Eli

Since Eli is over two years old I figure I need to record some of the funny things he does. First of all, we all get a kick out of how he says no when he means yes or no. We know which one he means by the tone he uses. If he says no in a really nice pleasant voice we know he means yes. If he says it with force, then that means NO.

Frozen has been really popular over the last few months, especially the song "Let It Go". Eli has heard it so many times and seen it sung by so many different people that he knows it and loves to sing it too. The funny things is, he will go to the music room and find a part of a music stand and then take it back to the living room where he will put on a show for me. The music stand is his microphone and he sings a really nice version of this hit for me. Here are some pictures:

Eli has a very independent nature. He thinks he can do everything by himself. He gets the milk and the jam and any other food he feels like eating out of the refrigerator. He things sour cream is a treat and will eat spoonfuls of it plain. When I am working in the kitchen I will often find him hiding around the corner with our container of brown sugar, or powder sugar, or even oatmeal--shoving handfuls in his mouth before he is discovered. We have also caught him around that same corner trying to plug in electric mixers and frying pans.

Eli can open all of our outside doors so we have to keep close tabs on him to make sure he hasn't gone outside. He especially loves to sneak outside into Terry's car and play in there. He knows how to navigate our ipad and my phone--sometimes better than me. He wanted to watch a movie on the ipad and I was searching for the right place to go and he grabbed it from me and had us there in about five seconds. We catch him with the toothpaste all the time licking away at the open lid. He has unrolled lots of floss in his lifetime. He loves to blow his own nose. He is really good at kicking the soccer balls that are laying around our house.

Eli has a great little smile that can make the grumpiest person (me) smile anytime. He also is good at causing trouble with his older brothers. He really knows how to push their buttons and can make them cry. We love having Eli in our family.

A Fresh Start

I know it has been over two years since I have written anything about my family. But in the last few weeks all of the family has been on the blog reading the old stories and having such a fun time that I have decided to make a concerted effort to do this again and keep a better record of the goings on in our family. So here I am. It is always hard to know where to start when I have missed so much. So I will just start with right now.


It is May and the kids are just starting their last weeks of school. We are so excited for school to be over. We have been on such a tight schedule all year and will be glad for some carefree days. Here is how our mornings go.
5:30 Terry Exercise
6:30 Family Scriptures
7:00 Get ready for school, make lunches, eat breakfast
7:30 Bus
7:45 Kristi exercise
8:30 Take Ellie to school


So that is our schedule. I used to run with Terry over at the college and we would wake up at five in the morning but I was getting really burned out of waking up that early. So once the weather turned nice, I was happy to run after the kids left for the bus.


Our biggest news at the moment is that we are going to have another baby. I felt certain that I was done after Eli and was happy to never have to be pregnant again. I could look at other new babies without feeling any twinges of longing. But then Terry started making comments like "we could probably have another one". He has never in the past been the one to push for another baby. I just told him no way. But then in December and January I started feeling like I really could handle having another one. So we decided to pray about it and then went for it. Just so we couldn't change our minds I was pregnant a couple of weeks later.


I felt pretty nauseous all of the time for a few weeks and it was hard to feel excited about this baby. The thought of it just made me feel so tired. But once I started feeling better we have been looking forward to having this new member of our family. We told the kids early on but told them they couldn't spread the word. They were dying to tell their friends. We made them wait because I had some bleeding early on and in the past that bleeding had led to miscarriage. So we said they had to wait until I was far enough along that we knew the baby would be okay. So now I am 17 weeks and feeling pretty good. The kids are spreading the word to everyone.


