Happy Thursday!

Today I got this response to silly faces and goofy talking... Even though I felt like a complete weirdo... it made it so worth it.

And then he did this... and my heart melted all over again. I love this kid more than words can even describe.

I hope you all have an awesome weekend... and GOOO RANGERS!

Love you,

E

PORTER KIRK ANDERSON
Entered into our lives:
Sunday, September 19, 2010
11:21 pm
8 pounds 9 ounces
20 1/2 inches long

One of my very first pictures ever.

He is absolutely perfect! Jeff and I feel so incredibly blessed that we have our little man here to hold and love. And I might be partial... but I think he is the the most gorgeous baby ever.

I'll spare everyone details... and just let you know that our delivery was pretty much perfect. I was induced around 7:30am on Sunday and started "active" labor around 10pm. And as I said, he decided to grace us with his prescence at 11:21 pm. All in all, the experience was nothing like what I was expecting and Jeff was amazing through it. More on him in a moment...

So far... Porter is awesome. He is sweet, loving, cuddly, and I'm sorry... but gassy. Boy can seriously pass some gas. I never thought I would say it... but it's so cute... and funny at the same time. He HATES having his diaper changed and being naked (which I'm sure will change). He really doesn't like being swaddled. He loves being able to stretch out and sleeping on our chests. he's already taking after his Daddy in loving the outdoors. I think we could sit outside all day long and he would be perfectly content. Our feeding and sleeping schedule is getting a little bit more normal. He has been sleeping for about 3 1/2 to 4 hours at night and then eating and sleeping for another 3-4 hours. It is so nice. He makes the most adorable faces when he's asleep. I love watching them. I think once he figures it out... he's going to have the prettiest smile. Here's a little sneak peek...

Do you see my cute little grin??? :)

We had a little fight with jaundice and couldn't get his numbers to go down so we had to have some Bili lights brought out to the house. I had a hard time with the "tanning bed" when they first brought it out... but as it turns out, Porter really didn't mind it all that much. His numbers went from an 18.4 to a 12.6 overnight and we were so happy. Doctors office 4 days in row... heel pricks 4 days in a row... no fun.

Me in my "tanning bed"

Having Jeff home has been such a phenomenal experience for us as a family. I love watching him with Porter. I love seeing them interact. It has been such a bonding experience for us and everyone kept saying it... and they were right... this is time that we will never be able to get back. On the other side of it... I have been so humbled by labor, delivery, and the aftermath of all of it. Jeff has taken such good care of me over the last 2 weeks. I really feel like I am the luckiest woman in the world. He is such an amazing husband and an even better father. I love him with all that I am and all that I have. We are going to miss him so much when he goes back to work tomorrow. :(

I love Daddy!

Just chil-axing with my daddy!

And now for what you all really want...pictures...

After my first bath!

GO FROGS!

Sitting outside with Mommy

"Current Family Favorite"

Mommy and Me

I promise to try and update fairly often... but I won't say how often it will be. Once Porter and I get on a more regular schedule it will be easier. For now... I leave you with what has become the most beautiful sight to me.

Also... we would like to thank everyone that came and visited us in the hospital. It was great to see everyone and we feel very blessed to have so many people that care. All of our love.

The Andersons

T MINUS HOURS AND 25 MINUTES

Just a quick note... I'm getting bigger by the hour (or at least that's how it feels). Porter has dropped a little... but not too much. I am extremely ready for my appointment on Friday morning. I can't wait to see what Dr. Motley says. I'm sure I'll get to hear again that Porter loves his momma and doesn't want to leave her. Well... I have news for him... come Sunday morning at 7am... we're going to start forcing him to come out... want to or not.

I promise to try and keep you guys as updated on everything as possible.

Oh... and I don't know why anyone else wants to see this... but here's a picture from today.

And again I say... blah!

He's not gonna be a little guy

We had our last sonogram yesterday and I was so happy to be able to see our little guy. I have been having dreams that we went in for sonogram and the tech said "you're little girl is gonna be pretty big." So the first thing I asked our sono tech to verify that we are in fact having a boy. Lucky for us, our guy isn't shy and was proud to show himself off for us. Other than that we got to see his cute little profile. He was blowing us kisses in the pictures of his face. And we're about 90% sure he has inherited my family's nose. We can't wait to be able to see him!

