Our Newest Addition!

It's been a pretty eventful few months for us! From Birth to Now, here's what happened!

(Long Post and Lots of Pics!)

So Madi decided not to come on her own and I really needed her out! Got to the hospital at 6am for my induction.

Warmer all set up and ready to go!

When I had contractions, her heart rate would go down, so they kept stopping and starting the Pitocin...Nothing to worry about though.

My room had a beautiful view of downtown.

The last picture of my baby bump!

I love him.

When I was pregnant with Alex, before we found out it was a boy, we actually thought it was a girl, so my mom bought these little booties...I saved them all this time just in case I ever had a girl! She wore them coming home. Very special to me.

Her going home outfit

I was in labor for 8 eight hours..The Dr. thought it was going to be a very hard and very long delivery, he told me that more than likely he was going to have to deliver her with forceps, so he got them prepared..I gave a few pushes but nothing was happening. I really didn't want a hard delivery, I had a really hard time with Alex, pushing for 2 hours and they had to deliver him with a vacuum..That's all I was thinking about, I was praying that she wouldn't have to be whisked away to the NICU like he was, I wanted my perfect delivery and once he told me that it was going to be a hard and long one for me, I got angry! I don't know what I did or how I did it (well, I'm giving credit to God for this one!) But I pushed again, and the Dr looked up at me and I'll never forget the look on his face, he said whatever you do, do that again, you just pushed her all the way down with that one push! (she was pretty high up there) So with just a couple more pushes there she was! It was a piece of cake! I didn't know having a baby could be so easy! lol. I only pushed for 20 minutes and got this beautiful creature..

Love those little feet

When she was born, I looked at her and told the Dr "Oh she's so little!" I really thought she was like a 6 pounder! The Dr looked at me like I was crazy and said "little??

This was the moment that he got wrapped around her finger

Dr. Macey, The best Dr. ever!

She was perfectly healthy!

Her big brother couldn't wait to finally meet her!

A couple from her newborn session with the one and only

Jocelyn!

This was her dress for Travis and Ashley's wedding.

I was crazy for never wanting a girl! I just love her so much!

Her 2 month check-up

I love my kids!

God really has blessed this time for us! Just to think that I was never supposed to have kids without medication! And surprise! I get this perfect little Miracle! She's been such a joy for us and really can't believe we've gone this long without her!! My labor and delivery went pretty much exactly how I wanted it to thank God!! I had great support in the delivery room. Thanks to Cindy and Kristi and of course my husband! Cindy held the phone up the whole time so my mom who is 2,000 miles away could be part of the experience. And Kristi, took some amazing pictures!! I'm so thankful she was in there, she just recently had a baby and knew all the shots us moms would love to have! Like even down to taking a picture of the clock when I started pushing, and another one when she was born! Amazing! Thanks guys! Love you so much!

Well, this post took me forever to do, everything is all caught up now so now I'll just post here and there as things go on. :-) Love ya'll!

Wow, Almost time!

So, it's been a while since I've given any updates. So sorry! :-) I am now 29 1/2 weeks, which means that in 8 1/2 weeks, this little munchkin can come and make her grand appearance! Time has really flown! I cannot believe that it's almost time for her to be here! So much left to do still! I feel at this point I won't be prepared and that's a very uneasy feeling for me! :-) I know by the time she gets here, we'll be ready though. So, here are my ultrasound pictures from about 7 weeks ago....I am getting another ultrasound in 3 more weeks to check her size...I'm measuring a week and half later, so the Dr. wants to check her size make sure she's not too big! Which all the other ultrasounds we've had, she's measured just a few days smaller, so I know all is well! :-)

Here's her cute little profile...She actually has her foot up by her face. We saw her actually sucking on her toes! It was quite funny!

Here SHE is in all her glory! :-) Can't believe we are actually having a girl!! Mike and I never wanted to have a girl, but now knowing that we are actually having one, we couldn't be more excited!! Alex wanted a brother sooooo bad, but now, he's so excited for his sister to come out. He's already saying he wants me to have another girl after this one, then a boy last! Uh, is he serious? I think after this little one comes, he'll change his mind! lol.
So, once I get my next ultrasound I will post more pics...Maybe I'll even post a belly pic too!

Baby Update

Here's a pic from June 14th. Isn't it soooo cute? :-)

I'm Baaaacccckkk! Maybe.

