Sunday Dress.

I must say the Dille's look pretty good all dressed up. What do you think?

Getting a family picture these days is a whole different ball game. Carter never seems to want to take them and it's a battle. This is the best one of all four of us. At least three out of the four of us are looking at the camera. I know I'm cheesy, but I totally planned for us all to be in red. Mike got dressed and put on a yellow tie and I made him go change... hee, hee. We were going to be a coordinated family today for church and then we had to come home and take a few pictures of our Sunday dress on the Sunday before Christmas. I'm really enjoying being a family of four. Having two boys to dress up and match is way too much fun.

My mom has been staying with us for a few days about every other week to help with the boys. I love having her here and so do the boys. We tried to take a picture with Carter too, but like I mentioned above he was done. It's always so fun to be with her during the holidays. She makes the best cookies and pecan bars and she even helped me with a few sewing projects. Not to mention she is the best shopping partner and we both love the hustle and bustle of the mall during the holidays. Owen 10 weeks. Brotherly love. Carter giving Owen kisses. On a different note, we've had a few other exciting things happen with the boys this week. Carter learned how to lift the toilet lid and my hair brush was the first causality to his toddler fascination. I am keeping a much closer eye on him and making sure to shut the bathroom doors.

Exciting news for Owen... are you ready for this... after ten weeks I finally got a SMILE TODAY! Hurray! and Merry Christmas to me.

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times.

We had a few friends over on Saturday night for some holiday cheer and white elephant exchange. Any excuse to get together with friends is a good one. Everyone brought a goodie or two to share and we spent a lot of time chatting it up and playing a few games. Oh, and at the end of the night we also spent sometime hanging out in the driveway and riding Katie and Dan's scooter. Good times were had by all... I hope. :) We feel very fortunate to have such wonderful friends here in Houston and we're grateful to celebrate the Christmas season with them. If you couldn't make it, we missed you too. Here are a few pictures from the night.

Dan, Katie, Josh and Marie.

Mike riding the scooter.

Dille three, Carter was upstairs sleeping during the party.

Kristy and Wade Marie, Me, Katie"woo" girls.

Opening white elephant gifts. Dan ended up with some sweet holiday undies. Here's Lindsay laughing as Dan opened up his present. Stacie and Tony.

Kristy and I.

*I just realized we didn't get any pictures with Scott, April or Dusty. Sorry guys. We wish we were more on top of our picture taking. Next time you'll be front and center.

PS No More.

That's right, I will no longer be a Shade Clothing Personal Shopper. Not by choice, Shade has decided to discontinue the Shade Personal Shopper program. The news came out Wednesday and on Saturday the program will be no more and at the end of the month my shade email address will be deactivated.

I've been a PS for three years now. I've always loved Shade Clothing and I loved sharing my passion for their products with other hip ladies who were looking for a way to stay with the trends and stay modest. I've been able to meet so many neat ladies through the company and have met some of my greatest friends through hosting showcases, this is a shout out to you Sarah!

I'm very sad to see this come to a close. I'm not sure if I'm sad because I'll miss working for Shade, or if I'm sad I'll no longer have this outlet and a "part-time" job. Now I'll officially just be a stay at home mom, although "just" doesn't really sum it up. Being a stay at home mom is the hardest job in the world, I just appreciated being a PS and being able to feel accomplished and getting a pay check. It's been a fun run and perhaps it was time to move on. I'll still be a loyal Shade Clothing shopper but now I can officially hunt the sales and check out the competition and not feel so bad about buying shirts from Down East too. :)

Top 6 Reasons to look on the bright side.

1. My dining room will no longer have to double as a boutique.
2. No more late night phone calls spanning over an hour to input orders.
3. I don't have to feel so bad about starting to wear my samples about a month ago.
4. I'll be able to sell all of my samples in January and have a large section of my closet back.
5. I can be completely selfish when it comes to sales--I get to keep the news all to myself!
6. Carter can now inherit all the catalogs, order forms, and business cards GALORE, perfect for playing pretend, or in his case destroying!

Here's the email I sent to my clients.

Hi Ladies,
I have some sad news to share. Shade has decided to discontinue the Shade Personal Shopper program. This announcement was unexpected and will happen very quickly. My personal shopper discount code will only be available until Sat. Dec. 20, at that time Shade will no longer offer the 5% PS discount. If you were planning to place an order be sure to place it today or tomorrow to receive a discount.

