16 months

Colt has passed his 16 month mark. It is so fun to watch as he continues to learn and grow. Here are a few of the fun things he is doing.

- trying to jump
- chasing Brody
- warming up to people (other than mom) a little quicker.
- letting us know when he isn't getting his way by throwing himself on the floor. (it's kind of cute to watch because he is so little and gets upset about the littlest things)
- trying to form words. He says some words but we can tell he is working on more. He definitely understands a lot of what we say.
- eating like a runner. He's never been much of a drinker but can eat twice as much as his brother.
- cutting his back teeth. (He hasn't been too happy about this)
- smiling at the camera when we want to take a picture, but always seems to move out of the way when the camera actually goes off.
- causing us to fall more and more in love with him every single day.

The rest of Christmas

The rest of our Christmas was busy and fun and hectic and a little exhausting. It seems we (especially the boys) had been going non stop all week.

We went down to my parents house where we joined my brother, sisters and their families. By the time we had arrived most of the presents were open so there was already plenty of toys around. Brody and Colt opened their presents and are now the owners of many cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Brad and I were also spoiled with our "stockings" filled with Starbucks cards, scratch tickets and chocolate.

Colt opening his present.



Cousin Gunner opening his present from us.



After spending a few hours at my parents we again loaded up the car to head to my Aunt Pede's. We had a baked potato bar for dinner (super yummy) and lots of other yummy appetizers. The boys opened presents from Mark & Pede and the adults did the traditional white elephant gift exchange. Brad and I were super close to getting a Best Buy gift card but walked away with more Starbucks cards. (not too bad)

The boys were pretty tired so we left pretty close to their bed time. It was a great Christmas but it definitely made for some tired boys and parents.

I did a poor job of taking pictures at my aunts house but got a few cute ones of a couple cousins.

Cousin Wesley with his safety goggles on.



Cousin Gunner saying cheese!



Brody playing with one of the new toys (it isn't his...but his cousins happily shared with him)

Christmas Morning

This year we were able to wake up at our house for Christmas morning.

Eating cinnamon rolls for breakfast (and no they are not homemade...just out of a can...maybe I will feel inspired to do that another year)




Brad's happy about his cinnamon roll and his latte.



Brody opening his gift from Santa (a Bob the Builder Lego set)



Colt checking out all the presents.



Santa knew Brody needed a helmet to go with his quad. (A few months ago Brad and his friend Kurt bought a quad for Brody...not like the ride on toys...but a real quad)



Even Mommy got a present...a nice new laptop.



It was a very fun Christmas morning!

Andresen Family Christmas

My parents hosted the Andresen family Christmas at their house on December 23rd. It was a great place for 7 grandsons since there were more than enough toys to entertain them. We had a great spread of food and desserts. And as we usually do we sang the Andresen version of Christmas Carols. This time it was very fun to watch the boys pile up on Papa Bob's lap to help him play the piano.

Colt helping Papa Bob.


Here is a video of Brody singing. You can't really hear him but you can kind of see his lips moving. What a great group of singers in the background! I'm surprised we don't have our own CD yet.



A few more pictures to enjoy!

A Bainbridge Christmas

Last weekend we went to Bainbridge Island to celebrate Christmas with Fafa, Grammy, Uncle Brian, Aunt Angie and Abi. We had a great time and delicious food as we usually do.

On Saturday we took the boys out to run a few errands (buying last minute gifts). When we got back they both took good naps which made it easier to stay up late opening gifts.

Brody getting ready to open gifts.

Colt getting ready.

Fafa, Grammy, Abi, Brody & Colt

Our family.


Brody and Colt playing with tinkertoys in their new matching dinosaur pajamas. (Thanks Grammy!)

A BIG Ouch!

Last Friday I was getting things cleaned up from breakfast. Colt was playing with his little people farm and Brody was running around the house. I still can't remember if he was flying his rocket or trying to chase Colt. I heard a very loud noise and looked to see that Brody had crashed into the wall. He immediately started crying. I picked him up to see blood coming from his forehead and one of the deepest cuts I have seen in person (not that I have seen that many but it was still very deep). I started to panic a little wondering what I should do. I quickly got a wet washcloth and put it on the cut mostly because I did not want to look at it.

I did not see what had happened but I am assuming he tripped when he was running around the corner and hit his head on the cupboard. Unfortunately the edging on this cupboard has a very straight edge which is how I think he got the cut.

(you can kind of see where the edge is. There is nothing else nearby that would have made such a straight cut)



I called Brad twice before he was finally able to call me back. I was trying to figure out how I was going to get Brody to the emergency room while keeping the blood contained and hoping he wouldn't pass out...and I also needed to get Colt in the car. The bleeding seemed to slow down quite a bit so I put Brody in the car and had him hold the washcloth on his head. I ran back in to get Colt. I didn't have any socks for myself and just slipped on some shoes (I was looking pretty stylish). I called Brad again to meet me at the emergency room (we are lucky to live only a mile away).

Soon after Brody was buckled into his car seat he said, "I want some music." It was then that I knew he was going to be ok. When we arrived at the ER Brad came out to get Brody. He looked at his cut and thankfully didn't panic or say anything that would stress me out anymore. Brody was seen right away.

Brad & Brody (you can sort of see the cut in this picture) Please excuse Brad's cheesy smile.


The doctors put on this numbing solution for 15 minutes while we sat with Brody and watched some cartoons.



