Happy 3 Monthday, Holden!

I was introduced to a new blog, ThatWifeBlog, and I'm in love with yet another blog. She had this on her blog and I thought it was such a good idea. I want to remember all of the little things that make Holden wonderful (and sometimes difficult) at this age. Thank you, That Wife! 

{NOTE: His feet were not as close to the flame as they appear.}

Nicknames: Emperor Holden, Boo Boo, Booger, Holden Bear 
Temperament: You are so fun to be around. You smile all of the time. You still have your "emperor" moments but now-a-days they are few and far between. You are, however, a little particular. You like to be held by people {especially Mom & Dad} and in certain positions. 
Things I Could Do Without: You're still not the biggest fan of the car seat. You can make it about 10 minutes but after that you're over it. You still wake up 1-2 times in the middle of the night to eat. Your finger nails are so sharp! Ouch! You've starting peeing through your diapers again (which means peeing on me) sometimes twice a day. Your sensitive skin and all of the creams/other items we have had to buy for it. {That Wife and I have a lot of the same things on this one!}
Item/Toy We Love The Most: Your teether rings. I love to see you reach for them! {They are the ONLY toy you reach for}. 
Item/Toy You Love The Most: Your hands! No contest. 
Things I'm Loving Most Right Now: Cuddling with you. You are such a good cuddler. I love sitting in the rocking chair with you in the evening. I also love tummy time. I put you on a blanket in your bedroom and read a story to you. Yesterday's story was "Where The Wild Things Are." You love to look at the pictures and listen to momma's voice. I also really enjoy bath time and singing to you.
Things You're Loving Most Right Now: Your hand. Plain and simple. Your first tooth is coming in (ALREADY. We always knew you were going to be ahead of the game.) and therefore you are chewing on everything. You like teething toys but nothing beats your hand. You also love "You Are My Sunshine," pulling up to sitting position, and making people smile. You also love your vibrating bouncer. The bouncer keeps you happy the longest out of all your equipment. Oh! How could I forget the bubbles?! You make the BEST bubbles with your mouth! 


You've made a lot of progress in the last month. You now weigh 13 lbs 7 oz (as of today). You can sit up assisted and you try to pull up on your own. You talk so much, more every day. I wish I knew what you were saying but it's so darn cute, who cares! This last month you have learned to fall asleep on your own! That made my life so much easier. I can put you down for a nap completely awake and within 5 minutes you'll be asleep. You are still a stomach sleeper but I don't even worry for a second anymore. You're a pro sleeper. We love you more than we could ever say. Our family would not be complete without you. 

{You always choose your hand over toys. nom nom nom.}

We will be celebrating your big day tomorrow because Dad has to work tonight until 9:00 PM (he works so hard for our family. He left the house this morning at 6:30!) GiGi and Uncle Robert are coming over too! 

-Little Wife Power House

found the $40!

I know you're all waiting on pins and needles to find out if we found the $40. Let me preface this post with Allan is the best husband in the world and his least favorite chore is taking out the trash. 


I looked all around the house (multiple times), through the diaper bag (multiple times), through my wallet, everywhere. Like I said before, it was no where to be found. I thought I had put it in one of the plastic grocery bags I was carrying things in. The grocery bags were no longer on the table but Allan said he was sure he looked through them. I'm a mean wife and asked him to look through the trash since we couldn't find it. Being the obliging husband, he humored me and looked through the trash in the kitchen and the trash he had taken out the night before in the big trashcan outside. He came in and told me no such luck. Urg...where could it be?! We both left Holden's room and started walking back to go to bed (past the kitchen table) and it was exactly where it should have been. On the table with the other items Allan had taken out of the plastic grocery bags before throwing them away. 


I say again, Allan is the best husband and he quickly forgave me for making him dig through the trash. 


-Little Wife Power House

losing my mind

It's official. I'm losing my mind. I used to be very on top of things, very on the ball. Now I'm like this:

You know, everyone told me before I had Holden that the more children you have the more braincells you lose and (of course) I thought, "not me!" This week my sister is going to Lubbock and I've texted her 3+ times about fun things we could do this week. Her replies have been, "I'll be in Lubbock all week", "Remember, I'll be in Lubbock", and "I'll be in Lubbock, silly". Note that I "knew" she was going to be there every time I asked.  At least she's patient :P. Then my mom gave me $40 to pay me back as I was leaving her house on Friday and I can't find it. Anywhere. I'm up at 4:30 AM because I can't stop thinking about where that money is. That's another thing. I would really like to wean Holden off of this 3:30-4:00 feeding. Not because I mind getting up but because I have a hard time falling back asleep. My brain starts going a hundred miles a minute. I start making lists of housework, house projects, think about work, remember things I've lost, errands for the next day, etc. Holden has been asleep for 30 minutes and I'm still racking my brain about the $40! What is wrong with me? I'm typing this on my iPad (will transfer later) and Allan just rolls over to go back to sleep without missing a beat. Wish I could just go back to sleep like that. If I didn't write everything down I would never get anything done. I'm a firm believer of lists. Lists make Jen's world go round. As long as I still have my semi-punctuality, I'll stay sane. 


