August/September 2012

Gus was only a couple of months old and was an angel.  We did have many sleepless nights, but not from him crying all night, he never had a single night like that.  He just would wake up every 2 hours like a normal baby to eat.  However, unlike a normal baby, he also had LOTS of nights where I had to wake HIM up to feed him, because he would sleep for 5-6 hour stretches at night! I really like these nights, but his Pediatrician said I should wake him. :( darn!
Since I had never done the newborn baby and nursing thing, I had quite a few new experiences those first few months.  I have never experienced such extreme exhaustion where I am basically hallucinating that I have done something, only to discover that I really hadn't.  I lost track of how many times I would wake up to Gus whimpering, believe I had fed him, and then an hour later, really wake up and wonder why he was upset, only to realize I had been dreaming of feeding him and he was still patiently waiting to nurse.  I also had lots of nights of falling asleep while nursing him, and then waking up wondering why he was still hungry, I just fed him!...only to realize it had been 2 hours since I fed him and he was hungry again. :)
Around mid September is when I got my first giggle out of him.  It was the sweetest noise I had ever heard!  He was such a chill lil guy.  Really never made a fuss. Was just content and happy. :)
I recall one night where Topher said I should wake him up when I did Gus' 3 a.m. feeding and we would have ourselves a 3 a.m. "date".  I woke him up and he decided that would be a great time for him to iron his uniform in our room while I nursed Gus.  He stayed up with me for an hour or so just talking with me and snuggling with me and Gus.  It was so wonderful and I remember being so grateful to have such a wonderful hubby that valued our relationship much more than a good night's sleep.
From what I have heard most newborns are like, Gus slept ridiculously well for me.  I would say he ate well too, but he enjoyed eating way too much and would fall asleep constantly while eating.  Nursing him usually took me around 45 minutes to sometimes even an hour and a half.  I tried really hard to sleep train him and so I would feed him as soon as he woke up, play with him for about an hour and a half or so and then lay him down for a nap.  He always went down really really well for me and would sleep for 2 or more hours at a time.

Gracey loved him to pieces and I was actually pleasantly surprised by how good she was with him.  She wasn't crazy or intense, but just absolutely enamored with him.  

During those first couple months Grace also was a total champ.  Each night before I went to bed, I would set out cereal for Grace and then in the fridge I would put a small cup of milk.  She would wake up, get dressed, get her milk and make her cereal, eat and then entertain herself until I could get out of bed with Gus, which was usually around 9 or 10.  She was so patient with me.
We did Grace's first swim lessons ever, just a few weeks after Gus was born.  I was nervous about this at first, but it turned out to be fine.  Her lessons were the first of the morning before the sun was high and hot, and so it was comfortable and Gus would sleep the whole time.  Grace loved swim lessons and progressed really quickly throughout the 3 weeks of class.

I had really wanted to do professional pictures of Gus, but they are so outrageously expensive! Topher instead let us buy a new lens for the camera and even okayed me buying some fabrics for back drops and "fake floor" paper.  I tried my best to get some good shots, I even ventured out into the almost 100 degree humid outdoors and tried to shoot some out by the pond down the street.  Each time I tried I would feel fairly confident I got something, and then when I would upload the pictures, the large majority of them were out of focus. :( Out of probably more than 200 pictures, I may have gotten about 5 that I actually liked.  Oh well! I got 5 right? and at least I didn't have to pay $1,000 for them.

In late August, we had a big milestone occur with Grace.  Her first day of real Pre school! We had done a Community Center pre school the year before, but it was sort of a joke.  I mean, she enjoyed herself and her teacher was a sweet heart....but she didn't learn a thing.  It was a class of almost 30 kids and I felt like it was definitely more of a glorified day care than a pre school.

So the next year we went to St. Timothy's.  It's a little Lutheran Church, which seemed really weird to me at first, but I ended up loving it.  It was really pricey, but Grace learned a LOT.  Her teacher also I think helped prepare Grace quite a bit for Kindergarten and what would be expected of her.


When Gus was about a month and a half old we made our trip out to Utah for his baby blessing and for the family to all meet him.

