Oh, we have a toy room??

You'd think it was Christmas at my house today! I rearranged the toy room and my kids are in heaven. They are acting like they've never seen these toys before. On a normal day, I can't convince my kids to just spend some time in the toy room to give me a break. I'd better take advantage of this!

There's Always Room for Another Princess!

Poor Eva, she has had to hold her own as the only princess in the family for 18 long months. She's done it well, but she is so excited to announce that the princess are now catching up with those boys. Eva's newest cousin, Andi Lynne Speirs joined our family in October and we could not be more excited! If we could see her everyday, we would. Unfortunately, my kids have had a nasty cough for the past two weeks. We can't wait to see you again Andi! Be prepared for some major kisses from your biggest fans!

Christian and I were lucky enough to see Andi in the hospital. Anders was devastated when he had to stop in the waiting room. He was dying to see this beautiful baby. Fortunately, he got hold her a couple of days later. Isn't Ryder's face classic? He has waited so long to have a baby sister. He could not be any happier. I know for a fact that baby Andi is in good hands.

Budders

Meet our Budders...our Dudey...our Banders...and of course, our Buddy. Over his lifetime, he has earned multiple different endearing names all three of us (even Eva) call our favorite 4 year-old. As you can see in the picture above, Anders has also been called "Chunkers" in his early years. This time of year is CLEARLY Anders' favorite time of year. He loves that when the leaves start changing color, he knows his birthday is coming. He loves that his birthday is right before Halloween and there are so many fun things to do. During this time of year, I tend to pull out the old baby pictures and baby videos and I can honestly say that this year was the most difficult! My baby has officially changed into a big boy.

There are so many things that I love about this big boy that I don't even know where to start. Most people that are lucky enough to know him, probably know all these things about him!

1. I love that Anders is a lefty. I'm not sure how that came to be, but it makes him unique and he totally works it!

2. I love that Anders loves to cuddle with me in the morning.

3. I love that Anders can remember ANYTHING...especially the things I don't want him to.

4. I love to hear Anders tell me the details of the only part of his day I miss...preschool. I know that he loves that it's a part of his day that he gets to himself, but I miss him like crazy when he's gone!

5. I love that Anders has such a crazy, off the wall imagination. We are constantly laughing at the things he comes up with. The picture above was how I found him in Christian's office, playing "working." This morning, I heard him talking to Hannah Montana on his play cellphone. Haven't told Christian that one yet.

6. I love how easy it is to boost Anders' confidence. My sister likes to tease us for our "chest puffing" chant we do with Anders. We simply chant, "go Anders, go" and you can instantly see his chest puff up and he turns into an unstoppable beast. I love it!

7. I love that when I see his size 12 feet, I think about the puppy my neighbors bought when I was little. I remember laying on the grass and looking up to see this little fluffy dog with enormous feet running toward me. My neighbor told me that her feet were an indicator to how big she would be. Sure enough, a year or two later, she grew into her feet. I think about that when I see Anders feet (and hear people comment on them) and wonder what he has in store for him.

I cannot put all of the things I love about Anders in to words. He brings so much laughter, joy, fear, worry, embarrassment, comfort, stress, and love into our lives. He has taught us so much and I have a feeling he has a lot more to teach us. Happy Birthday to my favorite Dudey.