Just a few new things...

First, I'll start with the funny Annie story. Annie is aware that she may be attending King's Academy next year for first grade if she is accepted. She has been mulling this over apparently and one day last week told me that she was a little nervous about changing schools. I asked her why and she said, "because I won't have any friends in my class." I said, "Annie, you always make friends very quickly and I think you will do just fine." She left it at that. The following Wednesday when I picked her up at school she was so excited. She said, "Mom, you were right! I do make friends really fast! There was this big girl on the playground today and she said, 'do you want to be my friend' and I told her yes and Mom, her name was Anna." (Annie speaks in one extremely long run on sentence from 7am-dark.) I told her that I was so glad she had made a new friend and asked how old Anna was and she replied, "Like, 7 or something. Probably in high school, Mom." Wow!!

Mornings at the Anderson house: We are not morning people. Each of us has some sort of funk that we wake up in and some days are worse than others. What I mean by funk....

Mark - hates the alarm clock (or should I say clocks). He uses the regular radio/alarm which switches to the "wake the dead" beeping after you hit the snooze x number of times too many; then the cell phone alarm commences and don't get me started on how horrific that one is but together they get the job done.

Me - I too hate to wake up and procrastinate crawling out of a warm bed and walking on the cold bathroom tile. I don't particularly like to talk to anyone first thing in the morning. Annie once said, "Mom, how come you never smile at me in the morning? All you ever say is how was your sleep?" Talk about maternal guilt! I'm working on this - I have started smiling more in the mornings. (Clarification: This is only the first 10 minutes or so and then I'm fine. I don't feed them breakfast while acting like the Grinch.)

Annie - Very, very difficult to wake up. Rolls over to the other side. Says things like, "I'm tired. I want to go back to sleep." But once you actually succeed in getting her on her feet she's a breeze.

Ella - The enigma. Wakes up in a great mood - at first. Hops right out of bed, smile on face, good morning everyone and then it hits. "I want to wear a dress." "Ella, I don't have a play dress for you to wear today." "But I WANT to wear a DRESS." And so the tone is set for the day.

On a serious note. I have learned something very valuable recently and wanted to share it with all of you. I have noticed that the days when I miss my quiet time are so much different than the days when I don't. It's amazing really because everything in my day seems exactly the same on the outside. The girls may still test my patience, laundry may be a mile high, hours in the car going to and from school may still be endless but something is different. I handle things differently and have a different attitude towards my children and others.

**Tangent alert** A few weeks ago, I was in the car on a Monday morning (the roughest day of my week) and a song came on the radio. In those few moments, God revealed to me that He alone is my strength. That no amount of sleep would compare to his strength to help me through my day. I was so overcome with that truth. How simple and yet so difficult sometimes to just give everything over to Him and let Him uphold us.

Anyway, I have really been trying to be more consistent with my time with the Lord but last week was just crazy. I convinced myself to sleep just a little longer and I would be more rested and able to cope with the days ahead. Wrong-o. Just the opposite happened. I was snippy with Mark and the kids and not in any way the Proverbs 31 wife that I have been studying lately. Those days when I skip that precious time I feel like I stand all day long on a ledge, teetering and about to fall overboard. Sin knocks at the door constantly and I am not as able to keep my eyes on Jesus. Please pray for me this week as I let the Lord be my strength, and consistently spend time with Him and in His word. My family most appreciates it.

The Case of the Andersons vs. Reagan Anderson

Here is the mug shot of the defendant, Reagan Anderson. Wanted for charges such as entering the pantry without prior authorization, tampering with half-empty bread bags, consuming valuable food products i.e. cheetos, and failing to apologize when questioned about said happenings. The 42 year old (in dog years) was last seen earlier this week nabbing meat from an unsuspecting 3 year-olds picnic plate around lunch time in Canton, Ga wearing a sable and white coat in need of brushing. As obvious from the above photograph, his eyes appeared to be glassy as if on some sort of mind altering substance which would indeed explain his behavior as of late. An eywitness of the theft, Annie Anderson, stated, "When I was going to get Ella's drink, he ate her Vienna sausages! We thought he was a good dog." The Andersons merely want to see justice served, obtain court costs, and recoop the money wasted on bread, vienna sausages and cheetos. Reagan is set for trial later this month but his attorneys are having great difficulty finding an appropriate jury.

Precious Treasures

I wanted to show everyone all of the girls new dresses that MawMaw and Aunt Patty worked so hard on. They are so beautiful and we consider them to be treasures in our house that tell of the love they have for our girls. These are Easter dresses and dresses to take pictures in before we welcome our sweet baby boy into our home. The last picture of Annie is taken in a dress that belongs to her cousin Laura. MawMaw and Patty made this dress 9 years ago for Laura to wear in our wedding as the flower girl. It has always been my favorite dress. I am terrified to let her wear it anywhere but for pictures because it seems so delicate. Thank you MawMaw, Aunt Patty and PawPaw (our official mailer of all packages girly)!!! We love, love, love them and love, love, love and miss all of you.

