First, Catch up!!

So I have been gone for waaaaaaay too long...and a lot has happened since I last posted. After Blaine's first Christmas (which I believe was my last post). The day after Christmas a I got a call to interview for a new job. I really didn't think it was going to go anywhere (even though I wanted it to), but I knew that I needed the interview experience so I went ahead and interviewed. Much to my surprise I ended up getting the counselor position at Edgecombe Early College and all that I can say is WOW, what a difference having a job that you love makes!! I really love getting up in the morning and going to work, and I have to say that I have not had this feeling in a long time. I love that Blaine gets his "best mom" every afternoon when I get off work, and that was the plan all along this journey!!

OK after the new job Blaine celebrated his first Birthday and it was a BLAST!! I think it was a tiring day, but a day that I will never forget. There were a lot of emotions stirred in me during this first birthday celebration, but more than anything I cannot believe where time went...

Make a Smilebox free photo slideshow

I have a slide show that I made for Blaine's birthday that I plan on posting I have just had difficulty getting it formatted correctly so that it'll post directly to the blog. The slide show was made of pictures from Blaine's first year of life : ) and I cried many times in the process of making it, but it was such a joy to to relive those moments. Blaine also got his first tooth right around that first birthday party and I have to admit we were quite relieved as we had been anticipating the arrival of this first tooth for a LONG time. Blaine got lots of fun toys and BOOKS, Blaine LOVES books!! He even got some outdoor toys that we can't WAIT to play with!!

Blaine also had a chance to experience his first "snow day". We took him out and honestly he really hated it. I think that part of him "hating it" was the fact that he woke up from his nap, we threw him in 10 layers and clothes, offered him no milk (b/c we were so excited) and took him outside. One fall down with hands in the snow and he was D O N E. I have a few pictures that we did manage to get of Blaine playing in the "sneet" - snow and sleet. We have learned that Blaine LOVES daddy's big 4-wheeler, every time Jason turns it on he is ready to ride and throws a fit if he doesn't get his way. : )

Blaine is starting to be much more vocal about the things that he likes and dislikes and is really giving us a hard time about eating. Anyone that knows Blaine knows that this is really unusual because he used to be such an awesome eater. He would eat 2 large jars of baby food, plus yogurt with juice and is suddenly refusing to eat some things. We put green beans in his mouth, he spits them out or literally takes them out with his hands. . . we just keep trying different foods, but this is tough!! Jason made him a stir fry with squash, zuchinni, turkey sausage, and bell pepper the other night though, and he at the mess out of it, it was unreal!! I think that he is realizing that he actually has an opinion about what he eats.

Blaine weighs around 20 lbs right now and is about 27-28 inches long, he is growing so much faster than I ever though he was. . . . someone has hit the fast forward button in my life, wish they would hit pause NOW!!

My Mom and dad brought over a gift for Blaine today - in the snow : ) A bird feeder!! They put it outside of his room so that he can see it out of his window, or the dining area window. I know that the birds really appreciated the bird seed, and Blaine peeks out regularly at it to see what is going on. While my parents were here my dad was throwing snow balls at the back storm door while Blaine was standing at the door. After they left he kept going back to see if someone was going to throw snow balls at him again. : ) We were able to get out in the snow a little later on today to walk over to Jason's Mom and Dads for some supper (black eyed peas, pork, green beans, and mashed sweet potatoes) NICE!! Blaine seemed to like the snow a little more (I suspect because it was a bit warmer today and there wasn't snow coming from the sky. He liked looking at his footprints in the snow, and the new big thing is going up and down the steps on the porch.

I am sure that this was all a little boring with the catch up, so I promise to try and be more captivating with my posts in weeks to come. . .

The first of many. . .

We began our Christmas celebrating with a visit from Jason's Uncle Lee. Lee lives in Florida and this was his first time officially meeting Blaine.






On Tuesday evening the 22nd we went to Jason's Grandma Dawes'. We had a really good timed catching up with Mrs. Dawes and Donald and exchanging a few gifts. Blaine did a great job considering that he had had only one early morning nap.

