ARILICIOUS

Frere Jacques

2011-01-10T13:01:00.000-08:00

It's been too long since I've posted and I've been holding out for a time when I have some time to give a nice long update since so much has been going on. Well, now is not the time since I'm at work, but I couldn't help but upload this video Steve just sent me.

Honkfest!

2010-04-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to Honkfest in Georgetown which consisted of a bunch of crazy marching bands. Ari LOVED it and wanted to be right in the middle of things dancing. And, at times, she was:

Beboppin' Babies

2010-03-31T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ari dancing with her babies....

And getting ready for a jog...

Hello Spring!

2010-03-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

Happy New Years!!

2010-01-09T00:40:00.000-08:00

This is how I'm used to feeling on New Years Day...
But this New Years I found myself up and out the door at 8:30 am to pick up Susannah and her son Kyos who are visiting from India so that we could get some errands done. Holy crap! Target was like a vacant lot at 9am when we rolled up. Truth be told, it was sooooo nice not only to beat the crowds, but to hang out with Susannah like she lives here and do something so simple like errands together. Kyos and Ari seemed to enjoy the ride together too...

And then they got over it....

While we were busy dwaddling, Lupine was checking in to Swedish to give birth to an adorable baby girl Lucy! Ruby finally gets to be a big sister and Ari now has a baby other than her dolls to fawn over.

Here are Ari and Ruby checking Lucy out...

Welcome Lucy!

Finally, in Ari development news, here is a sweet video I got of Ari walking last week. Now she is even more sure of her steps although the tumbles are inevitable....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

2009-12-30T20:37:00.001-08:00

It's hard to believe it's been a year! Ari took her first steps several weeks ago but didn't start to take off until Christmas week. It's been a great week to have off and watch her become more and more confident walking even from the morning to the evening. With both mine and Ari's birthdays this week along with that Jesus dude, we've had one party function after another. Luckily, Ari was given a tutu to ring in her first year.

She got lots of great gifts. Santa reupholstered a chair in hot pink velour with black trim. He also got her a dolly with it's own stroller that she likes to push around. She got a stuffed dog that looks like her grandparent's dog. She affectionately calls him Woof and asks for him when we get in the car. Here she is enjoying some of her gifts:

The chair, her Pat the Bunny from Dustin, Lupine, and Ruby, her dolly that Santa left at Grandpa and Nana's house and her cute new jammies from Uncle Tony.

Her cute hat from Rayne.

She Walks!

2009-12-05T19:06:00.000-08:00

Lets Get Vertical!

2009-10-30T22:25:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks it has become evident that Ari is in the preliminary stages of walking and I've been looking forward to buying her a new toy to help the process out. As soon as we got back from LA, my mom and I each bought Ari a push toy and because it's been such a hectic week, we just got around to trying ours out tonight (she did have a practice run at nana's so these aren't the first steps). There is something about this video that makes me incessantly happy. Perhaps it's her need to dance AND walk at the same time, but most of all it is just that she is starting to show so much personality, even in a video that hardly shows her face.

Attack of the Fall!

2009-10-27T22:20:00.000-07:00

Seriously, are we really at the end of October? Fall came on so fast and usually by now I have a couple batches of homemade soup done and have had spent at least a couple rainy weekend days in my slippers and nestled up with a good book. Not a yet. Instead, I packed my flip flops, husband, and baby and headed down to LA for some fun in the sun. We just got back last night from a few days of food, friends and fun. The occasion was my friends Isaac and Lizz getting married and we got to stay with our other friends Kirsten and Carlos. K and C are excellent cooks and we brought them a salmon from Pike's Place and feasted. Ari did great on the plane and she was quite the social butterfly. She turned 10 months yesterday and started saying "wow". I also caught her trying to stand on her own.

Getting ready for her first plane ride..

First peek at the ocean...
Directing traffic at the wedding....

Just being cute...

Potty Humor

2009-10-08T16:09:00.000-07:00

Ari has already developed a sense of potty humor.

Stari

2009-09-16T23:07:00.000-07:00

I've been hanging on to a photo album with baby pictures of Steve which I borrowed from his mom right after Ari was born. It's taken me awhile to get around to scanning the photos, but the timing was perfect as I realized that Ari is now just past the age Steve was when the photos were taken. I've always known that Ari looked a lot like her daddy, but when I really started to look at the pictures I realized that not only do they look A LOT alike, but they also have so many of the same expressions. My favorite Ari expression is the "WTF" (what the F@#^*?) eyebrows raised expression, as evidenced in photo this first photo.

