Christmas 2007!

Hattie and Anderson got their picture taken with all 9 of their cousins on Christmas Eve!!!



We got to spend time with almost all of our family over the holidays! All of my brothers, and their families, were in town for Christmas this year. There were a total of 27 people at my parents' house on Christmas Eve and for lunch on Christmas Day!! We also got together with the Ahrens' side on Christmas Eve. Chad's dad birthday is December 24th-so we had a double celebration! We even squeezed in a Christmas with just the four of us. I wish I had gotten to take some more pictures-but between chasing Hattie and giving Anderson his bottles-pictures got put on the back burner!

The Latest Additions-Anderson and Cole

Hattie and Anderson

Hattie and Anderson (yes-he's there in the top left corner!!) opening our gifts

A picture of all the action!

Adjusting to Our Family of Four!

Hard to believe that there are four of us now. Anderson is 10 days old today and an absolute angel!! He has managed to pass Doyle up on Hattie's list of favorite things! She is such a natural at being a big sister. She is constantly saying, "Hi, Anners" (sometimes she puts an "n" at the beginning-not too sure about that one???). She even helps me out with him. She will take his dirty clothes and put them in his hamper! Of course she says, "yucka, dirty" as she carries them. Anderson does so much sleeping that our routine really hasn't changed too much. Getting everyone out of the house to run errands is a little tricky, but Anders is still so brand-new that we have only gotten him out of the car once. Here's some updated picture of Anderson and his Big Sis (yes, he does have dirty blond hair-what a surprise!!).

Anderson Houston Ahrens is here!!!

Anderson was born Thursday, December 6th, at 4:39 pm. He weighed 6 lbs and 7 ozs and was 19 1/2 inches long. We had a pretty rough time, but are all doing well now. We got to come home yesterday and had a great first day and night. Hattie is a little under the weather, so she has not been gotten to see Anderson at our house yet. Hopefully we will have our whole family together soon! Here are a few pictures-I'm sure there will be more up soon!

Ready or not...here he comes!

It is official, I will be induced this Thursday-December 6th! Chad and I are so excited to meet and hold Anderson. I can hardly remember Hattie being so small-even though she is only 16 months old. Still, there are a lot of unknowns hanging over my head right now. Most of them involve Hattie's reaction. While I know she will be a wonderful big sister and love Anderson to death, it makes me a little sentimental to know that the Chapter of the 3 of us is coming to an end. Since Hattie has been our main focus for the last 16 months-I thought I'd share some of her likes/dislikes/and popular sayings! She is such a firecracker -with a very spunky personality! I cannot wait to see how Anderson's personality shows through. I'm sure it won't take him long!

The World According to Hattie (and a few pictures to prove it)

1. says Dah-ul (Doyle, our dog's name) at least 20 times a day
2. loves peas, cheese, yogurt, milk, and any type of fresh fruit
3. hates sitting in her booster chair for meals
4. loves to sit in her booster chair at any other time
5. at church she says "A-men" after the person praying gets 2 sentences out
6. also at church, she yells "a-gin" after every song is over
7. loves telling everyone "Hiiii" ,very loudly, during church
8. wakes up with really wild hair
9. howls like a wolf
10. loves to "tickle-tickle" her daddy
11. any time a dog, anywhere in the neighborhood barks, stops whatever she's doing and tells it to "sshhhh"
12. hates any type of pasta
13. wants to read every book in her room at least twice a day
14. thinks anything she's not allowed eat or drink is "hot"-including my Diet Cokes
15. can't make it without her Blankee
16. tells Doyle "mo-mo" (no-no) if he lays anywhere near her Blankee
17. loves hanging out with her family and looking at their pictures
18. unpacks any drawer, basket, container
19. luckily, she also enjoys putting things back into their right drawer, container,etc.
20. calls Anderson- "Anders"and says "whhaaaa" everytime she sees a baby
21. loves animals
22. loves to dance to any type of music
23. only cuddles when watching Baby Einstein or when she doesn't feel well
24. stands on the sofa when she hears Chad's truck and says "here-dada"
25. says 'yucka" when she sees any type of trash, diaper, or food she doesn't like
Hattie has changed our lives so much. I can't imagine all the wonderful memories that await us with Anderson!

Time's Flying By!

We are staying busy as we try and get ready for Anderson's big arrival day. I am scheduled to be induced next Thursday, December 6th. Of course he still could come sooner than that. In the meantime, we celebrated Thanksgiving lunch with my family and dinner with Chad's family. Lots of turkey and dressing was eaten by all. It also gave us some good photo ops for Hattie! We headed to San Antonio on Saturday to watch Tivy's playoff game at the Alamodome. David, Angie, and Hunter met us there, along with my parents. We sat right by the band, which kept Hattie dancing all the way through the 4th quarter!

Trinity School's Thanksgiving

Hattie had a Thanksgiving Feast at her school today. Chad, Poppy, and I all made the trip over for lunch. She was so excited to see us all there that she barely sat still! (not that that is really unusual for her)!!!!!! The Pre-K class put on a skit about the first Thanksgiving. The group picture turned out really dark, but if you look closely, you can see Hattie sitting with her teacher. She's actually in front of the lady with the white sweater and looking right at Chad. Hattie, with the help of her teacher, made our table decorations! So talented! After lunch, we went back to her classroom for dessert. Poppy provided great entertainment for Hattie and her friend, Tyler. I decided I'd better get these pictures up quick since these may be Hattie's last few days as an only child! I also had to include this picture of Hattie and Doyle. Most of us who have known Doyle would never have suspected he'd be so good with kids. He is by far Hattie's favorite thing in the house. This is how they watch Baby einstein almost every morning! Hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Getting ready for Anderson!

Well, Anderson's room is almost complete. There's still a few items left to buy, and of course a baby to bring home!! Here's the pretty close to finished product! In Hattie news-we went for our first trip to the San Antonio Zoo. It was a big hit. She was totally fascinated by all the animals. Hattie was also really impressed with the monkeys (who isn't???) and the petting farm! It was a nice family outing...just in time because I'm not sure I would be up for so much walking even this coming weekend!

Never a Dull Moment

We have had a fast and furious last few weeks. Between marriage retreats, pumpkin carving, Anderson's shower, Hunter's quick visit, the pumpkin patch, and some nice cold days...we've accumulated lots of pictures! We feel so blessed to have so many positive experiences with each other, our friends and family, and Hattie. If we think it's chaotic now I can only imagine what we'll be thinking once Anderson arrives!