Emily and I decided to do a combined baby blessing for Sadie and Gus.  It was so great! We did it at Topher's parent's house and so we had a great dinner with tons of family and friends and then people could swim and play, and it was just awesome! I loved getting to do the blessing with Emily.  That was something I loved so much about having our babies right next to each other.  I haven't gotten to experience that before and it is so fun to have a sister with a baby that is developing at the same rate as mine.  I felt like it was such a neat thing to always be able to bond over our babies. :)

While we were out there we did some biking with Dac and Dad and their families up to Bridal Veil Falls.  It was a bit interesting seeing as how Gus was too little to go in a biking stroller...we attempted to put him in a baby carrier on me but that didn't work so great either.  Perhaps not the most successful biking adventure, but fun none the less.

We also did the super fun, (and now annual) Cousins Carnival.

Dacia planned this great day full of activities and we all tried to play a small role in pulling it off.  My favorite was the obstacle course and the coloring faces.  I seem to recall Grace throwing a temper tantrum because all she wanted to do was color faces.  She didn't have much interest in all the other activities.  I think Dacia may have even taken a few tickets away from her for her bad attitude. :) The activities I was in charge of were the ring toss, the balloon noodle dash, and then I contributed a bunch of prizes.  So fun to buy prizes!!

It was a huge success and everyone had a blast.  We did several other different carnival type games, including a "gypsy" face painting station, had a great lunch with fun "fair" food and even had tickets and a prize table at the end.

Other than those few big things we did we mostly just played and enjoyed family for a couple weeks.

While we were in Utah for the baby blessing Dacia took some family photos for us out at Wheeler Farm and they turned out so so great.  Grace was difficult because well she's Grace.  She is just so short on focus and is SO energetic and easily distracted, but somehow Dacia got some adorable shots of her. Gus sadly was asleep in basically all the pictures, so that was a little bit of a bummer but I was really really pleased with how well they all turned out.  Dacia was so patient with us and has gotten so talented it's insane.



When we came back Gus was so sweet and such a good baby and Grace was loving pre school and being quite the helper.

That was August and September!