This is such a great picture of Jason's Mom with Blaine...



An attempt at a family photo...this is how it usually goes. Jason talking to someone else, Blaine being busy, and me trying to get the picture : )


On the 23rd Blaine and I followed our normal family tradition of visiting my Aunt Debra's. This is an opportunity for me to remember my cousin Brandon that was killed in a car accident May 23, 1997. This happens to be his birthday, and he would have been the big 3-0 this year!! It was nice to see my family and for Blaine to see some of my side of the family that he doesn't get to see too often.

On the 24th we usually try to get together and my Mom and Dad's but this year we began WAY sooner than we normally do, considering the two new babies that we added to our family since last Christmas...WOW what a difference a year makes, we do EVERYTHING a little earlier now! Blaine had a chance to play with grandma and grandpa Anderson and got LOT'S of gifts. My Mom and Dad bought Blaine AND Jackson Britax carseats for Christmas. Both of them needed new carseats and Melissa and I picked out the ones that we liked. Mom and Dad are very practical gift givers, so we asked for these for our boys!! : ) We chose the Britax Boulevard car seats

Blaine also got a really neat dry erase table and chairs from his grand-mama and granddaddy Anderson, as well as some blocks. I thought this might come in handy for when Al and Melissa come over to have dinner with Jackson...the boys will be able to sit at the "children's table" : )

Very short stay of the antlers on Blaine's head . . .



Loved this pic of Jackson opening his first present of the evening. . . he looks a bit mesmerized...




I don't know what Blaine's thing is about trying to poke Jackson in the eye....



Best buds in the making...


Jackson making a silly face!!



Blaine really liked taking the bows off of the packages!!


Blaine also got bunches of cool Leap Frog toys from Aunt Melissa, Uncle Al, and Jackson. I think his favorite was the guitar!!
Today was an awesome day . . . What joy I experienced today being with our families, and watching Blaine enjoy his first Christmas Day. This morning started off with my parent's and Jason's parent's coming over. . . . I put a breakfast casserole in the oven, and right at 7:00 am as expected Blaine woke up. I fed Blaine in his nursery, and then Jason (who had just gotten off of work) brought him out as I videoed:

Santa brought Blaine a thomas the train tent, a ride on dump truck, and electric 4-wheeler, coloring books, crayons, finger paint, play-doh, blocks, bubble bath, and lots of other little goodies. It was so much fun to see him overwhelmed with so many people here when he woke up and with all of the "stuff" in the living room. We had so much fun this morning watching Blaine, eating breakfast casserole and soaking in this almost one year old wonder!!






After Blaine had some time to play with his toys he went down for his morning nap. Once he got up we went to Jason's Mom and Dad's for Christmas there. It was so much fun!! We took ALL afternoon to open Blaine's gifts, and mine and Jason's. It was nice to do this at our leisure. We stopped several times for bathroom breaks, snack breaks, and Blaine took a nap break!! : ) We didn't rush...we enjoyed every moment of it!!

Blaine got so many different things...books, baby Einstein videos, a cool toy that has a "ride" that responds and makes things happen on the TV - can't remember the exact name of it, a "big boy chair with his name on it from Pottery Barn Kids, lot's of cute clothes, a "farm house", and the list goes on and on and on. . . here are a FEW pictures from the visit. . .



Jason and I also got SO MUCH STUFF from Santa *wink* *wink* : ) I got some Danskos that I have wanted for a LONG time!! I also got a Pandora bracelet and a few beads for it!! Jason got a new deer decoy (for shooting with his bow), a range finder, and a new pair of binoculars... just to name a few things!! This Christmas was obviously not about us, but Santa made sure that we weren't forgotten!!


I tried to post more pics, but I guess I ran out of room . . . .we had such an awesome Christmas and it was simply amazing how much MORE fun it was having Blaine. A baby changes EVERYTHING!! Now off to planning Blaine's first Birthday!! : )

Good, not perfect, but really good...

