It's official!

Well, the ultrasound yesterday confirmed it...we are indeed having a girl! We feel so blessed that the baby is healthy and that this pregnancy has been so smooth so far. I didn't want to discuss names before we knew the sex because I just plain didn't want to waste precious energy on brainstorming for the wrong sex, but now the debating can begin! Please refrain suggestioning money-related monikers; I can assure you we have heard them all and have decided firmly against any of them. :) Looking forward to buying lots of pink things!

New baby Crawford

We had another ultrasound today and things are progressing well with the newest addition. The tech even ventured a guess as to the sex...let's just say, Cash's hand-me-downs may not come in handy for this baby. We'll have the next ultrasound in mid-October, but for now we've been given an 80% likelihood girl. We'll see...it's not time to decorate or buy pink items just yet!

Cash's First Birthday

Happy Birthday Cashman! We can't believe it's been a whole year!

It's been a busy summer!

So sorry for the almost two month hiatus in posting. As you can see from the over fifty photos I just posted, it's been a busy summer. Cash and I went to New Mexico in July to visit my Grandparents, followed two weeks later to a family vacation to Steamboat Springs, Colorado where the whole Anderson clan gathered to celebrate my other Grandparents' 80th birthdays.

We were also blessed to have the Flattery's come visit in early August and we got to celebrate the upcoming addition of their daughter with a virtual baby shower. It was great to have so many California friends in the "same room" again!

On the fourteenth, Mick and I celebrated five years of marriage. Wow! Five years and two kids later. Yup, I said TWO kids. We have another one due in mid-March. Hold onto your hats folks. And we thought this summer was crazy!

4th of July and 10 month's old

Cash's Dedication

"...for the joy of the Lord will be your strength." -Nehemiah 8:10

Yesterday, we had the priviledge of dedicating Cash at our church. It made Mick's first Father's Day so special that we could honor our Heavenly Father in that way. We had picked out the above scripture for Cash, as he has proven to be such a spread-er of joy, not only for us, but for others as well.

Trip to California

Here are some pictures from our trip to California a few weeks ago. We had such a great time with our friends, and especially with the Blands. We can't wait to go back!

Nine months old

Cash is now nine months old! At his last doctor's appointment, he measured in at a hefty 21.2 pounds and nearly 29 inches long. For the first time, his percentiles have dropped, likely due to all his crawling about. That kid can move!

Good news! Cash has been sleeping a full 10 to 11 hours at night, which has been absolute HEAVEN for Mick and I. We can only hope that it will continue...

...and he's mobile!

Cash began crawling last week and we are really amazed at how quickly he's become proficient at it. At first he would army crawl, dragging his hind-quarters behind him; then he started to get up on his knees and explore the carpeted area. Now he is just tickled with himself when he ventures out onto the tile. I guess the spirit of grand adventure outweighs the feeling of cold, hard tiles on the knees. For me, it's just plain uncomfortable!

It's great that Cash is crawling, but there are at least two "problems" that we didn't fully anticipate. His new found freedom means we, as his parents, have to begin setting physical boundaries and even discipline. It's a daunting task when up to this point most of our interaction has been so positive and encouraging. I'm having a hard time finding the balance again now that I am frequently saying things like, "No, Cash. It's not ok to climb into the fireplace." or "Don't touch the outlets." or "No! What did mommy just say?" I'm sure it gets easier, though.

Secondly, the developmental milestones are disrupting his, and therefore our, sleep. We are waking multiple times in the night again, which is frustrating considering that we've never really had a consistent chunk of time with good rest. Such is the life of a parent, I guess, although that is not the attitude I have at 2am. Oh, well, atleast Bella is sleeping well.

All that to say, and we are still so grateful that God has blessed us with such a joyful child. He is such a sweetie and we can't remember what is was like before he was here.

I love this laugh!

How can you watch this and not laugh? This kid has the gift of spreading joy for sure!

(By the way, if you need to turn off the background music in order to hear the laughter, just scroll down to the Easter post and hit the mute button at the top of the slide show.)

8 months old!

Wow! Time really is flying by! Cash is eight-months-old today, preparing to crawl and bubbling over with personality. Mick and I are eating it all up!

Cash now has five (yes, five!) teeth, three top and two bottom. The other day, to my surprise, I went to get him from a nap and there he was, sitting up in his crib. Let the baby-proofing begin!

Speaking of baby-proofing, we had our first semi-major injury last week. I was making Cash's breakfast with him in one arm and the hot pan in the other, when Cash decided to reach out with his lightning fast grasp and palm the pan! Needless to say, within seconds we were both in hysterics. Within minutes Mick was on his way home from work, my sister was walking in the door on the phone with the paramedics and her partner was pulling up to the house in a police car. The gentleman who cares for our lawn was quite puzzled by the fiasco. Anyhow, much to my relief, the doctor assured me that Cash's hand was ok, despite the second-degree burn, and will function just fine in the future. He also told me to let myself off the hook for making the mistake, which is better than him calling CPS for my foolishness. (I know it's silly, but it did cross my mind!) The most amazing part was that later that afternoon, Cash was using his hand like normal and didn't seem to think anything was wrong. Boy, kids really are resilient!

Anyway, we have been so blessed these passed eight months to have such a sweet, joyful and funny little man in our lives. Looking forward to more adventures...just hopefully not many that include emergency rooms!

Easter, Blue Bonnets and other random things...

He is risen indeed! We had a great time with Cash on his first Easter. There was an egg-hunt at church and even though we basically just plopped Cash down in front of a few eggs, it was fun to see the excitement of the other kids and know that is just around the corner for us!