The story of July 1st

So as I mentioned in previous posts, we were expecting. Yay! Well, we had our sweet baby boy on July 1, but I still haven't blogged about it at all.  So, I'm going to back track a month and write down the story of his arrival. :)
Just as a heads up, this post is long.  And I mean really long.  It's my journal after all and I want to remember everything. So, it's detailed, and did I mention long??
First, so that I don't forget I have to mention that throughout this pregnancy Topher and I talked a lot about if we thought this baby was going to come on time, early or late.  When I was about 5 months pregnant, we both were in agreement that we felt like he was going to come early.
There was even a specific experience where we were booking camping reservations and one of them was going to be the last weekend in June, leading into July 1st.  I had booked the dates, entered in our credit card information and asked Topher if he was good with all the dates and if I should click the "confirm" button, and he stopped me.  He said, "No, maybe not.  Maybe we shouldn't do that weekend.".  When I asked why, he said he wasn't sure, he just didn't feel good about it.  I remember gasping and saying, "Does that mean that's when the baby is coming?!!"  He played it off and said it didn't necessarily mean any such thing and that and I shouldn't put so much stock in his thoughts.  But from that moment on, I was 99% convinced this baby was coming early and might even be there that specific weekend.
Another reason I felt like he'd come before his due date was because I'd had contractions fairly early on with him, he seemed to be growing faster and a bit bigger than Grace had and I just was impatient, and so my wishful thinking led me to think he was coming earlier.
However, Grace on the other hand...she DID "know" he was coming early. AND, not only did she KNOW he was coming early, but she knew the exact. day.
Let me explain.  Ever since we told her we were pregnant, we had been telling her the baby was due in July.  Well, July was so far away for her, and she didn't understand dates and such so for 8 months, I just told her July, over, and over, and over again.  "Your baby brother is coming in July Grace, in July."  Well about a week or so before July, someone said, "Wow, it's almost July!"  Well to Grace that translated as "Wow, it's almost the day your baby brother is coming!".  She asked me each day, "How many days til' July?"  And when I would respond with "5" or "4" or "3", she would respond with "Only 5 (4, 3,) more days til baby brother comes!!!"  We tried so hard to explain to her that he wasn't due until July 11th.  We didn't want her to get her hopes up and then be disappointed for 11 days that he hadn't made his appearance yet.  But, no matter what we said, she didn't believe us.  She was convinced he was coming on July 1st.  Even on the night before he was born, she went to bed and told us "Tomorrow baby brother is coming!!!!" I remember just sighing and saying "uh-huh" to appease her and make her go to bed.
Well, the next morning, July 1st, I woke up to contractions.  I immediately knew something was up, because each time I had had contractions throughout my pregnancy, going to bed had always made them go away.  I had never had contractions in the middle of the night or while I was sleeping, and here I was waking up to them.  I had an inkling, I'll admit, that maybe "this was the day"...but I'm much too proud to voice that out loud and then be wrong and be embarrassed.  So when I mentioned it to Topher and he gave me "the look", I just tried to brush it off like it wasn't a big deal.  The contractions were definitely uncomfortable but I was able to shower and get ready for church.  In the hour and a half I was getting ready however they did get progressively more uncomfortable, to the point of painful, and about 15 minutes before we left I asked Topher to start timing them.  They were regular and consistent and getting closer together and more intense. Hm.  Topher asked me if I thought we should still go to church or if we should just go to the hospital.  I played it cool again and said, "No, I'm sure it's nothing.  I don't want to go all the way to the hospital just for them to tell me its false labor and to go home.  Besides, our back up sitters for Grace aren't even home, they're going to church now too!  Let's just go to church and If I'm still having contractions when church is over, we'll go in."  At about this time, I had a very distinct impression that I should pack my overnight bag, (I should also mention I had had this impression EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for the past week and a half.  I ignored it and didn't pack it).  Well, I mentioned this to Topher and he felt like even if I was in labor, we could come back home and get an overnight bag after church.
SO...off to church we went.
We got there a couple of minutes late, but could have slipped in to the chapel, but as we got there my contractions got a little stronger and I didn't think I wanted to go in to the chapel after all.  We sat in the foyer instead and I sat next to Topher, gripping his arm something fierce for every contraction.  It was actually a good system.  I didn't need to say a word for him to know when to start timing them or when they were over.  He knew.  He could tell when they were done because feeling would start returning back into his hand.
I remember a couple came into church and sat down on the couch next to us.  They had their brand new baby with them, only 6 days old.  I said congratulations, and they asked when we were due.  I said July 11th, and Topher looked at me with a look like, "Really?  You're still going with that??"  I just smiled and knew that was a load of beans.  After Sacrament meeting, (the first 1/3 of church) Topher asked me if we should go to the hospital, but I said we should wait until Church was over to see if the contractions really lasted that long or if they went away and it was a false alarm.  I did mention to the Primary President that I thought I might be in labor though and so I was sorry if I wasn't very helpful getting everything ready in Primary.  She looked at me sort of in shock and asked why I was there at all and I just said I wasn't sure it was true labor and didn't want to get sent home, and even if it was labor, I could labor at church just as easily as at home.
This was my first Sunday being in Primary and they sang the "welcome" song to me.  Sister Young (Primary Pres.) wouldn't let me come up to the front because she could see I was gripping my seat with a pained look on my face.  She told the Primary "This is Sister Andersen! She's our new first counselor, let's sing to her, but she's gonna stay where she is, because she's in labor!! We probably won't see her for several weeks, because I think she'll be having her baby pretty soon!"  The Primary laughed and all looked at me excitedly and I just sat there gripping my chair and smiling back.
I made it until there was only about 20 minutes left of Church before the contractions were getting so intense I couldn't sit down anymore.  I went to the restroom and saw I was bleeding a lot and decided it was time to go.  I grabbed Topher, had a mild panic attack trying to think what to do with Grace, but her back up sitters were so sweet and said to just leave her car seat there and they'd take her home and we could bring her overnight things as soon as it was convenient.
Topher and I got in the car and started to head home to pack an overnight bag, but as I got more and more of a pained look on my face Topher got more and more convinced that there wasn't time to go pack our bags after all.
He headed for the hospital instead.  We didn't have phones, lap top, ipad, camera, clothes...NOTHING!   I couldn't fathom going into labor and not having anyone in our families know about it! But, that's what happened. :)
We got to the hospital, checked in and got put into a room.  Topher was going to go home and get our bags, but the Nurse said maybe he should wait and see where I was at in terms of dilation and such.  I was at an 8.  Sooooo Topher decided to stick around.  I was also in a lot a lot a lot of pain the likes of which I was NOT familiar. I asked the nurse if I could get an epidural, and her answer?...That there might not be time.  WHAT?!! She said it would take about an hour for my OB to put in the order for it and for the Anesthesiologist to get there. I say again, WHAT?!! At this point I went into the bathroom and cried.  I did NOT think I could have this baby natural.  No matter the fact that I had WANTED to try and have him natural, now that I was faced with it, I didn't think I could do it.  Topher came in and comforted me and got me out of the bathroom and I started to calm down...but not really.  I squeezed Topher's hand even more and even harder, paced the room and said "ow" a lot. :) Luckily the OB got the order in and the anesthesiologist got there a bit quicker than anticipated and I got an epidural, which was surprisingly a lot more unenjoyable than when I had one with Grace.  The guy was mean, abrasive and threatened me more than once that If I moved I could be paralyzed.  Um...thanks.  But its really hard to hold completely still in the middle of a ridiculously painful contraction!! Ugh.
One good thing about the epidural was that i asked them to do a smaller dose.  I wanted to still be able to feel when I was having the contractions, just not so much of the pain associated with them, and it worked! I could still tell when I was having contractions and if they were strong or not, but no pain. Ahhh it was nice. :)
The epidural seemed to slow me down a bit, but I didn't mind.  By 4:00 I could tell it was time for me to push and so my sweet Dr. came in.  I asked her if Topher could help with anything and she said of course, and we got to be pretty involved. Topher watched the whole thing again and I got to feel the baby with my hands a bit before he came out, (I know, kinda gross, but it was also super cool).  I pushed only a couple of times and he was out, screaming a quivering little cry and Topher quick snipped his umbilical cord.  They held him up a little for me to see and I was immediately in awe. It was the "birth" experience I had always heard about but didn't think really existed.  They wiped him off just a little bit and immediately put him on me.  I had previously thought this sounded disgusting, but I loved it.  He was crying and as soon as they laid him on me he immediately quieted, opened his eyes and tried to find me.  Topher was right next to me and we both just stared at this perfect little being and cried.  It was such a sweet sweet experience and I loved every minute of it.