SSSSSoooooooooooooo!!!!!!

I know it's been a LONG time since I've posted and alot has been going on here in our busy life! But probably one of the most exciting and most miraculous things that has happened is that we are expecting our 2nd child!!!! For those of you that know us, you may know that we have been trying for 5 long years! Well, we've learned that God does everything in His good timing! I've had 2 Dr's and a Nurse Practitioner all tell me that I would not be able to have another child without medication. Well, they apparantly don't know who our God is! After a week of fasting and praying, along with with our son's cute little prayers every night for a baby brother, God is faithful to His promise! We are very excited about this new little addition to our family! This is our first ultrasound picture. This was taken about 5 weeks ago. As of now, I am 11 weeks so almost 3 months along now. And trust me, I cannot wait till this first trimester is over! :-) I'll keep ya'll updated on the progress of our baby "Puddles". My next appointment is on Monday so hopefully I'll be able to post an update!

Love Ya'll!!

It's Been Awhile...

Wow, it's been about 2 1/2 months since my last post! We are still here! :-) Staying extremely busy! Everything is great though!

Happy Anniversary!!

Happy Anniversary Rick and Sheri!!! Today is their 23rd Anniversary!!! Congratulations you guys! You two really show what a true marriage should look like, and how it should be, we a long with so many others look up to you and the way you love each other and treat eachother. You are truly an amazing couple and we are so very honored to be able to call you our spiritual parents. I hope you are honored today the way you deserve to be honored. We love you and thank you so much for being the Godly example of what a marriage means.
Sorry there are no pictures, I actually don't have any recent ones of the two of you.
Love you guys!

P.S. Are you feeling "lucky" tonight? Ooops! LOL. If there were any religious people in church today, I'm sure they won't be back after that comment! HaHa! Hillarious.

Anyway, Happy Anniversary and congratulations again! That's a heck of a long time to be putting up with him Sheri. Kudos to you. ;-)

1st Grade!

So, yesterday, we went to "Meet the Teacher Night" we got to meet Alex's 1st grade teacher Mrs. Burgett. I really really like her!!! When anybody leaves out of her classroom, she says "God Bless!" Hmmm, could she be a believer? :-) I prayed for a good teacher for Alex this year, I believe with all my heart he's in her class for a reason! We'll just have to see what that reason is! :-)

So, here we are yesterday, I can't believe he actually has a desk this year!! Last year, he sat at a table with students, this year, a desk? Oh my! Isn't it so cute???

Mrs B. told us last night that they have a little friend right outside their classroom, and that little friend just had babies. It's a Groundhog! I've never actually seen one of these! This was taken from his classroom window.
We were rushing out of the house, so I had to take just a quick shot of Alex before we left!
On our way to school, and yes, you guessed it, he had to have a Transformers backpack!
Ok, so, we get to school, we are walking to class and of course, I'm snapping pictures, well, this little man has the nerve to tell me "Will you quit taking pictures mom?" Through his teeth! Like he was embarrassed or something!! Wait, excuse me? Did I just experience my first "My mom is so embarrassing" moment???
I did manage to get just a couple more pictures.

My little baby! In 1st grade already! I'm so proud he is my son! Dad wanted to be here so bad, but he was unable to because he is working out of town. But he really wanted to be with Alex on his first day of school too! Hope you enjoyed sharing our first day of 1st grade with us!

Love ya'll!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Today is a very special day! It's Father's Day!!
So, first off, let me just say Happy Father's Day to our Heavenly Father, without you, we wouldn't have these wonderful men in our lives!

Happy Father's Day Jeff! I love you so so so much! And I miss you like CRAZY!! I hope your Father's Day is wonderful, I'm so sorry that we are not together to celebrate this special day with you! But just know that we are thinking about you and love you so much! Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Michael! You are the best Father to our son, and I'm so thankful that God gave me you to have kids with, I wouldn't want anyone else raising my children but YOU! I love to hear you guys laugh and play. You always take time out of your day to make sure you play with him, and I think that is so important. He KNOWS without a shadow of a doubt that you love him, and I think you and I both know how important that is! I love you! Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Rick! You have been like a father to Michael all of his life and helped him grow into the awesome man that he is today, Thank You!! You are also our Spiritual Father, and there is nobody else that we would rather have leading us, and guiding us than you! You are an awesome man and we love and appreciate you so much! Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Uncle Dave! You are the one and only man that has ALWAYS been there with Zack and I. When there was no father figure around, there you were! You've always called us your kids and you've always been so protective over us. I speak for Zack too when I say we love you so much and we thank you so much that you have been there all of our lives. I know we both miss you very very much! So, Happy Father's Day, you deserve it just as much as all the other dads do!
T-I had to steal this from your blog because I don't have a picture of him!
Anyway, Happy Father's Day Hugo! Thank you so much for giving us the BEST nieces and nephew in the WORLD!!!! Without you, there would be no them! And thank you for being so good to Kristi. She deserves a good man, and we are so glad that God gave you to her! We love you and miss you so much! Happy Father's Day!