Blaine is changing faster than the speed of light!! I cannot get over how much he comprehends, even more than he can tell me right now. With the addition of the Christmas tree you can imagine that things got interesting...well really they didn't. From the very beginning Blaine really didn't bother the tree so much. I'm not sure if it's because he had already has his little tree for sometime (and it has COLORED LIGHTS...) OR if he really just wasn't that impressed with the tree, either way he hasn't made a huge fuss about our tree in the living room. We really watched him carefully in the very beginning and really made a big deal out of telling him "NO" about the touching the tree. We said you can look at the tree but no touching...we would say "NO NO, OHHHH NO" about touching the tree while making the gesture with our hand no no...now he looks at ANYTHING that we have ever told him no about and he makes the no no gesture. : ) It's amazing how quickly they learn isn't it???

Blaine is such a good baby...he is so pleasant and fun loving...he laughs and smiles constantly and is always thinking and MOVING!!! I am learning so much as a Mom. So much about picking my battles, and making sure that I pick the important ones, and go with the flow (so not my personality believe it or not). I have learned a lot from Jason about being a good parent, so much about letting some things go and focusing on what is important 10 min. from now. I am so lucky to have a husband that is invested in our family, even though he isn't here every afternoon or night (which I hate). I have to admit, I get frustrated some times when I'm here and it's only me..I occasionally resent the fact that he has someone (me) to make major decisions and worry about the logistics of life...but I also realize when he comes home and takes over, how lucky I am to have a husband that is capable and willing to let me have a few minutes to myself to have a bath, or a phone conversation, a lot of women don't have that.

ANYWAY... we had a great week and weekend...my Mom's family gathered here on Saturday. All of my Mom's siblings showed up, and even a few of us cousins to chat and catch up on what's going on with all of us in the last ummm...10 years : ) I LOVED it...I loved the chance to see everyone, talk to them, and reminisce about our parents/grandparents. We got to see Cailynn, Blaine's cousin, and Blaine had a BLAST with her. It was the first time that he had had the opportunity to be around another child so close to his own age, and it was FUN to watch. I cannot believe that I didn't get a picture, but I was really busy keeping up with Blaine...you have to have your eyes on him ALL the time...Jason and I took turns and I was busy catching my breath when I wasn't directly involved in what was going on. In fact the ONLY picture that I captured of the evening was this one...

I love my family, and i am so thankful that I was able to spend time with them. I want Blaine to know that Christmas is about getting together with family, playing with cousins, and celebrating Jesus' life. These are the important things in life...

Jason, along with our friend Jim helped to make reindeer food for the get together....I HAD to get a picture of this!!!




This is one of Blaine's favorite places to go in our house...the laundry room...Daisy's bowl is in the laundry room...he loves to sneak a splash in the bowl...




We bought storm doors right after we moved into the new house, but JUST had them installed, and Blaine LOVES them!!! I took a picture of the






Here are a couple of videos of Blaine learning to sit and "rock rock" in his rocking chair that my co-worker Robert gave him before he was even born...






Life is so good right now...not perfect (we all have our daily trials), but so good. I love my family

Trying to remember to soak it all in...

I had a very "relaxing" weekend. I speak often about trying to soak "it" all in. I hear people say all the time that they can't remember when their child was Blaine's age. I know that I will at some point have difficulty recalling some events, but I at least want to stop and revel in what is happening as it happens. I never want to wish this time in my life away, as difficult as it can be at times.

Earlier in the week we had a nice evening with Brandon and Jessica, Jim, and Courtney. We are so blessed to have friends that so willingly come our way so that Blaine can sleep in his own bed, same routine, no babysitter...we love them!! : ) We had a lovely dinner (turkey loin), and played some Guestures : ) It was fun, and if I remember correctly the GIRLS dominated!! : ) Either way we really enjoyed remembering that we are more than husband, wife, mother and father...we all need those moments...