In hindsight, Topher and I decided we liked not having our phones.  It was so nice to relax and to just be the three of us enjoying each other.  It was quiet and peaceful and we got to just sit and stare at our new little guy and stare at each other and grin from ear to ear.  We didn't have to worry about calling 30 different people to give them a status update, we just got to relax and be in the moment.  I think we'll be leaving our phones at home or off for all future babies from now on. :)
I should point out that several hours after his arrival we still hadn't named our little man.  His name was quite the dilemma for us.  We had had our list of favorites which was the following:  Max, Thomas, Samuel.  We also had our list of backups: Dex, Oliver, and I don't even remember the other 2. haha. But we had had those names for months and none of them seemed to fit as perfectly as we were expecting them to.  Grace's name had just fit and we didn't feel like we even needed to see her to know that was her name.  But with this pregnancy we had really felt like we just didn't know and we'd have to get a good look at him.

A name I had liked a few months back had been August.  I had liked this name and thought Augie and Gus were adorable nicknames, but when I had mentioned it to Topher he had shot it down.  He did not like Augie as a nickname at all.  Ok, ok.  So, I forgot about it and didn't mention it again...until the day before he was born.  Saturday afternoon Topher and I were again discussing names and I threw August out there again.  I said "are you sure you don't like the name August? I think it's really really cute."  This time Topher surprised me.  He sat and mulled it over for a few minutes and said that he didn't mind it so much anymore and that actually he thought it was pretty cute too.  So, it became a "back up" name. :)
Anyway, I'm getting side tracked.  At about 7:30ish Topher finally pried himself away from me and our new baby and left to fetch our overnight things and the big sister. :)

Grace was overjoyed to meet her baby brother and it was a really sweet time to have her come and see him and hold him for the first time.  She was very gentle with him, and yet still her very eager, and energetic self.  It was really nice to see her and have us all together but she very quickly got rowdy, hyper, restless and bored and wanted to play with all the Dr. things in the room and get into all the cupboards and drawers and finally just wanted to sit and play the iPad.  Topher decided she was probably good for the night and so he took her back to the sitter's before we all got annoyed at each other. :)

Just as a place to have his stats, baby brother was born at 4:15p.m. he was 7 lbs. 9 oz. and 19 inches.  He was a lb. heavier than Grace had been and an inch longer, but he still seemed so tiny to me!
Anyway...The next day we still hadn't named him.  However we had eliminated all our back up names except August, and also eliminated Samuel.  He just didn't look like a Sam.  So we were at a crossroads with Max, Thomas and August.  I liked Max, Topher liked Thomas and we both liked August.  But it was such a different name and we had only been considering it since the day before!!