No genetic testing necessary. And if you want to know what she inherited from me: it's my small ears (see last photo). We are still hoping she doesn't have my teeth. Seeing as how she just got her two front teeth, things are looking good since I had three come in when I was a baby. :)

Midnight Snacks

2009-09-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Mommy,
This crawling thing is really great! If I want to pull all my clothes out of my dresser, I just crawl over there and do it! If you walk into the other room and I want you, I just follow you. Now I can take all the videos out from the TV stand and bang them around (thanks for cleaning up after me). I really have so much to do these days that I can’t be bothered by eating during the day. So, it was nice of you to feed me at 10:00 last night. And at 1:00 this morning you really made me mad when you decided you needed to go to the bathroom while daddy changed me, but you came through and fed me (I didn’t know for sure you were coming back). I appreciate you just letting me sleep in your bed cuz I was really hungry again at 3:00. I don’t remember much about eating at 5:00 but I guess you figured I wanted something because I was grabbing your lip and kicking your stomach. And at 6:30 I don’t know why you were in such a rush to leave, but thanks for sticking around to feed me until I fell back asleep. Last night worked really well for me! Maybe we should do it again tonight. Sorry I missed you leaving for work this morning. I was pretty konked out.

Love,
Ari
_______________

Dear Ari,
I’m so proud of you for crawling. You are such an independent girl now. Before I know it you are going to be backpacking around Europe by yourself! Regarding last night: I love you and would do anything for you, but maybe you should eat when you daddy makes you a bottle during the day. He works really hard to make it just right. You’re a good girl and I know you can do it. Maybe then we can both get a good night sleep and can play together in the morning before I go to work.

Love,
Mommy

8 months and crawling!

2009-08-27T13:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Ari's 8 month birthday. I got to my parents house and she crawled across the floor to greet me! Before that she would only take a couple crawls and then would be done. She is also giving hugs when I get home at the end of the day which includes a little pat on the back. I must say, being away from her all day is difficult but the feeling of coming home to her is such a good one!

Ari's First Piano Recital

2009-08-24T23:25:00.000-07:00

A little avante garde for me, but better than Yoko Ono...

Yummy cheeks

2009-08-24T13:43:00.001-07:00

July is hot hot hot!

2009-08-02T23:38:00.000-07:00

We had such a great July that we didn't even think about posting! We spent a week in Chelan with the Ballew and Hogan clan. It was restful and yet busy. I fully expected that I'd get some reading done and I only got 2 chapters read the whole week.

In Ari news she is sitting up, clapping, eating solids when she feels like it. She has still not figured out the crawling thing (it can wait!) but she is making strides forward. She continues to LOVE water and had a great time in Chelan. In fact, we got her a floaty device that she liked at first until she discovered that being IN the water allowed for more of a true water experience.

Photo highlights:

Making a funny face from getting sprayed in the face with water:
Two sassy girls hanging out:Checking out grandma's new car:
One of our highlights of the summer is when my friend Susannah, her husband Eli, and Kyos came home for a month long visit. Kyos and Ari finally got to meet.

Ari's First Fireworks Show

2009-07-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

Break on through!

2009-07-03T07:37:00.001-07:00

Ari had two teeth break through yesterday. She was a little "off" all day and only slept less than an hour the whole day. One hour Steve didn't feel any teeth in her mouth and then a couple hours later she grab his finger and stuck it in her mouth and VOILA! There they were!

Since it's been a month since we posted here are the highlights of the month:

She's sitting up!
Ari and I went to Chelan with my family for the weekend for a wedding. Ari loved swimming and is definitely a water baby. We are very excited to go as a family in a week.
She had her 6 month appointment and weighs 17lbs 6oz. She LOVED going to the doctor cuz she could play with the paper on the exam table. She didn't even really cry when she got her shots.

Here are some photos from the month:
Chelan

That last one was shortly after she woke up and realized she was at a wedding in a cave. What the...!

Father's Day:

Sun Up!

2009-05-30T08:15:00.001-07:00

This title could read in a couple applicable ways: the sun has finally made it to Seattle and summer spirits are up OR as the sun is coming up earlier, why must my girl also get up earlier too? It's 8 am on Saturday morning and I've already been up for over 2 hours. Wish I could say I've gotten a lot done in that time.

But, anyhow, lets focus on the first: we are so excited to see the sun. Last weekend Ari had a cold and so I kept her close to home and didn't get to enjoy the sun as much. This weekend I'm ready to break out and get some rays! Steve and I are looking forward to a week in Lake Chelan in July so we purchased a floaty device and small blow up pool for Ari. She is also ready to wear the ladybug wet suit we got her:

Last weekend we stayed at my parents house and they had a quarterly family birthday party. So much fun to see all the relatives and Ari got to hang out with her cousins:
Ari spent about 15 minutes with this expression on her face as she watched Zach playing in her exersaucer. I think she was taking notes.

