Free Range Family

Last night, Alan and I went out to dinner with my best friend Jenelle. I haven't seen her since my wedding reception (how did we go EIGHT months without seeing each other????) and had missed her so. We went to dinner at Mackenzie River Pizza, our local eatery, and it was a ton of fun! It was great to catch up and for Jenelle to see how big Alan has gotten. They sat and played cars together while we waited for our food. :) Jenelle is just estatic that I am pregnant again! She hopes that I have a girl this time around though lol, as does like half of my family. Oh well, we will be happy as long as Baby Andersen is healthy. :) I also just wanted to wish everyone a wonderful New Year's! We aren't doing anything but possibly stopping over my parent's house for dinner. But I am not even sure if this pregnant mama can stay up until midnight lol! Especially since last night was spent tossing and turning, as usual lol. But we are still pretty excited for the New Year. Ahhhh,

I know I said I would post this yesterday, but Wednesday night I was up all night sick. I didn't get a wink of sleep, and so my boss sent me home early yesterday morning. I was relieved, it gave me the chance to catch up on my sleep, tidy up my house some more (a hard thing for me to do, even this early along in the pregnancy. I hate feeling so weak!), and spend some time with Alan. I can't believe I am already eleven weeks along! It seems like just yesterday we found out, though in reality its been over a month! I haven't been in to see my doctor yet, have to get my insurance figured out first, which we have been trying to for about five weeks now. Ugh! We are hoping for next week to be the big doctor week! :) Via How far along:  11 weeks 5 days Size of Baby: a third of an ounce, size of walnut Total Weight Gain:  Haha, I think I am still ten pounds lighter than I was because of the morning sickness. :P Maternity Clothes:  Not yet lol. I am finding myself need

I am not at all feeling good today. Last night was spent with me tossing and turning all night, nauseous and all that fun stuff. Ugggggh I want it to already be night time, so I can crawl back into bed... Okay stop thinking about it lol, you're only gonna make yourself more miserable at work. :P Let's distract myself by writing about Christmas Day (Oh I think I have lost it officially, cos its not like I wasn't already planning on doing that today. Oh well). Christmas Day was magical for us and especially Alan. :) Lon and I woke up around eight and set up the Christmas tree with all of the presents and his stocking. Then we made a little bed on the floor for him to sleep on. I found a cute Christmas kids music channel on the tv, so we played that quietly in the background. We brought him out, still asleep, and hid in our bedroom until we heard his little voice. We waited for almost an hour before he woke up! :D But close to nine, we heard his little voice squeak, "Wh

No comments on yesterday's post???? You silly people! :P Well for those of you who didn't get it (and there were surprisingly a few of you who texted me about it lol), Lon and I are pregnant again! :) We just told our family this weekend, and what a happy surprise it was for them! Let me tell you about it. Christmas Eve morning started out like usual, only I was able to sleep in some! Yes! We had a small breakfast of waffles and eggs, before finishing up our last few Christmas cards. Then we had some running around to do, and some more Christmas preparations to do. We went to several friend's houses, Lon's parent's house and the post office. Alan fell asleep on the ride around town, so we took him home to nap. Gave us the time to wrap all of our Christmas presents lol. We are such procrastinators! Once Alan woke up, we tried to make plans to go to Grandma Melanie's house to make sugar cookies but her kitchen was starting to get occupied. Grandma Melanie need

Now that it is after Christmas, I can share my exciting news with you, my beloved readers. I am so excited! :) I was really trying to think of a cool way to tell you our big announcement. Since I am at a complete loss, I will steal this idea from my good friend Jill at The Real Life of a Red Head. :P Let's see who is the first to get it right! 1. June 10, 2007 2. September 5, 2009 3 . J u l y 1 8 , 2 0 1 2 Aha, does anyone know???? :D ...Guess not lol. :P I will post the answer tomorrow for those of you who aren't so clever. Comment on here if you have an idea!

Only three more days until Christmas! I am so excited to get together with my family and spend some quality time together, since we haven't had the chance to do that in so long! :) Our Christmas Eve plans are pretty simple this year. Lon and I both have all day off, so we will get the chance to sleep in! Yes! After a much needed rest, Alan and I will be heading over to my parent's house to help my siblings make Christmas cookies. Via Oh we go all out for Christmas cookies lol. It is a full on production for my family lol. Aunt Natalie and I do the cookie cutting (with help from Alan lol) and the baking. Aunt April is in charge of frosting the cookies. Uncle Kalvin and Alan get the important job of adding sprinkles and candy and decorating the the rest of the way. We normally make about 6 dozen cookies each year, and this year might be more around 8 dozen lol. I know I have 5 dozen just for myself and my family. :) I will have to post about how it goes, hopefully with pic

