Miles DeMar Anderson

I FOUND THIS POST IN MY DRAFTS FOLDER, NOT SURE WHEN I WROTE IT, but I wanted to make sure these pictures make it on my blog. 

Our baby boy was born on November 11, 2014, on Veterans Day! Miles DeMar Anderson was 8 lbs and 6 oz, 20 1/2 inches long and born at 8:50 a.m. His name actually means soldier, which we didn't know until later. And, Corey was away in Texas at Basic Officer Training when Miles was born. Life has been a whirlwind of emotions, with many blessings and lots of craziness rolled into the last few months. We are so glad he is here and healthy, and we are glad our Dad made it home and we are together as a family, we feel complete now.

http://www.andrawillisphotography.com/miles

All Boy!

I still had my doubts about whether this baby was a boy or not, especially since we didn't actually have a very good picture of it's boy parts. My midwife said I needed another ultrasound to check for a few other things that the 20 week ultrasound didn't see. Luckily we got a good picture this time:

He's all BOY!

And, I don't really care for creepy 3D pictures, but I liked this one of his foot and hand. He's measuring 2 weeks early at 3 1/2 pounds (and that was almost 2 weeks ago). He's growing healthy and strong. 

28 Weeks

Jack already loves to cuddle with Baby Miles. 

Dogsitting...

We have spent our weekend dog-sitting. But, it has been more of the dogs actually sitting (or just sleeping) and me running around vacuuming up hair. ;) 

                                            This is Apollo, he's a retired greyhound racer.

                                           And, this is Sal, he's an Italian greyhound. 

                            We actually took them to Shelly Lake and had a nice outing with them.

***It has been entertaining to have dogs around, and of course the kids are in love with them, but I'm going to keep giving Addy all my really good reasons for why we won't be getting a dog until she is 10***

Cute Boy

Yesterday morning Jack woke me up by bringing me this flower from our yard, he was so excited to bring me a "star" flower. 

Then, this morning he woke me up and said he made me earrings! This kid knows how to win the heart of a woman! Love him to pieces!!

Summertime

School is quickly approaching, and it's bittersweet to think that our summer is almost over, and school is starting! I know next summer will be totally different with a baby, so I have spent this summer soaking up the sun and reading. We have had a lot of fun swimming this summer. Adelynn has improved in swimming a lot this year and hopes that next year she can do swim team to build her skills even more. It's embarrassing to say that she's a better swimmer than me (which most people probably are), but she's very self motivated and enjoys the challenge. 

Jack plays in the kiddie pool and doesn't care how cold the water is, he'll play for hours. He absolutely hates sunscreen, so he's gotten quite the tan. He also took a little t-ball class and loves anything involving sports, guns, bad guys, and superheroes.

Adelynn has also started Irish Dance. She took a summer camp and the first day she was overwhelmed and yelled at me saying that it wasn't her talent. (Of course I made her keep trying)! By the end of the second day she LOVED it! When the camp ended she wanted to still go everyday. So, now she is taking classes twice a week. It will be fun to watch her improve with learning the reels and steps. I absolutely love Irish music, so I have no complaints when she turns the music on to practice. And, I am excited that her teacher has an impressive resume as a world champion and danced with Riverdance.  

Irish Dance Camp

I was cleaning out my closet a few days ago and realized that Adelynn's New Year's Resolution was to learn to Irish dance, 

I thought it was ironic that she had just started classes. 

Addy had her art "framed" at one of the local banks, 

so we had to go check it out. 

That's what the kids are up to, and of course I am being a Mom and getting use to driving around in a van. ;) Some of my most recent changes are that I look 8 months pregnant, but I still have 3 months of this pregnancy left. When people ask me when I'm due and I say, "3 more months". It never fails, their jaw drops and they are speechless. I'm getting used to it, since this is how I was when I was pregnant with Jack. I could probably write a book with all of the bizarre comments I have gotten. But, I'll spare you the details. I have learned a great lesson, the only thing a pregnant lady really wants to hear is compliments or congratulations. That's ALL...

28 Weeks

 My attempt at a picture with the kids. :)

                                                               Addy played along!

I also tried to go to a regular doctor and wasn't impressed with the care I was receiving. So, I love nurse-midwifes and recently switched to a practice in Durham that is AMAZING!! I will be delivering the baby at Duke Regional Hospital now, it's a half hour away, but it will be worth it. Corey is glad I'm not delivering at his hospital anymore because he didn't want me to embarrass him with my "hippie ways". So, everyone is happy now. ;) 


The ARMY: I LOVE to HATE the military and their absurd ways of doing things. I'm sure most of you know by now that I'm a planner, with a touch of OCD. This kind of personality doesn't mesh well with the military way of life. Granted, Corey is only in the Reserves, so I really have nothing to complain about. But, the ups and downs we have been through these past six months have been stressful. Corey has to meet his weight requirements, pass his physical fitness tests, go to drill one weekend a month, and complete 80 hours worth of power points and tests. This is what he has been doing for the past few months and now that he has gotten all that finished he can go to Texas for 28 days for Basic Officer Training. It just so happens the next slot that is available for him to attend this training is right in the middle of my due date. And, apparently the Army doesn't care if you miss your child's birth. So, we are just left waiting to see when they assign him to attend Officer Training. We will know more by the end of September...like I said, I'm a planner and the military is messing with my plans. ;) 

I should mention that Corey actually likes being in the Army and it's been good for him to have weight loss goals. And, I can't forget to mention that thanks to the military we have amazing insurance and I didn't have to work while Corey was in school. So, I'll quit complaining. ;) 

This is Corey right after coming home from drill weekend, a nap and the remote make everything better. 

