I am always ridiculously late on this, but I like to keep up with how my thoughts change each year.

I am thankful for my memory foam pillow, ultrasounds and emails from the library telling me my reserved books are ready. For the fact that I am still a Bobble and not just a Mama quite yet. I am thankful for my 17th milk at Weigel's being free, that I have finally figured out how on earth to make my hair look normal (middle school was rough), the nights Anderson is asleep before 9pm and the flashlight app on my phone. For the fact that one of the strongest traits I inherited from my mom is frugality, that I actually really like vegetables, picture texts and that I control the amount of seasoning in my Ramen noodles. So thankful for perspective, perseverance, strong willed people in my life and understanding true success (all patch related, of course). That my absolute greatest thrill is that of being sucked into a captivating book. The day they had enchiladas in the cafeteria at school, when I cook something that is semi edible, Pinterest and waterproof bed covers. For the fact that Harry lived to save the world all because of Lily's love for him. I am thankful that my husband makes sure I know he is always on my side, not although and that some genetic malfunction happened and 1 became 2 way back when. For belly bands, my hoarding instinct, that we are not in the Zombie Apocalypse, the bag of Starburst hidden in my desk drawer, that everyone makes chili different and the Sunday newspaper. I am thankful to have so, so many wonderful family members and friends that keep me sane and grounded and happy and all of those good things, without expecting much in return. Thankful for appliances, creativity, adjectives and calendars. For the efficiency of bananas, travel size products and Steve Jobs. I am thankful that Anderson doesn't remember that I left him to go to work, just that I came back to play with him.

Racing, Posing & "Working"

You might remember  a year ago when our lives had been turned upside down following Jack's diagnosis with lymphoma. Last year he bravely participated in the Buddy's Race, despite being in the middle of undergoing very intense chemo treatments. This year, he not only participated, but he actually ran most of it!! We are so PROUD and HAPPY that he is wearing the red "Survivor" shirt this year!!

 Way to go, JPa!!

We played a little football as we waited for the race to start & I stole this pic from KnoxNews.Com. If this is not proof that I am supposed to be a mom to be boys I just don't know what is. I had a really cute family pic and one of Jack & Anderson, but my dropbox has decided to not be my friend at the moment, so those will have to come later. 

 I mentioned that we went to Sunny's awesome party a few weeks ago & she even had a professional photographer & I totally stole these pics from Facebook. Pretty good pics, I think!

Deceptive. He is not that sweet.

 Mom mentioned that I was at a football game last week & Anderson was very upset that I did not bring him. He told me, "I want to go with you to your football school."He enjoyed my office and seriously told me I had to wait a minute until he finished his email when I told him we were leaving.

 Hilariously, he was obsessed with my radio/walkie talkie. Whenever someone said anything, he thought they were talking to him & took it very seriously. He told me, "Bobble! There is an emergency on the field! I think they need me."

It was a bit chilly outside, but we braved the cold & cheered on the Panthers to another victory. I am lucky that I was the cheer sponsor for almost 6 years & am not used to being home on Friday nights because that has definitely made the transition to this job a bit easier!

We were not totally brave. There was a heated press box with cookies, after all!!

Chloe vs. The Washing Machine.

About 6 weeks ago the carpet was wet in a random place & my first thought was that Chloe peed on the floor. I assumed Chloe because Gabbi was in her crate all day & Anderson usually lets us know if he has an accident. As far as I know, everyone else in our house is potty trained. Anyway, I cleaned it up, but did not really get mad at her because even though she is seriously exhausting with her needs, she does not pee on the floor so I felt that it must have been a true emergency. A few days later, the spot was wet again! This was the night I had Lily & Anderson with me, so I enlisted their help in moving the furniture so that I could really clean deep to prevent it from happening again. I might have been a little angrier at that point. Fast forward to  when Brandon returned home from a trip and he is frantically texting me while I was at  PHS football game telling me to call him. The washing machine had been leaking and pooling water which leaked under the floorboards into multiple rooms. Oh. Poor Chloe :( So, here is a detailed explanation on how we "restored" our house/floors/sanity.

 Step 1: Giant fans dried everything & got rid of the mold.  *Since there was mold, we had to stay at my parents' house for a bit. Sleepover with Noni & Bop!

 Step 2: (this is really the worst one) NO laundry services for awhile. I am SO lucky to have 2 sets of parents close by with free access to their laundry rooms! Thank you! But, it is still not quite as convenient as walking down the hall. I did not have a washing machine for almost 6 weeks. I am a laundry kind of girl, our basket is never really overflowing & I wash all sheets/towels at least once a week, of course. I was going crazy.

 Step 3: Our house was totally shifted for about a month. This was the best of the arrangements because we could access the kitchen.