Anyway, Topher went into work for a few hours that day and afterwards he went and picked Grace up for a Daddy daughter date.  They went and saw Brave together, got food, and went shopping together. She got a new doll and was very excited. Then he brought her back to the hospital for a little more sibling bonding time and that was again fairly short, but fun. :)

Those two days at the hospital were really special days for me.  It was so quiet, and peaceful and I just got to snuggle my little bundle all day long and I was in Heaven.  I was also exhausted...they didn't mention that the two pain medications they had me on BOTH had a severe side effect of making someone drowsy.  But for some reason, despite that side effect I just couldn't sleep.  I think that in 48 hours I got less than 8 hr. of sleep because I just couldn't make myself sleep.  Too many sisters and parents to talk to and tell about our sweet new boy and too much snuggling to do.  I think part of the reason I never slept was because they said I couldn't sleep with him in my bed, so I never slept because that involved putting him down.  :)

The food at the hospital was terrible, lol, but the nurses, staff and pediatricians were really really sweet and I hope we can have our next baby there as well.
The day we left the hospital was July 3rd and we only decided on the name Auguste about an hour before we checked out.  Topher said he really liked the 'e' on the end, and I wasn't really swayed one way or another so I said ok. So we left the hospital with his name officially as Auguste Christopher Andersen.
I'm still not sold on the 'e' on the end.  But, I figure I ought to let Topher win a battle occasionally right? ;)
So, we brought our Auguste Christopher home and have been in love with him ever since!!

Quick Random Tid-bits

So, I had to write these down before I forget them because they seriously cracked me up.

The other day Grace was playing in her kitchen and acting very theatrical.  She was making dinner for her husband and herself and making such classic faces, it was too cute.  But when Topher got home from work, she was telling him about her husband and how she was making him dinner and then she stopped and told us, (with a big smile on her face)  "I have some bad news.  Something really sad happened".  So I responded, "Then why are you smiling?"  "Mom! Mom. Seriously.  It's really sad. (still with a big smile on her face)  My husband...DIED."  "Grace, that's really sad, why are you smiling???"  "Well. Mom, I'm just excited to get a new one."
Um. SERIOUSLY?!!! Topher and I laughed so loud and hard, and then we both stopped and stared at eachother, like, "did she really just SAY that?!!"  Topher says that whoever she marries is going to need some fair warning.

The next day Grace and I were sitting on the patio and she was telling me that she thought I was pretty.  She climbed up on my lap, brushed my hair from my face and told me how pretty my hair was.  Then she said "'member when you went to the ball?? and you had really pretty hair? and pretty things in your hair??  Mom you were so pretty.  Did everyone tell you you were just so pretty?? Did all the boys want to dance with you?"  HA!!! Cracked me up.  I told her I only danced with Daddy and she was a bit disappointed. Lol.  But I thought that was so sweet.  She has been telling me frequently lately that she things I'm pretty, which is nice to hear when I feel like a whale. :)

Anyway, this little girl just cracks me up and I feel like she does pretty hysterical things on a routine basis, but I forget them because I don't write them down.  So, maybe I could try to be a little better about recording those moments that make me laugh so hard with her.

Also, random side note, that was also really funny...Topher seems to really like the name Max for our little guy, but doesn't really like any of the add-ons we know are commonly used.  Example:  Maxwell or Maximilien or Maximus.  So, last night we stayed up way too late trying to make up our own add-ons.  It was really, really, REALLY  entertaining.
Here are some of the highlights: heheh
Maxle
Maxeph
Maxtopher
Maxiah
Maxuchi
Maxdom
Maxpert
Maxter
iMax (this is my personal favotite...but it might be bcuz it was really late and I loved the thought of how he would introduce himself.  I laughed for a long time)
Maxula
McMax
Maxoid
Maxtron

Anyway. We laughed so much over our list.
Then Topher thought about how in his family, his parents named his little sister AnnaLina, and how that is a combination of both of his Grandma's names.  So he said, maybe we could try to do something combining your and my Dad's names.  Ok, I said.  So, we have Carl and Curtis. So he can be Cartis.  Or Curl.  Hehhehhehheh.  Then Topher tried to incorporate Max and we got Curmax...but he thought we'd might as well include Kermit since Topher loves the Muppets...so maybe Kermax would be good.  Then he tried to incorporate his Dad's family name which is Muir..so to combine Carl, Curtis and Muir We settled on Curliur.
So, our little guy's name, had he been born last night, might have been Curliur Maxtopher Andersen.  Don't you think he'd be a lucky little guy???!