This weekend Jason was off again!!! The time off on the weekend seems to come all at one time, but I know that the time working on the weekends looms in the near future. I have enjoyed every minute of it though. Friday Jason cooked tacos for us, and watched Blaine while I winded down from a long work week. Saturday Jason had planned an early morning duck hunt, but he opted out because of the weather... (later his hunting buddies called and said that they had a great hunt). We stayed at home all day (most of the day in PAJAMAS...YAY!!!), but walked next door to Jason's parents for Chinese food Saturday evening...Today we went to the early service at Jason's family's church, and came home and napped while Blaine napped before Jason had to go to work. I went to my Mom's to prepare for our Saturday gathering with my Mom's side of the family at our house. I am so excited for Mom's side of the family to get together...we haven't really done anything just for her family since my grandparents died many years ago. I want Blaine to know everyone in his family, and I want us to build some Christmas traditions that he can look forward to every year...I think that is an important part of a child's life...it certainly was mine!! I hope that next year we can do something to include my Dad's side of the family...I just thought it would be a bit much to do two gatherings the first year...but we are going to work on it for sure!! Today I spent the afternoon with my Mom and Melissa making all of the fixings for our first "Robinson" family gathering in a few years...we made some "green" punch that I LOVE, and peanut butter chocolate cookies. I know I say it often but I really wish that Al and Melissa, and Jackson lived closer!! Blaine made it through the day on one nap (much to my dismay). When we got home we went to Jason's Mom and ate navy beans and salty ham biscuits : ) I will pay for this tomorrow when I weigh in and have retained a pound of fluid...

10 more days til' Christmas vacation!!!

I am so lucky to have Jason as a husband. We are so different in so many ways, and I think that that is what makes us good together. Being different offers it's challenges...I am a type A get it done RIGHT NOW kinda person. Jason is a ummm type Z I'll get to it go with the flow kinda person. However a rainy day = Jason has nothing better to do/becomes a type A person...worked out well so we finally got a couple of things on the wall that I had been waiting to get up. We hung Blaine's name in his nursery (sorry no pic, he was in bed when I finally thought about it), and we put the "some people don't believe in heroes but they haven't met my dad" saying up that was in Blaine's original nursery - we loved it so much that we but it up in his new room. Still a lot left to do, but we are taking baby steps...We did get Blaine's Christmas pictures up too, I haven't decided where to put my portrait yet, but that's in the works...I love my husband!!


Here are a couple of pictures and a video from the week. Blaine is walking or should I say almost RUNNING now...he goes all over the house from one end to the next all day long. He is eating more and more table food, but still doesn't have any teeth...I know they are coming soon though he is drooling more and more and continues his daily low grade fever...I love him more and more every day (which is really scary)!!!

Blaine started to do this crazy thing with is arm while he was walking and Jason and I were trying to capture it on video. He is cruisin' just watch...






Blaine enjoyed the mess while I cleaned his closet out!! : ) I know, already and we just moved in less than 2 months ago...found this elmer fudd hat that is a newborn size : ) he has a small head...but very proportional hahahaha


Jason took this picture during the week while he was keeping Blaine...he LOVES Daisy's bed...we have even thought of getting him his own for Christmas!!

Thanksgiving, Wine, Lights, Trees, and Wreaths...and a BUSY 10 month old...

We are a blessed family. I thought of how blessed we are so many times over the Thanksgiving holiday more than I ever have. My family has so much to be thankful for...let me attempt to make a list:
I cannot write one single thing that I am thankful for before my son, Blaine. Blaine in his short 10 months of life has brought so much joy to mine, and Jason's life. I am simply incapable of realizing my life without him in it every single day. Jason and I both have healthy parents that are able to take care of themselves, and that still take care of us in so many ways. Jason and I both have mothers that are the heart of our families...they have created strong traditions that Al and I enjoy, and look forward to every year, and fathers that work very hard to provide for their families. I have a new nephew Jackson Lee that has brought our family even closer together I have to say that 2009 has been so good to the Anderson family. We have been blessed with two happy and healthy little boys that I hope will grow up to love one another, and share even a fraction of the bond that Al and I ( and Melissa and Nathan) share. I realize that they are not brothers, but they are as close as you can get without being brothers. Jason and I both have jobs that we have worked very hard for, a home that is nicer than anything we ever imagined we would have. We have an exteneded family that supports us, and that love Blaine so much. I am blessed that my child stays with someone that loves him nearly as much as I do (probably as close as it can come without being a child's mother). I could go on and on, AND ON...