Funny Little Story

Sunday morning Annie woke up with what turned out to be a bladder infection. Poor baby. But she said she felt fine enough to go to church for a little while until the urgent care center opened so we headed out. When I picked her up from Sunday school I could tell she wasn't feeling so well and she informed me that her clothes were wet. On the way to the urgent care center we had to stop at Wal-mart and buy a shirt, pair of pants, socks and panties just to get us there. Expensive little trip to the doctor but thank goodness it was morning and not late at night sitting in the ER. It was indeed an infection and after 1 1/2 hours of waiting in a room full of very ill children we left with a prescription in hand. Okay, that's not the funny part.

That evening, as Mark was trying to decide whether or not to brave taking Annie to church Ella voices her opinion. "Dad, I want to go to church." "Ella, Annie isn't feeling very well so we are probably going to stay home tonight." "Dad, we can take Annie to the hospital and we can go to church." Such a loving and concerned sister.

Like mother, like daughter and Valentine fun

Anyone who has seen Annie knows that she is a carbon copy of me. Unbelievable considering that at birth she really looked more like Mark's side of the family but over time she has morphed into a small version of yours truly (in looks and in behavior). So very fitting that she would have pollen allergies and a stuffy nose this time of year. She thought she was so cool to get to wear her very first Breathe Right strip last night. They are so tiny and cute on her not to mention wonderful at helping a girl breathe!!!

Valentine's day was fun for everyone. The girls each got a special gift and I got flowers. We got Mark a pair of "rockin' jeans" as the girls call them. They are actually pretty cool for a guy over 30. The girls had fun making Valentine cards for everyone and Annie had her first Valentine's party at school where everyone gave out cards and candy. My favorite quote from Annie last week....."Look, Mom. This one says, "Jesus loves you tuck candy here." So funny!! We took the kids to eat at Jason's Deli and then to the mall to ride the carousel. Annie picked the sparkly horse, of course while Ella had her heart set on the elephant.

Random thoughts and happenings

We just returned from a wonderful weekend in Young Harris, Ga at the Brasstown Valley Resort where we attended a marriage retreat with our Sunday School Class. What a blessing!! We were challenged to care for ourselves and for our mates in such a way that would meet their particular needs. Since God has created each of us differently it is sometimes hard to love someone in a way that feels unnatural to us. Our leaders spoke about learning as much as possible about your spouse in order to more effectively be there for them in every day life and in crisis situations. We had such fun being with friends, eating without cutting someones food or wiping a face, and enjoying each other's company and conversation. We vowed to get away more often even if only for a few hours.

Now to explain the mashed potatoes picture. This was taken at lunch on Saturday while on our return home from the retreat. We and some friends of ours stopped at a country buffet in Young Harris, Ga and had some good southern food. Mark, being colorblind and apparently unable to discern texture as well, put what he thought to be gravy on his mashed potatoes. Yeah, not so much. Applesauce is what actually graced the top of those potatoes. He returned to the table and said, "Is this gravy or applesauce?" The Mauldins and I could do nothing but laugh. To make matters more disgusting, he tried them to make sure it was indeed applesauce. The pinkish tint and chunky texture didn't give it away at all. He is so funny!

As you can see, Nanny came for a visit. We had a great time with her as always. We had tea and got some pictures made of the girls and shopped for sweet little boy clothes but the rest of her stay was spent in the car running from home to school, to dance, to home, to church, to home, to school again. We hope she will visit again very soon.

I will be 21 weeks pregnant tomorrow!! Over half-way to seeing our precious baby boy.

It's (officially) a Boy!!!!!

Pardon the crooked picture but the website rotated it. Just bend your head to the right and you will see his head on your right and other parts on your left. We are still trying to process the news of being parents to a boy after only being in girl land for 5+ years now but we are thrilled!! A sweet boy. The name of little boy Anderson is still up in the air but we are narrowing it down a bit this week. I've got my monogramming machine loaded and ready to go. I think that's part of the reason Mark is taking his time. He doesn't want everything the child owns to have his name or initials on it. Ha.

I am so excited to be having a baby boy but I am also so excited for Mark to have this experience. He loves the girls more than life itself but to have a son to play catch, go to ball games, enjoy a football game on TV, get dirty, talk drums, and just have good old fashioned boy fun together will be such a blessing. My children could not have a better father if I looked the world over. I see in him what I always wanted so it is kind of like filling a void in myself to see them with him. To see my daughters fall over themselves to get to the door when he comes home is a dream come true. I am truly blessed in so many ways and he is just another reminder that God answers prayer.

So my prayer for this child is that he will follow the example of his father who seeks to follow the example of his Heavenly Father.