Ok. Maybe not.
The only add-ons that really worked that we kinda liked were Maxden (Maxton), Maxon, and maybe Maxler.

You have any thoughts?  Suggestions?  :) We might not name him Max anymore simply because we can't think of a way to lengthen it that we both really like.  So, suggestions are welcome. :)  Even if they're just to make us laugh.

Happy Birthday to My Gracey 3-18-2012

Height and Weight: 41 inches and 33 lbs.

Fave Color: Pink, I mean Blue. Blue. (She loves both of these)
Fave Movie: George of the Jungle. Kung Fu Panda. Barbie Musketeers. Parent Trap.
Fave TV Show: Angelina Ballerina. Curious George.
Fave Food: COOKIES! apple juice. pancakes. doritos. cracker cereal (this is graham crackers and milk)

Fave Treat: Oreos and milk.
Fave restaurant: Hominy Grill! Chick-fil-a
Something you hate to eat: tobacco sauce. bugs. and poop. (I certainly hope she's never tried that last one)
Fave Book: What are you so Grumpy About?  Fancy Nancy
Fave Toy: my Barbies. my wedding barbies.

Fave Outfit: Dresses. My Zora Dress from Oma and my new dress from Aunt Jen that is long and I trip over.
Fave Activity: Playing in my playroom. Playing in the mud and dirt. I like to do art.
Fave School Subject: Playtime
What do you want to be when you grow up: A Princess. A Horsey rider first. actually, a musketeer first. Then a horsey rider. Then a Princess.
What is something that makes you happy: When you nuggle me and cuddle me. and when you love me all over and tickle me and make me nort.
What is something that makes you sad: When you pank me. When you get angry at me.
Best Friend (s): Braden. (I don't even know who this is!!--she says he plays husband and wife with him in Pre-school, yikes) Hannah and Parker.
One Wish or Dream you have for yourself: "That my cousins don't forget about me. I wish that I can be a REAL musketeer and look like a musketeer."

How would YOU describe yourself: "I like vegetables and cookies. I love my friends. I'm a silly girl. "

How do OTHERS describe you: "That I'm cute". - I asked her what other people think of her and that's what she said. 

If I were to describe you I would say you are ENERGETIC, silly, random, easily distracted, clever, emotional, sensitive, dramatic, overly affectionate, imaginative, curious, playful, inclusive, eager, attentive (to teachers and anyone but me), family oriented, adventurous, SASSY, cautious and food oriented. 

You are happiest and the most well behaved when you are outside exploring your forest or playing with Mommy and Daddy. 

You are SUPER excited to be a big sister. You talk about the baby all the time and about how "helpful" you are going to be...I can't wait. 

You love your family, and your friends. You love and adore your cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents and get homesick for them quite often. 

You are a drama queen. You throw fits and tantrums like no one's business and talk to me like a 16 yr. old firecracker quite frequently. 

You hate to clean up even though one of your biggest talents is making messes. 

You love to help me and do favors for me, I hope this is something that continues. 

You will try any type of food and tell me at almost every meal how good it is and what a good "cooker" I am. 

You love to do art. You love to paint, play with clay, playdoh, play in the mud "making soup", make birds nests, do crafts. You tell us all the time that you're such a good "arter". 

You love stories and love to be read to at night.