If you currently have hostess credit that you’ve earned from a past showcase, your credit will still be available to use when purchasing on line as normal at any time. A PS Code is not necessary to enter the hostess credit, and Shade does not foresee any problems with honoring these for hostesses as long as they need them. If you are unsure of what your hostess credit number is, you will need to contact me before Sunday, 12/21. After Sunday our internal network where this information is stored will be deactivated.

After December 31, please direct any questions regarding Shade Clothing to customer service.
I’ve been a personal shopper for three years now and I’m sad to this chapter in my life come to a close. I’ve enjoyed being your personal shopper and getting to know you. I wish you the best in all that you do and a very Merry Christmas. "

Growing.

Owen 9 weeks

I took both boys in for their well checks yesterday. Here are their stats.

Carter, 18 months

Weight 30 lbs. 95%

Height 35 1/4 inches 95%

FOC 50, 95%

Owen, 2 months
Weight 13.45 lbs. 90%
Height 24 3/4 inches 97%
FOC 40 1/2, 75%

As a side note, Owen weighed exactly the same as Carter at two months and both of their heads have the same FOC as well. The only difference was that Owen had an extra inch on Carter. I believe we are destined to have tall boys... hmm... could there by any Anderson basketball genes in there? What surprises me the most is that Owen was born at 36 weeks and Carter was born at 38, and still Owen is bigger. He's definitely catching up, which is good, he's going to need the extra pounds to protect himself from Carter when they both get bigger.

Carter still isn't talking, so we've been given a referral for a speech program that the school district has for toddlers. This is the only developmental thing he is lagging in. As for Owen, he's up to par, except for smiling. Any day now... please. Other than that, both boys are doing great.

December.

I realized this week that my last post was in November, and here it is December 14. Sorry about that family... I know you are most likely anxiously awaiting a few more pictures of our two growing little men.

Carter still loves the dogs. He drags them everywhere. Steiger was cold and for once didn't mind Carter sitting in his kennel with him.

Owen 8 weeks.
Trying out the baby sling. He looks a little cramped. Sleeping in our bed. He still has all of his hair and dark complexion.

Carter wearing my shoes and telling me about it.

Caught in the act. So much for my alphabeticalized dvd's. What you don't see here is the dog who then tracked mud all over the carpet and through the dvd pile.

The last two weeks have been action packed and I really feel like I haven't had a moment to myself. Both boys being so young are really giving me a run for my money and I have to admit I'm a little overwhelmed. For the most part Owen has been pretty happy, until the "bewitched" hours, between 5 and 7 pm, he cries and only wants to be held, while at the same time Carter goes from one melt down to another, also wanting to be held. If only I had another set of arms and some really good ear plugs. :) I keep telling myself things will get better. I'm really starved for a good routine. Not even a schedule, I would take a good routine. Just to have some sort of structure would help me make it through the day and night. The past two weeks I've been very grateful for playgroups. An excuse to leave the house and go somewhere for both Carter and I to do some socializing. So we're not just hanging out in the house all day. I even think Owen likes being out with new things to look at.

Owen still isn't smiling, and I have to keep reminding myself that he was four weeks early and therefore is four weeks behind on the "normal" development. But you always wonder and compare. All I want for Christmas right now is for Owen to look at me and smile. To some how acknowledge me as his mommy, as the person who stays up with him at night, changes his diapers, feeds him and holds him all day.

Carter is still getting into trouble and is a little more defiant each day testing his boundaries as always. But he still sleeps like a champ and this I am grateful for. I can always rely on a good afternoon nap and he's actually starting to sleep in a little, always a solid 10-12 hours each night. He's also been very flexible this past week. Between both Mike and I and trying to run last minute errands, including a 9:30 trip to Wmart after the ward Christmas party, he's hung in there with the best of us and has had a good time looking at all of the holiday decorations every where we go.

As for Mike and I. Mike is still working a lot, trying to cram everything in before taking a break for Christmas. He actually spent some time on Saturday laying carpet for a neighbor. I believe on Sunday morning when he woke up pretty sore, he was glad that he no longer lays carpet for a living, like in college, and appreciated his desk job a little more. :) Have I mentioned how handy he is? For me, I was able to make it to the gym twice last week, thanks Stacie! We both put up Christmas decorations, although with two babies, we only manged to put up about half of what we normally do. I finally finished my baby shower thank you cards over the weekend and was able to send out most of our Christmas/birth announcements. I also tackled the never ending laundry pile (thank you Mike for helping with this), changed sheets, cleaned bathrooms and the kitchen, and the good news is, I'll get to do it all over again in a few days. The never ending battle of being a mommy I assume. I had one of those weekends where everything just catches up with you and so do the post-partum hormones. Mike was wonderful this weekend, supportive, loving and attentive to both the kids and me. He even took us out for lunch to Chick-fil-a. What a great guy. Here's to another week of doing it all over again.