My wonderful sister Natalie came back into town this last Friday for Christmas! Oh we have missed her so much, and are so happy to have her back with us, especially with the holidays coming up in six days!! We took the whole crazy family out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse that night. And boy, did we have fun and were we loud lmao! :) Made sure to tip the waitress alot afterwards. Yesterday, my sister convinced us to all dress up real nice and go see Santa for pictures. Lol I had originally planned on taking Alan, Aunt April and Uncle Kalvin myself but didn't plan on dressing up at all. But I love my sister and will do anything for her, so dressing up and making a fool of myself with Santa is nothing. :) We arrived at the busy mall expecting Santa's workshop to be somewhat busy, but what we saw was unbelievable. The line went all the way through the workshop and out to the coffee stand. Thankfully Alan's second cousin was there also, so we chatted with her and her mother t

Every parent loves that time of year when it gets cold outside, pretty lights and decorations go up, and they are once again faced with the challenge of taking their tots to the busy mall in town to go see that big man in red. NOT! :) Well my son is not your average tot (No really lol?) and though he is afraid of Santa (and I mean deathly afraid, the only thing that scares him more is the Easter Bunny lol), he is actually SO scared of him that he will not cry in front of him. He never has, yet. But he's even told me before, "Mama, Santa scary. Boo!" I've worked hard with him this year though. This is his third Christmas he will be experiencing, and the last two times we saw Santa, Alan was so uneasy it was ridiculous. We'll just say that even though he didn't cry, I had to be in BOTH Santa pictures with him and I had to sit on Santa's lap with Alan on mine. Just so he would feel secure. Not exactly fun for this mama lol. :) So this year, we have been r

About a week ago, I was able to convince Lon to let us set up the Christmas tree. I say this, because normally our tree is up and our house is decorated by Black Friday lol. But this year, in all of our business, we were late on our decorating... And Christmas card making... And Christmas present shopping... And Christmas cookie making... AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! :D We had talked to Alan a lot about the tree, and how there would be "pretties" (Alan's name for anything pretty at Christmas lol) but he couldn't touch them after we put them up, but I was still anxious. You see, I bought all my ornaments the year I got pregnant with Alan, before I even knew I was. So the majority of my ornaments are glass, shatter-proof mind you, but glass none the less. They hold a lot of sentimental value for me, as that was Lon and I's first Christmas together. We decided to put the baby gate up around the tree and hoped that would be enough. And of course, it was but situa

I have been neglecting this blog for the past few months, but my family and I have gone through a lot in such a short time. Lon lost his job, I got a second job and Lon got another job. We have been very busy with life. I hope to start posting more on here, which is hard to do without an at home computer. But I will make do, so readers bear with me. I just wanted to take the time to wish everyone happy holidays and warm wishes. Christmas time is my favorite time of the year (which is odd since I am Buddhist lol) because of the love and happiness everyone shares with each other. I'm gonna leave you with a picture of Alan and I. We just cut his hair the other day lol so I had to get a picture of it. Of course, this picture is a little awkward. But that's what happens with toddlers lol!  Have a safe and happy holiday everyone!

Yay! The weekend is almost here! I can't wait for Saturday to come so I can sit back and relax! Plus my mother and Aunt April return from Las Vegas tomorrow, we really miss them! Aunt April went up there for Thunderstruck Nationals, a dance competition and workshop. She gets to dance with memebers of SYTYCD! Lucky ducky! :D Nothing too exciting is happening today, I work at three and Alan will be going with me. Boring lol! :P But today is my friend Jessica's due date and tomorrow is my cousin in law's due date, so be prepared for some new baby posts lol! They work perfectly with today's topic as well. :P So for now, here's Toddler Talk Thursdays!! Enjoy! This Week's Topic: How to handle bringing a new baby home with a toddler in the house? This is something Lon and I have discussed over and over again. We are both from a family of six kids and understand how hard it is sometimes to get another sibling. I want almost as many kids as our parents had as

Today is Aunt Ariel's 11th birthday. Via I met Ariel almost three years ago when I first was dating Lon. She was a sweet eight year old then, who reminded me a ton of my own sister. I made a mental note to get them together sometime lol. Now, they have hung out a few times and are pretty good friends. :) Haha! I love my sister in law so much! For her birthday, Ariel got her ears pierced! Which doesn't please Lon to much lol, Mr. Anti Piercing or Tattoo Hippie Man. :P But she's pretty excited about it. We called her and got Alan to attempt to sing her happy birthday lol. It was basically Lon singing in the background and Alan singing "Irthday. Ieo. Irthday. Happy." Too cute! :) This weekend, we are planning on taking her to the Kidz Fest at Zoo Montana with Alan for some summer fun! I can't wait, we haven't been there in a while! Happy birthday Aunt Ariel! We love you so much! <3