He is weighing in (and this can be off by about a half of a pound either way... per our doc) at a whopping 7.15 pounds. When we met with Dr. Motley I told her she should probably add that additional half pound. She told us that at the rate he's growing by the time we get to 40 weeks, Porter would be around 10 pounds. I figured that was about right... he already feels like he weighs about 15 pounds.

So... that being said, if I do not have him next week... I WILL BE INDUCED ON SUNDAY THE 19th!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! The countdown begins... T minus 9 days!!!!

In other news, we finally got our rocker! It may have taken 4 months to get recovered... but it looks awesome and is super comfortable. Oh.. and I love the green. I usually go for neutrals when it comes to furniture... but I think this is so cute in his room.

I also told y'all I'm really swollen... well I now get to wear carpal tunnel wristbands, because the swelling is so bad that my hands are numb. Motley was worried that I could end up with permanent nerve damage, so the wristbands are supposed to help. I can't say its a ton better, but it helps a little. And then there are my feet and ankles... or what used to be my feet and ankles. They have been replaced by cankles and what Jeff calls my "Shrek Feet". It's awful... most of the time I can feel the tops jiggle while I'm walking. Painful does not describe how bad they are... so I am showing you a picture, ***Please note my school spirit: GO FROGS***

And last but not least... me... blah... that is all.

Love... desperately ready to not be pregnant anymore!

PICTURES!!!!

So apparently I'm just not very good with my camera yet. I'm working on it, but Jeff came home and showed me what I needed to switch to make it work... so here are pictures.

First... THE SHOWER. They had the cutest decorations. I love how simple, yet fun and appropriate for the occasion everything was.

This is the chandelier in our sitting area as you walk into the house.

And these are all the little trinquets and goodies they had hanging from the ribbons.

Turtles...

Pacifiers...

Ducks and such...

And then there were diaper cakes (handmade with love by a few of our talented hostesses (with a little help from their husbands: thanks Jeremy and Lynton) and a diaper wreath.

Elisha (with a little help from Jeremy) made this one... the kiddos loved the green krinkle paper all over it.

This one... Ashley made with Lynton's help. I love the elephant on top. He plays a song when you pull the string on his back. Isn't he adorable!

And at some point in time this wreath showed up in the house... I would love for someone to claim it... I have no idea where it came from. And I want to know how it was made. I might have to copy the idea in the future.

And finally... this awesome sign. I've been trying to decide what I want to do over the changing table in the nursery. I have known all along I wanted to do something with Porter's name, but had not decided exactly what to do. Now I have this... I don't have to do anything. Yay! Thanks girls!

And then there were the gifts... again Jeff and I cannot thank everyone enough. Our kid is definitely never going to be in need... of anything. And I think we go enough diapers to last us a while.

He got so many cute clothes and we got quite a few books this time around. I love reading them to him now. I can only imagine how much he will enjoy them as well.

THE NURSERY... I finally got the paintings for his room finished and Marjory worked her magic on them and made them look fantastic. I went to Hobby Lobby to have wires put on the back, as fate would have it, they were having a 1/2 off sale on all open back frames that day. So... I decided to frame them... and I am so glad that I did. It just completed them. I am still waiting on our rocker from the reupholstry lady and once I get that... the nursery is finished. YAY.

This picture was taken from the doorway. *Note: the rocker on the right side will be replaced by the one we're waiting for.*

Crib area...

A better shot of the painting.

The changing table/dresser...

Bookshelf/toy bins... with the other 3 paintings.

And finally... his closet... this kid has more clothes than Jeff and I do.

AND ME!

Here is a picture of me at 35 weeks... wow... that is all I have to say.

Shower, Swelling, and 5 weeks left!

I'd like to apologize for the fact that there will be no pictures on this post. I am having some issues with my camera. I'll post some pictures later, once I get the camera working right.