We took advantage of a photo op with all the babies. Someone suggested we get a photo of the babies sitting and I said, "Ari can't sit up yet" because she usually slumps forward. Well, she proved me wrong. The minute I sat her next to her cousins it was like she looked at them and thought, "Oh! That's what I'm supposed to be doing" and she straightened her back and sat right up! Stabilization is still a must, but I was quite impressed with my little bean.

A moment of love with Jamie before an attempted binky heist:

Ari and Granddad hanging out:
This one is in serious need of a good caption:
We tried out the swing at the park and she LOVES it:

And last, but not least, Ari's 5 month photo. We just went to the doctor the other day and she is 1/2 ounce from 17 lbs!
Okay, now I'm seriously going to get out and enjoy the sun! Ciao!

Food on!

2009-05-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

Long time no post. This last month has been a busy one and it flew by quickly. Ari went to her 4 month appointment and is still growing like a weed. She weighed in at 15lbs 6oz just shy of double her birth weight which means we got the go ahead to start her on solids. It's been touch and go and she hasn't really eaten enough to be considered much of a meal. But we've had fun in the process.

Here are some photos and videos of the last month:

Here is what happens when she plays with daddy:

Her 4 month shot:

Ari and Bennie Joe doing dueling tricks. No dogs were harmed in this video (except maybe dog egos).

More Ari and Bennie Joe antics. Beware! This video is PG13.

Visiting her great grandparents on Mother's Day:
Chilling on her way to Nanna and Grandpas for an overnight:

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T02:07:00.001-07:00

Easter was jam packed with lots of fun. We went to the 14th Annual Pocket Liquor Hunt. Ari rocked finding pocket liquors, but I drew the line at trying them. With her obvious teething issues it was tempting but I dosed her up on baby orajel and she cheered up. Next we went to my auntie Pat's with 75 of our closest relatives. The house was booming which made it difficult for her to sleep. Steve and I were amazed at how well she did though. I expected a melt down on the way home but she was an angel and went to bed right away.

Highlights of the day:

Hanging out with Uncle Doug who stayed with us Saturday night:

Channeling her inner audio engineer:

Gearing up for the liquor hunt (check out mommy's new hair cut!):

Sporty her Easter gift from Nana and Grandpa:

Ari Night Night...

2009-04-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've heard people say that just when you think you have your baby figured out, she changes. For the past month I've really felt blessed with a baby that has been sleeping through the night especially since I'm back at work, but I've been holding my breath waiting for the ball to drop. Well, the last few days she has been waking up some time between 3:30 and 4:00 which wouldn't be too bad if I didn't have to get up at 5:30. I'm sure she is just going through a growth spurt, but I've also felt like she's been going to bed too early. Last night I decided to try to keep her up as late as possible. After some fussiness, I put her under her play gym with the light up star (aka "baby crack"). This usually keeps her happy for at least 15 minutes and generally gives me the opportunity to get a couple things done which in this instance was the dishes. When I went to check on her, this is what I found:

Ahhhhh. :)

Hanging out with her cousin's Lucas and Zach:

Spending the day with Ruby at the Children's Museum:

Need I say more?

2009-04-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air!

2009-03-29T22:38:00.000-07:00

Ari has made it to her first new season!!!! Today was the first day that it actually felt like spring was in the air. Ari pondered over the bright ball of fire in the sky and we provided a little eye protection. :)

The latest "first" for Ari was her first sporting event. My parents have season tickets to the Sounders and we bundled Ari up in the leapord print snow suit with ears that Ruby lent us and headed to Qwest Field. She, of course, got lots of compliments on her cuteness, although we question the sobriety of the one lady on the elevator who thought we had a puppy. Ummm....what?

Ari now has full control of her head which means we love facing her forward in the carrier so she can see the sights. She is also playing in her exercaucer (aka "neglectasaucer" as our friend Lupine likes to call it).

Big 3 month old:

Ari and Ruby

2009-03-13T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ari has spent the last couple of Fridays "playing" with her friend Ruby while I work. "Playing" mainly consists of Ari being a life size doll for Ruby that she can cover with blankets to go "night night" and put the chupa choo (aka binky) in Ari's mouth. I can tell that Ari is going to get right in there and play with Ruby when she is able because she does take notice her every once in a while and I think she is taking notes. Of course, Lupine and I are very much looking forward to the day when Ruby no longer has to pretend to take care of Ari and actually can watch her. We are quite a few years off from that though.

2009-03-01T23:31:00.000-08:00

What a Difference a Month Makes!

2009-03-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

Ari is now 2 months old. We definitely have noticed her getting bigger, but it was most evident when we put her month 1 photo next to the month 2 photo. She went in for her 2 month appointment and her stats were:
Height: 23.5 inches (90th percentile) - she's grown exactly 3 inches since she was born!
Weight: 12.2 ounces (80th percentile) - she gain 4-1/2 pounds since birth.