And to all the other Father's out there, Happy Father's Day! Hope your day is great!

It's Someone's Birthday!!!!

LOOKIE LOOKIE MICHAEL'S 30!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY HUSBAND!!!

Wow, no longer in his 20's! I cannot believe that I've known this man for 20 years now! Yeah, you read right, 20 years!! Wow babe, we're getting OLD!! :-)

Happy Birthday Mike...You are a strong, mighty man of God, and I am proud to call myself your wife! You are a wonderful husband, a fantastic, loving, nurturing dad. And you need to be darn proud of yourself for who you are!

I love you and I hope you have a great day!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

This is how WE do it!

So last night, Mike and I celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary! Tuesday (the 19th) was our actual day, but we decided to celebrate it last night. So, while Re-Re and Uncle Rick watched Alex, Mike and I headed out!

1st stop......Joe's Crab Shack....YUM! This is a really good place, and really fun! It's not all crab, it's all kinds of different seafood...It's really good.

I got the Coconut Shrimp with some type of plum/pineapple dipping sauce. It was pretty tasty!And Mike got this......It's a big pot of boiled crap (or at least that's what it looks like lol) Actually, it's Alaskan Snow Crab, Boiled Clams, Corn on the cob, Potatoes and a Sausage. He enjoys this kind of stuff.

Here's his after dinner plate....He had to work hard for his food!
Looks pretty nasty huh?

So after dinner, we were planning on taking a walk downtown, because on Friday nights, it's always hoppin'....Our first stop was our tattoo shop that we love to go to. I wanted to look at the tattoo that I was wanting to get, kinda get an idea of what exactly I wanted, had no intentions at all of getting one....Well, that kinda changed.....Mike pressured me....

Ok, he didn't have to twist my arm that much. lol. I just couldn't believe I actually did it! And I LOVE the result! It's so cute!

After this, we decided to just head home. We had fun just Mike and I. We did miss our Alex being with us, especially since we hadn't seen him since the night before...He was having fun at Re-Re and Uncle Ricks...Posts to come of his visit there will probably be up very soon on Sheri's blog. (hint hint). But, it's always good to have some "us" time. Wasn't expecting to get a tattoo, that was his anniversary gift to me! I think I want more now! ;-) We'll see!

Love ya'll!!

Happy Anniversary!!

A little late, but I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my husband!! We are celebrating our 8 year wedding anniversary today, and our 11 year anniversary of being together!!!! I love you babe, I know that sometimes I'm a nag and a little spoiled at times, but I so appreciate you and everything you do for us. People always say that it takes a special woman to put up with someone like you (lol) but I'm glad that God chose me to be that "special" kind of woman :-) .
You treat me like a queen, and always have, even when I don't deserve it. You are a Godly man and a great role model for our son. You lead our house well and I truly love you for that.
People may not know this, but we met in the 4th grade, he had a "crush" on me and did everything for me, of course I took advantage of that one! I had a crush on him too, and you know little girls, you can always tell if they like you if they are mean to you...So yes, I was mean to him, but only because I liked him, haha. ;-) He went to a different class for the 5th grade, and I ended up moving out of town. So, that was the last time I saw him. When I was a senior in highschool, I was in the office for something and I heard a familiar voice...I knew it was him! After 8 years and after he had already gone through puberty and all, I still recognized his voice! So, I followed him and asked him if his name was Michael Anderson, of course he said yes, then I told him that I was Angela Carlson, from the 4th grade....He didn't believe me...We ended up going to the prom together, but he had a date and I had a date, we just all went together...3 days later, May 19th 1998, we started dating....3 years later May 19, 2001, we got married!! So, there is our story. Aaawwww, how cute!!! :-D

Anyways, I love you Michael Paul. Happy Anniversary!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHINE!!