I've been seeing this on several other blogs, so I thought I'd play along. Enjoy! I am... A Daughter, A Sister, A Dancer, An Artist, A Storyteller, A Teacher, A Mother, An Aunt, A Wife. I want... The weekend to come. I have... A lot to be grateful for, sometimes I just need reminding. I wish... We had air conditioning in this sauna of a house. I hate... People who just don't care. I care about and love everyone, can't you return the favor???? Is it really that hard? I fear... For a lot of things, as a mother, but you can never tell. I hear... The sound of our fan running with Lon's light snoring, and Alan's voice ringing down the hall. <3 I search... For life, love, and friendship everyday. I wonder... If there is life on other planets and if they are capable of love like we are. I regret... Nothing. Its my motto. I love... My son and husband, as well as all my family and friends. I even love you... Bet you didn't kno

Man it is hot! I woke up three minutes ago and I already am covered in sweat! Thank goodness I'll be stuck inside the YMCA all day today, at least they hace A/C! :P Here's Top Ten Tuesday!! Since my birthday is only twelve days away, I thought I would do a fun top ten post today and do a birthday wish list. I am not normally materialistic and I, in no way, expect to get anything on this list. But this is still fun to do. :) Enjoy! Top Ten Birthday Gifts I Want! aka Birthday Wish list #10 Anything from Bath and Bodyworks I LOVE their stuff!!! It all smells so good! :D #9 Another Wooden Buddha Statue You can never have too many of these if you're a Buddhist lol! :P Via #8 Giftcard to Walmart FOR GROCERIES LOL!!!!!! :P #7 Daft Punk's Interstalla 5555 Via #6 A stereo system for my car I've had my car for over six months now, and I still haven't gotten a stereo system. I miss the radio! Its annoying having to sing or talk to

Alan's birthday is in less than two months, ahhhh that's too soon! This time last year was when I started thinking about birthday parties for him, so I guess its time to do that now. Even though I don't want to. I'm still in denial that Alan will be two. As much as I love that he is a big boy and is growing up so quickly, the mom in me wants my sweet little newborn back. I loved Alan as a baby, he was so sweet and happy and easy. My mom always teased me that I was silly for getting stressed out, because I had the easiest baby ever. :P Not to say that I don't love him now, I love how smart and happy he is. I just am having some issues with my beautiful baby boy growing up. :) But I will take you along with me on my thought process for what I want to do for his birthday. I promise I haven't even thought of it before this, everything is fresh and new lol! :P So enjoy this fun brainstorm!!! We don't have a lot of money right now, so I don't think we

Yesterday, Lon took us up to Sean's folf course to announce some good news. He got a job there working as a handyman/maintenance worker of the field. I am so pleased to hear this! He will be working part time, during the day except for Fridays and Saturdays he will work nights to help with the block parties. Awesome! :D I made him steak with macaroni and cheese for dinner to celebrate, then we cracked open the beers still sitting in our fridge from our wedding lol. Yay! Lol today was a scorcher though. I didn't work at all, so I was really hoping to sleep in this morning, but we all woke up with the sun. It was so hot!!!! Lon had to work today so it was just going to be Alan and I all day. We hung out and played cars most of the morning, then after lunch I sunscreened him up and we went to Pioneer Park. It was weird when we got to Pioneer Park, because the park was packed but there was no one at the playground. We quickly realized it was simply because of the heat. Alan ste

Here is my ever so late Month in Review post lol. I know I said I would post it yesterday, but I worked all day and then we went up to Lon's new job site (will post more later!) and hung out. We didn't get home until late. But here's my month in review! Enjoy! :D This month we celebrated Alan's second cousin Sophie's first birthday. Alan had a great time with Grandma Melanie and Aunt April at her birthday party at Pioneer Park. A few days later, we celebrated our two month anniversary. I can't believe how quickly its going, before we know it our one year anniversary will be here! :P Speaking of weddings, I went to two weddings of my friends this month. First, Alan and I went with my family to my good friend Zach and his wife Mara's beautiful wedding. I loved Mara's pink converse, the crayons at all the reception tables, the pinwheels for Alan to play with, and the cute polka dotted cake. Lon and I also attended my good friend Chelsey and her husba

Here's the last installment of American Camping Week. To see the other two, click here and here. Also, be sure to tune in tomorrow for my Month in Review post! Have a great night! :) Via Today started out even earlier with the heat! I swear it was even hotter than yesterday! Happy fourth everyone! We woke up at eight and once again were the first ones up. Aunt Natalie and cousin Lex woke up shortly after us but while we waited for the rest of the family to wake up, we went for a walk down the beach. A lot of the campers and tents were loading up and leaving, so the beach had cleared up quite a bit. It was a nice walk, and it was awesome to step in the water every once and a while when it got hot! :) Then once everyone had woken up, we had breakfast of watermelon, grapes and cantelope. Hanging out with Grandpa Kevin Alan wanted to play with the rocks and sand some more after breakfast, so we put him in his suit and set him out by the shore. I took tons of pictures of him