Catching Up on the Boys.

Owen is now 7 weeks weighing in at 12.1 pounds and Carter turned 18 months.

The past two weeks with Owen has been full of ups and downs. Last week my post would have been titled "the honeymoon is over" and this week we're on the "up and up." He's not at all like Carter I'm learning and hates being in his car seat and doesn't care for the binkie. When I go out instead of being in the stroller I'm now using the baby bjorn to carry him. Good and bad things about this, it frees up space in the shopping cart, but makes it difficult to bend down to pick up things and the extra ten pounds recs havoc on my back. But I'm grateful that he likes to be held and snuggled and I really do enjoy the moments when he snuggles on my chest and coos.

Some nights he'll sleep 7-8 hours and other nights he only goes 3-4 hours. Just when I think we're in a routine he'll throw me a curve ball and mix things up. I'm still working on the EASY (Eat, Activity, Sleep and You time) schedule from Baby Wise, or maybe it's from the Baby Whisperer, I can't really remember, and it seems to be working out just fine. Each night Owen gets a bath and I think he actually enjoys them now and it's helping to establish a bedtime routine and let him distinguish between day and night. Still no smile from Owen, I keep waiting for it, but I have to remember he was four weeks early so he might take longer to do things. He's more content these past few days in the swing and by himself. Which is a relief. Last week he wanted to be held all day long, so I'm relieved that I can finally put him in the crib to watch the mobile, or in the swing so I can shower. All in all, he's a pretty content little guy that prefers to be snuggled. Owen makes the cutest "Mike" face. Where he crinkes his forehead and it looks just like Mike's Dille bumps. I actually think Owen looks more like Mike than me.

Just a few accomplishments and moments to share from Carter this past week.

1. Using his lion scooter as a stool to launch himself into the portacrib where Owen was sleeping. Lucky for us he landed next to Owen, rather than on top of him.
2. Pushing the kitchen chair across the kitchen up against the wall, then climbing the chair to reach the light switch to turn the lights on and off.
3. Sharing. When Owen cries Carter runs to his room and brings out two binkies, one in his mouth and then tries to "share" his other binkie with Owen.
4. Grandma Dille bought Carter a farm book where you press the animal and it makes their farm noise. Carter never seems to press it hard enough so he grabs your finger and pushes it with my finger. Now he's decided that every book should make a noise and insists to use your finger to point at everything.
5. Climbing into the bath tub by himself. I turned on the bath water, then turned around to get something to then look back and find Carter with all of his clothes on sitting in the bathtub playing in the water as it came out of the faucet.
6. Carter has figured out how to climb onto our bed, a large accomplishment for a little guy considering our bed is a log bed Mike made in college and it is abnormally tall. Not only did he make his was onto our bed, he then crawled to the end of the bed threw his arms up like an gymnast as if to say, "ta-dah."
7. Wiggles. Yes, the Wiggles, we are now big fans of the Wiggles in our home. Today Carter watched about 20 minutes and even managed to get up and dance. Thank you crazy Australian man group for entertaining Carter and allowing this mommy 20 minutes alone.
8. My favorite moment this week... I was nursing Owen and Carter climbed onto the couch next to me to give me a kiss and some love, then waved goodbye, got off the couch and off he went. I believe Carter has accepted Owen and the time I spend nursing. Thank you little man, I love you too.
9. A lot of holiday shopping with grandma and mommy. He was a trooper for the most part and was happy just to be in his stroller. He loves the stroller so much he even climbs in himself and then kicks his feet and claps his hands to let you know he's ready to go.
10. Conquered nursery at church. He ran in and never looked back... ah... freedom at church.

We put up Christmas decorations this week and Carter is a big fan on the Christmas lights.

Photo Shoot.

Last Saturday one of my friends, Amber (check out her studio here http://www.studioceleste.net/) , came and took some newborn photos of Owen and a couple family pictures. She did an amazing job and we're really happy with the pictures she took. Having her come to the house was a blessing, it was hard enough getting both boys to cooperate here I can only imagine the craziness we would have encountered had we attempted a studio. Carter was very shy and only made it into a few shots. I was hoping we could get some with just him and Owen, but when we tried, he signed "done" walked over to the door, waved and blew us a kiss and shut the door behind him on his way out. Here a few of the pictures.

Ears and Nose.

My Boys.