Happy Birthday to our Shine Shine! Girl, we love and miss you so much! I wish you could have been here so we could have celebrated your birthday with Alex's at Chuck E Cheese! :-)
Anyway, we are so proud of the (young) woman you are growing up to be! I can't believe you are 14!!!!!! You are growing up way too fast! We love you so much and hope today was a very special day because you totally deserve it! Love you girl!

Ya Alex!

Ok, I just have to take a quick minute and brag on Alex. He got a letter sent home with him yesterday letting us know that he had earned the right to participate in the AR (Accelerated Readers) party! Only a few from his class were able to attend! I am so proud of him! He is a great reader and I am so glad that he got to participate in that. He received a booklet from the Nashville Sounds (the city's baseball team) with a free kids meal from Wendy's, Fazoli's and Rainforest Cafe! Good job Alex!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I want to wish all you mom's out there Happy Mother's Day!!!

To my personal ones:

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I Love you so much and really wish we could be together today. It's just not the same being apart on this day. Tell Jeff I said he needs to pamper you and rub your feet today. :-) And then tell him to go buy some airline tickets to get your butts back here! Love you and hope you are having a GREAT DAY!!!!!

Evelyn, thanks for being the best mother in law! I really am blessed to have a mother in law that I love! I've heard other people's in law horror stories and I feel very fortunate that I have YOU! I love you and Happy Mother's Day!

Sheri, my Queen Bee, you are the Queen in my eyes! Happy Mother's Day. I love you so much and only pray that I become HALF the mother you are! :-)

Kristi, you my dear are Super Mom! You juggle so much and make sure that you have time for your family, you ROCK! I love you and wish we could be together today. Happy Mother's Day!

Love you ALL!!! And Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Birthday Alex!!!

Oh my gosh!!! When did this stinken happen?????? I cannot believe our son is 6 years old today!
Happy Birthday booger! We love you so so so so much! And we are so thankful that God blessed us with such an awesome kid!!! You are the best! Words really can't express what an AMAZING kid you are! Happy Birthday son, we love you!




Now, I gotta get back to spending time with you and finishing up your birthday cake that Grandma made me make for you! Yes mom, I made him a cake ON his birthday! :-)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY!!!

So, I haven't posted in a couple months because I've been WAY WAY busy! But I think I need to take some time out and say Happy Birthday to Ashley! So Happy Birthday! We love you so much and we are so sO SO proud of you and the woman you have become! We hope your day was perfect!

When did this happen?

How did Alex get so big so fast? I'm not ready for him to grow up! But this made it official I guess. He lost his first tooth!
Here's us trying to get the sucker out...We tried using a pair of tweezers because his teeth are so small I couldn't get my finger behind it! Once we loosened it a little more, I was able to reach my fingers to pull on it a little.


Ok, so I didn't pull on it a little, I pulled the thing out! :-)

Here he is! My official "Big Boy"!!

And here he is the next morning! The tooth fairy came to visit! Why she left M&M's is beyond me, I mean, isn't she supposed to be promoting good oral health? :-)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Here's a big ol' smooch goin' out to all our friends and family! We love you!

Another "Year Ago Today" Post.

So, a year ago today we arrived in Nashville, TN. That's all I'm gonna say about that. LOL.

A Year Ago Today...

Was the last day we were on California soil! I can't believe it's been a year since we left...In fact, almost a year to the hour! It seems like just yesterday, we were packing up the U-Haul's and saying the last of our goodbye's. Now, I blinked, and a year has flown by. What a year it has been too! I cannot believe the changes that have happened in a year's time! Never ever ever in a million years would I ever have thought that I would EVER leave California! Did you catch the "EVER" part?? But here we are in Nashville, TN, and to be perfectly honest, I know this is exactly where we are supposed to be. And we absolutely love it! We are so thankful and so excited that we were called here!
So, here are pictures from exactly a year ago! ("borrowed" from Sheri) :-)

It was an awesome adventure getting here! And we've had an even more awesome adventure since we've been here! Hmm, that line doesn't really sound like me...How bout this...Nashville ROCKS!!! :-) And so does Gateway Life for that matter!

Love Ya'll!!