Do you think cursive writing is overrated? (Schools in Indiana have now voted to take teaching cursive writing out of their curriculum.) Yes I do and I have always felt this way, even when I was a child learning cursive. I believe that a child should be taught ONE WAY to write words and when they are a little older they can develop their handwriting more. But cursive? Do you know how many adults use cursive for things OTHER than their signature? Like five lol. Via I guess what I am saying is, if you want to teach cursive then you'd better either replace it with printing (which they would never do) or teach several handwriting styles (like calligraphy). That's all I'm trying to say. :P Do you still use a pocket calendar or notepad or do you keep your info on your smart phone? Um, I currently use the old, old fashioned way of keeping everything on a calendar on the wall or in my head. Because I don't have a smart phone lol, or even a stupid phone. :P As of r

Here's the second installment of my American Camping Week posts! Enjoy! Via The morning started out nice and early with the heat.We woke up around nine (sleeping in a tent will do that to you lol) and as soon as Alan and I got outside, he ran to the lake and started throwing rocks again. Only Great Grandma Mary was awake, so we talked and watched Alan play. One by one everyone else woke up, until only Grandma Melanie and Uncle Kalvin were sleeping. Everyone was hungry so we sent Alan in the camper to wake them up. He proceeded to run back and forth, screaming their names lol. Woke them right up! :) We had a quick breakfast of cantelope and grapes (Yum!) and then we set off hiking, this time into the hills. While walking through the hills, we found the coolest (kinda) house! Its really just the foundation, but when you get close you can see that there's a basement with cellar steps! We explored and figured out which way the front door was, etc. We had a blast! Lon and

Today is payday for me, hooray! The day were money moves in and out of my account so quick you wouldn't believe it! :P Nah lol, it is still a good day. Make sure to tune in later for my second installment of American Camping Week, it is very exciting and eventful! It is also going to be another hot one today. We were all woken up with the sun this morning, because the heat came along with it. Can you say water park???? :) We might take Alan to Terry before I go to work. Here's Toddler Talk Thursdays! This week's topic: What is your toddler's favorite summertime toys? Alan is really into balls right now lol. Any type really, he's just been really into throwing and kicking lately. Basketballs, footballs, baseballs, even kickballs. He just gets so excited when he sees a kid playing with a ball. Via He also loves to play with hopper balls now. He discovered how to use them last Thursday and has played with them everyday at daycare since. He looks so ad

Its American Camping Week! Welcome everyone! :D Lol please enjoy this journal entry I wrote about our first night camping! Via The trip to Canyon Ferry was pretty uneventful, thankfully for us. I'll admit that I was a little nervous about taking Alan on a three and a half hour car ride, but he did great! We left at noon, a little later than originally planned but alright nonetheless. Alan fell asleep before we even hit Laurel lol! Silly boy! He slept all the way to Bozeman. Once we got to Bozeman though, we woke Alan up for lunch at DQ. While waiting for our lunch, I got to watch a grown man (most likely mentally ill) throw a fit at the poor cashier because he didn't have enough money for 3 medium blizzards. Wow. I was actually a little scared at the time too, because the man was really creepy. That teenage girl handled it so well but I still have to say, I'm glad I left Alan in the car with Lon! I was quite unnerved. The last half of the drive was also uneventf

Instead of starting my American Camping Week out with a camping post, I will post today about Alan 22 month milestones. He now only has two more months until he's two! Wow! Last Friday night, we went up to the new folf course in the heights (the one that Lon built the baskets for) for their Grand Opening and fourth of July celebration. Lon's friend Sean owns it, if you remember. :) Well the party was awesome! Our cousin Garrett was there and his band performed, it was great to hear them again! Sean also roasted a pig and was serving pig tacos lol! Then we folfed through the new course, and those baskets look great! They look professionally made! Wow, good job hubby! :D There was also professional drifters in the parking lot, which Alan thought was the coolest. I was nervous for the drivers the whole time lol, but I'm just a worry wort. :) Overall though, the party was good. I'm glad we took the time to go out there. At 22 months, Alan can: -Run, jump, kick, throw,

Oh boy, today will be a hard one for me lol. I dread having to go back to my regular schedule of working, after having the weekend off to do whatever I pleased. Oh well, I can do it! Its a short week! :D Here's Top Ten Tuesday!! Stay tuned for my American Camping Week post later today, it will be awesome!!! Top Ten Books I Must Reread (when I have the chance to breathe lol!) #10 Harry Potter Series Via #9 Ender's Game Via #8 The Lord of the Rings Series Via #7 The Stand Via #6 A Wrinkle in Time Via #5 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Via #4 Catcher in the Rye Via #3 Water for Elephants Via #2 Plato's Republic Via #1 1984 Via