will be best buds.
Our wallets will be a lot heavier as well. :) 

Halloween Costumes....

Halloween costumes are finished :)

The Birthday Project part 2

I know this is a little late, but I did finish my 25 acts of kindness on my birthday.

17) Let someone go ahead of me in line

18) Took care of the kids so Will could take a nap.

19) Made Will breakfast in bed.

20) Visited a friend in the hospital.

21) Left a treat in the mailbox for the mailman.

22) Paid for someones groceries.

23) Bought lemonade from the neighbor kids.

24) Took a handful of kids out of sacrament so their parents could just listen.

25) Took doughnuts to the fire fighters.

Tears are streaming down my face as I type the last one. Partly because it was a really neat experience and also because I know it is long over due. It has been two years since Will's accident, and this was the first time that I did anything to thank the men that saved Will's life.
I figured that I would just drop the doughnuts off, give a quick thank you and be on my way. They answered the door and asked Lincoln if he wanted to come in and see the fire trucks. He of course said yes and started running around in circles. He climbed up on the truck and I took his pictures.

We made small talk for a few seconds and then I said "You may not remember me, but my husband was in an accident a few years ago and I remember you being one of the men who helped save his life." He said "Yes I was the lead paramedic that day. I have thought about that call a lot....It his really close to home for a lot of us." We talked about how Will was doing and he asked if the crazy little boy running up and down the fire trucks was the one I was holding in my arms when they arrived at the house.

He talked about how us coming and knowing everything went well with Will, brought him a lot of closure. We also talked about how we both had separately made the call to not lift the car off of Will with the jack, and how we had struggled with that decision, not knowing for sure if that was the right call.

I told him Will was in the car and would love to also say thank you. So he walked out to the car and talked to Will for a few minutes. He told him how lucky he was to be alive and asked if he had bought car jack blocks.

We said thank you a few more times and we were on our way.

This was the best Birthday by far. I love the feeling that you get from forgetting yourself and serving others. I may not do something everyday, but  I will continue to try to do the little things and serve my friends, neighbors, family and strangers. If you do the same I know your lives will be richly blessed.

The Birthday Project part 1

I debated posting about this, I don't want to try to seem like I am bragging about how awesome I am. But I was inspired by reading about it on a friends blog, so I figured maybe I could do some inspiring as well. This year for my birthday I decided to participate in The Birthday Project. 
Basically instead of focusing on yourself, you do an act of kindness for every year you've been alive.
So since I am turning 25 this year, I am doing 25 acts of kindness. I should have started 25 days before my birthday, but I only heard about it Monday. SO I have been crunching in the kindness.

This has been my experience so far:
First, I wrote up a list of things that I could do. I figured I would try to make at least one service a day be for my family. Then the other two were planned and I prayed to be presented with opportunities to serve as well. It's interesting how much it changes your attitude when you are actively looking for people to serve. Suddenly the world didn't revolve around me. :)

1) Packed Will's bags for him. He went out of town for a business trip last week, and he hates packing. So I did it for him.

2) Returned shopping carts left in the parking lot.

3) Bought lunch for the guy behind me at the drive-through.

4) Invited friends over for dinner.

5) died my sisters hair for her.

6) Wrote a note of encouragement to a friend.

7) Left money in the vending machines at Walmart.

8) Did a photo shoot for free.

9) Let someone go ahead of me in line.

10) Baby sat my friends baby.

11) Left a stack of $2 off coupons by the baby food.

12) Left quarters in the candy machines.

13) Spent the day giving my children 100% of my attention. No facebook, no pinterest, no emailing. I know this is what I should be doing all of the time, but I don't.

14) Brought treats to my old co-workers at R-kids. Let them know I missed them. :)

15) Did the dishes for Will. (dishes are Will's job :))

16) Made cookies for a friend.

Nine more to go with just three days left. Wish me luck!

Birthday Boy!

My sweet baby is now one. Don't  know where that year went, but it is gone. I feel like I savored every moment and made each day matter. At least I tried to.
Spencer's birthday was a blast. We had an owl themed party and as always lots of treats.

 Spencer was not shy about digging in to his cake.

 All of the kids made little owl masks.

 Opening presents.

A little about Spencer at 1 year:

He knows about four words, mom, dad, Bosco, and uh oh. His preferred method of communication is growling. (occasionally he will say please and thank you)

He is a Lincoln in training, he's a little busy body and loves to climb, make messes, and torment his brother.

He loves to give kisses, but hasn't mastered the closed mouth kiss.

He loves balls, and cars.

His preferred mode of transportation is running.

He is a complete mamma's boy and can't bear going the whole night with out seeing me. So he wakes up a couple times to visit.

He is very persistent and doesn't give up when he wants something.

He loves his big brother, and follows him everywhere he goes. He's like a little puppy.

Oh how we love him!

Slacking

Ok, I have been slacking big time on the blog posts. Life has been crazy busy lately, but I am here to give an update.

I started watching my friends little baby last month. He is three months old, and adorable. Need proof? Look here. He is an amazing little babe, but I find my free time has decreased significantly. Lincoln loves having a little baby in the house, but Spencer is a little more on the jealous side.

In other news, Will turned 31! He claims he is only 30 since he was in a coma for his 29th birthday. I still put 31 candles on his cake. Will got the day off and we had a fantastic fun filled day.

 Will about to eat his creme brulee cake, YUM

We also spent time at our family cabin as part of our family "stay cation"

 We went to cascade springs, the lake, Seven Peaks, the Zoo, the Beach Resort, had lots of good food and lots of fun. I love my seeters. (most of the time :)


Spencer is turning one on Saturday! Can you believe it? One year? My baby!?!?
We had a fun little cake smash photo shoot.

That's all I have for now. Hopefully I will post again before another month passes. 

11 Months

Spencer is almost a year. I don't think I can handle how fast he is growing up. He is a crazy little ball of energy!

A little about Spencer at 11 months:
~He is walking about 50% of the time.
~He is very persistent and bounces up every time he falls.
~He loves getting into things and causing mischief with his older brother.
~His favorite food is avocado.
~He is a complete mommas boy.
~He says "uh oh" "mama" and "dada"
~He can climb up anything, and does it quite frequently.
~He loves to torment Bosco.
~He puts everything he can possibly get a hold of in his mouth.
~He has yet to sleep through the night. However, he claps when I come to get him for night time feedings, which I think it totally worth the loss of sleep. Adorable.

I think he is the cutest 11 month old I know :) but I might be a little bias.

 I don't know why he insisted on giving me the stink eye the entire shoot, but oh well, still cute.

He pulled the trash can out of the pantry so he could stand up to the table and see what Lincoln was doing. Funny kid.

10 months!

My hansom little man is 10 months! 

Spencer at 10 months:
He has four 1/2 teeth.
His fingernails grow at the speed of light.
He cruises around the furniture and takes a few steps.
He loves food. Avocado's are his favorite.
He doesn't slow down enough to nurse much during the day, so he makes up for it by nursing several times in the night.
He likes to scream and make all sorts of crazy noises. He thinks his voice is pretty rad.
He loves to sing and dance.
His favorite thing to do: Torment his brother.

Spencer is a strong willed, energetic, mischievousness, persistent little guy. (Sound familiar?) He keeps us laughing and always on our toes.

He can hold his own in a fight with Lincoln, which is actually quite entertaining to watch.

 He is also a GQ model.