Last week was my first week all alone with the boys while Mike worked. I"m happy to say we all survived and I even manged to make dinner four times during the week. My mom finally headed off to San Antonio to work and it was sad to see her go. She was selfless and provided much needed love, support and service to our family. I know Carter misses her dearly and her morning pancakes, waffles and french toast. I miss her as well and was so grateful to have an extra set of hands to help around the house. Mike also appreciated her help, she made sure we had dinner on the table each night for Mike, and Mike was able to work not worrying or feeling guilty about keeping such long hours and being away from his family.

All in all, not much happened during the week. We did venture out one day to go grocery shopping. It's pretty tricky having Carter in the grocery cart seat, and then Owen in his car seat in the basket. Tricky in that there doesn't leave much room for actual groceries and I have to keep an eye on Carter to make sure he doesn't steal Owens pacifier. Carter is also learning to take advantage of the times with I am nursing Owen. He knows that I can't get up and chase him so he comes and steals whatever is around me and runs away with it, whether it is the TV remote, the phone, a burp cloth or even the pillow I am using to prop Owen up. This I can put up with more, it's the times he comes and throws things at us while I am nursing that I'm having a harder time being patient with. Needless to say, Carter is beginning to understand a little more what time out is, and I'm also making more of an effort to be proactive and keep him distracted with something else while I feed Owen.

We finally took Owen to church on Sunday. We only stayed for sacrament and sat in the back. I'm not even going to attempt staying for all three hours until Carter is 18 months old and can go into nursery, which is early December. Until then, I am one and done.

Here is our week in pictures.

Our boys dressed for church on Sunday. This was the best we could get and poor Owen is all slumped over. Owen in his church outfit, getting big so fast. Too funny! This is Carter telling us he is done holding Owen... And here Carter is pushing Owen off his lap, like I said, he told us he was done. :) Those are my hands catching Owen.

Carter smiling after climbing into his high chair all by himself. Owen in the bath tub. Carter sitting in a chair reading the Sunday newspaper ads.

Four Weeks.

Owen is four weeks today. I can't believe that he is here and I can't believe how quickly the last four weeks have gone. It seems to have been a whirlwind of unexpected obstacles, full of tears of joy and sorrow, lots of sleepless nights and heart felt prayers, lots of hugs and kisses, and now lots of juggling between our little toddler, Carter and our new baby, Owen. It hit me today, now that my mom is gone and Mike was at church all afternoon, I was home alone with both babies for an extended period of time... oh my gosh... I have two babies. When did that happen? It seems like just yesterday we were going through the fertility process and thought we'd never have children. Now, four years later we've been blessed with two boys and we couldn't be any happier.

Carter is adjusting, not very quickly, but each day he realizes more and more that Owen is here to stay and that he has to share his mommy with this new baby. But then he has moments where he is so attentive and interested in Owen and I think that maybe this transition won't be so hard. Carter loves to hold Owen, supervised :), and when we pick Owen up from his lap he cries. It's adorable. I just hope they will become good friends as they grow up and we make it through the rough housing that I know will come. If they will be anything like Mike and his brother Bryan, I know I am in for a challenge. :)

Owen is doing great being home. Last week I took him back into the pediatrician and he now weighs 8 lbs 15 ozs and is over 21 inches long. He's finally kicked the jaundice and is starting to look more Caucasian than orange. His hair is starting to lighten a little as well. Owen rarely cries and loves to be swaddled. I really think he picked that up from the NICU.

He's already so different from Carter. He actually sleeps, which Carter didn't until month four. He's also a quite sleeper. He's in our room in a crib on the other side of the room and I barely hear him, whereas Carter we heard all night making little baby noises and such. Last week, Owen slept two nights in a row for over 7 hours. For the most part since he's been home he'll sleep for about 5 hours straight and then nurse and sleep for another 3 or 4. He likes to be up later in the evening, which is fine by me, with Carter asleep it's nice to have one on one awake time with Owen, and this way Mike can spend time with him awake as well. So I've been giving him a bath each night at about 8 or nine and then we put him down for the night at midnight and he sleeps until the morning, between 5am-7am. I'm still trying to figure out how to get him down for the night earlier and make his schedule work and not have to wake up between 1 and 4am. For some reason getting up at 5 is much easier.

Here are a few pictures of our boys from this past week .

Carter at the park. The poor guy was going nuts trapped in the house for three weeks. So on a beautiful day we ventured out and he loved it!

Owen at the park, he didn't even make it out of the car seat. Owen relaxing.

Carter loves to eat pudding thanks to the Dille grandparents. :) Only he insists on feeding himself and feeding daddy as well.