We had a shower over the weekend and it was fantastic. 5 of our awesome friends threw us a Diaper Couple's Shower and we had a blast. There were s many people that came and brought gifts and spent time with us. To everyone that helped throw the shower, THANK YOU for an awesome shower/party. To everyone that took time out of your day to spend some time with us and to bring us gifts, THANK YOU! Jeff and I feel truly blessed to have so many people that care about us. I can only hope that we make you all feel as special to us as you have made us feel.

Okay... swelling... and I do mean SWELLING! My feet officially look like they have had about a gallon of water injected into them and my toes look like lil' smokie sausages. I can't complain too much about problems during pregnancy... but my goodness... this is horrible. I woke up on Friday and my feet had swelled up quite a bit. Saturday they were a little bit worse. Sunday they were so bad it hurt to walk and it has been a constant annoyance since. I can't fit into any of my shoes... except... wait for it... a pair of Crocs. Awesome! I'm running around FW in a pair of plastic shoes. I need to buy some new shoes that will fit, but I have zero motivation to go shopping. You know I'm really in pain when I don't want to shop.

So what do I keep telling myself... 5 WEEKS LEFT!!!! I only have to deal with it for 5 more weeks! I had a doctors appointment today. I didn't get to see Dr. Motley because she had a death in her family, but I saw her nurse/midwife. Everything looks good and they checked me out for any of the signs of preeclampsia and everything came back negative and my blood pressure was good. That was my biggest concern. Porter was definitely being little Mr. Honery today. He refused to let Lori listen to his heartbeat. Every time she tried he would either punch at her or move. So I was again reminded about how active our little man is going to be. I am now in the homestretch, I am down to weekly doctors visits and have a sonogram on the 8th. I can't believe that we're already this close. I'm so excited.

The nursery is almost finished... I am just waiting on our rocker. I am supposed to pick it up tomorrow morning. I'll take pictures of that once I get the camera working right again.

I hope you are all doing well... check back later for the pictures.

33 weeks... Really?

So I feel like I'm about 45 weeks pregnant so I shouldn't be surprised... but where did 33 weeks come from!?

We really haven't had many changes in the last 2 weeks. I started working part time... weird and amazing... all at the same time. I really like having an additional 2 days a week to take care of things in the house or running errands or just relaxing. But as most of you know I'm not a good relaxer. I can always find something to do. I have been working on getting all of Porter's clothes and sheets and blankets washed and put away. I almost have his big picture finished. I just have a little bit left to paint and then my mom's friend, who is an artist, will finish it off for me. She is so sweet to add some pro touches to it and I really appreciate it.

We went on our last little "trip" last weekend. We headed down to Houston to visit my friend Ashley and her husband Lynton. We had an absolute blast with them... and an added bonus... Katie A was with us too. I went to college with both of those amazing ladies and I can't imagine what college would have been like without them. And I definitely can't imagine my life without them now. I know y'all both read this... so thank you for a great 9 years and a lot of memories. Here is a couple of good picture of us. And yes... these are from a while back... so please bear with me... but they pretty much define my relationship with both. The picture of Ashley and I is at her rehearsal dinner... sweet and loving... and usually involving wine. The picture of Katie and I... and I truly feel like this picture shows you my relationship with Katie and why I feel so alive when I'm with her... was taken one night at the Horseman. Ha. I also added a bonus picture of the 3 of us at Jennifer's wedding. Love you both!

I have another appointment on Tuesday. We'll see if there are any big changes. If so I'll be sure and update for y'all after the appointment. If not, we'll wait until our appointment in another 2 weeks. Jeff and I are really excited about it because we get to see our adorable little man. I can't wait to see how much he has changed and how big he is. I'm pretty sure he is going to be big, but I could be wrong.

Here is another awesome picture for y'all. Scout decided he really wanted to be in the picture this week. But I think he's really just stiffing around for a treat or for some attention. I think he knows something is about to change and he and Bandit are not going to be the center of attention anymore, so they are begging for it now. Oh and please forgive my see through shirt... I didn't realize it until after we took the pictures and I really didn't feel like changing and retaking them.

Last but not least... I heard a quote this morning at church and I think quotes like this can change the world if people were more willing to spread them and live by them. I'll leave it with you guys for this week.

It's not about a religion... it's about a relationship. It's not about being in church... it's about being in Christ.

-Pastor Scott Crenshaw