This week was wonderful, and I'm gonna water it down a bit for the sake of time. My vacation started on Thanksgiving Day. This was Jason's first Thanksgiving off of work in all of the years we have been together, and it was awesome. We joined my Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving lunch...my Mom made collards (one of my most favorite things in the entire world), and cracker cake (my other most favoritest thing) : ) After hanging out with them a while Jason and I came home, rested up, and headed to his Mom's for Thanksgiving supper. Blaine was such a trooper even through the lack of schedule ( we are very schedule oriented, which def. has its downside). Afterward Jason's parents came over to hang out, and ended up helping to decorate our Christmas tree...it was rough, but fun : ) I believe that there are over 2000 lights on our Christmas Tree, and it is beautiful (the picture does not do it justice!!!) : )


Friday we had Turkey Day leftovers at Jason's Mom's and it was delish. Blaine met Rudolph and santa and Jason's Mom's and he LOVED the rudolph...









...and Jason, Blaine and I shopped for outdoor decorations. We purchased a deer, sleigh, and snowman... I still want so much more for the outside...but this will be it until next year. Jason hung a 60" wreath on our upstairs 3 window combo, and a wreath on the door. I am IN LOVE with the upstairs wreath...it actually had plenty of lights in it (surprise)




Saturday Jason and I stayed pretty close to home...we ate with Larry, Jo Ann, Heather and Matt...and we really enjoyed it. We joke that Blaine turns in to a whiny pumpkin at 7:00 (his bedtime) IF he is not in bed. However, even though Blaine def. did turn into a pumpkin we had such a good time with them. Sunday was an unusually quiet Sunday. Jason worked 3rd last night so I napped with him a couple of times today (during Blaine's naps). I did manage to get some laundry done, make a meatloaf for supper, and play with Blaine. I didn't make it to church or Mom's today, but I did make time to do some school work so that my week will go smoothly.

Blaine has been walking everywhere...although still "wobbly" he is doing really well. I am also starting to hear some mimicking with speech going on. Blaine is attempting to say what I am saying, but he is obviously having difficulty putting those syllables together. Today we actually went outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather as I chased Blaine in the wide open space. Blaine LOVES the outdoors!!

I have LOVED this first Thanksgiving...Blaine ate some turkey, lot's of mashed potatoes, and sweet potatoes, and still managed to stay on a sort of schedule. : ) Happy Thanksgiving to all, and Merry Christmas too...here are a few random pics from the week...

A tiny bit late...

Whew...I have been spending a lot of my "technology" time working on a top secret project that I'll share soon...BUT I did want to take the time to share a little bit about last week and weekend.

Blaine is busier than ever (which means that I am too) : ) , he spends most of his time now walking all around...with very little crawling in between. Blaine is really enjoying his new found independence and his favorite thing to do is go from the living room to the hallway and into his room and back. I have a video of him that Jason took...it's the longest video that we have been able to capture...






Jason is always good at catching all of the good videos so here is another one of Blaine just laughing...it's kind of funny because Blaine gets so silly when he gets sleepy. : )

Finally a video...all about Blaine...and a lot of pictures...

I usually do not post much about what happens during the week...this is for a lot of reasons. First of all I am totally wrapped up in school Monday and Tuesday nights, and depending on Jason's schedule for the week i am totally consumed with Blaine and laundry...However, this week I was blessed with a midweek break. Because over the weekend Jason worked third shift I was unable to do my "weekend cleaning" so I caught up on Wednesday. When I clean I just include Blaine in the process. I vacuum and Blaine follows me around....I dust...and Blaine....follows me around. Blaine is a part of everything that I do, and I like it that way. From the very beginning Jason and I have made a go of this "parent thing" alone. We made it through the first weeks all by ourselves, because that is what I wanted. I wanted Jason and I to do this together and bond together, and with Blaine...and there is no doubt that that happened. I realize that this is NOT how everyone chooses to make the journey, but we did. Now, I must admit that at times this is not the easy route, but this is us... So I continue to take care of Blaine almost EVERY free moment that I have because he is my son, and my responsiblity, and I want to be the biggest influence in his life....WOW, what a tangent...lets get back to the week...Here are a couple of pictures of Blaine "helping me clean". He had a little infatuation with unraveling the toilet paper as we went along...but he loves the vacuum cleaner too!!