Oh, just so this is a part of our history, I have to share a story. When I went in to the doctor to check out the bleeding they did an ultrasound on me. The girl who did the ultrasound was Hilary Furniss. She went to Sugar and was a year older than me. She also had done all my ultrasounds when I was pregnant with Eli. Anyway, as she was doing the ultrasound she said there was a little pre-chorionic bleed. But then she said it was nothing like the bleed I had last time (when I was pregnant with Eli). She said when she saw that last bleed she was sure I was going to miscarry because she hadn't seen a bleed that big. Terry and I came away feeling like the fact that we have Eli here healthy and happy is a miracle. We remembered back to all the prayers our family prayed that he would be okay and be able to grow and develop. We know those many prayers were heard and we are so glad Eli is here in our family making us smile and laugh every day.

Eli Thomas Anderson

Here is the story of Eli's birth.

a

On Saturday evening, after busy day I went to bed and fell asleep. The next thing I knew I was having some sort of dream about a burst of water. I woke up and thought—hmm what was that? And then there was a great big burst of water. I jumped up out of bed and ran to the bathroom to try and figure out how to get Terry’s attention. He had been watch

Then I noticed our porch light go on so I knew he was upstairs, so I called his name. He said when I called his name he thought I was mad at him for turning the light on because my last instructions were to not wake me up. Anyway, he came in and I told him my water had broken. We were both really excited because there was no going back now.

I finished packing my bag and Terry called my parents. My mom hadn’t been feeling well so my dad said he would come sleep over at our house. Terry and I left for the hospital and said a prayer along the way that things would go well for us.

They checked me in and got me all situated in a bed. I think it was a couple of hours before they started any pitosin to get my contractions going (I hadn’t had any real ones yet). We tried to sleep but I had a hard time relaxing enough to go to sleep. So I watched reports on Whitney Houston’s funeral and her life.

Just a little side note. The nurses all said it was the snowstorm that was responsible for my being there. They had been really slow at the hospital and then once the snow started they had six woman come in just a few hours. Normally they have 2-3 births a day. I thought that was funny and I was grateful to have been affected by the storm.

At about five my contractions were getting stronger and were hurting enough that they said I could get an epidural. So I got the epidural which always makes me feel so yucky while they are putting it in. I told them I was going to pass out, but I was able to take deep breaths to avoid that.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty good after that but then my contractions pretty much stopped for a few hours. I was having some smaller ones, but I wasn’t dilating. And at about 8:00 the baby’s heartbeat started dipping down really far when I would have those small contractions. I know from past births that this can happen, but his heart rate was going so low it didn’t seem normal.

The nurse kept coming in to try and adjust things or get me to move. She didn’t like his little dips. She decided to call the doctor and he said he thought things were fine so he wouldn’t come in yet. But I started getting really uptight. I thought what if the heartbeat stopped and the doctor wasn’t there to do an emergency c-section. I wondered how they know if the baby is being strangled by the cord. Anyway, I was really getting myself worked up and was ready to do a c-section right then just to make sure our baby was okay. I sat and listened to the heartbeat and would feel so stressed when it would slow down and I would think “Keep beating, keep beating.” And then it would pop back up to normal speed.

I felt like crying and was so worried that something was going to happen here at the last moment before he was born. I said so many prayers during that time for his safety and that I could calm down too and just have faith. At about 9:30 my contractions really started to pick up. During the last hour the baby’s heartbeat stayed more regular and so I was able to relax. Our nurse also came in and sat down and visited with us while I finished dilating. That helped to distract me too. And she was keeping an eye on things while she was there.

Before we knew it I was to a ten and ready to push. I had felt the baby moving down with the contractions over about a ten minute period, so I knew we were getting close. I just have to say how grateful I am for epidurals. It is amazing to go through that and not feel a single thing. My epidural was perfect and I really didn’t feel a single bit of pain (once the guy got the epidural in).

The doctor was called in and everything was set up. Our doctor has a problem with shaky hands so I was praying that he would be able to do his job well. I gave one push and our baby boy was out and I heard his little cry. I felt so much relief and gratitude at that moment I heard that cry. With all of the miscarriages and then the worry early on with this pregnancy, and the little thoughts of what if. . . all throughout the last 38 weeks. I was so grateful to see our healthy little baby boy delivered safely to us.
I am really grateful for Heavenly Father’s blessings and His help. I know this could have easily ended a different way. It could have ended in the first ten weeks. But it didn’t and we have little Eli here and we all love him so much.

He weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce and was 18 inches long. He is a little tiny thing. It has now been a week since he was born and he has been a good little baby. He sleeps and sleeps and I have been able to get some good sleep myself. In fact I had to wake him up last night to eat because he wanted to keep sleeping.

October

Sam and I were driving around the other day and while we drive he likes to ask me questions about things. Well on this day he asked me if Africa was next door to Idaho. I said no it was on the other side of the world. Then I told him when he gets older he could be called to go on a mission to Africa. I explained that his Grandma and Grandpa Anderson served a mission in South Africa. Sam was quiet a moment and then he said with excitement, "They were teaching the animals?" All he has ever seen of Africa are the animals that live there, and so I had to explain to him that people live there too.

One frosty morning Isaac and I got in our car to drive to Sam's school. Isaac pointed at the frost in the windshield and said, "Is that stew?" I asked "What?? What are you talking about?" And he repeated, "Is that stew?" It then dawned on me that he meant dew, he just couldn't quite get the name correct.

This school year has been fun. Sam was supposed to be in afternoon kindergarten but was switched to morning and so all the kids are gone by 7:45--except Isaac. So he is my exercising buddy. We have been going on three mile walks or sometimes I try running while pushing him. I have only been able to manage two miles in that situation. He is over forty pounds and I get tired. Plus I am about 20 weeks pregnant right now. Needless to say I go really slow. Other days I have been running on the treadmill. Isaac just stays by my side and is my little companion.

I have loved living back here in Rexburg. The area we live in is so beautiful and I have expecially loved the fall weather. We live close to the cemetery and so it is kind of funny because now we notice when there is a funeral there and so we like to go on walks and find out who it was that died. One day we were walking past and they were having the funeral for Reed Wilding. Isaac asked who died and I told him his name. The next few times we passed the cemetery Isaac would say, "What was that mans name again who died?" We would tell him and he would say, "Oh yeah, Reed Wilding." Like he was really keep track.

I love being close to the cemetery because so many of my relatives are buried there. So we will walk by their graves and it makes me think about them more. I also like looking at other people's graves and piecing together little bits of their history. Like one family lost 5 or 6 little babies. They would either die right after birth or they would only live a year or so and then die. I couldn't imagine going through so much heartache and I have been wondering about that family and how they handled it. I guess it makes me think that the trials I deal with aren't so hard when you see what others have suffered.

We have found out that we are having another little boy. He will be born sometime around the beginnning of March. The beginning of this pregnancy was rough and we weren't sure if this baby was going to survive--especially after having the three previous miscarriages. But things are looking really good now. I just had my halfway ultrasound and from everything they could see--the baby looks good.

Sam's Prayers

Heavenly Father
I am thankful that Heavenly Father and Jesus created the earth.
I am thankful that Heavenly Father created all the prophets and that they can have the spirit in their bodies and faith.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sam's prayers always make me smile. I can tell he is listening to his lessons and the things that we talk about. It is his understanding in his own words.

House House House

Well I guess I could blog even though it is 10:30 at night. But Terry was really nice and let me have a long Sunday nap--probably because I was so grouchy. So I am not too tired right now.

The reason I entitled this house house house is because that seems to be the only thing on my mind lately. Selling and buying a house is a very stressful endeavor, mostly because we don't have a realtor involved and we are having to handle everything ourselves. I hate it. I hate the business aspect of things--talking about who pays what or working out contracts. I will be so glad when we are settled in a new place. But we are grateful to have found a buyer for our house.

This last week we found a house that we really like outside of Rexburg and we have been working on a price all week and getting an offer in to the sellers. We hope to get a signed contract in the next day or two. But I am really excited about the house and its location. It is an area I have always loved as I grew up.