They gave him some shots to numb it a little more and then started to stitch it up. It was one of the more difficult moments I have had as a mom. I tried my hardest not to cry and was thankful Brad was there to be right next to Brody. Brody kept saying "I'm all done, I'm all done." We had to keep distracting him to get his mind off of it. He was a champion and did a great job!


Here is Brody with his stitches. He was pretty tired after crying so hard and took a good nap that afternoon. I am so thankful it was an injury that could be taken care of so quickly. He is definitely back to his usual happy energetic self.



I am always praying for the health and safety of my family, but I know I also need to pray that God will give me the wisdom and direction I need to handle the many bumps and bruises my boys will have in the years to come.

15 months and counting...

Colt turned 15 months about a month ago...but here are some pictures of him kind of close to that age.

He is quite the little character. It is a little hard to explain his personality...but it's so fun to watch it emerge as he is learning new things every day.

(He doesn't sit very still for pictures)

It's just like Christmas

We took out our Christmas decorations to decorate our house and the Christmas tree. The boys were so excited! I'm sure if we had told them it was Christmas they would have never noticed the difference. Brody found a little nutcracker toy and a toy train.

"Dad, did you borrow these?"
"No, Brody. Someone gave them to us. We get to keep them."
"oh...COOL! I like this toy."

Brody with the nutcracker and train.



Colt excited about the gold ribbon around his head.



Brad was a little annoyed with the bushiness of the tree so he did some of his own pruning. Now it's perfect for hanging lots of ornaments.

O' Christmas Tree

A few weekends ago we went to North Bend to a U-cut place to find our perfect Christmas tree. We got on our cold weather gear and dressed up the boys to brave the cold temperatures. (It snowed while we were looking for our tree). We walked around for at least an hour looking and looking and looking. We saw lots of trees but none that were yelling our name. Brad was mostly annoyed with the 5 foot trees that had another 1 to 2 foot spire at the top which made the cost of the tree at least $20.00 more.



We left the first place and decided to try another place. As we pulled in and saw the cost of their trees we thought that maybe Costco would be our best option. So we left.


On our way to Costco we heard Home Depot had a good selection. Brad went in and I stayed inside the car with the boys. Within 10 minutes we had a tree loaded on top of our car.

Our tree without the decorations. (except for our paper Christmas chain)

Painting

If you have been to our house in the last year you have seen one of 2 phases of our painting. The first phase was paint samples hanging on the wall. People would come in and give their opinion on what they thought looked good. After about 3 months on the wall we took them down and consulted some interior designers (it was actually a service we bid on and won at the Interlake Auction). Once we got their input we picked some paint and Brad painted some samples on the walls. We loved the color in our living room but weren't so fond of the color picked for our kitchen.

This was the first color we picked. It looked good at night but when the morning sun came in it would turn pink. I'm not a big fan of pink.



So for the past 6 months we have had our walls semi painted. Brad finally had some time and energy to work on our kitchen. Part of the process was picking a new color and going with it (instead of trying to find the perfect color). Brad has worked really hard to finish our kitchen and we are excited that it is done.




The best part was having Brody as our little helper and encourager. He would say things like "Good job painting, Dad!" "Wow, I like your drawing." How can you stop painting when you have someone encouraging you like that?



Now we can check this task of our "to do" list.

Lil' Kickers

Last Spring Brad and I attended the Interlake Booster Club Auction. It's a pretty good deal to go to a high school auction because nobody bids on stuff for little kids. We were fortunate to get one session to Lil' Kickers. And we got a great deal on it. We knew we had to use it soon, mostly because we will have another baby to make things a little more complicated.

I called a few months ago and the person I spoke to gave me the impression that it was a drop-in class (meaning you can go anytime you want and you are not commited to going every week...exactly what I wanted). So 3 weekends ago we made a family trip to Arena Sports. As soon as we got there we saw the chaos that surrounds this Saturday morning event...kids and parents were everywhere and we couldn't find a parking spot. I dropped Brad and Brody off and searched for a place to park.

Once we were all inside I saw Brad standing in line with a look of annoyance on his face. To make a long story short, we would have quickly left if we didn't have this session we already paid for. We had to sign up and commit to the same time every week for the next 12 weeks. (I guess this is the beginning of Saturday commitments for our kids)

Last weekend was the first session. There wasn't a whole lot of soccer but there was a lot of running around. It was so cute watching Brody and Brad having fun together. Colt was on the sideline with me and so badly wanted to get out and run. I snuck onto the field the last few minutes of class so he could get out some of his energy.

It was hard to get some good pictures with Brody in the middle of running. Here he is getting ready to kick a squishy ball.



After our first session we were wondering why all the other kids had uniforms. We finally asked only to discover that the uniforms were part of the whole program so we were able to get Brody his own uniform. He is so excited about it.



Brad and I are hoping we can get another lucky find at the auction next year.

Messy Face

We know and we have heard it many times that you are not supposed to compare your children, because they have all been uniquely created. But sometimes it's difficult to not compare them because the differences are obvious.

Babies are messy but we certainly don't remember Brody ever being this messy. In fact when Brody made a mess we quickly got the camera to capture the moment. Colt is messy with every meal so we haven't taken any pictures...until now...just to capture what his everyday meal looks like. If it isn't a "messy" meal he finds a way to rub it in his hair or squish it between his hands. At least he is happy when he is eating.

Snuggle time

The other day we came downstairs and Brody just wanted to snuggle with his friends. So I helped him pile his "friends" next to him on the couch. Naturally Colt wanted to join in on the action. We added all of the stuffed animals to the couch and I helped Brody and Colt snuggle. Brody probably could have stayed there all day and Colt was ready to play again after a minute or two.