After many months of intentioanlly not introducing the pacifier, Cash has suddenly decided to take it...and by that I mean he likes to have it at all times. Yet another example of having the best intentions and yet, somehow the reality is different. I have to admit that my weakness comes at the effectiveness of the pacifier. It is really nice to pop it in and have the fussiness cease. A nice break when your kid has been trying to cut teeth for weeks!

A few weeks ago, a beautiful patch of Blue Bonnets bloomed across the street from our development. It's the Texas state flower and it seems that everyone here takes their kids to get photographed in them. So when in Rome (or Houston, in this case)...Only a few minor sna-foos; I wasn't aware it was illegal to pick them, so Cash and I both plucked a couple (notice I didn't post those pics). I also had to promptly call Mick to have him google "blue bonnet toxicity" because Cash promptly put said plucked petals in his mouth...and swallowed...and then choked. But, alas, a racing heartbeat later, he was fine and I had slimy petals in my hand.

Trip to AZ

A few weeks ago, Cash took his first plane ride to Arizona to visit his Gigi and Rompa. He was such a champ and, aside from wanting to sleep in bed with me, he handled all the new locations like a pro! We spent the week in Flagstaff, Phoenix and Tucson, so he got to see a lot of the state. He also got to go for his first hike in the desert and swim in the pool. He loved them both! I was thankful to have Mick come out at the end of the week. Travelling on the plane with an extra pair of hands was so much better, even though Cash didn't so much as fuss for a minute! He just kept peeking between the seats at the people in the row behind and giggling. We definately learned that travelling with a baby is not a vacation, but we really enjoyed the time with friends and family!

Our visit with Margo and the fam

Last week, Margo, Don, and their four kids made the 20+ hour drive down from Michigan to come visit us. It was great to see eveyone and Cash loved meeting his Aunt, Uncle and cousins. We spent a beautiful (and hot) afternoon at the Kemah Boardwalk and made s'mores one evening before bed. I love any excuse to buy marshmallows!

Six Months Old Already?!

This week marked the half-year point of our little man. Even as I type this, I still can't believe it. Mick and I often look at each other in disbelief that he is really ours and we just can't quite grasp the reality of such an amazing blessing.

This past month was a mix of emotions for me - exhaustion from continued interrupted sleep brought us to a breaking point, but after some Ferber intervention, we are enjoying a full-night's rest and Cash regularly goes down for hour-and-a-half naps without much protest (this week at least!)

The better emotion that's really developed this month, both within Cash and within me as a result of being with him, is joy. Cash is hilarious! This age is so fun to watch. Now that he has cut both of his lower front teeth, we are learning that his personality is very joyful. That huge grin that breaks across his face whenever he sees Mick or me, the contageous giggle that sometimes squeaks out unsolicited, the way he flaps his arms when Bella runs up and drops her ball at his feet. WE ARE LOVING IT!!!

Developmentally speaking, Cash is right on track. He likes to roll himself across the room, only stopping when he gets pinned against the couch or a toy. He can sit up unassisted, but only for brief periods before he tips over. In fact, this picture was taken about a minute before he dove head-first into the jumperoo - poor guy! He now weighs over 19 pounds (82nd percentile), is 27.5 inches long (91st percentile!), and officially still has a peanut head. Cash is also eating like a champ. I've been making most of his baby food, which I really enjoy, and he pretty much likes anything we try.

With how fast the past six months have gone, I know it will be no time before we're celebrating his first birthday. I would love to push the pause button and just enjoy this wonderful stage, but I can't wait to see the little boy, and eventual man, he is growing into!

Praise God!

Visit with Grandpa and Grandma Crawford

Although it's been a number of weeks since they came to visit, I am just now taking the opportunity to get some photos up of our visit with Lewis and Karen. Cash loved meeting his last set of grandparents and now can put faces with all the names. Since Grandpa Lewis is a gun-afficiando, we tagged along with Oscar and Holder to a local gun show. Lots of interesting characters in this part of the country...

First Photo of the First Tooth!

Here it is! After weeks of attempting to capture the illusive incisor, Mick finally lay claim on the prize! Just in time for number two to burst onto the scene...

Space Shuttle Discovery

I went to the Cape last week to work on a CAD Interoperability Standard for NASA (I know, nerd alert). Anyway, as motivation to get everyone to make the trip, we were planning to see the Space Shuttle Discovery launch on 2/12/2009. Needless to say, the launch was delayed and so we took a tour of the Shuttle on the luanch pad instead. As it turned out, it was probably more interesting since we were able to see the hardware up-close and personal. Hopefully I get to go back again sometime to see a launch before the Shuttle retires in 2010.

Cash is five months old!

We are having a hard time believing that our little boy is almost half-a-year old already! It doesn't seem like that long ago we were in the hospital, awaiting Cash's arrival and now we can't remember what life was like without him.

Cash is closing in rapidly on 20 ponuds. He has really made some developmental strides this month. He has now mastered both rice and oat cereal, as well as bananas, sweet pototoes (faves), apples, carrots (yum), and peas (not the best, but will do). He is also taking sips of water from a real cup, which he finds to be a ton of fun! He can roll from his back to his front now. This is in addition to the front to back rolling he started a couple months ago.

A couple weeks ago, he started to sleep a SOLID 12-13 hour stretch at night, but with the introduction of his first tooth, we have taken a couple steps back. That's ok; we now know he can do it and have a renewed strength due to a week of good sleep.

He is a very active little boy - always wanting to stand and dance. He loves to play and be entertained, which is an all day activity, since napping is not a significant part of our day (his choice, not mine!).

We're looking forward to seeing what changes are in store in the months to come!

Backyard - 90% complete