We made it work and it was actually rather cozy. (Do not let my attempt and being positive here deceive you. I was a nightmare to live with during these few weeks. )

Step 4: Removal of the floors. The no living room/no TV situation was a little scary, but we made it.

Step 5:Gross.  The removal of the floors and the fans made our house one giant dust/dog hair/dirt storm. This was our filter that was only a week old before all of this. Good thing I was able to get all of the laundry done since dirt settled on everything. Oh, wait...

Step 6: We provided Bug with some fun memories/conversation/field trips to tile/carpet/paint stores. (Our childhood home was sinking at one point. I had no idea what that meant, but I know to me it meant that our floors were dug up and giant boards were laid so we could walk from room to room. We had so much fun during that time, I had no idea what my poor mother was probably dealing with)

I was very unprepared for everything in each cabinet becoming covered in dust. What on earth. I also had to throw away most of the food in our cabinets. I am a hoarder and things like this do not bode well with me.

You can see the dirt!!

That is my dishwasher in the living room. We also had a toilet in the garage and a washing machine in the hallway for about 2 weeks.

Our garage/living room/kitchen/bathroom 

We decided to go ahead & have the carpet replaced while this was going on, since we have been really cheap and ignoring giant holes like this one for 4 years or so. I posed with my foot next to it because it looked smallish when it was just the hole in the pic. 

Step 7:  My mom broke her ankle! She has been my saving grace during the last 3 months (31 years?) and this was scary. But, she, of course, continued to let us (and my 2 dogs) stay with her, raise my kid and calm me down when I was psycho* She is in a new boot and we are thinking no surgery at this point, so that is good news!

*PSYCHO: To say I had even a trace of sanity by this point would be a lie. Over the last 3 months I started a new job (new career, really) and gave up everything/everyone I had known for the past decade, Brandon started a new job (within KPD), I was in my first trimester of pregnancy, I did not have a washing machine/dishwasher/over/floor/tv/house. Throw in 2 high needs dogs and a patched 2 year old who doesn't require sleep and I was even crazier.  Break.downs. all over the place. Probably the 2 biggest ones were Halloween night when we were eating cold take out freezing on our porch because we did not have any furniture and a Thursday night about 2 weeks into the construction when my clothes/shoes/towels/everything from my closet was all over my bedroom and I could not find my belly band. I was alone getting clothes to take to my Mom's, thankfully. This is what I sounded like, "I JUST WANT MY BELLY BAND SO I CAN WEAR PANTS TOMORROW BECAUSE I HAVE TO STAND IN THE FREEZING COLD FOR YET ANOTHER PLAYOFF GAME AND I CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE AND I DON'T HAVE A WASHING MACHINE AND I AM SO TIRED AND I SHOULD NOT BE COMPLAINING BUT WHY CAN'T I JUST BE A NORMAL PREGNANT, WORKING MOM WITH A 2 YEAR OLD INSTEAD OF GOING CRAZY BECAUSE I CAN'T FIND IT, oh, there it is." It was rough times. There was one more breakdown in my closet on the phone with the Sears Washing Machine tech when he told me he was not coming to my house. Hysterics. 

Anyway, enough on the pyscho bit because now I am incredibly normal. My husband is awesome & took charge (and about 5 days off work), my parents are awesome & let us move in and put up with my craziness and sat at our house waiting for random tile guys/painters to show up on numerous occasions. My in-laws are awesome because they did quite a bit of sitting at our house, too (I say "sitting", but really there was no furniture to sit on.)Also, Toni helped with laundry, Bug and dinners. I fully realize I should not have been psycho, but, whatever, I was. 

A few pics of the finished products!

Honestly, as much of an inconvenience as the last 6 weeks has been, it literally had nothing on the skunk.

It's time...

to announce that Anderson is going to be a big brother! We are so excited to welcome our next Bug in May 2013!

Here's the pic of the first little bean sprout ultrasound. Sort of looks like a halo on the head, doesn't it? I really, really hope that translates into sleeper with good vision. There was a second ultrasound, but my life has been a teeny bit crazy the last 2 weeks, so that pic will have to come later.

We told the grandparents on Grandparents' Day! GG & JPa were very excited about a 2nd grandbaby! Anderson refused to cooperate with the picture, of course.

Noni & Bop were also excited about the news of a new baby! My mom was already trying to figure out a plan in her mind to go back and forth between me & Nicole once both babies are here! In case you are wondering, Nicole is due about 11 weeks before I am, so these cousins are going to be serious besties.

Some fun things that Anderson has said lately about "the baby":

Anderson: My Bobble is going to have a baby.

GG: That's right, you're going to be a big brother!

Anderson: I don't want to be a big brother! I want to be a firefighter!

He will randomly say to Noni, "My Bobble is building a baby"

He knows not to tackle me too hard because, as he says, "it might mess up the baby."