Topher says you are full of life, energy, drama and love. And although that's a much shorter description of you than what I said, it's quite accurate. :)
Thoughts on you from the past year: I thought that it was supposed to be the "terrible twos", but the threes ended up being so SO SO much worse. I'm not going to lie, you get harder and harder as you get older. You're just too darn smart for your own good and you have enough energy to spread out among 5 people and have them all be in the average range of human energy. You are a very dramatic girl and very loud and emotional. You are so communicative, but sometimes that just means yelling, screaming and crying at me to communicate what you want. Although you have gotten harder in so many ways, you have also gotten smarter, even more curious, even more imaginative, more thoughtful AND more fun. 
You drive me crazy on a daily basis, but you also have the ability to really make me smile.  You say and do some of the FUNNIEST things, sometimes they're funny right then, and sometimes I have to calm down first, and then they're funny later. ;) 
I love your giggle and when you really laugh. There are times when we get a huge, genuine giggle out of you and it brightens your whole face and I can't help but laugh as well. I love how joyous you can be. 
You are a miracle, and when I take the time to remember how lucky we are and how lucky you are, I can't believe how full of life, laughter, energy, joy and SPUNK you are. 
You have enjoyed learning this year and going to pre-school. You have enjoyed exploring Charleston. You love going to the beach, the aquarium, downtown, playgroup, the children's museum and anywhere else to explore with me. 
You have developed a lot intellectually, and I can't believe the expanse of your vocabulary sometimes. You have also started to really learn some scripture stories and to enjoy being in Sunbeams. You came home last week after Easter Sunday and told me "Some people loved Jesus. Some people didn't like Jesus. The people that didn't like him were mean to him and put nails in him hands and in him sides and killed him. His Mommy was really sad and cried. But he came back to life! We're all going to come back to life Mommy, when we're resurrected!" -Wow! That impressed me. You also gave a talk in Sunbeams about prophets and it made me cry.  You were so innocent and sweet and happy to be there and sharing your thoughts with everyone.
You are a rollercoaster ride Gracey.  Sometimes, I'm not sure I can handle the ride, but, I'm staying on anyway, no matter how many loops, drops, spins and tumbles you take me for, I will hang in there.  Because no one has ever had the capacity to make me feel as strongly as you do; love, anger, frustration, adoration, admiration, awe.  I love you.  You are my sweet, feisty little girl and I love you more than I thought I could love a little person.  You drive me to my wits end, but I love you for it.  No one could "refine" me better than you. :)  Thanks for coming down here, and sticking with me to make me a better person. I love you and I'm excited..and nervous ;) , for another year with you. :)

My Hubby

The hubby's birthday was on February 3rd and he turned a big ol' 28. He's getting so old. ;) Anyway, I get to write a blog now about how much I LOVE him!!! And yes, siblings, that is EXACTLY what this blog is: A sappy love fest! So if you don't want to "gag" and are going to make fun, then don't read it! MY journal. MY blog. I get to write what I want about my husband, albeit sappy, gooey, mushy and emotional.

First, I will give a little reminder for myself what we did on his special day. I was a big lame-o to begin with and didn't make him a cake or a special dinner or anything. I know. I suck. :( But I did take him out for dinner and dessert at a yummy steakhouse. So that's not too pathetic. Next year I will have a lot to make up for, its true, but being the amazing hubby he is he never once complained about the lack of a homemade meal or dessert. He was just the happiest boy to get presents and a yummy steak dinner. For his Birthday he got the Harry Potter series and an MCAT study guide, (I know! what a nerd! ;) ) and some notebooks to write down notes from his Medical School studyings. It was a more simple Birthday than we usually do, but he was so grateful and appreciative and acted like it was the best Birthday in the whole world. He's too good to me. I know.
The reasons I love my husband are many. So many in fact, that I could probably come back on here and update this blog every day for a month because I will have thought of something else I love about him that I'll forget to mention in my first attempt. But I'm going to do my best to put down my admiration for him this first go around.

Topher is kind and giving. He will do just about anything for anyone and go to the largest extent he can to do the most for them. This is even more so true with his wife and little girl. I don't think there is a thing in the world I couldn't ask him for.

Topher is Dedicated. He is dedicated in everything he does. Whether it is his family, his church calling, his work or his schooling. He puts his full self into everything he does. He will not settle for anything less than his best effort and in the moments when he feels he hasn't met his expectations he is ridiculously hard on himself. He wants to be the best he can, and he has the courage to get up every day and try again.
He is Playful. He likes to have fun. I love that he is almost like a little boy stuck in a 28 yr. old body. He loves to play with legos, sand, cars. He will play hide and seek with Gracey continuously. He loves to fly his kites, whether its a small one for Grace to enjoy or one of his huge ones that will drag him along the beach and hold him up on a kiteboard. He loves the beach and to build tunnels and sand castles with and for Grace. He loves to go out with his brother and Dad and go shooting and wishes he had more opportunities to do things like that with them. He loves being in Cub Scouts and doing fun things with his boys every week.
He is athletic and loves the outdoors. He loves to Kiteboard, boogie board, skimboard, kayak, bike, hike, camp, play soccer, badminton, basketball or anything else anyone could be up for doing. He bikes to and from work every day and has never once complained. In fact, he doesn't want to drive. When I offer him the car, he'd rather bike.