Terry started his new job at BYU-I this last Monday. I went up with him for his orientation. Mom and dad watched Sam and Isaac. It was a little dry going through all of the benefits and things--although we are really excited to have benefits. There were none at his last job. We are really excited for this opportunity.

Anyway, this last week was Sam's preschool graduation. He was really excited about it. Only Isaac and I could go because Terry had to work and everyone else was in school. When we arrived Sam's teachers Mrs. Dogget and Mrs. Hendricks told Sam they really need his good singing voice because the class that had already had their graduation got scared and no one could hear them. So Sam was called and boy did he answer that call.




I just have to say that as we were driving to his graduation he was singing in the back of the car and I was thinking to myself that he is getting really good pitch and tone. So I had to laugh as soon as he started singing his songs in his program. He went into yelling monotone mode. And it sounded like he was trying to sing an octave higher than everyone else. He was totally drowning out the other 9 or 10 kids. But he was really proud of himself.

He must have really worn himself out with the excitement. This is what I saw later that night after he had gone to bed.



We have been laughing at Sam and Isaac this last week or two. They have been quoting the line from Harry Potter 7 (yes we are evil parents who let our little kids watch it--although they have only seen edited versions). But they love to quote the line "Bill! Look Away. I'm hideous." They do it when they are changing their clothes and they take of their shirts. Except when Isaac says it he says "Wook away. I'm ideous."



Abby had pioneer day a week ago. When she was getting ready for it I asked her what kind of activities she would be doing. She named off a few and then mentioned square dancing. She said she sure hoped she got to choose her own partner. I asked who she would choose and she said Austin Dye-a boy from our ward. I asked why, thinking it was because she liked him. But she said because there are a lot boys who are gross--like they wipe their noses on their hands. And she really didn't want to touch their hands. I wouldn't want to hold their hands either.

Wicked

This might be the title for many a blog from Idaho right now. It seems that many made the trekk over to Boise to watch Wicked. I was one of them.

On Friday me, Abby and Ainsley drove with Suzette, mom and dad over to Boise. We stayed at a Marriot Town and Suite which was nice. However, I have heard recent reports of bed bugs from my brother who stays in hotels in Boise often, and I felt like I needed to check the for signs of bedbugs. The problem was, I didn't know the signs. So I just stopped worrying about it.

We ate dinner that night at Elmers (had this really good Sun Valley chicken sandwich) and then drove around Boise a little. Downtown Boise is beautiful. I haven't been there since high school and I really liked how BSU is right next to the river and the downtwon is really nice. Anyway. . .

The girls were impatient to go swimming, which is not my favorite thing to do. But I did it anyway. Terry was surprised when he heard I swam myself (although sitting in the hot tub is not really swimming).

We went to bed after that and watched Princess Diaries till our eyes were drooping. Then we woke up and swam again. I think that was the highlight of the trip for the girls. We walked around the downtown area for a while and then ate lunch at the Julia Davis Park. Tom and Kerry met up with us there. Then we headed over to the Morrison Center for the big show.

I love seeing plays done by professionals. It is amazing to see so much talent on one stage. And the girl who played Elpheba had such an awesome voice--and she was only the understudy.

At intermission I asked Abby what was her favorite part so far. She said the dragon moving its head. The dragon was part of the stage set. It is funny that with all that was going on on the stage, the dragon was what stood out to Abby.

We got back late last night. Ainsely was wiped out from the excitement and slept almost the whole way home.

Ellie and Terry were supposed to have gone with us, but after we bought the tickets we discovered the ISU Children's Choir concert was at the same time as Wicked. So Terry said he would stay home with Ellie. Ellie was selected this year to do a solo in between the choir numbers. She played a fiddling song on her violin. Terry and my friend Emy (whos daughter is in the choir too) said Ellie did awesome. Her teacher has been trying to get her to play her song at a good steady pace and not get too fast. Terry and I have tried to support that but it is fun to listen to it fast so we were happy that Ellie just kind of took off while she was performing (I saw it on video).
Here she is.