My attempt at an update and news of a BABY!

I woke up this morning realizing how cute the kids were and how I haven't been recording some of the adorable things Jack has been saying. He's finally talking with a steady stream (if you can understand him), and so he is saying some of the silliest things. When we told the kids that we were expecting another baby Jack said, "I'm NOT going to wipe it's butt". Addy's first reaction was, "You AREN'T pregnant"! I had to talk her into believing me. I got it on video, hopefully I can post it to my blog someday. 

Anyway, Adelynn has completed Kindergarten as an AWESOME reader. Now that summer is here she sits and reads books all the time and begs to go to the library story-times. I didn't plan much this summer because I thought we'd just have a relaxing time and do whatever we want. So far I haven't been disappointed. The kids have played so well together and they hardly ever watch TV, just because they'd rather play. Their favorite thing to do is play in the sprinkler! Can I tell you how much I LOVE having a yard! 

I have a lot to be grateful for in this post and that's mostly what I want to share. We have been blessed! I think Corey and I finally feel like we can breathe after being out of school for almost a year. But, I think we'll always have PTSD from the memories of anesthesia school. :) 

We basically thought about getting pregnant and before we knew it, I was. I started showing very early, because of my umbilical hernia that likes to poke out. So, I had no choice but to announce the pregnancy at 10 weeks. I absolutely love the miracle of life, the birth process and babies, but I can't tell you how much I HATE being pregnant! What was God thinking? In MY perfect world the storks WILL deliver babies at your door!                     

 

 I thought that Jack was a girl, because I felt SO strongly about it and kept having dreams he was a girl. Well, Jack is ALL boy! And, the same thing has happened with this pregnancy. I just knew it was a girl, I had a girl name and was thinking about all the bows and dresses I would put her in. Well, we found out on Tuesday that it's a BOY!  I've spent this week trying to wrap my head around it. And, of course Corey said he knew it was a boy. :) 

Before the ultrasound Jack said, "If it's a girl, I'm going to spank it's butt". I kept thinking what is going to happen when this baby girl comes out, he seriously will beat her up. 

But, during the ultrasound the tech said, "Well, I can tell you it's a boy" and Jack immediately said, "It's a boy, it has a penis". I didn't even know he knew that word, but he is excited to have a brother. He already thinks he can punch my belly now that he knows it's a boy. He can't wait to wrestle with his brother! As for Adelynn she will make a great older sister and boss her brother's around! After the ultrasound we went to Kohl's and bought a few baby boy outfits. Adelynn came right home and started making a list of boy names. Then, we had a vote. Corey only liked one of the names on the list and he is the one who will decide the name (because it's his thing), so we will see what he comes up with.

 I can't forget to mention that our baby is very healthy! We had a placenta problem with Jack that could of ended in still-birth. So, I have been very nervous this pregnancy, but the tech checked for that same problem and everything looks great. Now we just have 20 more weeks and we will be having our 3rd November baby! 

Some other things that have happened lately are:

 Corey and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary on June 10th. I found this saying in the Hallmark store and had to share it. We had a nice date to a dinner and a movie and I think it was one of the first anniversary dates that we didn't argue over anything. We are both getting too tired to even argue anymore. Anyway, my point is we had a nice time together and we are looking forward to our 10 year anniversary trip! 

(We are taking volunteers to babysit all 3 kids next year too) Anyone? :)

These are my beautiful anniversary roses from Corey, I feel so lucky to have him in my life. 

Family Picture, May 2014

In May we went on a 2-week vacation to see family and friends in Utah and Idaho! I will have to write a different post about that trip, but we had fun and made lots of memories with Grandma's, Grandpa's and cousins! Below are just a few of my favorite pics from our trip out West: 

 My whole family, except my brother Ethan (he's in Korea).

Addy caught her first fish and she said it was too slimy to touch, so her Dad held it for her. 

 Corey's baby brother, Kayden, graduated. 

 Addy drove a tractor...

And, there is something to be said about "wide-open" spaces after living among the trees.

 Cousin love 

My little sister, Naomi, graduated!

I got some love from the my nieces and nephews

And, we karaoke'd (that was hilarious)! 

Saying good-bye wasn't fun. But, it was good to come home to NC. Corey and I both feel like this is our home now and don't want to think about moving away from the comforts of Raleigh. 

And, our most recent change is that we bought a van. Some of you might remember that we bought a hippy van 5 years ago, so we thought we would stay with tradition and get a Volkswagen. It's a 2011 Routan and it was made with kids in mind, 2 TVs and lots of A/C and window shades in the back. 

The kids are in heaven.  

Charlotte...

We had lived in NC for 2 1/2 years and still hadn't made it to Charlotte. In case you haven't heard, it's the largest city in NC. Corey had an anesthesia conference down there in March and so we thought it would be a good excuse to go visit. I got to hang out at Ikea and had fun with the kids swimming in the pool at the hotel. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

We had an ice storm the day we were traveling and we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, it was a nightmare. Everyone and their dog was there trying to get some dinner because they were all out of power. It was weird to see the effects of just a few hours without power. 

We really had a lot of fun at the Nascar Hall of Fame Museum, I don't think we will ever go again because of the cost, but we had fun learning a lot about our Grandpa Lance's favorite sport!