-Little Wife Power House

4:07 AM

I know, I know...it's 4:07 AM and I should be sleeping. I have no excuse because I'm not even nursing Holden anymore. BUT my friend Sallie's friend Allison {who doesn't even know me, I might add} did the sweetest thing for me and I felt inspired to re-do my blog. Allison did the new title area to my blog! Isn't it so great! I love it. Thank you, Allison, if for some reason you wander over to my blog :P. 


Oh, and I had to post pictures of Holden's new hat! I couldn't resist. I have to add that this was Holden's FOURTH outfit of the evening. He spit up on two and peed all over one (through his diaper and all over his back. This boy is talented). 

{Holden and Daddy}

{What a ham. He looks at the camera every time I point it at him. As long as he notices.}

And happy 10/10/10! Fun fact: Allan and I were married on 08/08/08. 

-Little Wife Power House


PS. What do you guys think of the redesign? 

Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Doesn't it look like he's about to give you a hug? And look at that onesie! I LOVE TARGET! I have found some really cute Halloween outfits there for a very reasonable price. Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween from the Andersons!

-Little Wife Power House

thinking of traditions

Oh, how I love thee, Anthropologie. Lori and I went to the Willowbend Mall yesterday. The night before, Allan asked me what I was planning on getting. I responded, "Nothing. I'm just going to hang out with Lori & the boys." HA! I don't know myself very well. me + mall = bad news for our checking account! I swear, I had every intention to window shop. With that being said, I got some seriously cute things for Holden {and mom & dad}. Got a few things at Janie & Jack {Of course on sale. I can't afford that store not on sale}, the most ADORABLE hat you'll ever see at Gymboree {I'll post a picture this weekend after he wears it to Spaghetti Sauce Saturday at GiGi's}, and of course my beautiful purchases from Anthropologie.

I've been thinking of traditions I want to start now. I figured it's a good time to start a few traditions since we just had our first and he's still young. I found these adorable mugs at Anthropologie:

We decided we are going to sip hot chocolate from these mugs every Christmas morning. Mom & Dad get matching mugs and each child will get his/her own special mug with their initial or name on it. Allan went to turn off the lights in the kitchen and when he came back to bed he told me when he looked at the mugs he saw us 80 years old on Christmas morning sipping out of those mugs. He said the mugs might break but the tradition will always be there. It made me really happy to imagine that. I'm so grateful that we were sealed in the temple and get to be a family forever. 

I also got this apron. I can't wait to get it for Christmas from my mom! I'm going to look sooooo cute when I cook :).

What are some family traditions of yours? I'd love to hear! 

-Little Wife Power House

spa-de-la-mommy

Holden loves bath time. I love bath time with Holden. It's one of my favorite parts of the day. I know how good it feels to get scrubbed down and he seems to know it too. It is, however, a lengthy process. The water temperature has to be just right and it takes about 20 minutes to fill up. 

{Holden waiting for his appointment at spa-de-la-mommy in his "robe."}

I took some pictures of Holden's cute tooshy but I think he might kill me later in life if he ever saw I posted them on the internet so I'll have to resist. So. Darn. Cute. I had never heard of "cradle cap" before I had Holden. Why don't they tell you about this in the hospital and tell you what to do to avoid it? Would have made life much easier for me. Holden got it BAD. He also got basically the same thing on his eyebrows. His eyebrows were easy - got those taken care of in a few days but his scalp was another story. It is just now getting back to normal.  My pediatrician asked if I was doing anything to help the cradle cap and I had to laugh. What do I NOT do? All the hard work paid off and his scalp is now just as beautiful as the rest of him. New moms out there: they give you a brush when you leave the hospital (mine was strategically hidden so I didn't even know they had until two months later). Brush your baby's head every time you nurse/feed your baby and you shouldn't have a problem.

I always sing "You Are My Sunshine" to Holden in the bath and he coos and smiles when I do. I had to buy fragrance free, organic shampoo/body wash because Holden's skin was reacting to any scent. California Baby has the best line. I love it. I also use their all natural calendula cream on his dry skin (as the nurse practitioner said, "We won't call it eczema...yet.")

{Our bath time supplies}

Post-bath ritual:

1. Put a diaper back on (I made the mistake of letting him have "naked time" too many times)

2. Dry off under EVERY fat roll (he has a lot :P)

3. Put calendula cream on *almost* all of his body. I wouldn't recommend putting it under your baby's neck. 

4. Put a cute outfit on. We had to bump this one up because of the colder weather.

5. Get Q-tips, dip in olive oil, and oil up his ears. This has worked wonders on his dry ears.

6. Brush his hair down or it gets ca-razy!!

7. Get all boogers out. Added due to the weather.

8. Have one happy baby!

{I love this camera angle! Look at that smirk. I have a feeling he's going to be a heart breaker :P}

That ends our bath routine. Sorry for the lengthy post but I've been wanting to blog about it because it's so fun for me. I just love taking care of him and I know he won't always need me to do all of these things for him so I'm enjoying them while I can. 

On a side note:

I am so happy today. I spend a few minutes each day "brainwashing" Holden by saying momma and pointing to me. Don't tell Allan :). Today Holden started doing something new when I say momma. He SMILES every time! Oh man, it tugs at my heart strings like you wouldn't believe. Another "he knows I'm his momma" moment! I captured it on camera and wanted to share.

-Little Wife Power House