Ari has a new obsession which is her hands. She likes to eat them and is also learning that she can bat at things with them. She is also getting a lot better at tummy time and has even rolled from front to back 3 times which impressed the doctor a lot.

In parental news: Ari had her first overnight at Nana and Grandpa's and we got to go out to celebrate 2 of our friends birthdays. I'm glad we did this early as it was quite easy and made me realize how important it is for Steve and I to have Our Time.

I'm also starting work 1/2 time next week and we just won't talk about that.

Here are some photo/video highlights of the last couple weeks:

Ari leaving for an overnight with Nana:
Tummy time cuteness:

My dad's side of the family had 4 new additions in the family within 4 months of each other. We finally got together last night and were able to see all the kidlums together including Kate who is 19 months old. Ari was not having a good time of it. They are in order of birth left to right.
Zach: 9/4
Jamie: 9/26
Lucas: 10/8
Ari: 12/26

Grandpa throwing a hissy fit:

Thank you John, Carole, Margot and Chloe for the lovely puppet! I tried it out on Ari for the first time the other day and here was her reaction:

2009-02-20T00:03:00.000-08:00

Ari does Seattle

2009-02-18T22:45:00.001-08:00

Ari has been out site seeing quite a bit the last couple weeks. Last weekend we did two walks on Alki beach and today we went to the aquarium with Ali, Lupine, Ruby and her friend Kayla.

In Ari development, she has been doing better sleep wise and has actually slept through the night several times. Woo hoo for us! She is cooing and smiling a lot more as well. I've tried to catch video of her smiling at her little play gym that she loves, but for the most part just get cooing (see video below). In general, Ari seems increasingly more aware of the world and now that her head control is better she LOVES riding face out in her carrier so she can check things out.

1 month down!

2009-02-06T21:39:00.000-08:00

Ari is getting bigger and bigger and hitting all the appropriate milestones such as SMILING! She is also mastering the art of pouting and I'm able to distinguish a new cry which translates to "pick me up!" I never thought that the sound of a cry could make me happy, but knowing that Ari wants to be with us as much as we want her is heart warming.

The last couple weeks I've gone in to work 3 times. I thought it would be horrible, but I've realized it's served the purpose of lessening my anxiety about going back. I left Ari with my mom last Monday which my mom was VERY excited about. I decided on the drive into the office that if I stopped looking at it from the perspective of I'm leaving Ari to go to work and instead think of it as doing my mom a favor then I felt better. Still, I'm happy that I have 3 weeks more of maternity leave left. :)

The new emotions of Ari:

A much more successful play date with Lucas:
Hanging out with Pops:

And Nana and Grandpa:

And our child birth class reunion:

Bye George! HellObama!

2009-01-25T20:14:00.000-08:00

Ari celebrated her first major historical event by hanging out with mom and dad in front of the television most of the day and sporting her Baby Got Barack shirt that Auntie Lupine bought for her.

Ari will be one month old tomorrow. This week she has taken a big leap in her development. Not only does she look physically bigger, she has also "woken up" and is more aware of the world around her. This happened literally overnight. She woke up and was all of a sudden very content to sit in her bouncy seat for an hour analyzing the mobile hanging above it. She has now grown out her newborn clothes and outfits that were too big last week are almost too small this week.

Ari is quite the socialite. We have done lots of visiting since she has been born. Here are some photos of her with people we have hung out with:

Nana and Ari at a coffee shop:

Auntie Mary-lyn and Ari at the same coffee shop.

Grandpa!

And (my favorite) Ari and her cousin Lucas on their first play date together:

I'll end on that note :)

Welcome Ari Louise Anderson!

2009-01-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

Ari Louise Anderson was born 12/26/2008 at 5:36am. It was an unforgettable Christmas day that started with my water breaking at 3:30am. I've imagined this whole pregnancy that we would be driving to the hospital either on Christmas day or in a snow storm...turns out it was both. Luckily we made there without any major hiccups.

The past two weeks have been kind of a blur. On the one hand it's gone by fast, but on the other it feels like Ari has been with us forever. Sleeping and eating is still her main M.O., but she is starting to take note of the world around her. The other day I put her in her car seat that I had decked out a few days previously with some little dangling toys. She, of course, threw a fit about going in the car seat, but by the time we got to the car she was calm and staring perplexed at the bear hanging from her car seat. She was quiet the whole 20 minute car ride so I assumed she was asleep, but when we got to our destination she was still staring at the bear. Not sure if she decided he was friend or foe.

Here are some pictures of her first couple weeks.