So Saturday Blaine got his first big boy haircut...yep, my (almost) ten month old got his first haircut,and yes for all of you traditionalists (I am NOT) my child got a haircut before his 1 year birthday. Let me say I have a secret dislike of boys with long hair. Please do not ever share this with Blaine because surely he will grow the longest hair ever if he hears that...but his hair was beginning to grow over his ears, and was "straggly" in the front and in the back. There was also the looming "mullet like" thickness around the back too...so I decided to schedule an appointment with our hairdresser...the fabulous Meiling. Jason and I (Jason is behind the camera) took Blaine in Saturday morning and got him all trimmed up, and he looks so precious...here are a few pics from the process....




Blaine did GREAT, and Meiling even used the clippers. Blaine occassionally tried to turn around to see what in the world all that buzzing was behind his ears, but he hung in there for a long time. Let me add that Jason INSISTED that I take some of the hair so that he could tape it in Blaine's baby book. I am not a traditionalist so I was just gonna throw the hair in the trash...guess we'll see if Blaine really cares about that hair in 20 years : )

On Saturday while Blaine and I were playing he finally showed some interest in his Indian gear that his grandma Dawes brought him back from the mountains. He actually kept those feathers on his head for a while. Daisy was a little concerned at one point that the feathers might be a duck so she had to check them out!!! : ) As you will see they didn't last long before Blaine took them off...







I am NOT ready to put all of our Christmas decorations up yet, however my coworker Robert gave Blaine a Christmas Tree for his room, and it had colored lights!!! So Blaine has his very own tree with his very own decorations. Robert has single handedly decorated my house for the fall (Halloween and Thanksgiving) and has now almost taken care of Christmas. Robert gave me window candles for almost all of my downstairs windows, icicle lights for the outside (that I am trying to convince Jason to put up) and other Christmas goodies...for the rest of the house. When you go to Robert's house during the Holidays it is Christmas, and I want our house to feel like Christmas too. I always want Blaine to remember Christmas as a warm family holiday with all of the smells and sounds of Christmas. So a BIG thank you goes out to him for warming our home... I don't usually use colored lights on our "Big Christmas Tree" so I thought that it would be nice to put the tree in Blaine's room. Blaine anfd I had fun putting up the Christmas tree in his room. I know that I'm probably a little "looney" but I thought that it might be a good idea to put his Christmas tree up so that he could see the lights and perhaps we could do some desensitization about it before we put up the big tree...whew...we'll see I guess...OK, so I know that I'm fooling myself it's gonna be rough trying to keep him out of the Christmas Tree!!







It's amazing that I remember this time last year when I was so miserable...I was desperate for Blaine to come, and come SOON!! We speculated about all of the things that he would be doing by this Christmas, and let me say he has already exceeded all of our expectations.

Blaine also learned to clap his hands...When I got up with Blaine Friday morning I was talking to him and Playing with him...I was clapping his hands together and he started to clap them on his own. I know that Blaine's grandma loves to play patty cake with him so I think he is finally catching on...and he KNOWS that I love it!! Here is a little video of him "clapping his hands" : )'




Blaine has been "starting to walk" now for the last several weeks. He is now at the point that he walks a couple of steps and stops to catch his balance and continues... I have been struggling to capture this on video probably because I am ooooing and ahhhhhing while he is actually doing it and not worrying about capturing it on video...BUT here is my first even close to catchin' it...WARNING you'll have to turn your head to see some of it...


So here are a couple of steps.

Tomorrow we have our Christmas pictures with Bill Goode. Blaine is growing so fast and this will be our first family picture since his 3 month pictures. I can't wait!!