He loves to be outside, and what I love about this is that he has made it a priority to instill this love of being active and being outside in Gracey as well. He takes her outside to go biking or on a walk to the park, and takes me for walks or bike rides as well. He takes us camping and to the beach regularly. He appreciates this beautiful world we've been blessed with and helps our family enjoy it at every opportunity possible.
He is smart. I love being married to someone that is so knowledgeable and that has such a thirst for more knowledge. Topher is continually trying to enlarge his "horizons" and learn everything he can. He is always reading some historical documentary, or Doctoral study and I love watching how easily all this information is absorbed. He also has such a solid foundation of knowledge about the Church and the scriptures. This is sadly something that I'm lacking in the extremes, and I love that I can ask him question after question about things I don't understand or know and he will almost always have an answer. In the rare occasion he doesn't have an answer though, he knows what book to look in to find one for me.

I love that he enjoys learning and wants to further his education as much as he can. He wants to get a Master's still and possibly go to medical school, and I love that he doesn't think that now that he has a job, school is no longer necessary. He also encourages Grace and I to learn as much as we can and gives us all the opportunities he can for furthered learning.
He is silly. He may be shy, sweet, gentle and smart, but he will be silly with me too. I have to admit I have definitely brought out the "freak" in him since we started dating and got married. I think his family was pretty surprised by some of the things he would do and say around me that he hadn't done before, but I love so so much that he can set aside his serious, contemplative demeanor and just be goofy with me.

He is gentle. He is never abrasive, harsh, loud or impatient. He is a gentle friend, neighbor, Dad and Husband. But my favorite time to see how gentle he is is with other kids. We have a church calling to serve in our Ward Nursery and he is easily better with the kids than I am. He has such a sweet way with them and talks to them each so kindly that they all love to be around him. He makes even the most difficult kids in our nursery feel comfortable there and knows how to reach out to each of them. He is also a sweet Uncle and Big brother and is just very loving and thoughtful of his family.

I think what I love about him the very most though is how much of a family man he is. He is an amazing Father and Husband. He is so loyal, affectionate and gentle with us and I couldn't be more grateful, not to mention undeserving. Grace and I are so loud and at times abrasive and emotional and Topher manages to love us each exactly how we need to be loved. He has a calming influence on both of us and is so good at showing us he cares about us. I love watching him do art with Grace or read her a story. I love that he takes time to have Daddy Daughter dates with her where they cuddle upstairs on the couch, watching movies together and eating popcorn. He adores his little girl and is constantly worrying about her happiness and well being.

As a husband...well. I don't really think there are words to describe how wonderful he is. In fact, I can barely think about him as my husband without being brought to tears. He is the most perfect husband I know or have ever personally known. I know anyone that reads that will think to themselves, "well, you're biased." But, he really is perfect for me. I know lots of people's husbands, and hear about and see the "inner-workings" of their marriages, and I have never once thought to myself, "I wish Topher did that". On the contrary, I frequently feel bad for other women that their husbands don't do for them what Topher does for me. I don't say that to brag or be mean or cocky. But because I don't ever want to forget how blessed I am in my eternal companion. He truly does treat me like a princess. And ANYONE that has seen him with me, especially when I'm sick, can attest to that. He will wait on me hand and foot and pamper me from head to toe. He will compliment me up and down and offer me support, encouragement and love in and out of every day. He has never once been disappointed in me, even when he had every right to be, and instead tells me how much he admires me and how wonderful he thinks I am, even on my worst days.

I am so grateful for him and I don't know if I will every be worthy of him as my spouse. But, I know I will spend the rest of my life trying to keep up with him and trying to be worthy of his love. I really do thank my Heavenly Father for him in every prayer I utter, because he truly is my greatest blessing.

I love you Christopher Curtis Andersen. Thank you for marrying me. I don't know why you did! But I'm so grateful that you did. :) Thank you for being an amazing person, Father, best friend and Husband. I love you so much!

I hope this year is even better than the last.

I can't wait to see you with another baby of ours in your arms, and see all the new adventures we will have with a mini-Topher in our midst. :)