I told him Bobble Cole is having a girl and I asked him if he wants me to have a *boy. He thought for a minute and responded, "I want Bobble Cole to have me. Then, you can have Lily!"

*I am 100% sure/thrilled that I know it is another boy.

This was from about 6 weeks ago, so we were all definitely larger now! It is sort of creepy that there are 9 people in that picture.

In case you are wondering how I am getting him to actually somewhat look at me, I have figured out a trick! I let him take a pic of me for every one I take of him. There are some scary, scary pics of me floating on our memory card, but it works pretty well! Until he breaks the camera, of course.

Ultrasound #2 was on Election Day, which I planned because it is already one of my favorite days, so why not make it better? (Plus, I had a sneaky suspicion we would be getting some very bad news as the election results came in that night, so I thought a positive spin on the day would be good. Turns out I was right. Apparently people are ok with our healthcare going the way education has gone? Shudder.) Anyway, I am pretty noticeable preggers in this shirt, but IS THIS MY NEW FAVORITE PICTURE?? Just me and my boys, rocking out love for America. I did not wear that shirt to vote in because the last time I wore a shirt that said, "Vote" on Election Day, some old man was very angry & threatened to not let me vote. Was odd. Anyway, I did vote, of course! I am a big believer in Election Day voting for myself, personally. (I am not against early voting, I love all voting. I just love to imagine the Founding Fathers sitting around, sweating in Penn. back in the day specifically choosing, "The Tuesday following the first Monday in Nov." as Election Day. Plus, I just love the whole experience that I feel like it would be like opening my stocking on Dec. 15. I am a nerd, I fully realize. Anyway, we had our traditional Election Night Pizza as we waited for the results to come in, which were very not exciting. I realize this started as a comment about the ultrasound and I have wandered far, far away.

Some pics

We really love animal towels around here. I think one of my saddest days will be when he wants a regular towel. (UNLESS it is so he can bathe himself, get himself dressed and put himself to bed before 9:30pm where he will stay asleep until at least 6am. I will be ok with that one,)

Possibly this is what he will do when he is old enough for a regular towel?

I have introduced him to my love of Ramen Noodles. What is not to love about Ramen Noodles?? (I am not inviting anyone to tell me about the high sodium content/lack of nutritional value)

My dogs DRIVE. ME. CRAZY. We have a 50 pound Chloe & a 75pound Gabbi who each have their own particular annoying talents. Chloe: Barking constantly, stealing food, destroying doors, being ridiculously persistent. Gabbi: SHEDDING (seriously. I though Chloe shed until we got Gabbi and I realized that was a joke), not being the friendliest to other people, knocking everyone/everything down to get to the door if she thinks there is even a chance you are going to throw her ball, even if it is 3 am and you are trying to walk your kid back to his bed and the washing machine is clearly in the middle of the hallway and she does not need to try to jump right there. They are expensive and time consuming and I think part of the reason I was terrified to ever have another kid. ...BUT, they sure do make life better. I tried to snap a pic of the 3 of us cuddled in bed one night. You can see my leg shape, Chloe's body and part of Gabs' snout and leg. Love these girls.  

We went to Sunny's birthday party where there was delicious food, a bounce house that Anderson loved, cake pops, fun toys to play with....and a birthday girl that I somehow did not even get one picture of!

Playing race cars with J-Pa!

I love fall! 

Always on the quest for something free, I stumbled upon House Party, which is a free way to get some fun stuff, as long as you "share" it at a party. I did the Rice Krispies one & got 4 boxes of cereal, a hat, a bowl and a bunch of scrapers in my kit. Was pretty fun...except Anderson doesn't like Rice Krispy treats! We still had fun and I am hoping to get an even cooler "party" next time. 

Visiting Bop at IHOP!

Love.

It just does not get better than Halloween.

 Officer Glover! (complete with a piece of unchewed chicken nugget in his mouth and a discarded patch on the ground)

I dressed the part, too!

 

I love my two heroes:) Seriously, though, you know your dad has a cool job when you can dress up like him for Halloween.

 He had so much fun getting candy, but wanted to go back to hand out candy at our house after he saw a kid about his age doing it. He got to pick out 2 pieces to eat that night and he wanted gummy worms and a blue tootsie roll pop. I would have fought him for the worms, but I figured they were hard earned by him because he had to climb quite a few hills in our neighborhood!

Our Halloween evening does not normally begin with take out on the porch, but since the only furniture in our house right now is our bed, we had no choice. (our washing machine flooded, no floors are in the process, more to come in a later post)

Due to rain, our YMCA's fall party was moved to after Halloween. We, of course, still attended. There was a hay ride, inflatables, free food and fire. All the necessities. 

 Bobble Cole & Lily came, too. (Of course)