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All You Need Is Love!

For all you parents out there, do you ever wonder if your kids feel loved? Ande had a little accident last week (I'm not going to tell you what happened because then everyone might think I'm a bad mother!). Don't worry, he is fine, fit as a fiddle, but I can't stop thinking about it. With all of the little bumps and bruises that are inevitable with little boys, I wonder if Ande is thinking, "Mama, why did you let me get hurt? Why didn't you protect me?" Curtis and I shower him with hugs and kisses everyday (how could you not with those rosy cheeks?), but I wonder if I could be doing more to make sure he feels safe and happy with us. Ande has a real knack for bonking his head and just about every time I can remember, it happened because I was distracted checking my email or something.

Whether he feels loved or not, there is no doubt that his little heart is just filled to the brim with love for us! It is amazing how somebody so little could be so kind and loving. We really enjoyed ourselves this past weekend. Ande and I look forward to Saturdays when we get Curtis all to ourselves for a whole day! This Saturday was full of fun with times with his Daddy!

They started out the day with a little exercise. Ande has been working on his pull-ups. He can hang all by himself! Pretty soon, he'll be able to do more than Curtis and Grandpa Anderson!

We spend a lot of the cold, rainy days at the mall. There is a little play place there with a slide and Carousel that Ande LOVES. Daddy decided to join in on the fun!

We finished out the day with a trip to the pool at the Y. Ande had not been swimming since last summer and it was so fun to see how he reacted to the water this time! He's our little water bug!

Curtis decided that he would bring me flowers once a month. Here are my February flowers:

Now that you all know about this commitment to buy me flowers once a month, I expect all of you to check up on him and keep him on track! =)

We hope everyone enjoyed their valentine's day!

Just a quickie!

I could not let a whole week go by without posting anything, but I don't have anything new to blog about right now. So, I asked Curtis for some advice and he had something very important he wanted to share with everyone. This is something that he has been meaning to blog about for months now.

About a year ago, Curtis accomplished something amazing. Maybe he did this just so he could blog about it, or maybe because deep down, he wishes he were more like Bear Grylls. Either way, he did it.

Curtis ate an entire apple, core and all.

I know, you are shocked right now! What a great accomplishment. I am so proud. He did this while driving in his truck, so I was not able to witness or document the experience. However, I was able to document this:

(I guess he has a burning desire to eat fruit whole. This is a banana.)

Here is what Ande has to say about the whole thing:

KIS

Literally the day before this happened...

...it was a lovely 63 degrees and as always Ande and I try to take full advantage of those kind of days.

So once again, we ventured over to the park. I love to watch Ande watch all of the bigger kids running around. On this particular day, there were 2 adorable little girls (with matching pink jackets) chasing after this little blonde headed boy. My mind started to wander back to the days of Elementary school when instead of chasing after boys, I was the one being chased...to my complete and utter disgust, of course! Suddenly, my reminiscent wanderings back to yesteryear were interrupted when I heard the girls calling after the little boy, "Crayons! Crayyyyyoooonnnnssss!"  

What!? Crayons? Do I need to get my ears checked? For a second I thought I was crazy. Then I heard the mother say to her son, "Crayons, please don't run in the mud." I knew then that it wasn't me who was the crazy one! She named her cute-as-a-button blonde baby boy CRAYONS!

 A week or so ago, Curtis sent out an email that he found on "How to simplify your life." This whole encounter just got me thinking about that again. In my opinion, some people go way too far in trying to be creative when naming their children. Keep it simple people. (I'm now going to take this opportunity to plug some of my favorite baby names...just so it's out there for all to see...I don't want to take any chances...We've already decided on another boy and girl name because we love them so much, Owen & Ella...and NO this is not a hint at me being pregnant!) But the point is not just in keeping it simple when naming your babies, it is in figuring out how to keep everything simple. I think we can learn a few lessons from Ande:

By finding ways to enjoy the little things, like how fun a roll of toilet paper can be.

Or how to be friendly to all you meet, and to keep in touch with old friends.

Or how fun it is to get lost in a good book.

And of course, there is nothing like enjoying the time spent with family!

For your viewing pleasure:

I have been training Ande so that he will have the skills necessary to being a Haynie.

Skill #1: Must be musical/play the piano. I'm proud to say he is progressing very well in this skill. Can we say, "baby mozart?" I mean, just look at the emotion he is putting into his work!

Skill #2: I don't know if this is true with all Haynies, but I know it is with one in particular (Curt): Eating lemons.